侄子

Young Nephew

本来不想在日记里提到自己的亲友，但今天听到的消息使我实在难以抑制，忍不住将它写了出来。

I have been making a point of not mentioning my relatives in this diary. But the news I heard today was just too much for me to contain, thus I am giving in and writing it down here.

侄子仁增诺沃今年10岁，在我的记忆中，他是十分吝啬的。我每月给他一些零花钱，他从舍不得花，看到伙伴们买零食、饮料，他也只是在一边看着，宁可偷偷地咽口水，也不愿为零食花一个铜板。一些生活必需品，也是八方乞讨、四处借贷，真是一只一毛不拔的“铁公鸡”。

My nephew Rigzen Norwo is 10 years old and, as I recall, quite a frugal person. I have been giving him a little pocket money each month and he always holds onto it tightly. When his peers are buying snacks or soft drinks, he chooses to be a bystander. Even if he is drooling and swallowing saliva quietly, he still resists spending any of his money on snack food. He also tries to borrow or beg for his daily necessities from all possible sources; in fact, he is a real scrooge.

今天却听弟弟告诉我，他将很久以来苦心积攒的600元零花钱，全部交给慈诚罗珠堪布用于放生，自己一文不剩，令我十分感动。

Yet today my brother told me that my nephew offered all his money he had so painstakingly saved over a long period, 600 yuan in total, to Khenpo Tsultrim Lodro for releasing live beings. He kept not a single penny for himself. I was deeply touched.

他历来善根深厚，十分喜爱放生。记得一次他被拖拉机撞倒，伤势不轻，为了安慰他，我告诉他说：“也许是因为你喜欢放生的缘故，才没有撞得更厉害。”他回答我说：“我也是这样想，真是感谢三宝的加持。”

Rigzen Norwo has a propensity for kindness and loves to release live beings. Once he was severely injured by a tractor. To console him I said: “You know, had it not been for your constant practice of releasing live beings, you could have been hurt more seriously.” He agreed and said: “I thought so too, I am very grateful for the blessings of the Three Jewels.”

虽然，他失去了一些品尝零食的快乐，但他的收获却是难以衡量的。想到世间很多与他同龄的儿童，早已熏染了世间的恶浊之气，为一己之利，不惜伤害其它众生。如果遭遇违缘，也只知怨天尤人、哭天喊地。他能做到这样，无不归功于上师三宝的加持。

Although my nephew has deprived himself of the pleasure of savoring snacks, his gains are immeasurable. Many of his young peers, having already been conditioned to worldly perverted ways, do not hesitate to harm other beings for self-interest. When they encounter bad luck, they become deeply distressed and place the blame on fate or other people. My nephew’s otherwise sensible conduct must be credited to the blessings of the teachers and the Three Jewels.

我多么希望所有与他同龄的孩子，都能像他一样，时时浸润在佛法的阳光雨露中，不再遭遇世俗的狂风暴雨，不再重蹈前辈的覆辙。我不知道他的未来将会如何，但他今天的行为的确令我随喜。

I sincerely wish my nephew’s peers would have the same fortune as he so that the sunlight and shower of Buddha’s teachings would always nourish them. May they be spared from the violent storms of mundane existence and may they not repeat the same mistakes of their predecessors. As to my nephew, I can’t foretell what his future will be like, but at least for today, his act has brought me immense rejoicing.

壬午年五月初八　　
2002年6月18日

8th of May, Year of RenWu
June 18, 2002