清朝康熙年間，有一位叫紀曉堂的才子，滿腹經綸，可是每次去考狀元，總是考不中，因為紀曉堂很窮，沒錢給考官上禮，紀曉堂一氣之下竟然出家了。
在紀曉堂之後，又有一位才子名叫左青龍，同樣滿腹經綸，每次考狀元也考不中。紀曉堂勸左青龍出家，左青龍不願出家，說：「哪怕考上狀元，當上一天官也證明沒白念這麼多年書。」一天，紀曉堂和左青龍一起走路，來到一棵槐樹下乘涼，左青龍睡在一棵樹下作了一個夢，夢見他在黑水國當上了兵——馬大元帥，隨後攻打黃蟻國後，左青龍又當上了黃蟻國的國王。
左青龍醒來後，紀曉堂繼續勸左青龍出家，左青龍還是不出家。紀曉堂對左青龍說：「這回你該十足了吧，你兵馬大元帥也當了，黃蟻國的國王也當了，你不出家還等何時？在你睡覺的旁邊，是黑螞蟻，你剛才當了黑水國的兵馬大元帥。你一翻身，你的頭又壓到了大黃蟻，所以你當上了黃蟻國的國王。」左青龍一看，剛才他睡覺的地方，有很多黑螞蟻和黃螞蟻，左青龍猛然醒悟了，覺得人生如夢，一切都是假的，左青龍和紀曉堂出家了。 |
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In the reign of Kangxi in the Qing dynasty, there was a talented and erudite man named Xiaotang Ji who, despite his great talents, never managed to place first in the civil exam because he was too poor to bribe the officials in charge of the exam. In his frustration, Xiaotang Ji decided to become a Buddhist monk.
Afterwards, there was another talented young man named Qinglong Zuo, who also failed to place first in the civil exam despite his learning. When Xiaotang Ji urged him to become a monk, he replied,”If I can only place first in the civil exam and be an official for one day, it'll prove that I haven't studied in vain all these years.” One day Xiaotang Ji and Qinglong Zuo were strolling together, and they stopped under the shade of a locust tree. Qinglong Zuo fell asleep under the tree and dreamed that he was a great general in the Black Water Kingdom. He then attacked the Yellow Ant Kingdom and became the king of that country.
When Qinglong woke up, Xiaotang again urged him to become a monk, but he still refused. Xiaotang said to him,“You should be satisfied by now. You've been both a great general and the king of the Yellow Ant Kingdom. What are you waiting for? There are black ants next to the place where you dozed off, and so you became the general of the Black Water Kingdom. When you turned over, your head rolled onto some yellow ants, and so you become the king of the Yellow Ant Kingdom.” Qinglong took a look and found that indeed there were black and yellow ants near the place where he had taken a nap. He immediately had an insight that life is but a dream and nothing is real. In the end Qinglong Zuo and Xiaotang Ji both became monks. |
