74. GOING TO THE DOGS
Fengjing was a nice little village. Most of the people living there were simple farmers. They were honest and hardworking. Everybody got along well with everybody else, and things went well with them.
With almost all of them. There was one mean guy in the village, called Shen 2, because he was his father's second son. He had a little store, and business was pretty good, so gradually he had saved a small amount of money.
Shen 2 loved liquor, and he loved dog meat. When he was a bit ahead, he'd buy some liquor and cook up a dog and enjoy a little feast.
He'd tell people, "Dog meat smells nice and tastes spicy! What could be better than dog meat cooked just right and washed down with fine liquor!" He would invite his friends to his feasts, so over a period of years, he had butchered quite a few dogs.
In 1756, Shen was feeling weak. One day he keeled over and was put to bed, but even the doctors couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.
His wife stayed faithfully by his bedside, especially after he started having fainting spells. Late on night, Shen was tossing and turning, but his wife couldn't do anything for him. Then she heard him saying something. She leant over to listen, and her blood ran cold as she heard him say,
"Another black dog! It's mean!
"There's a spotted dog attacking me!
"Dog, two, three, four of them, I can't count them all, keep them away from me, please, somebody, keep them away from me!"
By now he was shouting loudly enough to wake the entire household. "Help!Help! Somebody come save me!" Everybody could hear him, but nobody could see a single dog. All they saw was Shen 2 tossing and turning on his bed, with a terrified look in his eyes.
"He must be out of his mind," his relatives said sadly, shaking their heads.
Just before he died, Shen 2 crawled under the bed. He got down on all fours and growled and barked like a dog until he died.
Usually, before a person dies, there will be some indication of where he is going after death. People going to heaven die peacefully, even happily. People going to hell know it. Their suffering begins before they die, and they die miserably.
Shen 2 must have been on his way to a new life as a dog. And the chances are that he ended up in somebody's cooking pot.
74.作狗
风京是一个很美的小村子，住在那里的人大多是淳朴的农民。他们诚实勤劳，相处融洽，过着太平的日子。
村里有一个卑劣的人与他们在一起。因为他在家排行第二便叫沈二。沈二开了一个小店，生意也不错，渐渐地还攒起一笔钱来。
沈二好酒，而且爱吃狗肉。他一有机会，就买些酒，煮上一只狗，美美地吃一顿。
他对别人说，“狗肉闻起来特别香，吃起来别有一番风味！有什么比煮得刚刚好、就着好酒吃下肚的狗肉更美味的呢！”他还邀朋友一起享用。多年来，他屠宰了不少狗。
1756年的时候，沈觉得自己越来越虚弱。有一天他跪倒了，被扶上床。甚至连医生都看不出来他得了什么病。
他的妻子忠实地守在床边，尤其是在他开始间歇性晕眩后,深夜，沈总是辗转反侧，妻子一点办法也没有。妻子听见他在说话，于是倾下身来听听他说什么。她听清他的话后，不寒而栗。
“另一只黑狗！好难受啊！”
“还有一只花狗在攻击我！”
“狗，两只，三只，四只，我数都数不清了，快赶走它们，快，来人啊，把它们赶走！”
这时候他的喊声大得足以吵醒全家了。“救命! 救命！快来人救救我！”每个人都听见他的话，但是谁都看不见那些狗，他们只看见沈二在床上翻来覆去，眼睛里露出恐惧。
“他一定是疯了。”亲戚们摇着头，难过的说。
在他死前，沈就一直在床下爬。一直到死，他都四肢着地，像狗那样咆哮。
通常，在一个人死前，都会有迹象显示他死后的去向。上天堂的人死得很安详，甚至是快乐的。而下地狱的人，他们死前就开始受苦，死得很悲惨。
沈二必定是投胎作狗了，他还很可能会死在别人的锅里。
