对别人生起害心，等于将自己推入地狱……

《杂宝藏经》中讲过：从前，有个婆罗门娶了个年轻的妻子。

A story is told in the Sutra of Miscellaneous Treasures:

妻子容貌艳丽，但性情淫荡，不太安分守己。

Once a Brahmin married a young wife who was very beautiful but was restless with her illicit sexual desire.

婆罗门为了谋生，经常要出门，这就给了他妻子许多机会。

The Brahmin frequently traveled for his trade, which gave his wife ample opportunities.

可是家中还有一个婆婆，这让她的行动受到了很大限制。

But her freedom was ham­pered by the presence of her mother-in-law who was living with them.

于是，妻子从早到晚都在琢磨：“怎样才能除去这个老东西？”

The young wife thought long and hard about how to get rid of this old woman.

思来想去，终于想出一条恶招。

Finally, she devised a rather nasty scheme.

之后，她对婆婆百依百顺。

She became absolutely obedient to her mother-in-law,

每天给婆婆吃好的、穿好的，满嘴也是甜言蜜语，只哄得婆婆心花怒放。

serving her excellent meals, giving her fine clothes, saying nothing but sweet words, and pamper­ing her to her complete satisfaction.

丈夫见她如此，非常高兴：“像你这样照顾老人，真称得上是孝顺的好媳妇。”

The husband was very pleased and said to his wife, “By taking care of my mother so nicely, you really deserve to be called a dutiful daughter-in-law.”

妻子说：“这算什么！我现在供养婆婆的，都是人间的东西，

His wife replied, “Don’t even mention it! What I’ve provided to her are but mundane pleasures.

若能让婆婆得到天堂的供养，那才算是尽了我们做儿女的心愿。

You know, as son and daughter, the ultimate gift that we could provide is to let our mother enjoy celestial offerings.

你说，有没有什么办法能把母亲送到天堂去，让她在那儿永远享福呢？”

Darling, is there a way to deliver her to Heaven, where she will be able to enjoy eternal happiness?”

婆罗门想了半天，终于说：

The Brahmin considered it for a long while and finally replied,

“嗯，照我们的习惯，只要从山崖上跳下，或者跳到火堆里，就可以升天了。”

“Well, ac­cording to our tradition, one can reach Heaven either by jumping off the cliff or by jumping into a fire pit.”

妻子马上说：“既然有办法让婆婆去天堂享福，又何必让她继续留在人间吃这些粗茶淡饭呢？”

His wife chimed in immediately, “If there is a way to deliver our mother to Heaven, why should we keep her in this mundane world to enjoy only inferior goods and pleasures?”

婆罗门左思右想，觉得妻子的话挺有道理。

The Brahmin thought over his wife’s proposal and agreed that it made good sense.

于是，他来到野外挖了一个很深的大坑，里面堆上许多木柴，一把火点燃了。

He then dug a huge pit in the countryside and piled firewood in it.

然后，他带着母亲，召集亲友在火坑边又吃又喝、又唱又跳。

He invited many relatives and friends over and together with his mother, held a party around the pit in which a big fire had been lit. Everyone feasted on fine food and drink, merrily dancing and singing.

等客人们散去之后，夫妻俩便骗母亲来到火坑旁，猛地把她推进去，

When the party was over and the guests had departed, the couple tricked the old mother to come to the edge of the pit and abruptly pushed her into it.

然后头也不回地扬长而去。

Without even looking back, they left the scene gleefully.

没想到，火坑的半中央有一个土阶，母亲刚好掉在上面。

Unexpectedly, the old mother happened to land upon a protrusion in the middle of the pit.

老人这才明白，儿媳妇过去的孝顺全是假的，没想到她的心竟是这么毒辣。

She now saw the total pretense of her daughter-in-law’s piety and trembled at her viciousness.

在求生的本能下，老人使出全身力气向上爬，最后，好不容易爬出坑来。

Driven by her will to survive, the old mother mustered all her strength and managed to climb out from the pit with great difficulty.

之后，老人摇摇晃晃地向家一步一步地挪去。

She then walked shakily toward their home.

当路过一处森林时，天已黑得伸手不见五指，

She was passing through a forest when night fell, and it became pitch black.

老人非常害怕遇到野兽，于是拼命爬到一棵大树上，想等天亮后再走。

In fear of being attacked by beasts, she strained with all her might to climb up a big tree, where she could wait until the night was over.

不久，一群携带金银财宝的盗贼，来到那棵大树下分赃。

Soon after, a few bandits came under the tree to divide up their loot of gold and jewels.

老人见后吓得大气都不敢出。

The old woman saw them and was so scared that she could barely breathe.

过了一会儿，她嗓子痒，憋不住咳嗽了一声。

However, she could not help sneezing when her throat had a terrible itch.

盗贼们以为是恶鬼，吓得拔腿就逃，赃物扔了一地。

Hearing the sound, the thieves thought there were evil spirits nearby and ran for their lives, leaving their loot strewn all over the ground.

天亮了，老人小心翼翼地从树上滑下，拖着财物回到了家中。

At daybreak, the old woman slid down gingerly and hauled the bandits’ treasures home.

婆罗门夫妇见老母亲竟然回来了，大吃一惊，以为是鬼来索命。

When the Brahmin couple saw their old mother appear, they were aston­ished, thinking it was a ghost seeking revenge on them.

母亲说：“你们别害怕！我是死后上了天堂，又从天堂回来的。

But the mother said, “No need to fear! I was dead and went to Heaven, and now I have returned from there.

而这些财宝呢？因为我年纪大了，没力气，只给你们带回这些……”

These treasures are my gifts to you from Heaven. I’m sorry but I could only manage to bring back this much, as I am weak with age...”

儿媳妇信以为真，高兴极了，赶紧催促丈夫把自己也送到天堂去。

The daughter-in-law was totally taken in and got very excited. She urged her husband to quickly deliver her to Heaven also.

丈夫便在原来那个大坑里堆上木柴，再次燃起熊熊大火，把妻子推了进去。

The husband piled up wood in the same pit, started a big fire and pushed his wife in.

可这狠心的女人运气不好，

This evil woman, however, was not as lucky as her mother-in-law.

她没掉在土阶上，而是直接坠入火堆里，一下子就被烧死了。

She did not fall on the protrusion but plunged straight down into the fire pit and was immediately burned to death.

常言道：“害心是地狱的使者。”

The saying goes, “Malice is the messenger from hell.”

当你在对别人生害心时，无形中已将自己推入了地狱。

When you harbor ill intention toward others, unknowingly, you are pushing yourself into hell.

在这个世界上，你付出什么，就会得到什么，

In this world, whatever you give, you will receive in return.

不管你对别人做了什么，这些终究都会回到你的身上，这就是因果规律。

However you treat others, the same treatment will come back to you without fail. This, in essence, is the law of cause and effect.