..續本文上一頁捶鼓似地傳入了牠的耳朵；他們所燃的火，更是燒透了牠的殼！

　　And so it went until one day the giant turtle was awakened by the pain from the fires.He wanted to cool himself, so he began to crawl toward the sea.He did not hear the people cry, "Earthquake! Earthquake!" or see them run hither and yon.

　　所以有一天，大龜王從燒灼的痛苦中醒來了，牠想要涼快自己，就開始往海裏爬。但是牠沒聽到人們哭喊著：「地震！地震！」也沒看到人們四處狂奔著。

　　When the giant turtle reached the sea, he immersed himself in the cool water to ease his pain.As the dwellers on his back saw water rising all around them, they screamed, "Flood! Flood! We will drown!"

　　當大龜王回到海裏時，牠將自己浸在冷水中，以解除痛苦；而牠背上的居民一看到水漲到身邊，都尖叫起來：「洪水！洪水！我們快淹死了！」

　　For the first time, the giant turtle realized that there were people living on his back.Not wanting to bring pain into their lives, he crawled back onto the beach.

　　這一次，大龜王總算知道有人住在牠的背上了！爲了不給人們帶來痛苦，牠又爬回到海灘上。

　　For another thousand years, he let the fires burn his skin and the rumble of the city shake him.During the days he held back the tears, but in the night he let them flow.So great was his pain and so silent were his tears that no one knew of his sacrifice.

　　另一個一千年又過去了，牠還是任由火燒灼著牠，任由城市隆隆的聲音震動著牠。白天牠的淚水往內吞，晚上牠則讓淚水靜靜地流下來。牠的痛苦是如此的巨大，可是牠的淚水卻如此的無聲無息，以至于沒有人知道牠的犧牲。

　　Finally the giant turtle decided that he needed to return to the sea.Slowly raising his head, he spoke to the people, "Do not be afraid.I will not hurt you.You see, I am a giant turtle, and you are living on my shell.I must go back into the water, or I will die."

　　One by one, the people gathered their belongings and moved back onto the beach.The giant turtle eased their buildings and homes and palaces off his back.The people created new villages and cities on the earth and their lives went on as before.

　　最後，大龜王決定牠必須回到海裏去，所以慢慢地擡起頭來對人們說：「不要害怕！我不會傷害你們的。你看！我是一只巨大的烏龜，可是你們卻住在我的背殼上；現在我必須回到水裏，否則我會死的。」

　　這時，人們一個接一個收拾他們的財物，然後搬到岸上。當背上的建築物、家園、宮殿被除去後，大龜王也感到舒服了。人們在陸地上建立了新的村落和城市，就如同以前一樣地過日子。

　　All were grateful for the kindness of the giant turtle.They bowed to him, saying, "For thousands of years, you gave us your back on which to build our world, and now you save our lives.You are king turtle!Surely, you will become a Buddha in the future."

　　大龜王的慈悲，令大家都非常感激，人們禮拜牠說：「數千年來，你讓我們在你的背上建立我們的世界，現在還救了我們的生命，你真是一位王者呀！將來一定會成佛的！」

　　Then the birds flew high above the turtle and placed garlands of fragrant flowers around his neck.Monkeys rubbed his sores with healing herbs, and elephants trumpeted sweet music to soothe his ears.

　　接著鳥兒也來到牠的上空飛翔，將香花鬘挂在牠的頸子上；猴子們用了藥草來幫牠敷愈傷口；大象們豎起長鼻子，奏著甜美的音樂，來撫慰牠的耳朵。

　　The people swept the sand from his back with peacock feathers, and the giant turtle crawled back into the sea.

　　人們則拿著孔雀的羽毛掃除了牠背上的沙；最後大龜王又回到海裏了！

　　After the telling of this tale, the Buddha said, "I was the king turtle, and the people that lived on my back became my disciples."

　　講完了這個故事後，佛陀就說：「我就是那只大龜王，那些住在我背上的人，後來就變成我的弟子。」

《大龜王(佛陀本生故事)The Giant Turtle》全文閱讀結束。