THE BUTCHER'S END

　　屠夫之死

　　Zhao Fuqiao was a coarse man， but he was rich， because he made so much money selling beef. Every day he butchered at least three heads of cattle. That's quite a bit of beef， so over a period of years， he became one of the richest people in the county.

　　趙阜喬是一個很粗魯?shù)娜?，但是他很有錢，因?yàn)樗抠u牛肉發(fā)了財(cái)。每天他至少要宰殺三頭牛，那樣就有很多牛肉。所以許多年后，他就成了縣里最富有的人之一。

　　Around the beginning of the nineteenth century， when Fuqiao was old， his son Guanghua took over the family business. They were so proud of their business that they put an old stump in front of their gate. They had used that stump for many years as a chopping block. They would put the cow's head on the block and smash it. When people saw that stump， they knew this was a butcher's house.

　　大約在十九世紀(jì)初的時候，阜喬已經(jīng)老了，他的兒子廣華接管了他們家族的生意。他們很為自己的生意驕傲，所以他們在門前放了一個樹樁。多年來他們都把這個樹樁當(dāng)作砧板。他們會把牛頭放在上面然后把它打碎。當(dāng)人們看到那個樹樁，就知道這是屠夫的家。

　　But one night something strange happened. The stump turned into a cow's head， and rolled all around the streets and roads of the city！ The people who saw it were astonished.

　　但是一天晚上，出了件怪事。那個樹樁變成了一個牛頭，還滾過了全城的街道！人們看到了，沒有不驚訝的。

　　That night， people passing by the Zhao's place heard the sound of innumerable cattle fighting inside. Nobody could figure out what was going on！

　　那條晚上，從趙家旁邊走過的人聽到了無數(shù)牛搏斗的聲音，沒人知道發(fā)生了什么。

　　A day or two later， Guanghua was doing business as usual when a soldier came to buy meat. But since he was buying meat on official business， he wanted a special low price.

　　一兩天后，廣華還是照常做生意。這時來了一個士兵要買肉。因?yàn)樗菫楣俑I肉，他要求肉價低一些。

　　"Are you crazy？" Guanghua screeched. "I'd lose money！" So instead of losing his money， he lost his temper. They quarreled. Guanghua got so mad that he picked up his cleaver and split that soldier's head wide open！

　　"你瘋了？"廣華尖叫著說，"我會賠錢的！"為了不賠錢，他發(fā)火了，他們倆吵了起來。廣華暴怒，他拿起了屠刀，把那個士兵的頭劈開了！

　　When Fuqiao heard that his son killed a soldier， he was so upset that he fell over and died.

　　當(dāng)阜喬聽說他的兒子殺了一個士兵，他一下子驚死了。

　　Guanghua was put to death. Before long， his widow and children were in rags， begging on the streets. The neighbors said， "We never expected that the rich Zhaos would be asking for handouts right outside the gate of their old mansion！"

　　廣華被判處死刑。不久，他的妻兒們就衣裳襤褸，要到街上要飯了。鄰居們都說，"我們?nèi)f萬沒想到，富裕的張家也會在他們的府邸門外要飯！"

　　A Buddhist explained it to them. "They brought it down upon themselves by killing so many cattle. If you do good deeds， you will earn a good fortune for you and your loved ones. If you do bad deeds， you will cause yourself and your family as much suffering as you caused others.

　　一個佛教徒向他們解釋。"這是他們殺了那么多牛招來的報應(yīng)。如果你做好事，你和你所愛的人都會得到好報；如果你做壞事，讓其他生命受折磨，那么你和你的家人都會遭受同樣的折磨。"

　　"This is why you should never eat meat. You should try to control your temper， and get along well with all living creatures so that everyone can enjoy life."

　　"這就是你們?yōu)槭裁唇^不該吃肉的原因。你們應(yīng)該控制自己的心情，與所有的生命和諧共處，這樣每個人才能過得快樂。"

　　Everybody thought that was reasonable. The other butchers in the area realized that what happened to the Zhaos could easily happen to them， too， so they closed up their butcher shops and went into other lines of business. Zhihuo county was a pleasant， peaceful place for many years afterwards.

　　每個人都認(rèn)為這話很有道理。這個地區(qū)其他的屠夫想，發(fā)生在趙家的事情，也很可能會發(fā)生在他們身上，所以他們都關(guān)了自己的肉店，改做其他生意了。很多年內(nèi)，知霍縣成了一個充滿快樂、和平的地方。

　　Now， of course， medical science has proved many times that eating beef is bad for your health. It causes heart disease and cancer. No matter how you look at it， you should know that eating meat can do you no good whatsoever.

　　現(xiàn)在，醫(yī)學(xué)已經(jīng)多次證明吃牛肉對健康有害。它能造成心臟病和癌癥。不管你怎么看，你應(yīng)該知道，吃肉無論如何對你沒有好處。

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