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善恶定生死
——红眼石狮的故事

很久以前，一个村庄的人们道德已经变得很坏了，神要毁了这个村庄。一位菩萨还想挽救村中有善心的人，想再给人一次机会，于是他下到人间，化成一个乞讨者，来到村里挨家挨户的乞讨，可是，没有一个人肯给他一口饭吃。

他走到村口，发现一个老太太正在给佛上香，就走上前去讨饭。老太太为难地说：“我就这一碗饭了，给你半碗吧，留下这半碗要给佛上供的。”菩萨临行时指著村口的一对石狮子对她说：“你什么时候看见这对狮子的眼睛红了，就是要发大水了，你就赶快往山上跑，切记。”

老太太马上把这个消息告诉了村里的人们，结果全村的人没有一个相信她，还讥笑她、讽刺她，说这石头做的狮子眼睛怎么会变红呢?

一天，村里几个游手好闲的人想拿老太太开玩笑，便用红染料把石狮子的眼睛染红了。当老太太看到石狮子的眼睛红了，便焦急的向村里的人们大喊:“快跑啊!要发大水了”。

村里的人看到老太太真的上了当，都笑弯了腰。老太太还是不停地喊，可没人当真，也没有一个人听她的。老太太见大家都不理她，只好一个人往山上跑。结果真的很快就发大水了，老太太边跑边回头，只见大水迅速的上涨，霎时间整个村庄就被淹没在一片汪洋里，老太太再也听不到人们对她的嘲笑。

一个善念让老太太有缘听到了菩萨的告诫。而村里人听到老太太的告诫后，心出恶念，嘲笑并愚弄老太太，甚至恶作剧真的把狮子的眼睛染红了。最后，善念让善人得救，而恶念却让恶者丧生。
 
Good and Evil Determines Life and Death 
The story of the red-eyed stone lions
 
A long time ago, the morals of the people in a village had become very bad, and gods were going to destroy the town. A Bodhisattva wanted to save the benevolent people in the village, giving them another chance to survive. So, she went down to the world and turned into a beggar. She arrived at the village to beg from house to house, but no one was willing to give her a bite of food.
 
She walked to the entrance of the village and found that an old lady was offering incense to the Buddha, so she stepped forward to beg. The old lady said embarrassingly: "I have this bowl of rice. Let me give you a half bowl. Leave this half bowl for the Buddha's offering." The Bodhisattva pointed to a pair of stone lions at the village entrance and said to her: "When you see the eyes of these lions turn red, there will be a great flood. You should run up the mountain, remember this."
 
The old lady immediately told the villagers but no one believed her, laughed at her and ridiculed her, saying, how could the eyes of the stone lion turn red?
 
One day, a few layabouts in the village wanted to make fun of the old lady, so they dyed the eyes of the stone lions red with red dye. When the old lady saw the stone lion's eyes were red, she anxiously shouted to the villagers: "Run! It's going to flood."
 
The villagers bent double with laughter having successfully fooled the old lady. The old lady kept shouting, but no one took it seriously, and no one listened to her. Seeing that everyone her, the old lady had to run up the mountain alone, and the flood submerged the whole village soon.
 
A kind thought gave the old lady the chance to hear the Bodhisattva's warning. When the villagers listened to the old lady's advice, they had evil thoughts, fooled her, and ridiculed her, and even painted the lions’ eyes red. In the end, good ideas save the good, while evil thoughts kill evil doers.
  
Translated by Joseph Wu
Edited by Helen