Now, there was a very young and beautiful wife, who became sick and nearly died. She was on her death bed and told her husband, "I love you very much, and I don/’t want to leave you. Please, after I die, don/’t marry another person. You promise me! Okay?

有一個非常年輕貌美的太太，她快要病死了，她躺在床上奄奄一息地對她丈夫說：「我很愛你，我不想離開你。在我死后，請不要再和別人結婚。答應我，好嗎?」

Then she worried that her husband would not keep the promise, so she threatened him. She said, "If you marry another wife, I will become a ghost and take care of you." It/’s terrible! That/’s what she said to her husband, "I will make you suffer, always, forever, and eternally!" So the husband was maybe afraid of the wife. But here (Master points to the book) they say, "respected the wife." We always respect the wife, do we not? We respect the wife, but we/’re not afraid! So the husband respected the wife and didn/’t think of remarrying another person.

她很擔心她丈夫會不守信用，所以就威脅他說：「如果你再婚的話，我一定會變成鬼來處理你!我會讓你無窮無盡地受苦!」真可怕!她對她丈夫這么說。這位丈夫可能是怕她太太，但書上這里是說「尊重他太太」。一般人總是尊重太太，是尊重太太而不是怕太太。所以這位丈夫尊重他太太的遺言，沒有動再婚的念頭。

But as God always makes trouble for human beings, he met another beautiful woman, younger, charming, sweeter and more attractive, and richer even! Rich! Oh, terrible! And she even loved him very much and maybe more than the wife. Oh, too bad! That was only three months after the funeral service. Now what can we do about that?

不過上帝總是給人找麻煩，這位先生遇到了另一位美麗的女人，比以前的太太還年輕、迷人、甜美，更有吸引力，甚至更有錢，噢，真可怕!而她也很愛他，也許比以前的太太更愛他。哦，在他太太的葬禮后僅僅三個月就發生這種事，我們能怎么辦呢?

So he got engaged to her. After the engagement (the engagement happened during the daytime), that night the husband saw the ghost of the wife coming. "Ah ha! As promised, here I come." She appeared in front of him and scolded him and nagged him, saying that he had broken his promise; that he did not love her; that he was not sincere; that he was a bad husband; that he had no conscience; that he was a lousy man; that he was a terrible human being.

他們就這樣訂婚了。訂婚的那天晚上，丈夫看見太太的鬼魂出現，她說：「啊哈!我說過我會再來的!」她出現在他面前責備他，嘮叨地念他食言、不愛她、不誠心、是個壞丈夫沒良心、是個差勁糟糕的男人.

Then the husband got very scared! Because this ghost was so terribly intelligent; she knew exactly what had happened between the husband

and the new fiancée. She told him what time he did what with her, and what time he gave her what, and talked to her about what. She knew everything, everything! So he couldn/’t deny it. But he was very scared.

這位丈夫被嚇呆了!因為他太太的鬼魂竟然如此無所不知，對于丈夫和那個新未婚妻之間的事了若指掌，她還告訴他什么時候他和她做什么，什么時候他給她什么、對她說了什么，她都知道得一清二楚，他無法否認，他真的被嚇死了!

He was so scared that he could not sleep, he could not eat, and he dared not go to see his fiancée often. And their love affair nearly went on the rocks. So some people told him that he should go to a temple and talk about his suffering to a Zen master, and maybe the Zen master could help him. Oh, my God! The Zen master takes care of everything, including ghosts and marriage.

于是他害怕得吃不下也睡不著，甚至不敢常去看他的未婚妻，他們的愛情遇到阻礙了。于是有人建議他應該去寺廟，將他的苦惱告訴禪師，也許禪師可以幫他。天啊!禪師每件事都得管，連鬼和婚姻的事情也要費心去理會!

So the Zen master truly helped him. He said to the husband, "Your ex-wife has become a ghost." (This we knew) "And she is very intelligent. So she knows everything that you did with your fiancée. Actually, you should respect such a ghost. But there is a way to drive her away. Now,

next time if the ghost appears, you have to make a bet with her." The Zen master said that she knew everything; she knew too much already. But probably there was something she didn/’t know. If she answered incorrectly, then she should not come back and bother him any more. Then he could marry the one he loved.

這位禪師還真的幫了他，他告訴這位丈夫：「你的前任太太已經變成鬼了。而且她變得聰明異常，所以知道你和未婚妻所做的一切。事實上像這樣的鬼，你還真得尊重才對。不過還是有法子可以趕她走。下次鬼出現時，你要和她打個賭。」禪師說這個鬼無所不知，知道許多事情，不過也許有些事情她不知道，如果她答錯了的話，那就得答應不再回來打擾他，讓他和心愛的人結婚。

Because she was dead! She could not serve him in any way. She could not cook for him. She could not take care of anything. So the husband asked the Zen master, "What can I do? What should I ask her?"

因為她已經往生了，無法再服侍他、替他煮好吃的飯，也不能照顧任何事情了。于是這位丈夫就問禪師：「我要怎么做?我該問她什么?」

And the Zen master said to him, "Next time when she comes, take a handful of mung beans in your hand and ask her how many beans are inside. She surely cannot answer that. And then she will disappear. Because, if she cannot answer that question, you will know this is only an illusion of your own mind, your own conscience or your own imagination

because you/’re already too scared, afraid of the wife and imagining, an illusion of your mind. If she doesn/’t answer, if she cannot answer, then you know it/’s an illusion and she will vanish."

禪師告訴他：「下次當她來時，你就抓一把綠豆，問她有多少豆子在里面，她一定無法回答，然后她就會自己消失了。因為如果她答不出來的話，你就會明白這只是你自己頭腦的幻覺而已，由于良心不安而造成，因為你太害怕，太懼怕死去的太太，所以自己頭腦就造出這樣的幻象。如果她答不出來，你就知道這不過是幻想而已，這樣她就會消失不見了。」

So, the next night, truly, the ghost appeared. And the husband told her, "Oh, yes, you know everything. You are very intelligent; I cannot do anything about it." And then the ghost said, "Yes, I know. And I also know that today you went to see a Zen master and you talked about us."

到了第二天晚上，那鬼真的又出現了，丈夫告訴她：「噢，沒錯，你真的是無所不知又很聰明，我實在拿你沒有辦法。」鬼說：「是，我知道，而且我也知道你今天去找禪師談我們的事。」

So the man said, "Okay, since you know everything, now, can you tell me how many beans are in my hand?" As soon as he asked this question, the ghost disappeared.

So you know, was there a real ghost? No! Then you shouldn’t be afraid tonight.

所以那個男人就說：「好吧!既然你無所不知，現在你可以告訴我，我手中有多少豆子嗎?」當他一問這個問題時，鬼就消失了。所以你們知道了，真的有鬼嗎?沒有!所以今夜你不必害怕.