紅人自畫像
我是古印度孔雀王朝的第三代國王,我最大的成就是統一了南亞次大陸。并且,如果沒有我,佛教大概也不會成為世界三大宗教之一,因為我曾經大力弘揚佛教,讓它廣為流傳!
I was the third emperor of the Maurya Dynasty of ancient India—Emperor Ashoka. My greatest success was that I unified the South-Asian Subcontinent. What’s more, with-out me, Buddhism wouldn’t have become one of the three largest religions in the modern world. After all, it was due to my boosting that Buddhism became widespread.
超級訪問
佛教是一個很神秘的宗教,在美麗的古印度很多人都信仰佛教。因此古古很感興趣,他決定啟程,去探望一下那位赫赫有名的阿育王。時空穿梭機在時光隧道里飛馳,兩秒鐘后,阿育王乘坐的象車出現在古古的眼前。
Buddhism is a mysterious religion. In the beautiful ancient India, many people believed in it. That’s why Gugu was so interested in the famous Emperor, Ashoka. He drove the time machine through the time tunnel, and two seconds later he found himself in front of Emperor Ashoka’s elephant-cart.
(S=Simon A=Ashoka)
G: Your Majesty, you are respected by people for boosting Buddhism. So are you a Buddhist?
A: Certainly! Actually I was the first to become a Buddhist and thus served as an example to my people.
G: I believe it’s really a virtue for an emperor to be a Buddhist.
A: It’s no big deal. I was just thinking that if all my people believed in Buddhism the whole country would be more stable.
G: Really? Why is that?
A: Being a Buddhist, a man stays quiet in the heart. No killing, but more kindness. And the doctrines also teach people to respect their parents and teachers.
G: Oh, I see. It would be much easier to rule a Buddhist country.
A: Bingo!
G: Thanks. Do you know that in our day many people still believe in Buddhism?
A: They do? Great! You know, Buddhism has changed me and also changed my county. I used to be a tyrant before I became a Buddhist.
G: It’s amazing that religious belief can do so much good!
古 古:陛下,您宣揚佛教的偉大功績讓人敬仰。請問您是佛教徒嗎?
阿育王:是的,事實上我帶頭皈依佛門,為全國人民做了示范。
古 古:噢,作為一個國王,信仰佛教真是難能可貴啊。
阿育王:這倒不值得一提,重要的是如果大家都信了佛教,國家就會比較安定。
古 古:真的嗎?您能講一下信佛教的好處嗎?
阿育王:佛教讓人內心清凈,不殺生,多施舍,還要尊敬父母和師長。
古 古:哦,我明白了,如果大家都信教的話,國家就容易治理了。
阿育王:你真聰明!
古 古:謝謝。您知道嗎?在我們的時代,仍然有很多人信佛呢。
阿育王:噢,是嗎?太好了,佛教改變了我,也改變了我的國家。你不知道吧,我在信陽佛教前可是一個暴君。
古 古:唔,真看不出來!信陽有這么大的力量!
快樂驛站
God’s Telephone Number
Each Sunday the minister called the children to the front of the church while he told them a story. Once he brought a telephone to better illustrate the idea of prayer.
“You talk to people on the telephone and don’t see them on the other end of the line,right?” he began. The children nodded yes. “Well, talking to God is like talking on the telephone. He’s on the other end, but you can’t see him. He is listening though.”
Just then a little boy piped up and asked,“What’s his number?”
上帝的電話號碼
每個星期天牧師都會把孩子們叫到教堂前面,然后給他們講一個故事。一天,他為了更好地闡述祈禱的含義,帶來了一臺電話機。
“你們和別人在電話里交談,并沒有看到電話線另一端的人,對嗎?”他開始問道。孩子們點頭稱是。“好的,和上帝交談就像通過電話交談一樣。他就在另一端,雖然你看不見他,但是他正在聆聽你的心聲。”
就在這時,一個小男孩尖著嗓子問道:“那他的電話號碼是什么?
歐美文化
turkey(火雞)、shrimp(蝦)和crab(螃蟹)這三種動物在美國人眼中會是什么呢?
turkey是美國人在Thanksgiving Day和Christmas Day家家都要吃的食物。但是,活的火雞樣子難看,行動又笨拙,所以turkey就用來形容那種愚蠢無用的人。而那種雇傭了這些turkey,又不能開除他們的政府或商業機構就被稱作turkey farm。
Shrimp常被用于指代那些個子矮小的人或無足輕重的小人物。請看下面的句子:You may call Napoleon a little shrimp. But for a shrimp, he certainly made the rest of Europe tremble.
而crab因為長相丑陋、兇惡,常被用來指那些性格暴躁、脾氣很壞的人。