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這個故事，是我在加拿大的好友電傳給我的；它是個真實的故事，是她年輕時，她祖母一而再、再而三告訴她的。這是一個現世報的故事，她的家族是佛教徒，深信這是地藏經所說「悖逆父母，天地災殺報」的道理。
我好友的祖母若要回到位於南越西部 Cay-Lay 省的家，必須搭乘幾乎一天半的長途巴士，才能探視她的胞妹，她每次回來後，總是告訴我的好友這個相同的故事。巴士由 Vung-Tau 市出發──此市又名 Cap Saint Jacque，早在十九世紀初，法國人就慣於這麼叫它了；中途經過她所住的城市，駛向首都西貢（現名胡志明市）；再以將近一天的時間，才到達南越的西部。每當經過 Ben-Luc 橋時，司機會停留十五到二十分鐘給乘客拍攝此地的立墳，他也會告訴他們，有關於這個立墳的故事。
故事是這樣子的：有一個年輕的寡婦，住在Cay-Lay省鄉間的稻田裏。她的丈夫很早就過世，但她不願改嫁；因為她深愛著她的獨子，耽心繼父會影響她和兒子之間的親子關係，所以她決定為了她的兒子放棄一切。身為一個單親媽媽，她必須加倍努力工作，才能扶養她的兒子，供給他一切所需，並且無微不至的呵護他。等到兒子長大，她用了所有的積蓄，栽培他到城裏去就學。這寡婦總認為兒子將來的成功，就是她的成功。她是一個文盲，只會寫自己的名字，但她總是期盼兒子能有一個美好的未來。她兒子在完成學業後成婚，回家和老母親同住在稻田間的房子；他和妻子騎乘摩托車到城鎮去工作，老婦人則待在家煮飯、清掃，做一切的家事，及照顧五個孫子。
有一天，悲劇發生了！當她正在廚房忙得不可開交時，五個稚孫跑出去玩耍；一個淘氣的小孫女獨自悄悄地溜到池塘玩耍，一不小心竟然跌進池塘溺死了，沒人知道這件事。老婦做完飯，正準備給五個孫子餵食，才發現少了一個孫女；她趕緊跑到田野間四處去尋找，最後發現這個孩子已經死在池塘裡。一剎那間老婦人經歷了所有的激盪情緒──恐懼、耽心、驚慌、傷心、懊悔、悲慟，為失去孫女而痛苦不已。
那天，她的兒子和兒媳回家稍微晚了一點，當他們才踏進村子，就聽聞這個惡耗。兒子回到家裏，沒有去見他的母親問事情的經過，直接就到廚房拿屠刀，開始磨刀。他的母親聽到磨刀聲，她意識到將會有什麼事情發生在自己身上，她趕緊跑出家門。等她兒子磨利了刀，他到處尋找他母親。
日落西山，天色逐漸暗了下來，這個老婦拚命地在田野裡奔逃，想躲藏在稻田中；突然間，她的兒子出現在她的後面，她只能繼續無助地奔逃和求救，可是最後一刻還是來臨了！她一不小心腳軟，跌倒在地，正急著想站起來，她的兒子很快地逼近她了；當他高舉屠刀，沒有人性地正要衝過來砍他的母親。突然，他覺得一股寒冷從地下冒上來，他站立的身體頓時凍僵了。
老婦嚇得緊閉雙目，心想這次必死無疑，但沒想到她的兒子卻遲遲沒有下手，睜眼看，原來他像棵樹似的站在那兒不動了。老婦經歷了這一生中最可怕的一天，她疲憊和驚慌不堪。她一直盯著她的兒子看，蹣跚地爬了起來；她一步步走向她兒子。忽然間，她的兒子開始哭泣，乞求她不要再靠近了；因為距離愈近，他愈覺痛楚。老母親一邊拭著遍佈臉上的淚水，一邊仰望上天，祈禱著：「老天！請讓我知道：我的兒子究竟怎麼了？我祈求您，讓我和我的兒子都平安；我甚至願一死，以替代我的孫女！」天色愈來愈暗，她幾乎看不清任何東西；她試著向兒子站著的方向緩慢前進；他因受不了身體的痛楚又哭號起來，一再乞求他母親不要靠近他。
沒有時間可以浪費了！老婦用盡自己所有的力量，半跑半走地回家去告訴兒媳剛剛發生的事，全家人就向四鄰求救。村民來了，又推又拉，試盡一切的努力，想把老婦的兒子拉離開地面；但他雙腳似在地底生了根，動不了，如一棵大樹般直立在那兒。村人們在長達幾個鐘頭的努力後，只有無奈地放棄了他，全都回家了。
隔天清晨，村長通報了鎮上的警察局；警方聞訊趕到，總共有兩部警用拖車和八個男子來，他們想盡辦法，試著在他身上捆綁繩索，繫在車上，然後發動引擎用車拖拉，希望藉此能把他拉出；在花了整整半天的時間推移、拉舉後，警方決定先回警局，再想其他方法。這個逆子數日不能飲、不能食、不能動，最後站著僵死於稻田中央。他死後，村人只好替他造了一座立墳─不像其他死人般平躺在地裏面。他的墳墓就距離高速公路不太遠，每次車子行經此地，司機就會停車，讓所有的乘客好好地看這座立墳，並開始對乘客複述這個立墳的故事，一遍又一遍。
謝謝您聽完這個故事，這是我好友的祖母親口所說的；我好友的祖母最後一次回娘家省親，是一九七七年，這也是她最後一次看見這座立墳，她過世於一九八一年。
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This story was emailed to me by a close friend of mine from Canada. It is a true story which her grandmother told her over and over again when she was young. The story is about “instant karma.” Her family is Buddhist and they believed in the principle explained in the Sutra which states, “To those who oppose their parents, being killed in natural disasters will be the retribution.”
