A Bettor Beseeches Buddha

By An Lifang

A gambler lost his entire estate and even the shirt on his back.The only thing he had left was the belt on his waist.His wife had long ago packed up everything and taken the kids with her.Yet,he refused to change.He had gotten the fever,and the only thought clanking around in that otherwise empty noggin on his of was making back everything he had lost.

There is an oft-repeated rhyme that can be used to perfectly describe our gambling antihero:

Those slipping breeches make you tighten the belt,you’re bleeding cash with the bad hand you’re dealt

Don’t pack it in don’t hang fromthe noose,for today’s bankruptcy is tomorrow’s golden goose.

Gamblers all have the same sick and twisted mindset,they are afraid of missing out on the next jackpot,so they will never ever repent...unless that is,they do finally bleed their bank accounts dry and have no choice but to change.

Then the day came when our antihero actually lost it all.He didn’t even have a roof over his head.The only thing he could do was head down to sleep at the nearest Buddhist temple—a sacred place to worship Buddha.

As he arrived at the temple,he couldn’t help thinking that he had just had an awful run of bad luck at the casinos and that any minute now his luck would turn around.Though he was not a praying man,the reverent atmosphere of the temple struck him to the core.He dropped to his knees and prayed to Buddha to turn things around and bring his luck back to him.

赌徒不仅输光了家产，连老婆孩子也离开了他。除了腰上仅有的一根绳，什么都没有了。但他仍然不死心，继续赌，想把输掉的再捞回来。

有几句顺口溜，正是对赌徒的写照：

腰杆上系根绳，天天输死个人。

本想去吊颈，又怕明天会赢。

赌徒正是怀有这种心态，因此，除非最后走上绝路，他们是不会悔改的。

输掉一切的赌徒，已没有安身之所了。他只好去寺庙和菩萨挤在一处睡觉。

到了庙里，他忽然想到：我这段时间火气、运气都如此倒霉透顶，何不求求菩萨保佑，让我从此交好运？于是，他双腿跪到菩萨面前，声泪俱下：“求菩萨大发慈悲，保佑我这可怜人，让我赢一次吧！”说着，哭着，他不知不觉地倒在菩萨脚下睡着了。

他梦见菩萨说话了：“你平时不烧香，临时抱佛脚。哪有你这种人！”

赌徒连忙说：“只要你保佑我赢一次钱，我愿意每天给你打扫头上、身上的雀鸟粪便！”

菩萨说：“你能诚信做到，我保佑你明天会赢。”

赌徒从睡梦中醒来，发现天已大亮。想起梦中菩萨许诺的话，他立即替菩萨打扫干净头上、身上的鸟粪。他相信神灵的话，又去借钱下赌注。这次果然赢了。赢了钱他又开始大吃、大喝、豪赌，把承诺给菩萨的事忘得干干净净。

菩萨又给他托梦，指责他没有诚信，决心收回慈悲。

He prayed in a pitiful,sobbing voice,“Dear Buddha,I beg you for mercy on me.I’m in dire straits.Oh,let me win just one game,just once more! Please!” The tears fell,his voice swelled,there was wonky wailing and nasty gnashing of teeth until he tuckered himself out and fell into a deep sleep at the statue of the Buddha’s feet.

As he slept,he dreamed of being rebuked by the statue,which stood over him and spoke in a deep,booming voice,“You never come to the temple to pray but in times of trouble! And now you throw yourself at my feet and beg for mercy? What kind of a man are you?”

The gambler promptly replied,“But if you could just bless me with a win,I would scrub the bird droppings from your head and robes daily,oh holy Buddha!”

At length Buddha spoke commandingly,“If you are able to keep your promise in good faith,then tomorrow I shall bless you with a win.”

The gambler abruptly awoke from the dream.Daylight peeked its radiant face into the once dark chamber in the form of a glowing aura around Buddha’s head,which the gambler took as a sign.He thought of the promise he had made in the dream and promptly grabbed a rag and broom and began furiously scrubbing the statue until every last trace of guano was removed,leaving it pure and untainted.

In a leap of faith,the gambler went to the local loan shark to borrow money.Then he went offto the nearest casino.He plunked every coin down the mahjong table,and all of a sudden,all his wishes came true.After just a few rounds,the gambler had struck it rich.His troubles were far behind him!

It didn’t take long for the newfound wealth to go to the gambler’s head.He began wining and dining.Flashing cash.Indulging in sin and wallowing in vice.Meanwhile,his promise to Buddha was forgotten as clean as the statue after it was scrubbed down.

Once again Buddha appeared to him in a dream,rebuking him for breaking his promise and warning that all he had got would be gone.

The gambler did lose everything the next day.

Sloshed and sobbing the gambler galumphed into the temple,fell to his knees,and prayed,“Dear Budda,if you bless me with another win,I promise to furnish you with a glorious new robe!”

Buddha reappeared to him that night in a dream.Only this time with a condition:make good on the promise first before the win could be granted.

The problem was,the gambler didn’t have a coin to his name.He had no choice but to use what he had on hand.He tore open all the debt books for his mountain of debt,cannibalizing them to make a robe for his cause.Finally,he sheepishly outfitted the statue with the robe and crossed his fingers hoping Buddha would grant him yet another miracle.

That night Buddha appeared to the gambler in another dream in which Buddha rebuked him vehemently,“You are an odious and damnable man! As if your gambling wasn’t bad enough,now I’m covered in your debt!”

(From WeChat Official Account,Shinan Wangshi.Translation:Chase Coulson)

果然他再次下赌注，输了。赌徒又来到寺庙求助于菩萨，说：“求菩萨再保佑我一次，我赢了一定给你买件袍子。”

菩萨又托梦给他，但这次有个条件：先兑现承诺，后保佑他赢。

赌徒苦于两手空空，仅剩下一本借账簿，没法兑现一件袍子的承诺。想了半天，他觉得菩萨不过是木胎泥塑，敷衍一下也就了事。于是把借账簿拆开，用账簿纸缝制了一件袍子给菩萨穿上。

夜里菩萨托梦给他：“袍子倒很合身，你个狗日的害我替你背了一身账！”

（摘自微信公众号“施南往事”）