IT'S MY MONEY!

　　那可是我的钱啊！

　　There was once a master who went to India. In those times, we didn't have thecommunications or airplanes or many kinds of transportation that we do now. So the master wentto India on foot. He had never been to India before; perhaps he came from Persia. And when hegot there, he saw a lot of fruit. In India they have plenty of fruit to sell, but much of it is expensivebecause they can't grow much due to the water situation. He saw one basket, a big basket of somevery red, long fruit. And it was the cheapest in the shop, not expensive at all.

　　So he went up and asked, “How much per kilo?” And the shopkeeper said, “Two rupees .”

　　Two rupees in India is nothing; it's like dirt. So he bought a whole kilogram of the fruit and startedeating it. But after he ate some of it, his eyes watered, his mouth watered and burned, his head wasburning and his face became red. As he coughed and choked and gasped for breath, he jumped upand down, saying, “Ah! Ah! Ah!”

　　But he still continued to eat the fruit! Some people who were looking at him shook theirheads and said, “You're crazy, man. Those are chilies! You can't eat so many; they're not good foryou! People use them as a condiment , but only a little bit to put into food for taste. You can't justeat them by the handful like that; they're not fruit!” So the stupid master said, “No, I can't stop! Ipaid money for them, and now I'll eat them. It's my money!”

　　从前，有个大师要到印度去。在那个时代，没有如今的通信方式，也没有飞机之类的各种交通方式。于是，大师步行前往。他从没去过印度，可能他是从波斯来的。大师到达目的地的时候，看到很多水果。在印度，人们出售很多种水果，但是因为当地水资源紧缺，种得不多，所以多数价钱都很贵。他看到一篮水果，很大一篮红红的长长的水果，那是店里最便宜的，一点儿也不贵。

　　大师走过去问：“多少钱一公斤啊？”店主说：“两卢比。”两卢比在印度不算什么，简直就微如尘埃。于是，他买了整整一公斤，开始吃起来。可是吃着吃着，他就又是流眼泪，又是流口水，嘴里火辣辣的，脑袋发烫，满脸通红。他咳嗽得感到快要窒息了，大口喘着气，跳上跳下，喊着：“啊！啊！啊！”

　　可他居然还继续吃。有人看了，摇着头说：“天哪，你真是疯了！你吃的是辣椒！吃多了对身体不好！辣椒是佐料，在食物里加一点调味用的。不能一把一把那么吃，又不是水果！”愚蠢的大师却说：“不行，我不能停！我花钱买的，就得吃掉。那可都是我的钱啊！”