35. THE CHILDLESS RICH MAN

　　During the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), when the Mongols under Genghis Khan had conquered China, there was a rich man who had a lot of money but no children. He and his wife were very lonely. They wanted a son, but just couldn't have one.
　　
　　The rich man always moped about that. "What good does all my money do without any kids to share it with?"　

　　"Why don't you go to the temple and ask the monk there?" a friend suggested. "He can see the past and the future. If anybody can help you, he can."

　　So the rich man and his wife went to the temple. They paid their respects to the Buddhas. When they saw the monk, they fell on their knees and knocked their foreheads on the floor.　　

　　"Teacher, Teacher, we beg you, tell us what is wrong. We want a child more than anything else, but we just can't have one."　　

　　The monk cast their fortunes, and used his powers to look into the past and the future. Then he told the rich man,"You ran up a huge debt in your past life by killing animals. You killed the children of many animals, so in this life, you don't get any children of your own.　　

　　"This debt is very heavy, and it's not enough just to pay it back. You have to be sorry and repent. If you can save eight million lives, you can balance out your debt. If you kill one more bug or one more worm, even by accident, you have to save one hundred more lives to make up for it.

　　"This is the best way to change your luck and to get a son."　

　　The rich man was deeply touched. He went to the main shrine of the temple and swore before the Buddhas that he would never kill again. When he and his wife got home, they got to work saving lives, and spent most of their fortune on it.They bought pigs, chickens, and ducks from the market, and arranged for them to live out their natural life spans in temples. They bought fish and crabs and eels and put them back in the water. They were very pious and went to many services in temples, to repent their past mistakes.
　
　　They kept it up for several years. Long before they had saved eight million lives, they had a healthy, happy little boy.

　　Their son was so intelligent that when he grew up, he passed the imperial examinations with ease the very first time.

35. 无子息的富人

　　元朝(公元1279－1368)，成吉思汗统治中国时期，有一个无子的富人。他和他的妻子非常孤独。他们想生个儿子，但是总不如愿。

　　这个富人总是为此闷闷不乐。“没有孩子们来继承家业，那么多钱又有什么用呢？”

　　“为什么不去庙里请教那里的师父呢？”他的一个朋友建议道，“他能知过去未来。如果他帮不了你，就没人可以帮你了。”

　　于是那个富人和他的妻子一起去了庙里拜佛。当他们见到那个和尚时，马上跪下来磕头。

　　“师父，师父，求求你，告诉我们这是怎么回事。我们只想生个孩子，但是我们一直无子息。”

　　和尚算了一下他们的命，并且用他的神通察看了一下过去未来，然后对富人说，“你过去生中杀业太重。欠下许多孽债。你杀了很多动物的幼子，所以在这一生，你命中无子。”

　　“这个罪孽太深重了，难以偿还。你必须感到内疚，进行忏悔。如果你能救助800万条性命，就可以抵消你的罪过。如果你杀了一只小虫，哪怕是无意的，你就要多救助100条生命才能抵消。”

　　“这就是改变你的命运，得一个孩子的最好方法了。”

　　那个富人触动很深。他去了庙里的大殿，在佛前发誓他再也不杀生了。当他们回家后，他和妻子开始尽力救助生命，而且把他们的大部分财产都花在上面。他们 从市场买下猪、鸡、鸭子等，安排它们在寺院里生活直到自然死亡。他们还买回鱼蟹，放回水里。他们非常虔诚地参加了庙里的许多法会，忏悔他们过去生中的罪 过。

　　他们这么坚持了好几年。远远未到他们救满800万条性命的时候，就生了一个健康快乐的儿子。

　　他们的孩子非常聪明，长大后参加科举考试就一举得中。