64. ELEVEN LIVES AS A COW

　　In about 1815, a man named Lin Ziqi died. His family and friends were sad, because he had been such a nice person.
　
　　Lin found himself in Hell. There is a court there, presided over by the King of Hell. The bailiffs are demons with bulls' heads and horses' faces. Other demons are waiting eagerly to go get the next to die. The walls are hung with terrifying instruments of torture. These are all created by our own wicked thoughts and evil acts, not by any gods or devils.
　
　　A doctor, Yin Zhi, was dragged into the court. "Oh no, I've just died! Then this must be the court where I'll be judged." Just thinking about it horrified him.
　
　　"On your knees, scum!" roared the bailiffs. Yin knelt, and noticed someone else kneeling beside him. Then he realized he knew the other prisoner -- it was his friendly local butcher, Li Pi.

　　Li Pi was in no friendly mood now. When he saw Dr. Yin, he stuck his finger in his face and told the king, "It's all his fault! He's the one! If he didn't eat beef, I wouldn't kill any cattle! Take him, and let me go!"
　
　　Yin wouldn't have any of that! He said, "Your honor, if he didn't kill cattle, I wouldn't eat beef." Li was furious when he heard that, and the bailiffs had to drag them apart.
　　
　　The King slammed his fist on his desk. "SILENCE! One killed and the other ate. You're both equally guilty!
　　
　　"Don't you have a conscience? Cows and bulls plow fields to grow grain to feed you, but you don't have any gratitude; you eat these innocent beasts. If people eat a lot of beef, a lot of cows die. If people eat a little beef, few cows die.If people eat no beef, no cows die. Do you two understand that?" They nodded submissively.
　
　　"Li Pi! For your crimes against living creatures and against your conscience, Is entence you to Hell, where you will suffer until you have learned your lesson. Take him away!" The demons gleefully dragged the howling butcher away, kicking him as they went.

　　"Dr. Yin Zhi! You have eaten too much beef. Every time a patient invited you to dinner, you insisted on eating beef. Do you have any idea of how many cows you have eaten? Do you admit your guilt?" Dr. Yin hung his head and nodded.

　　"Not only that, but eleven of your patients died due to your stupidity and carelessness.
　　
　　"For your crimes, I sentence you to eleven lives as a cow, wherein you will pay back your debts to those victims of your malpractice. You will end each life in suffering under the butcher's knife, as just compensation for the torments you caused innocent living creatures. Take him away!" Dr. Yin screamed as the demons pulled him out of the court.

　　"As for you," the King turned to Lin, speaking in a different tone, "You have been good to your parents and loyal to your country. It's not your time yet, so you can go back. But be sure to tell everyone what you saw here, so they do not end up in this predicament."

　　And with that, Lin Ziqi came back to life.

64.十一世做牛

　　1815年的时候，一个叫林子奇死了。他的家人朋友都很伤心，因为他是一个非常善良的人。

　　林发现自己已经身在地府了。那里有一个法庭，由阎王管理。那里的监守是牛头马面。其他的鬼怪正在急切地等着去让下一个人死掉。墙上挂满了各种刑具，它们都是由我们自己的邪思恶行造成的，不是由什么鬼神造成的。

　　一个叫殷志的医生，被拖到法庭里。“哦，不，我死了！这个一定就是我要受审的法庭了。”一想到他就觉得害怕。

　　“跪下，坏东西！”监守们喊道。殷志跪下，然后看到自己身边也跪了一个人。然后他发现他认识这个人，是他的一个朋友，一个叫李皮的当地屠夫。

　　李皮现在可没有什么友好的态度。当他看到殷医生，就戳着他的脸，告诉阎王:“全是他的错！就是他!如果他不吃牛肉，我就不会杀牛了！抓住他，放了我！”

　　殷志一点都没想到！他急忙辩解说，“大人，如果他没杀牛，我怎么吃呢?”李听到后大怒，监守们只好把他们拉开。

　　阎王用拳头砸了一下桌子。“肃静！一个杀，一个吃，两人都有罪！”

　　“你们都没有良心的吗？牛为了养活你们辛苦耕作，但是你们一点感激都没有，还吃这些无辜的畜生。如果人们吃很多牛肉，许多牛就必须死。如果人们吃得少一点，牛死的就少一些。如果人们不吃，就没有牛会死了。你们俩明白吗？” 他们顺从地点点头。

“李皮！你违背天良，杀了很多生命，所以你被判入地狱，你将会在哪里苦苦煎熬，直到你得到教训为止。把他带走！”那些鬼怪高兴地把号叫着的屠夫带走了，还一边走一边踢他。

　　“印志医生！你吃了太多的牛肉。每次有病人请你吃饭，你都一定要吃牛肉。你知道你吃了多少头牛吗？你是否认罪？”印医生垂下头，点了一点。

　　“不仅如此，你的糊涂大意还让十一个病人送了命。”

　　“因为你的罪行，我要判你当十一世的牛，你要偿还那些因为你的玩忽职守而死的人。你每一世都会痛苦地在屠刀下死去，这是你造成那些无辜动物死亡的报应。把他带走！”当魔鬼把他推出法庭时，印医生尖叫起来。

　　“至于你，”阎王转向林，换了一种语气，“你孝敬父母，忠于国家。现在还不是你的死期，你可以回去了。但是记得将你在这里的所见所闻告诉别人，这样他们就不至于死后到这种困境中来了。”

　　说完后，林子奇死而复生了。