The Soft-shell Turtle Who Cures Ailments
Once upon a time there was a couple whose surname was Zhang. They liked eating
soft-shell turtle very much. One day they bought a huge soft-shell turtle and
gave it to the young maid called Ape,
"Ape! Kill this soft-shell turtle. This time we want to eat a barbecued
one, pay attention todo your best!"
Ape had never been fond of killing. However, it was hard for her not to obey
the command of the master. Therefore having no way out, she started to sharpen
the knife in the kitchen. The knife became sharper and sharper. Ape gazed at
the soft-shell turtle. She saw it looking at her with its eyes begging her not
to kill.
Suddenly Ape felt that she did not have the heart to kill it. Therefore she
secretly took the soft-shell turtle and set it free in the river. Then she told
the master a lie of good-will,
"I'm sorry, it was me who didn't look well after the soft-shell turtle
and now it is missing. Please forgive me."
Hearing that the master was outraged,
"How could you be so careless! Where were your eyes? How could you lose
such a big soft-shell turtle? Iam really disappointed! Without any cause you
let us lose a beautifulmeal! Alas!"
Not long after suddenly Ape suddenly fell severely ill and it seemed that she
was dying. Mr. and Mrs Zhang saw no sign of her recovery, so they called people
to take her home. However, those people threw her on the river bank near her
home and went off.
At midnight, a big soft-shell turtle suddenly emerged from the water, carrying
wet mud, the sort-shell covered Apes body with the mud. Originally Ape had a
temperature all over her body. But then she felt her body become so much cooler
and she recovered in no time. When Ape went back to her master's place, everyone
was so surprised that no one could say a word.
"What was the matter?"
Apê told the story of how the soft-shell turtle helped her to cure thedisease.
The master only half-believed her so they went to look for the sort-shell turtle.
Consequently they discovered that it was the one they had lost. The whole family
was deeply moved by this incident. The couple hugged Ape and said, "Fortunately
you set free the soft-shell turtle so that we will not continue to make mistakes.
Ape, from now on we swear we will not eat soft-shell turtles any more."
Extract of The Buddhist Children's Stories, page 31-33, published by TheWhite
Cloud Cultural Centre, Taipei Taiwan