The Writer and the Bandit
Within an hour, two men had gone to hell. One was a robber who had held up a passenger on the road and was finally caught. The other was a writer, whose works were really multifarious, always spreading some insidious poison to the people, destroying the faith of the readers and forcing them to do evil. His sweet words, like the songs of the sea siren, enchanted all the readers and killed them with malice.
Hell is a swift trial. The judges do not delay, the prisoners do not obscure the facts, so the verdict is given quickly. The judge ordered the two prisoners to sit in a nearby cauldron, which was hung by thick chains over a blazing fire. The Vengeance herself pulls the bellows and feeds the fire! The flames of hell were burning so hot that they were ready to tear the stones apart.
An uninformed person might have thought the writer's punishment much gentler, for the flame under his cauldron was rather faint. This fire is not like ordinary fire, and when it burns for a long time, it is no worse than a raging fire. After a few years, the fire under the robber gradually went out, while the fire under the writer grew hotter and hotter.
Then the writer said, "Who said that all the gods would do right? If my work endangers people, I have been duly punished, and I have no complaints about that. But what I can't figure out is why the robber got a lighter punishment than I did."
Just then the eldest of the Three Furies appeared to him. She urged the snake to crawl through her hair as she waved a whip.
"Unhappy man," she replied at once, "has you been equated with a robber? Do you think so? To tell you the truth, his mistakes are nothing compared with yours. He plundered many in his life, but when he died, his sin vanished with him. Yes, you've been burning for a long time. But, when shall I not see your infamy? Those poisons you spread in your work, they just don't last! How many bad things in the world are because of you? What those children have done to worry or disappoint their families!
Who laughs at the government? Who laughs at the vows of marriage? Who wants to find loopholes in the law? Who ascribes all the misfortunes to god's torture of mankind? Who strives to break the social constraints? Is you! Didn't you say that knowledge is useless?
Didn't you encourage everyone to rebel? I don't know how many more people will be killed by the toxins in your work! This is what you deserve!
The furious Vengeance put the lid on the pot.
Writers have a great influence on our spiritual life. When we are reading books, we must read good books so as to enrich our spiritual life and cultivate our elegant sentiments.
作家和強盜
一個鐘頭之內，有兩個人相繼來到了地獄。一個是強盜，他曾經在大路上攔截過客，終於被擒。另外一個是作家，他寫的那些作品真是五花八門，總是向人們傳播一些陰險的毒素，毀滅讀者的信仰，峻使他們作惡，他的甜言蜜語就像海上妖女的歌聲一樣，讓所有的讀者著了魔，惡毒得置人死地。
地獄裡的審判乾脆利落，審判官辦事不拖沓，犯人們也不隱瞞實情，所以法庭很快就給出了判決。法官命令這兩個囚徒坐進旁邊的大鍋裡面，大鍋被粗粗的鎖鏈吊在熊熊燃燒的火焰上。復仇女神親自拉著風箱，助長著火的威力！地獄裡的火焰越燒越旺，簡直就要把石頭燒得裂開了。
不知內情的人或許以為作家的懲罰要溫柔得多，因為他那隻鍋下面的火焰相當微弱。這種火併不同於一般的火，當它燃燒久了，自然也不比熊熊烈火差。幾年過後，強盜身下的火漸漸熄滅了，而作家身下的火越燒越旺。
於是，作家說: 「是誰說過，眾神都會秉公辦事的？如果說我的作品會危害人們，我已經受到了應有的懲罰，這一點，我絕無怨言。可是，讓我想不通的是，為什麼強盜受到的責罰要比我的輕呢？」
就在這個時候。復仇女神三姐妹中的老大出現在了他的面前。只見她一邊揮舞著手中的鞭子。一邊促使毒蛇在她的頭髮里爬來爬去。
「不幸的人，」 她立刻答覆道，「把你和強盜相提並論，你覺得應該如此嗎？實話說吧，跟你比起來，他犯的錯根本算不得什麼。他一生掠劫無數，但是他死了，他的罪孽也就跟著消失了。確實，你已經被燒了很長時間了。但是，哪一天不能看見你的醜行呢？你在你的作品裡傳播的那些毒素，簡直是經久不息！這世上有多少壞事是因你而起呢？那些孩子都做了些什麼事啊，不是叫家人擔心，就是叫家人失望！
誰嘲笑政府？誰嘲笑婚姻的山盟海誓？誰妄想鑽法律的空子？誰把一切的不幸統統歸咎於上帝對人類的折磨？誰竭力想要破壞社會的約束？就是你！你不是說知識一無是處嗎？
你不是鼓動大家一起來造反嗎？那些作品裡的毒素不知道還會害死多少人呢！你就應該被這樣懲罰！
憤怒的復仇女神說完就把鍋蓋蓋上了。
作家對我們的精神生活有很大的影響，我們在讀書的時候，一定要讀好書，這樣才能豐富自己的精神生活，陶冶自己高雅的情操。
