39. A DREADFUL BIRTHDAY FEAST

　　There was an official who swore never to kill any living creature, but his wife had a nasty temper and a greedy mouth. Every day she killed some animal to make a tasty dish. Her husband never ate any of those dead animals.
　
　　One year she was having a big feast prepared for her birthday. There were pigs, goats, chickens, and ducks, all crying sadly, because they knew they were going to die.
　
　　When the official saw this, he felt very sorry. He told his wife, "Tomorrow is your birthday, but all these animals are about to die. You should feel sorry for them, and do a good deed."
　　
　　That made her mad. She said, "You mean we should all be Buddhists and swear off killing? If everybody did that, in a few years, there would be animals all over the place. I'm not going to buy that!"
　
　　The next day, she was happily waiting for her feast to begin. When the first pig was hauled out and stabbed, her spirit went into its body and she felt the knife going in and ripping her apart!
　
　　Then a goat was killed, and she could feel how the goat felt as it was butchered. Then it was a chicken's turn, and her spirit went into the chicken's body and she felt her neck being wrung. She never knew anything could hurt so much! Every time an animal was killed, she felt all its pain. She knew she had done wrong. She told the cooks to stop killing those animals, to let them loose.

　　From then on, she never took another life or ate another mouthful of animal flesh. She told everybody how much animals suffer when they are being butchered,and how unfair it is to kill dumb beasts for food.
　　
　　Because of her good deeds and mercy, she lived a long life.

39. 可怕的生日宴会

　　一个官员，他发誓永不杀生。但是他的妻子是一个坏脾气的人，胃口又大。每天她都杀一些动物来吃。她丈夫从不吃这些动物。

　　一年，她为了庆祝自己的生日准备了一次盛大的宴会。猪、羊、鸡、鸭都痛苦地号叫，因为它们知道自己要被杀掉了。

　　当那个官员看到后，他很同情。于是他对妻子说：“明天是你的生日，这些动物都要被杀掉了。你应该可怜它们，做做善事。”

　　这话惹火了她。她说，“你的意思是我们都应该成为佛教徒，发誓不杀生？如果人人都那样的话，没几年，到处都是动物了。我才不买你的帐呢！”

　
　　第二天，她高兴地等着开筵席。当第一只猪被拖出来，被刺了一刀，她觉得自己的灵魂到了猪的身体内，那一刀好像快要把她撕裂了！

　　然后一只羊被宰杀了，她觉得自己感同身受。接着杀到一只鸡了，她的灵魂进入那只鸡的身体，觉得自己的脖子快要被拧断了。她觉得痛苦极了，每一只动物被 杀，她能感受到它的所有痛楚。她知道自己做错了。她告诉厨子们，不要再杀那些动物了，把它们放生。

　　从那以后，她再也不杀生，也再没吃过一口肉。她告诉别人动物被杀时的痛苦，而且屠杀这些不会说话的生灵，仅仅为了口食，这是多么不公平。
　　因为她的善行和慈悲，她活了很久。