Ja 123 The Story about the Plough-Shaft
(Naṅgalīsajātaka)
In the present one monk is always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. The Buddha tells a story of how the same monk had indeed been faithful, but truly inept in his thinking in a past life (full story).
1. Asabbatthagāmiṁ vācaṁ bālo sabbattha bhāsati,
Nāyaṁ dadhiṁ vedi, na naṅgalīsaṁ,
Dadhippayaṁ maññati naṅgalīsan-ti.
The fool in all cases speaks a word that is not applicable in all cases, he doesn’t know curd, doesn’t know a ploughshaft, he thinks that buttermilk is a ploughshaft.
In this connection, this is a summary of the meaning: those words do not go in all cases because of a simile, that which the fool, the stupid person, in all cases speaks a word that is not applicable in all cases.
When asked: “What is curds like?” he says: “Like a ploughshaft,” speaking thus he doesn’t know curd, doesn’t know a ploughshaft. What is the reason? He thinks that buttermilk is a ploughshaft, since he thinks this curd is a ploughshaft.
Or, curd is curds, butter is milk, curds and milk is buttermilk. Since he thinks buttermilk is like a ploughshaft, he has the qualities of a fool, this is why, having spoken a Dhamma talk to his pupils, after giving him his wages, he sent him away.