维杨十友他们家产较丰，都安份知足、不求官禄、不贪钱财、崇尚玄学和道。他们相互结为朋友，像兄弟一样。当时国内安定，老百姓安居乐业，以酒饭娱乐，自得其乐。他们从一家开始，轮流在十家宴请，已成为习惯。
忽然有一天，一个老翁，穿着脏破，外表瘦弱，像是贫寒之人。他穿着麻衣，跟在十人之后，来到他们聚会的地方。大家心情舒畅，也都怜悯这个老翁，没有将他赶走。老翁吃饱喝足后，就自行离开了，没人知道他去了哪里。
一天，他回来对维杨十友说：“我是个无力之人，很荣幸大家允许我在末座相陪，对我没有责怪。你们十人设宴，我都参与了。如今宴席已经轮流完毕，我也想尽力准备一次餐宴，以答谢你们的厚恩。相约好日子，希望大家能够一同前去。”
到了约定的日期，十友依老头所言，一起等待。凌晨，穷老翁果然来了，领着他们慢慢行走，来到东塘郊外，也不觉很远。在荒野中有两三间歪斜的茅屋，似乎风一吹就要倒了，老头把他们领到茅屋里。屋里已有几个乞丐，都是披散着头发，穿着补了又补的破衣，样子肮脏丑陋。老翁到了后，乞丐相顾而起，站立着等候老翁吩咐。老翁令他们打扫屋子，铺上柴草，展开草席，邀请他们围成一圈坐下。
天已经晚了，大家都已很饿。过了很久，乞丐分别拿酰盐竹筷，放到客人面前。一会儿，几个乞丐抬着如案似的一块长四五尺的大板，摆在草席中央，还用油渍渍的布盖着。十友互相看看，以为一定能解饥了，非常高兴。油布撤去以后，热气腾腾地不能看清案板上的东西，看了很久，原来是一个蒸熟了的孩童形状的东西。老翁揖让劝勉，让大家去吃，大家都很嫌弃他，多数假装说不饿，也有人生气离开，都不肯吃。老翁就自己放开大吃起来。老翁把没有吃尽的让众乞丐拿走，让他们吃光。然后老翁才对众人说：“刚才所吃的是千年的人参啊，很难找到，难得一遇。我得到这个东西，为感谢众位筵请相待之恩，想用它相报。吃到它的人，能白日升天，成为上仙。你们不吃，大概是命运使然吧！”大家都很惊异，后悔不及。
不一会儿，乞丐们都变成了金童玉女，旗旛伞盖前导后从，与老翁一起同时升天而去。十友挖空心思去追寻，再也没能见到老翁。
（出《神仙感遇传》）
(转载自正见网)
Stories of Deities: Missing The Opportunity
Author: Edited by Zhu Yueming
The Ten Friends of Weiyang was a group of ten friends who were wealthy and content with their lots. They were not interested in pursuing government positions and not greedy about money. They liked to get together and talk about metaphysics and Taoism. The ten friends were like brothers. They took turns hosting dinner parties.
One day an old man showed up uninvited at the party. He wore rags and was painfully thin. The ten friends were in a good mood and they felt sorry for the old man. So the allowed him to remain and shared their feast with him. After the old man finished his dinner, he left.
A few days later, the old man appeared again. He told the ten friends, “I am a poor man. I feel honored because you allowed me to join your dinner party and nobody was rude to me. You have finished one round of hosting dinner parties already. Now it is my turn, and I will try my best to host one in order to show my respect for you. Let us set a date and I hope all of you can attend.”
The ten friends agreed to attend the old man’s dinner party. On the agreed date, the poor man came to get the ten friends early in the morning. He led them to an area east of the city, and the friends didn’t feel they had walked a long time. When they arrived at the destination, they saw three leaning huts that appeared so unstable that it seemed that they would not survive a gust of wind . The old man invited them to go inside. A few filthy and ugly beggars in rags with uncombed long hair were inside the hut. When the old man entered the hut, the beggars stood up and waited for instructions from the old man. The old man told them to clean the hut, lay down firewood on the ground, and spread a straw mat. Then he asked the ten friends to sit down.
It was getting late and everyone started to get hungry. After quite a while, some of the beggars brought vinegar, salt and bamboo chop sticks to the guests. Then a few beggars carried a big board that was about 5 to 6 feet long and put it in the middle of the straw mat. The board was covered with a piece of oilcloth on top. The ten friends looked at each other and assumed that they would finally get some food to eat. The old man removed the cover. Things on the board were steaming and it took a while for the ten friends to see what was there. They were astounded by what they saw. The food was in the shape of a baby. The old man asked his guests to help themselves. However, the ten friends felt disgusted with him. Some pretended they were not hungry, others left in anger. Nobody wanted to eat the old man’s food.
The old man then started to eat. After he finished he told those beggars to take his leftovers and finish them all. After all the food was eaten, the old man told the ten friends, “The stuff I ate a moment ago was actually ginseng that is more than 1,000 years old. It is very rare. I got it and wanted to share with you because you fellows treated me well. Humans who eat it will reach consummation and become deities. You guys did not eat it, and that was probably your destiny!” The ten friends were shocked and they deeply regretted what they did.
After a while, all the beggars were transformed into golden boys and jade girls. They held banners and umbrellas for the old man, and flew up to the sky with the old man. The ten friends tried everything they could to find the old man but they never saw him again.
Adapted from: An Account Of Meeting With Deities
(From PureInsight: http://www.pureinsight.org/node/2046)
(http://www.dajiyuan.com)
