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.
作家和强盗
一个钟头之内，有两个人相继来到了地狱。一个是强盗，他曾经在大路上拦截过客，终于被擒。另外一个是作家，他写的那些作品真是五花八门，总是向人们传播一些阴险的毒素，毁灭读者的信仰，峻使他们作恶，他的甜言蜜语就像海上妖女的歌声一样，让所有的读者着了魔，恶毒得置人死地。
地狱里的审判干脆利落，审判官办事不拖沓，犯人们也不隐瞒实情，所以法庭很快就给出了判决。法官命令这两个囚徒坐进旁边的大锅里面，大锅被粗粗的锁链吊在熊熊燃烧的火焰上。复仇女神亲自拉着风箱，助长着火的威力！地狱里的火焰越烧越旺，简直就要把石头烧得裂开了。
不知内情的人或许以为作家的惩罚要温柔得多，因为他那只锅下面的火焰相当微弱。这种火并不同于一般的火，当它燃烧久了，自然也不比熊熊烈火差。几年过后，强盗身下的火渐渐熄灭了，而作家身下的火越烧越旺。
于是，作家说: “是谁说过，众神都会秉公办事的？如果说我的作品会危害人们，我已经受到了应有的惩罚，这一点，我绝无怨言。可是，让我想不通的是，为什么强盗受到的责罚要比我的轻呢？”
就在这个时候。复仇女神三姐妹中的老大出现在了他的面前。只见她一边挥舞着手中的鞭子。一边促使毒蛇在她的头发里爬来爬去。
“不幸的人，” 她立刻答复道，“把你和强盗相提并论，你觉得应该如此吗？实话说吧，跟你比起来，他犯的错根本算不得什么。他一生掠劫无数，但是他死了，他的罪孽也就跟着消失了。确实，你已经被烧了很长时间了。但是，哪一天不能看见你的丑行呢？你在你的作品里传播的那些毒素，简直是经久不息！这世上有多少坏事是因你而起呢？那些孩子都做了些什么事啊，不是叫家人担心，就是叫家人失望！
谁嘲笑政府？谁嘲笑婚姻的山盟海誓？谁妄想钻法律的空子？谁把一切的不幸统统归咎于上帝对人类的折磨？谁竭力想要破坏社会的约束？就是你！你不是说知识一无是处吗？
你不是鼓动大家一起来造反吗？那些作品里的毒素不知道还会害死多少人呢！你就应该被这样惩罚！
愤怒的复仇女神说完就把锅盖盖上了。
作家对我们的精神生活有很大的影响，我们在读书的时候，一定要读好书，这样才能丰富自己的精神生活，陶冶自己高雅的情操。
