The Frightening Sound of ”Munch, Munch, Munch”. (Chap. 3.)

　　"Indeed," said King Brahmadatta to the humble forest monk, "you have set my mind to rest concerning my first eight dreams. But my last eight dreams are even more frightening. I must do something to prevent the doom they predict." Again the king began shaking uncontrollably with fear and panic.

　　"Calm down," said the holy man, "and tell me these dreams also, that I may relieve your distress."

　　The king replied, ”These were my last eight dreams, the ninth to the 16th: a pond that”s muddy in the middle and clear by the shore, rice cooking unevenly in a pot, fine sandalwood traded for spoiled buttermilk, empty pumpkins sinking in water, solid rocks floating on water. giant snakes gobbled up by tiny she-frogs, royal golden swans waiting on a bad village crow, the frightening sound of ”munch, munch, munch”."

　　"Please tell me the details of your ninth dream," said the monk.

　　"Your reverence, I dreamed I saw a pond which was deep in the middle and shallow by the shore. It was filled with all five kinds of lotuses, and there were all kinds of animals - two-footed and four-footed - drinking near the shore. And yet the water remained clear by the shore, and got muddy only in the middle. How could this be

　　 What does this mean

　　"

　　"Oh king," said the forest monk, "in the distant future there will be only unwholesome kings. They will rule based on their will power, along with their anger and fear. They will not care at all about wholesomeness and justice. They will be much more interested in becoming rich from all kinds of bribes, than in the well-being of the citizens. No longer will rulers have patience, loving-kindness and compassion towards the people they rule. Instead they will be rough and cruel, crushing the people to squeeze the last penny from them in taxes - just as the sweet juice is squeezed from sugar cane.

　　"Therefore the citizens, unable to pay the taxes and bribes, will flee to the borderlands. Soon there will be less people living in the corrupt central capitals, and the borderlands will be heavily populated by the humble

　　just like the pond that is muddy in the middle and clear by the shore.

　　"But obviously there is nothing in this for you to fear, oh good and wholesome king. What was your tenth dream

　　"

　　"Your reverence, I dreamed I saw rice cooking unevenly in a pot. Some was overcooked, some well-cooked. and some still raw."

　　"Don”t worry about this either," said the holy man. "This dream foretells a time when all will be unwholesome, not like today! Kings will be unwholesome, and so will officials and ministers, priests and homemakers, city and country folks. Amazing as it may seem, this dream indicates a time when holy men will be unwholesome too! In addition. even the gods, tree spirits and fairies will be unwholesome and wicked!

　　"The winds will change quickly, sometimes blowing too hard and sometimes not at all. These winds will shake the heavenly homes of the sky gods. Therefore, in some places rains will cause floods, it will rain just right in some areas, and there will be terrible droughts in other places. It will be like rice in the cooking pot - some overcooked, some well-cooked, and some raw.

　　"Now tell me your 11th dream, oh king."

　　"Your reverence, I dreamed I saw the finest sandalwood, worth 100,000 pieces of money, being traded for spoiled buttermilk. What is the meaning of this

　　"

　　"This too indicates a far-off future time, when knowledge of Truth is disappearing. There will be many greedy shameless preachers who distort the Four Necessities: food, clothing, shelter and medicine. They will make these into luxuries, far richer than they really need.

　　"They will teach the worthlessness of luxuries and the unwholesomeness of greed, by preaching the Tr…

《The Frightening Sound of Munch, Munch, Munch· (Chap· 3· )》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…