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(gè)很粗魯?shù)娜耍撬苡绣X(qián)，因?yàn)樗抠u(mài)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(shí)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?cè)陂T(mén)前放了一個(gè)樹(shù)樁。多年來(lái)他們都把這個(gè)樹(shù)樁當(dāng)作砧板。他們會(huì)把牛頭放在上面然后把它打碎。當(dāng)人們看到那個(gè)樹(shù)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(gè)樹(shù)樁變成了一個(gè)牛頭，還滾過(guò)了全城的街道！人們看到了，沒(méi)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(guò)的人聽(tīng)到了無(wú)數(shù)牛搏斗的聲音，沒(méi)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(shí)來(lái)了一個(gè)士兵要買(mǎi)肉。因?yàn)樗菫楣俑I(mǎi)肉，他要求肉價(jià)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(shuō)，"我會(huì)賠錢(qián)的！"為了不賠錢(qián)，他發(fā)火了，他們倆吵了起來(lái)。廣華暴怒，他拿起了屠刀，把那個(gè)士兵的頭劈開(kāi)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(tīng)說(shuō)他的兒子殺了一個(gè)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(shuō)，"我們?nèi)f萬(wàn)沒(méi)想到，富裕的張家也會(huì)在他們的府邸門(mén)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(gè)佛教徒向他們解釋。"這是他們殺了那么多牛招來(lái)的報(bào)應(yīng)。如果你做好事，你和你所愛(ài)的人都會(huì)得到好報(bào)；如果你做壞事，讓其他生命受折磨，那么你和你的家人都會(huì)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(gè)人才能過(guò)得快樂(lè)。"

　　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(gè)人都認(rèn)為這話很有道理。這個(gè)地區(qū)其他的屠夫想，發(fā)生在趙家的事情，也很可能會(huì)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(gè)充滿快樂(lè)、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(duì)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(wú)論如何對(duì)你沒(méi)有好處。

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