Eighth Khandhaka: Chapter 16

16. 1, 2. Now at that time Bhikkhus who had eaten sweet foods went to sleep unmindful and unthoughtful. And they who had thus gone to sleep, dreamed 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 'I allow, O Bhikkhus, for the protection of the body, and of the robe, and of the sleeping-place, the use of a mat.' 4. Now at that time the mat, being too short 2, did not protect the whole of the sleeping-place. 'I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to have a covering made as large as you like.' 226:1 The remainder of this introductory story scarcely bears translation. The first sentences recur in the Sutta-vibhaṅga, Samghâdisesa I, 2, I, and Pâkittiya V, 1, I. 226:2 The length of a mat (nisîdanam) was limited by the 89th Pâkittiya to two spans by one.