The world of Tzu Chi Jan-Feb 2022 (Vol.139)

2022 • 02 48 O ne year, at the Mid-Autumn Festival, I recounted a funny story about this. Once, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival long ago, the sky was cloudless, and the moon bathed the earth in silvery light. Below, there was a couple who lived a very hard life. They relied on collecting garbage and dung to get by, and their straw hut protected them from neither rain nor wind. They worked hard every day, never feeling warm or full. Because of this, they had no energy to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. The couple never ate three meals a day, and they often went to sleep as soon as night fell because sleep would help them forget their hunger. Even on the night of Mid- Autumn, they went to bed early. The husband lay on the bed, listening to the sounds of firecrackers and shouts of joy alongside the sound of his rumbling stomach. He tossed and turned, unable to sleep. When he turned towards the edge of the bed, he suddenly saw two round splashes of light. He quickly turned towards his wife and said, “Dear! Look, there are two silver coins on the ground!” His wife’s eyes immediately lit up when she heard talk of money, and she quickly asked, “Where are they?” He pointed Money is meant for us to use; we must never let it use us. aster Cheng Yen Tells Stories More Money, Less Affection and said, “There.” His wife looked towards the foot of the bed, and indeed saw the two coins below it. The husband asked his wife, “If you had those two coins, how would you plan to use them?” She responded, “I would like to hear your suggestion first!” The husband said, “If I had two coins, I would go and buy a hen. The hen would lay eggs, which would produce chicks. I would sell these chicks when they have grown, and then I would buy a sheep.” When she heard this, she immediately agreed, “Brilliant! I would certainly work hard preparing grass for it to eat! But what would we do after the sheep grew up?” Her husband replied, “After it grew up and birthed lambs, we could then raise and sell them. Eventually, we would be able to buy a cow.” “Wonderful! I would take such good care of the cow that not even a mosquito would be able to get near it! I would carefully wash the grass it ate and help it grow fat. Still, what would we do with it once it grew large?” He said, “When the cow grew large, we would sell it. Then we would have a lot of money. By then, we would not need to keep raising animals, and we could open a shop.”