---
title: 40.勾魂鬼的拜訪 The Soul-collector Visits
description: "Zhao passed the imperial examinations and earned the rank of Excellent Talent. A kind, honest man, he was careful not to"
---

40. THE SOUL-COLLECTOR VISITS

　　Zhao passed the imperial examinations and earned the rank of Excellent Talent. A kind, honest man, he was careful not to hurt any living creature.

　　One day he went to visit some relatives. When the ferry he was on reached the middle of the river they were crossing, he noticed somebody standing in the boat. Strange, that looked like a servant of his who had died three years before!

　　"What are you doing?" Zhao asked him.

　　"I am working for the world of spirits. My job is to collect souls when their time has come," the dead servant replied. "Today I have three souls to collect."

　　"Whose?" Zhao asked.

　　"One of them lives over on that bank, the second is one of the relatives you're visiting, and the third, the third..."

　　"Who is the third soul?" Zhao asked, but his dead servant wouldn't answer. Zhao knew that the third soul whose time had come was himself.

　　His dead servant told him not to be afraid. "This evening I won't go to your place, so everything will be all right."

　　"How so?"

　　"On my way here, I was asked to let you go, because you have been so kind and you haven't killed anything."

　　When Zhao got to his relative's house, he heard the sounds of mourning and weeping. Somebody had died. He turned around and went home. That night, his servant did not come for him. Everything was all right.

　　Zhao lived a long and useful life. He was happy and prosperous because he never killed anything. If you cherish life, you can cherish your own life.

40. 勾魂鬼的拜訪

　　趙通過了科舉考試，得到了秀才的名銜。他是一個善良、正直的人，總是小心翼翼以免傷害到其他生物。

　　一天他去拜訪親戚。當他乘坐的渡船到了河中間的時候，他注意到有一個人站在船上。奇怪的是，那個人看起來像是他三年前死去的僕人。

　　「您在干什麼？」趙問他。

　　「我為幽冥界服務。我的任務是當人們壽終時收走他們的靈魂。」他死去的僕人回答，「今天我會收走三個靈魂。」

　　「誰的靈魂?」趙問。

　　「一個住在岸上，第二個是你要拜訪的親戚，第三，第三……」

　　「第三個是誰？」趙問，但是他死去的僕人沒有回答，趙明白了。第三個大限將至的人就是他自己。

　　他死去的僕人叫他別怕。「今晚我不會去你那里，一切都會好的。」

　　「為什麼？」

　　「在我來的路上，有人要求我放過你。因為你很善良，從不殺生。」

　　當趙到了他親戚家里，他聽到哭泣的聲音。有人死了。他轉身回家了。那天晚上，他的僕人沒有來，一切都很正常。

　　趙過了長久而有意義的一生。他過著幸福的生活，而且子孫滿堂，因為他沒有殺生過。如果你珍愛其他生命，你才能真正珍愛自己的生命。