当我看到这本书的文稿时，心中有一份震憾，特别是其中那篇〈让错误不再发生〉更是让我感触良多，作者王士明提到他一辈子都带着一份扔都扔不掉的愧疚！为什么？他这么写着：

“我没想到我还是个学生，二十岁不到，但我已经荒唐地将一条生命带来人世，又无知地剥夺他生存的权利！”

When I read the manuscript of this book, I was shaken. One of the articles in the book entitled “Don’t Let the Mistake Happen Again” especially left me with many feelings. The author, Shi Ming Wang, mentioned that he is carrying an unshakable sense of shame and guilt for the rest of his life. Why? He wrote that, 

“I couldn’t believe that as a student less than twenty years old, I did a terrible thing and brought a life into the world, then ignorantly deprived him of the right to live!”

这让我猛然想起，当今学府又有多少当年的王士明？我自一九七五年任教以来，至今已三十三年，三十多年来目睹我们的校园风气，由简朴到开放，乃至先进。以前，在大学校园男女交往，基本上是含蓄中带着礼法，彼此互相尊重婚前的情操，双方于自我约束中自有一份含蓄的美，不会为来日罩上一层阴影。

After reading this account, I suddenly thought that, “In our schools today, how many students are in similar predicaments as the young Mr. Wang?” It has been thirty-three years since I started teaching in 1975. During these thirty-some years, I have witnessed the atmosphere on our campuses changing from being plain and simple to being permissive; our permissiveness in schools has surpassed that of some countries. In the past, men and women on college campuses were basically shy towards each other, and they acted with propriety in their relationships. During their courtship before marriage, couples respected each other’s integrity. This self-restraint on both sides had a certain beauty, and it also prevented a dark shadow from hanging over the couple in the future.

就拿婚前性行为来讲，在过去，不论西方社会和东方社会，都是不应该的。可是现在呢，台湾青年学子在暑假偷尝禁果，开学时收拾残局的现象，屡见不鲜。妇产科医生更表示：近年来堕胎不再限于“九月”，现在几乎天天是堕胎日！更令人心寒的是：年轻学子将堕胎当做避孕，态度也是无所谓的；而且堕胎的年龄层越来越下降！

As for nowadays, let’s take premarital sex as an example. In the past, such an act was prohibited in both Eastern and Western societies. However, these days, it is common for young students in Taiwan to steal a taste of the forbidden fruit during their summer vacation, and then when school starts they try to clean up the mess they have made. In addition, gynecologists have indicated that in recent years, abortion is no longer limited to the month of September (i.e., when school starts); rather, now, abortion is taking place almost every day! What really chilled my bones was when I heard that young students are using abortion as a means of birth control, with a manner-of-fact attitude; and the age of those who are having abortions is declining!

我们也可以发现，虽然台湾人口出生率渐渐下滑，但堕胎风潮却与日俱增，与两性开放的法国相比，台湾的堕胎率竟是法国的六倍！尤其是在工业化与都市化后，社会结构与人际相处，较以往复杂许多！社会价值观的变动、混乱，倡导人向“钱”及名牌、功利主义看齐；而资讯传播的快速，却也不断地诉说放纵情欲的快感。致使原本单纯、血气方刚的青年学子，因没有正确道德观的约束，陷入以肉体换取金钱，或是婚前性行为乃至受孕的窘境。

We also discovered that although the birth rate in Taiwan is decreasing gradually, the popularity of abortion is increasing day by day. In comparison to sexually liberated France, the number of abortions in Taiwan exceeds that of France by six times! After industrialization and urbanization, social structure and human relations are a lot more complicated than they were in the past. Our society’s value has undergone chaotic changes, and as a result, people now are led to focus on wealth and brand names, in other words, hedonism. In addition, given the speed of information dissemination (such as the internet), there is immediate access to limitless information telling one to indulge in one’s sexual desires. Due to lack of restraints imposed by a proper sense of morality, young students, who are originally innocent and full of vigor, are sinking to the level of selling their bodies for money or dealing with the embarrassment of pregnancies resulting from premarital sex.

看到这些，我们不能不忧心──我们的教育到底出了什么问题？我们该怎么救救这些年轻的孩子？我们是不是应该告诉他（她）们什么是可以做，什么是不可以做的基本道德观念。明确了当地让同学们知道是非，而不是“只要我喜欢，有什么不可以”。我们不希望当年的王士明越来越多，我们也不要年轻的学子们一辈子都带着一份扔不掉的愧疚！

When we see the situations that the students are in, we can’t help but worry. What went wrong with our education? What should we do in order to rescue these young children? Shouldn’t we tell them what they can do and what they can’t do, based on basic principles of morality? We need to let the students know clearly and unequivocally the difference between right and wrong, and not “As long as I like it, there’s nothing I can’t do.” We don’t want to have more students be like the young Mr. Wang, ending up with an unshakable sense of shame and guilt for the rest of their lives!

没有正确的观念，就如同走在漫长的黑夜中，走错了也不知道。一般人对于“堕胎”也是一样，以为还没出生的胎儿，不算个生命，所以可以随便拿掉。其实有孕，就有生命的存在，不然胎儿怎么会日渐长大呢？就像我们这些已出生的人一样，因为我们有生命，所以会动、会活、会成长。因此，胎儿的生命，是和我们一样的。

Without proper views, it would be like walking in endless darkness; we won’t even know when we wander onto the wrong path. Similarly, most people have the wrong view about abortion; they don’t think an unborn fetus counts as a life, so they think it can be gotten rid of casually. Actually, a life comes into being at the moment of conception, or else how can a fetus gradually grow day by day? Similarly, those of us who have been born are considered alive because we can move and grow. Therefore, an unborn fetus is alive, just like us.

我本身是个天主教徒，天主教一向尊重生命。今《无辜的小鬼》一书，虽是由佛教的观点切入，但慈悲爱护苍生的精神令人感动。书中宣化上人等对堕胎问题的诠释与解答，让我大开眼界；其中个案亲身的实例，更是让我深深警惕在心。此书的问世，相信会导正很多人对堕胎的观念，进而为社会带来莫大的帮助，也可因此救回很多生命！我更衷心期盼“堕胎”能至此成为历史名词，让更多生命因而存活。

I am a Catholic, and the Catholic religion has always treasured life. Although the “Innocent Little Ghosts” is written from the Buddhist perspective, its compassion and love towards all living beings is very moving. In this book, the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua’s explanations and answers to questions about abortion gave me a new perspective, and the true stories based on personal experiences serve as great warnings. I believe that, this book will guide many people towards the correct view of abortion, and be a great help to our society and save many lives! I sincerely hope that the word “abortion” will become a term of the past and let more lives continue to live as a result.