32. AN IDEAL BIRTHDAY PARTY
Granny Xu was the mother of the imperial scholar Xiu. They lived in Gunlun, near Shanghai, during the Ming dynasty.
Granny Xu was a lifelong vegetarian. She enjoyed doing good deeds. She did all she could to help the poor. Every morning and evening she practiced her Buddhist devotions, and she never missed a day.
She was kind to her children, and her children were very good to her, so they had a happy family.
In 1637, Granny Xu celebrated her sixtieth birthday. The sixtieth birthday is important for Chinese, but she didn't celebrate with a cake and candles. Three days before her birthday, she had her children prepare food and money for all the poor people in the area.
When the big day came, the poor people crowded around her house and everybody had a great time. Of course, the feast was all vegetarian dishes, and were they delicious! Everybody was stuffed.
Granny Xu's friends and relatives all came, too, but Chinese don't give presents at birthdays, they give money. Granny Xu got a whole pile of money for her birthday. She called Yusi to her. 'Take this pile of money and print the Lotus Sutra for these friends and relatives?
In those days, printing was very difficult, and books were hard to come by. Most books were printed by carving the text on boards, word by word, page by page. The Lotus Sutra is pretty long, so it took three years to finish.
The Sutra was ready just in time for her 63rd birthday, so she invited all her friends and relatives to another birthday party, and this time, she gave every one of them a copy of the Lotus Sutra.
Granny Xu lived for a long time. She was still lively and healthy at eighty,and she always had a good appetite. Everybody said she didn't look a day over sixty. Her children and grandchildren said they were so happy and prosperous because they were all vegetarians, and Granny Xu had done so many good deeds.She lived to be over ninety years old, and died cheerfully, without any sickness.
32. 一个完美的生日宴会
许老太太是明代翰林许的母亲，他们住在Gunlun，今上海附近。
许老太太吃了一生的素。她又喜欢行善，总是尽力帮助穷人。她每天早晚礼佛，从没有一天延误。
她对儿女都很好，她的儿女也孝顺她，他们一起过着快乐的日子。
1637年，徐老太太迎来了她的60大寿。六十岁的生日对中国人来说非常重要，但是她并不用点着蜡烛的蛋糕来庆祝她的生日。在她生日前三天，她就叫她的儿女们为地方上的穷人准备好食物和钱。
在那个喜日子里，寿日那天，她家挤满了穷人，每个人都过得很快活。当然，筵席上的菜都是素菜，但是非常美味可口！每个人都吃得饱饱的。
许老太太的亲朋好友都来了，中国人在生日上送钱贺寿，而不是送礼物。许老太太在生日那天就收到了一大笔钱。她把御史叫来“用这笔钱给亲友们印法华经。”
在那时，印书很麻烦，书籍也很难得。大多数书都要得逐字逐页的刻写在板上后，才能印刷。法华经很长，花了三年才印完。
在她63岁生日时，佛经终于印完了。她邀请她所有的亲戚朋友再来参加她的寿宴，这一次，她送给他们每人一本经书。
许老太太活了很长时间，她在80高龄的时候还很健康，充满活力，胃口也很好。每个人都说她看起来最多60岁。她的儿孙们都说，他们之所以那么快乐，还 人丁兴旺，是因为他们都吃素，而且徐老太太做了那么多善事。她活过了90岁，安宁死去，没有病痛。
