The Storm that Brought a Gift

The Storm That Brought a Gift

带来礼物的风暴

There are two kinds of weather in Thailand: wet and dry. From April to October it rains every day. Almost six hundred years ago, there was a terrible storm in a city called Chiang Mai. It happened in 1434. Even though there was a strong wind, loud thunder, and deep puddles of rain, the people of Chiang Mai were not afraid. They were used to storms. Outside the city was a small temple. There was a monk who lived at this temple and took care of the statues of Buddha.

泰国有两种天气：潮湿和干燥。 从四月到十月，每天都下雨。 大约六百年前，一个叫清迈的城市发生了一场可怕的风暴。 这发生在1434年。 尽管刮起了大风，雷声很大，大雨滂沱，但清迈人民并不害怕。 他们习惯了暴风雨。 城外有一座小庙。 有一位僧人住在这座寺庙里，负责看护佛像。

Whenever storms came, the monk would protect the incense so it didn’t get wet. He wanted the incense to burn for Buddha. After cleaning the temple, the monk stood in the doorway to watch the storm. The lightning stretched its fingers across the sky. The storm was coming closer to the temple. Just then, the monk saw a flash and heard a large crack! The lightning struck a chedi outside the temple and broke it.

每当暴风雨来临时，僧人都会保护香火，使其不被淋湿。 他想要香火持续为佛点燃着。 打扫完寺庙后，僧人站在门口观看暴风雨。 闪电伸出手指划过天空。 暴风雨正逼近寺庙。 就在这时，和尚看到一道闪光，听到一声巨响！ 闪电击中了寺庙外的一块澈笛，把它折断了。

A chedi is a bell-shaped pagoda. The first chedis contained the ashes of the Buddha and all chedis are sacred to his memory. The monk ran out into the rain. He wanted to protect the memory of Buddha preserved in the broken chedi. The monk found an object on the ground, among the stone pieces from the broken chedi. He wrapped the object in his robes and carried it into the temple.

澈笛是一座钟形宝塔。 第一个澈笛装着佛陀的骨灰，所有澈笛都是为了纪念他而神圣的。 和尚跑到雨中。他想保护保存在破碎澈笛里的佛陀的记忆。 和尚在地上发现了一个物体，在碎澈笛的石头碎片中。 他用长袍裹住了这件东西，把它带进了寺庙。

He lit a candle to see what it was. It looked like a statue of Buddha made out of rock. Because the statue was small, and it did not look valuable, the monk put the statue in his house. Every day he would clean this statue of Buddha and pray to it. The monk took care of the statue for many years. But one day, when he was cleaning the statue, the nose fell off. “ Oh no! ” the monk cried. Then he looked again. There was another nose underneath, and it was green!

他点了一支蜡烛为了看看是什么。它看起来像一尊由岩石制成的佛像。 因为雕像很小，看起来不是很贵重，所以和尚把雕像放在自己的房子里。 每天他都会清理这尊佛像并为它祈祷。 这位僧人多年来一直照顾着这尊雕像。 但有一天，他在清理雕像时，鼻子掉了下来。 “哦,不!"僧人叫道。然后他又看了看。下面还有一个鼻子，是绿色的!

The monk carefully began to pull away the rock. Underneath was a second Buddha made of jade. The green was such a beautiful green that he named the statue The Emerald Buddha. The monk sent a letter to the king, telling him the story of the Emerald Buddha. King Samfangkaen was excited. He asked for the statue to be sent to his palace in Chiang Mai. The monk was sad to see the Emerald Buddha go.

僧人小心翼翼地开始把石块挪开。 下面是第二尊玉制佛像。 这种绿色是如此漂亮的绿，他把这尊雕像命名为“翡翠佛”。 僧人给国王写了一封信，告诉他翡翠佛的故事。 三防根国王很兴奋。 他要求将雕像送到他的清迈宫殿。 僧人看到翡翠佛离去感到难过。