初到廣州 人見畏之 Arriving First at Guangzhou, He Is Feared by All Who See Him

Arriving First at Guangzhou, He Is Feared by All Who See Him

初到廣州　人見畏之

Patriarch Bodhidharma went to Guangzhou first. When children there saw such a dark and bearded Indian, they surrounded him as if he were performing a street show. At that time the Chinese people were rather snobbish toward foreigners. They called Indians “Mo Luo Cha” (meaning devil, or devilish ghost). The Patriarch became Monk Mo Luo Cha. They even composed a rhyme that they chanted, “Devil! Devil! Skin you, I will.” They wanted to skin him alive! See how Patriarch Bodhidharma was ridiculed and insulted?

達摩祖師先到廣州。廣州這些個小孩子，見到胡子這麼邋遢的一個印度人，大家就好像看熱鬧似地圍著他。當時的中國人看不起外國人，叫印度人「摩羅剎」，說這是摩羅剎來了，摩羅剎和尚。喊著：「摩羅剎！摩羅剎！我把你皮扒。」要扒他的皮，你看！就這麼罵達摩祖師。

However, Patriarch Bodhidharma could not understand what they were saying because he did not know Chinese. He didn’t speak their language and couldn’t communicate verbally with them. He wanted to befriend the children in that place, but as soon as they saw Patriarch Bodhidharma, they went crazy and scattered in all directions. They dared not to be near this Mo Luo Cha. Why? They were afraid of his long beard.

達摩祖師也不知他們說什麼，因為不會中國話；話也聽不懂，語言也不通，來到這兒想要和這些小孩子親近親近，嗐！這些小孩子，一見達摩祖師，就發狂似地各處跑，不敢接近這個摩羅剎。為什麼？看他那麼長的胡子，就很害怕。