Slicing Off His Arm,
Dharma Master Shen Guang Solves the Problem

神光断臂　考题交卷

The problem was stated and Dharma Master Shen Guang solved it. He wrote the essay. How did he solve the problem? He thought, "What a mess I'm in now! The falling snow is white. How could it turn red?" Aha! He raised his head and saw a knife hanging from a rock. That knife was a cultivator's precept blade. It hung there in readiness in case the time ever came when the cultivator faced a situation in which he would be forced to break the precepts.

出了这样一个题目，可是神光法师就把这文章给作成了！文章怎么作的呢？他一看：“这回糟糕了，雪都是白的，怎么会有红的？”一抬头，哦！看见石壁上挂着一把刀，这把刀是修道人的戒刀，就是预备在逼不得已，一定要犯戒时，宁可把自己的头割下来也不犯戒，保持戒体，预备这样用的。

In that case, he would rather use the knife to cut off his own head in order to preserve the integrity of his precept substance than to violate the precepts.  When Dharma Master Shen Guang saw the knife, he had an idea. "Great! Since you want red snow, I will show you red snow." He took down the knife. Now, what do you suppose he was about to do? Was he going to kill Patriarch Bodhidharma? No. He grabbed the knife and with one swing cut off his own arm. That was how he solved the problem. He completed his essay.

神光法师一看，啊！福至心灵了：“好！既然您要红雪，我就给您红雪看看！”就将这把戒刀拿下来，你说他干什么？是不是想要杀达摩祖师？不是的。他拿了戒刀，就一刀砍断了一只臂；这是他对这样的考试题目，所作成的文章。