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发表于 2008-6-21 21:26:53
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1.
One sunny day, Buddha was enjoying a walk alone, along the edge of a lotus pond in Paradise. The lotus flowers in the pond were all in full bloom and as white as precious stones. The golden parts in the centers of the flowers constantly gave out a sweet smell which filled the air around him. Paradise was in the midst of a beautiful morning.
Buddha stopped walking, and looked at the face of to the water covering the pond. He wanted to know how things were going under the lotus leaves. From the pond in Paradise, he could see through to the bottom of Hell. The water was so pure and transparent like crystal that he could clearly see the River Styx and Mountain Needles as though through a telescope.
Buddha noticed a man moving around among other criminals at the bottom of Hell. His name was Kandata. Kandata was a very evil man who had killed several people and put fire to others' houses and stolen many things. But he had done one good thing before he fell down there.
2.
It happened when Kandata was passing through a deep forest. He found a small spider crawling in front of him. At once he lifted his foot and was about to stamp it to death when he changed his mind. He thought:
``Well, I'd better not kill it. However small this fellow is, he's still a living creature. It'd be cruel to take that life away from it. ''
It was a noble thought, deciding not to kill the spider and letting it go.
Buddha, looking down at Hell, remembered that Kandata had saved that spider's life. That memory prompted Buddha to rescue Kandata out of Hell. It would be Kandata's reward for the only good thing he had ever done on earth.
As Buddha looked around, he noticed, to his joy, a spider on a lotus leaf as green as jade. The Paradise spider was weaving its web, spinning a beautiful silver-colored thread. Buddha softly picked up the thread in his hand, and let it fall between the lotus leaves. The thread fell straight down all the way to the bottom of Hell.
In the pond of blood at the bottom of Hell, Kandata was just coming above the surface and then sinking again, together with other sinners. Down there in the dark, whichever direction they turned in, they could very dimly see something above the bloody water. It was the faint reflection of needles on Mount Needles. The sight frightened the helpless sinners.
What was worse, it was as quiet as the inside of a grave. All that was heard was the faint sighs of the sinners now and then. They could only sigh because they were all so tired from the terrible punishment that they received that they had no strength left to cry out. It was the same for Kandata, the great robber. Almost choked with the blood from Blood Pond, all he could do was struggle like, a frog that was half drowning.
One day, Kandata happened to look up at the sky above the Blood Pond. As he did so, he found shining in the dark a spider's silvery thread coming down at him.
The thin thread came down from Heaven far above toward him noiselessly, as if afraid of its being seen by people. When Kandata saw it, he clapped his hands with joy. He thought he could get out of Hell if he clung to the thread and pulled himself up. No, better than that, he thought, he might even be able to get into Heaven if everything goes well. Then, he would no longer be driven up into Mount Needles, nor would he have to sink into the Blood Pond again.
As the idea hit him, Kandata lost no time in grasping the spider's thread with both hands. He began to pull himself up as fast as he could. Such an act was easy for him. Because he was a veteran robber, he was used to climbing up a rope hand over hand.
But Hell and Heaven were separated by more than ten thousand miles. No matter how he hurried, he wasn't able to get out of Hell easily. After having climbed some distance, he became so tired that he could not pull himself up any farther. He could not help himself; he had to stop to take a rest for a while. Hanging on the thread halfway up, he looked down far below where he had just come from.
Kandata was happy to find his efforts were being rewarded. Blood Pond where he had just been a while ago was no longer visible. It must lie at the bottom of the darkness. All he could see now was that horrible mountain of needles. It was faintly shining far below his feet.
Kandata thought that if he continued at this pace, it would not take as much time as he had first expected. Tangling his hands with the thread, he laughed saying, ``I'm going to make it! Now success is within my grasp!''
It was the first time in many years that he had used his voice; in fact the first since he fell into Hell.
Then, he suddenly noticed something below him. Far down below, there were many other sinners also climbing up by the thread. They looked like a line of ants. Each was striving with all of his might to pull himself up, literally step by step, from Hell.
Kandata was shocked. He became so afraid that he opened his mouth like a fool to scream, but nothing came out. Filled with anxiety, he just stared at the others. He feared the thin thread could only support his weight. The thread would certainly break under the weight of so many people. If it broke above him, his efforts thus far would have all been in vain. And he would certainly fall back to Hell again.
Kandata thought that such a thing should be avoided at all costs. However, even while he was worrying about such things, hundreds and thousands of other sinners were climbing up the shining thin thread, inch by inch, struggling out of the dark bottom of Blood Pond. Kandata grew impatient. He had to do something now. If he didn't, it was as clear as day that the thread would soon break above him, throwing him back into Blood Pond in Hell.
Then Kandata shouted: ``Hey, you sinners below! This spider's thread is just for me, not for you! Who allowed you to climb up it, too? Get down! Get down, all of you!''
The very moment he yelled, the thread snapped, just above where Kandata was hanging. In the twinkling ofan eye, he and the rest of the climbing sinners fell headlong, spinning like so many tops, through the air and into Hell's dark bottom.
After the sinners had gone, only the spider's shortened thread from Paradise could be seen hanging in midair, It shone thinly in a night sky where there was neither moon nor stars.
3.
Buddha stood at the edge of the lotus pond in Paradise. He had been watching everything that had happened. When he saw Kandata sink like a stone back into the bottom of Blood Pond, his face grew clouded. Then, with a saddened face, he left that spot. He was sad to see how selfish Kandata was. With a sigh, Buddha thought to himself that Kandata could not help himself from falling back into Hell for more punishment because of his merciless heart.
But there was no sign of the lotus flowers in Paradise Pond caring what happened to whom at all. Their pure white flowers waved their cups leisurely at the feet of Buddha as he walked past. As always, the golden cores at the center of their flowers were constantly giving off a sweet smell which filled the air Buddha breathed. Soon, it was noon in Paradise. |
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