Stories for children of all ages
translated by GB Talovich
Edited by Silent Voices
About 1,600 years ago, there was a kind-hearted Confucian scholar named Mao. Once, before he had passed the imperial examinations and become a government official, he happened to see a fisherman on his way to the market to sell a turtle. Mao Pao immediately bought the turtle, but instead of eating it, he took it to a nearby lake and let it go.
Later, Mao became a very powerful general. But, even the very best generals lose sometimes, and one time General Mao's forces were beaten and they had to run for their lives.
The enemy was following hot on their heels. General Mao was running as fast as anyone else. He reached a great lake, but there were no boats around, and there was no bridge. There was no way to cross the water. General Mao couldn't swim, and anyway, he was dressed in battle armor, which would carry him straight to the bottom.
He looked back and saw the enemy was almost on top of him. He sighed and said, "The heavens have abandoned me!"
Rather than fall into enemy hands, General Mao prepared to take his own. Just as he was about to commit suicide, he noticed something huge come to the surface of the water, and float over close to the shore where he was preparing to kill himself.
He had no time to worry about what was floating in the lake. The enemy was coming closer and closer. General Mao decided, "If I kill myself here, the enemy will capture my corpse. This will disgrace my country and my emperor. It will be better for me to throw myself into the lake so they cannot find my body." With that, he leaped into the water of the lake. He was surprised for he landed on something. Then he started to move away from the shore, across the lake, to the other side, General Mao was astonished.
The enemy reached the lake. They yelled, they howled they shot arrows at General Mao, but he was already out of range. The arrows fell harmlessly into the water and didn't touch him. General Mao looked down and discovered he was standing on a huge turtle! The turtle took him to the other side of the lake. General Mao got off and went up the bank. The turtle came to the surface and nodded to him. Then it sank back into the water and swam away.
Then General Mao remembered; many years before, he had saved a turtle and released it in a lake - this very lake! Now, in his time of need, the turtle had come to rescue him: a life for a life!
related post: 《The Love of Life》- Bees Prevent A Miscarriage of Justice
Source Of Information:
《Wisdom of the Buddhas》, by Venerable Wu Ling, based on the Talks of Venerable Master Chin Kung, translated by Silent Voices, published in August, 2012, distributed by Amitabha Buddhist Society Malaysia (92, Jalan Pahang, 53300 Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
*** The information provided above does not contain personal opinion of this blog.
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