Her grandmother had to travel for almost a day and a half on the long distance bus to visit her younger sister in Cay-Lay province, in the Western part of South Vietnam. She told her that same story every time she came back home. The bus departed at the station in Vung-Tau city, which was also named “Cap Saint Jacque” by the French in the early 1900’s. She travelled from her city to Saigon, the capital city, which is now renamed “Ho Chi Minh City”. Then it took almost a day to get to the Western part of the South Vietnam. Each time that the bus passed the Ben-Luc Bridge, the bus driver would stop there for about 15 to 20 minutes, so that the passengers could take photographs of the “standing grave”; then he would tell them the story about the “standing grave”.
The story started like this. There was a young widow, who lived in the rice field in the province called Cay-Lay. Her husband died a long time ago, but she did not want to remarry because she loved her son so much and worried that a stepfather would interfere with the relationship between mother and son. So she decided to give up almost everything for the sake of her only son. As a single mother, she had to work extra hard to raise him, to provide all his needs and to take good care of him. When he grew up, she took all of her savings and sent him to the city for his studies. She always thought his success in the future would be hers as well. She was illiterate and knew only how to write her name, but she always wished for her son to have a beautiful future. After he graduated, he got married and came back home to live with his old mother in the house on the rice field. He and his wife rode a motorcycle to go to work in town, while the old lady stayed home to cook, to clean, to do all of the housework and to take care of five grandchildren.
One day, tragedy struck! While the old lady was busy with cooking in the kitchen, the five kids ran and played outside. One naughty grandchild sneaked out and went to the pond to play by herself. That little girl fell into the pond and drowned, and nobody knew anything about that. After she finished cooking, the old woman started to serve the food for the five grandchildren and found out that one girl was missing. She ran all over in the fields to look for her. Finally, she found that child already dead in the pond. In that instant, the old lady experienced all kinds of emotions and feelings. She was scared, worried, panicked, sad, regretful, deeply sorrowful, and suffering at the loss of the granddaughter.
Her son and the daughter–in-law came home from work a bit late on that day. They had already heard the bad news when they came back to the village. When the son got into the house, he did not bother to see his mother and ask about the incident but went directly to the kitchen, took the butcher knife and started to sharpen it. Hearing that, the mother could sense what was about to happen to her next. Quickly, she walked out of the house. After the son had sharpened his butcher knife, he went around looking for his mother.
The sun was setting behind the mountains and it was getting dark. The old lady ran with all her might and tried to hide somewhere in the rice field. Suddenly her son appeared right behind her. She kept running and helplessly cried for help, but the final moment had come. Her legs felt like jelly and she tripped, and fell down on the ground. She tried to get up but her son was getting close. Raising the butcher knife up high, he rushed over and was about to hack at his mother. Suddenly he felt a chill coming from the ground and his body totally froze in a standing position.
Very frightened and with her eyes closed, the old lady thought she was going to die for sure, but she didn’t know why her son had not taken any action. As she opened her eyes she saw her son standing there frozen like a tree. The old lady was so exhausted and panicked, after going through the most horrible day of her life. She kept staring at her ‘frozen’ son as she slowly staggered up. The she walked step by step toward him. Suddenly he started to cry and begged his mother not to go closer, because the closer she came the more pain he felt. The mother wiped away the tears on her face and looked up in the sky. She prayed “God, please let me know what has happened to my son. I beg you to leave him in peace, and me. I’m willing to die for my grandchild.” It became darker and darker and she could hardly see anything, so she tried to crawl slowly in the direction where her son stood. Again, he screamed in his physical agony and again begged his mother not to get closer.
There was no moment to spare! Using all her energy, the old lady half walked and half ran toward their home to let the daughter-in-law know what had happened. Every member in the family ran to the neighbors for help. Villagers came and tried to push, pull and use every possible maneuver to get him out of the ground, but it was as if his feet had grown roots underground which grew deeper into the ground and so he stood there like a big tree. After many hours’ attempts and having no alternative, people gave up and all went home.
The next morning, the village leader went to report to the police station in town. The police came right away with two police trucks and eight men. They all tried their best to tie a rope around his body, which they attached to a truck in an attempt to pull and remove this man from the ground, but to no avail. After half a day of pulling and pushing, these policemen decided to return to the office to think of other techniques. The rebellious son stood in the middle of the rice field, unable to eat, drink, or move for a few days and ossified in a standing position. After he died, people in the village had to make him an upright grave. Unlike traditional graves where the deceased lie in horizontal position, this grave was in a vertical position. His grave was not too far from the highway, and so bus drivers constantly stopped there for passengers to have a good look at that standing grave while they repeated the story of the standing grave.
Thank you for listening to my story, which was truly told by my best friend’s grandmother. The last time my friend’s grandmother went back to visit her relatives was in 1977 and it was the last time she saw the standing grave. She passed away in 1981.
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