壽夭窮通皆不出輪回

　　Rich or Poor, Long-lived or Short-lived－None Can Escape Transmigration

　　人生如夢；不要執著，就沒有一切煩惱。

　　要看破放下來修行，不要再留戀在六道輪回中了。

　　Life is like a dream. Be attached to nothing and you will have no affliction.

　　See through everything, put it all down, and cultivate. Don”t hanker after this transient existence in the six paths.

　　石崇富貴範丹窮，

　　運晚甘羅太公早；

　　彭祖壽高顔命短，

　　六人都在五行中。

　　自古以來，富有的人，最有名的就是石崇，他是晉朝人，家産富可敵國。有一次，他和朋友宴飲時，朋友說：「我有一棵珊瑚樹高二尺八寸。」特意從庫房中搬出來，請石崇參觀。

　　Now we will discuss some of the richest, the noblest, the poorest, and the lowliest figures in Chinese history.

　　Shi Chong was wealthy,

　　 and Fan Dan, poor;

　　Gan Luo”s fate was to be late,

　　 while Tai Gong was early.

　　Peng Zu was long-lived,

　　 but Yan”s life was short.

　　These six people are all within

　　 the five elements.

　　Shi Chong, who lived in the Jin Dynasty, was one of the wealthiest and most famous people in Chinese history. His fortune was comparable to the national treasury. Once Shi Chong went to a banquet at a friend”s house. His friend told him how he had obtained a coral "tree" two feet eight inches high and then brought the piece out to show Shi Chong.

　　石崇見到這棵珊瑚樹，就說：「這算個什麼！」一腳就把它踢碎了，他的朋友感歎地說：「哎啊！我不知在什麼地方才找到這棵珍貴的珊瑚樹，現在你這麼樣就把它踢碎了，這太可惜了！」

　　Shi Chong took a look and scoffed, "What”s so great about that

　　" He then stomped on the coral tree and smashed it to bits.

　　"Oh no!" his friend cried ruefully. "It was so hard to find in the first place, and now you”ve ruined it. How awful!"

　　石崇說：「你可惜什麼？這算個什麼？哼！我家裏垃圾桶裏也不知有多少這一類的東西，你到我家裏去看看。」

　　Shi Chong retorted, "What”s the big deal

　　 I”ve got zillions like this in the storerooms at home. Come see for yourself."

　　朋友就到他家去看。一看，原來石崇家裏，叁尺多高的珊瑚樹有幾百棵。石崇說：「你隨便拿，你願意拿哪一棵就拿吧！」所以他朋友視爲寶貝之物，在石崇家不算一回事。這就是說石崇富貴財寶不知有多少。

　　The friend went to Shi Chong”s house where he saw several hundred coral clusters over three feet tall.

　　Shi Chong said, "Go ahead! Take one! Choose whichever one you like!" What his friend had prized as a treasure was a dime a dozen in Shi Chong”s house. This shows how tremendously wealthy Shi Chong was. No one knew the true extent of his fortune.

　　範丹是個要飯的，他到處爲家，什麼也沒有，天天出去討飯，要了多少就吃多少，也不出外做工，吃完了再出去要，也就是所謂的：

　　Fan Dan was a beggar who had nothing of his own. Each day he would go out and beg for his food, and then he would eat however much he got. He didn”t work at all. When he ran out of food, he would go and beg for more. His situation was such that:

　　家無隔宿之糧，

　　身無立錐之地。

　　Barely getting by on a day”s scraps,

　　He was on the verge of homelessness.

　　範丹雖然窮，時常出外要飯，但以後大概也有一點積蓄，存了一點糧食。有一次孔夫子帶著弟子，在陳國絕糧，他們沒有東西吃，所以孔夫子派子路到範丹那兒去借米。你看看，孔夫子有很多人，而竟向一個要飯的借米去，這豈不是笑話？當子路到了範丹那兒，就表達來意說：「我的老師因爲在陳國絕糧，現在沒有飯吃，所以我特意到你這兒來借點米，回去用用。」

　　Every place was home to him. Although it was true that Fan Dan was poor and always had to beg for food, he probably started saving up some food. Confucius and his disciples ran out of food when they were travelling through the state of Chen. Since they had nothing to eat, Confucius told his disciple Zi Lu to go and borrow some rice from Fan Dan. Confucius had so many followers, and yet he needed to borrow rice from a beggar－strange how things work, isn”t it

　　 Zi Lu went to Fan Dan and explained, "My teacher has run out of food in the state of Chen, and I”ve come to borrow rice from you."

　　範丹說：「你要借米可以，但我先有個問題要你答複，答對了就借給你；答不對，就不借。」子路信心充足地說：「你盡管問吧！」

　　Fan Dan said, "If you want to borrow rice, that”s fine, but first you must answer my question. If you give the right answer, I”ll lend you the rice. If you don”t, I won”t lend it to you."

　　Zi Lu confidently replied, "Ask away!"

　　範丹就問了：「你告訴我，世界上，天地間，什麼多？什麼少？什麼歡喜？什麼惱？你能答對了，我就毫無條件借米給你，要借多少都可以。你如果答不對，那我就不借給你，這點要先說清楚了。」

　　Fan Dan said, "Tell me, in this world, what is numerous and what is few

　　 What makes people happy and what makes them sad

　　 If you tell me the right answer, I”ll lend you the rice with no st…

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