That poor worker complained and criticized them, “How could the venerables eat elsewhere when invited by me? Am I not able to give as much as they need?” The monks heard the complaints of that worker, and the monks of few desires complained and criticized those monks, “How could those monks eat elsewhere when invited for a meal?” … “Is it true, monks, that monks did this?” “It’s true, sir.” The Buddha rebuked them … “How could those foolish men do this? This will affect people’s confidence …” … “And, monks, this training rule should be recited like this:

First preliminary ruling ‘If a monk eats a meal before another, he commits an offense entailing confession.’”

In this way the Buddha laid down this training rule for the monks.

Second substory