3.成唐的故事 Cheng Tang And The Net
- CHENG TANG AND THE NET
More than 3,500 years ago, there was a very kind and wise emperor called Cheng Tang. Every year he traveled around his empire to visit all of his people and see if there was anything the government could do for them.
One beautiful day, the birds were singing and the beasts were enjoying the nice weather. The Emperor smiled as he heard their pleasant calls. Then he saw huge nets spread where all those animals would get caught. He heard a trapper praying in a loud voice. This is what the trapper prayed:
May all the birds in the sky, May all the beasts on the ground, May all the animals from north, east, west, and south, Come into my net, Let not one of them escape!
Emperor Cheng Tang was upset to find such a greedy, heartless trapper, but he was also a very wise monarch. He did not command the trapper to stop hunting. Instead, with his own imperial hands, he took down three sides of the nets,leaving only one side.
The trapper wondered what was going on, but he couldn’t just go up and punch the Emperor. Then he heard Cheng Tang praying out loud. This is what the Emperor prayed:
May all who wish to dodge to the left, dodge to the left; May all who wish to dodge to right, dodge to the right; May all who wish to go over the nets, go over the nets; May all who wish to duck under the nets, duck under the nets; Only those who do not wish to live any more May enter my nets.
The trapper realized that he had been greedy and mean. He told every one how kind their Emperor was, so all the people trusted Cheng Tang. The dynasty Ch’eng T’ang founded, the Shang, ruled China for over 600 years.
- 成唐的故事
3500多年前，有一位仁厚而又賢明的國王，名叫成唐。每年他都要視巡他的疆土，走訪所有的國民，看朝廷是否還有未盡之事。
一個美麗的日子，鳥兒歡歌，野獸也喜滋滋地沐浴著陽光。國王聽到這一切的時候，臉上露出笑容。接著他看到一張巨大的網散布在所有野獸足跡所至之處。 他聽到獵人大聲地祈禱，祈禱如下：
但願天上所有的鳥兒， 但願地上所有的走獸， 不管來自東南西北， 全部進入我的網中 一個也不讓它們逃掉！
國王成唐看到這樣一個貪心而又殘酷的獵人非常不安，但他畢竟是一個英明的君主。他沒有命令獵人停止打獵，而是用他自己的貴手拆除了網的三面，只留下一邊。
獵人不知出了什麼問題，但他又不敢上前打皇帝幾拳。接著他聽到成唐大聲地祈禱。國王是這樣祈禱的：
所有想從左邊逃走的，請走左邊 所有想從右邊逃走的，請走右邊， 所有想從網上邊走的，請走上邊 所有想從網下邊走的，請走下邊。 只有那些不想繼續活下去的，請到網中來。
獵人意識到自己一直很自私和吝嗇。他把國王的仁厚告訴每一個人，人們因此都很信任成唐。成唐建立的商朝統治了中國600多年。