..续本文上一页is blindfold while I dance." Again he agreed to her request and she put a blindfold over his eyes.

　　The priest played a pretty tune on his complicated Indian guitar, while his lady danced. After a bit she said, "As part of my dance, won”t you let me give you a tap on the head

　　" "As you wish, my dear," he said.

　　Then she motioned to the playboy, who came out of the closet, snuck up from behind, and hit the old priest on the head! His eyes nearly popped out, and a bump began rising from the blow. He cried out and the lady put her hand in his. He said, "Such a soft hand sure can deliver a wallop, my dear!"

　　The playboy returned to the closet. The lady removed the priest”s blindfold and put some ointment on his bump. When he had left, the serving woman hid the playboy in her flower basket and smuggled him out of the mansion. He went immediately to the king and told him the whole story, in a very boastful way of course.

　　The next day the royal priest went to the palace as usual. The king said, "Shall we gamble on the throw of the dice

　　" The priest, expecting to win once more, agreed. Just as before, the king recited his lucky charm:

　　"If tempted any woman will, for sure, give up her faithfulness and act impure."

　　As usual the priest added:

　　"Except my woman - faithful evermore!"

　　But lo and behold the dice fell in the king”s favour and he took the priest”s money.

　　The king said, "Oh priest, your woman is no exception! True faithfulness cannot be forced! Your plan was to snatch a newborn baby girl, lock her up behind seven gates guarded by seven guards, and force her to be good. But you have failed. Any prisoner”s greatest wish is freedom!

　　"She blindfolded you and then her playboy lover gave you that bump on your old bald head - which proves your gates and guards were useless!

　　The priest returned home and accused his lady. But in the meantime, she had come up with a plan of her own. She said, "No, my lord, I have been completely faithful to you. No man has ever touched me except you! And I will prove it in a trial by fire. I will walk on fire without being burned to prove I speak the truth."

　　She ordered the old servant woman to fetch her son, the playboy. She was to tell him to take the lady by the hand and prevent her from stepping in the flames. This the woman did.

　　On the day of the trial by fire, the priest”s lady said to the crowd of onlookers, "I have never been touched by any man except this priest, my master. By this truth, may the fire have no power over me."

　　Then, just as she was about to step into the fire, the playboy leaped from the crowd and grabbed her hand. He shouted, "Stop! Stop! How can this priest be so cruel as to force this tender young lady into a raging fire!"

　　She shook her hand free and said to the priest, "My lord, since this man has touched my hand, the trial by fire is useless. But you can see my good intention!"

　　The priest realised he had been tricked. He beat her as he drove her away forever. At last she was free of him and mistress of her own fate.

　　The moral is: You can”t force someone to be good.

《The Priest Who Gambled With a Life (Misguided Morality)》全文阅读结束。