双语诗歌翻译|《神像与水沟》

出自《古代笑话选》，让人啼笑皆非，于玩笑中讲述道理。

《神像与水沟》

艾子行水，途见一庙，矮小而装饰甚严。前有一小沟，有人行至水，不可涉。顾庙中，而辄取大王像横于沟上，履之而去。复有一人至，见之，再三叹之曰："神像直有如此亵慢！”乃自扶起，以衣拂饰，捧至坐上，再拜而去。须臾，艾子闻庙中曰："大王居此为神，享里人祭祀，反为愚民之辱，何不施祸以谴之？”王曰："然则祸当行于后来者。”小鬼又曰："前者以履大王，辱莫甚焉，而不行祸；后来之人敬大王者，反祸之，何也？”王曰："前人已不信矣，又安祸之！”艾子曰："真是鬼怕恶人也！”

Even the Gods Fear Bullies

In the course of a trip by boat, Master Ai noticed a temple, not very high but magnificent in its ornamentations. There was a ditch in front of it. Unable to cross the ditch, someone moved an idol off of its pedestal in the temple and laid it across the ditch, enabling him to cross over. Seeing this happening, another man heaved a deep sigh and said: "How can the image of a god be treated with such disrespect?" He picked the idol up, cleaned it off with his own robe, and then restored it to its original place. He departed only after having made obeisance before it.

Soon thereafter, Master Ai overheard an imp in the temple addressing the idol: "O, great kind, you are mighty enough to sit here and receive the offerings from people all over, yet you let yourself be humiliated by a foolish knave. Why not punish him for this affront by causing disasters to befall him?" But the idol replied: "Misfortune shall befall all those who henceforth offend me.”

"What about the man who tramped over you and subjected you to utter humiliate?" the imp asked. "Why not place a curse on him? Why should misfortune befall future worshippers and supplicant appealing before you in reverence, why? The god replied: "since the man who desecrated my image did not have faith in me, how am I to visit disaster upon him?”

Master Ai concluded: "Indeed it is true that even the gods fear bullies."