A PowerPoint Presentation of a story that teaches some good Dhamma/Life Lessons for reflection. The texts are in English and Chinese. For the Video with audio narration and explanation in English, please go to the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gb5-lZhhJM

1. 1
~ The Creative Magician
摆 脱 烦 恼 ~创 意 魔 术 师
反思的故事

2. 2
Once upon a time, a king organized an event in his kingdom in which
magicians from all over the country were called to show their skills.
Among the various magicians of different talents, a highly creative
magician named Ramunu also came to show his skill.
Before the turn of this creative magician Ramunu, the other magicians
performed their tricks, conjuring acts and illusions. Ramunu observed
them very carefully.
从前，一位国王在他的王国里组织了一场活动，召集全国各地的魔术师来展示
他们的技艺。在众多天赋各异的魔法师中，一位名叫拉姆努的极具创造力的魔
法师也前来一展身手。在这位富有创造力的魔术师 Ramunu 轮到之前，其他
魔术师表演了他们的把戏，变戏法和幻术。 Ramunu 非常仔细地观察着他
们。

3. 3
When Ramunu’s turn was about to come, he was wondering what
magical trick he should show that could beat all the rest.
When his name was called out to perform, Ramunu approached the
king seated on the throne.
He bowed down to the king and said to the king, “Your majesty, I am
going to do a magic trick that no magician has ever done before.” The
king was delighted to hear this. He said, “Good! Go ahead and perform
your magic.”
快要轮到拉姆努努的时候，他正在琢磨自己要施展什么法术才能打败其他人。
当他的名字被点名表演时，Ramunu 走近坐在宝座上的国王。他向国王鞠躬，
对国王说：“陛下，我要表演魔术师从未表演过的魔术。” 国王听了很高兴。
他说：“好！ 继续施展你的魔法吧。”

4. 4
Ramunu then stepped away from the king to perform at the stage. The
king and the audience were in a state of suspense. Ramunu with
creative showmanship, started to mumble some strange chants. Just a
couple of minutes later with his shout of “Abracadabra”, all of a sudden
the king’s crown disappeared! All the people in the audience started
laughing.
But the king was certainly not amused. He considered it as an insult to
him. The king felt ashamed in front of the people without his crown in
front of the people.
Ramunu 然后从国王身边走开，在舞台上表演。 国王和观众都处于悬而未决的
状态。 具有创造性表演技巧的拉穆努开始喃喃自语一些奇怪的口号。 仅仅两
分钟后，随着他一声“阿布拉卡达布拉”的大喊，王冠突然消失了！ 全场的人都
笑了起来。但国王当然不高兴。 他认为这是对他的侮辱。 国王没有在人民面
前戴上王冠，在人民面前感到羞愧。

5. 5
His crown, the king believed was a symbol of his supreme power as a
ruler, something to him, in a way divine.
The king got very furious and ordered his guards to arrest Ramunu
the magician.
Although by then, Ramunu had made the crown appear again beside
the king, the king was still very angry.
The king proclaimed, “Put the magician in jail and he will be put to
death by hanging on the seventh day.” Those were the king’s orders.
国王认为，他的王冠象征着他作为统治者的至高无上的权力，对他来说，在某
种程度上是神圣的。国王大怒，命令侍卫逮捕魔术师拉姆努。虽然此时拉穆努
已经让皇冠再次出现在国王身边，但国王还是很生气。国王宣布：“将魔术师
关进监狱，第七天将他绞死。” 那是国王的命令。

6. 6
As soon as the creative magician’s wife heard this news, she came in
the evening to see her husband in jail. When she saw Ramunu in jail,
she started to weep. “Oh Ramunu, you will die soon and I will be a
widow,” the wife lamented.
However, the magician was very optimistic. He consoled his wife and
said, “Wife, why are you crying? There are still six days left. Spend
these six days happily because anything can happen in these six
days!”
创意魔术师的妻子一听到这个消息，就连夜赶来探望坐牢的丈夫。 当她在监
狱里看到拉穆努时，她哭了起来。 “噢，Ramunu，你很快就会死去，我将成
为寡妇，”妻子哀叹道。不过，魔术师很乐观。 他安慰妻子说：“老婆，你哭什
么？ 还有六天时间。 愉快地度过这六天，因为这六天里什么都可能发生！”

7. 7
The wife felt that her husband had gone mad at the sentence of
his death by the king. She would come every day to see her
husband in jail and everyday, she would weep and weep.
Ramunu the magician would tell her not to panic and be happy.
Eventually the seventh day came – the day Ramunu the
magician would be hanged to death.
On the morning of this day, Ramunu the magician started crying.
妻子觉得丈夫被国王判处死刑，疯了。 她每天都会来看她在监狱里的丈夫，
每天她都会哭啊哭啊。 魔术师拉穆努会告诉她不要惊慌，要开心。终于到了
第七天——魔术师拉穆努将被绞死的那一天。这一天早上，魔术师拉姆努哭了
起来。

8. 8
When the king came to the jail, the king upon seeing Ramunu crying
asked, “Hey, why are you crying? All the previous days I had seen
you happy, cheerful and smiling. As today is the day of your death,
have you become afraid and sad?”
The magician said to the king, “Your majesty, I am crying not because
I am afraid and sad to be hanged later in the day. We all know that
after all, everyone has to die one day.”
国王来到监狱，看到拉穆努哭泣，国王问道：“喂，你哭什么？ 在过去的日
子里，我一直看到你快乐、开朗、微笑。 今天是你的死期，你有没有害怕和
悲伤？”魔术师对国王说：“陛下，我哭不是因为我害怕和伤心，因为我会在
当天晚些时候被绞死。 我们都知道，毕竟人终有一天要死。”

9. 9
“Then why are you crying?” the king asked.
Ramunu replied, “I am crying because if I die today, then there will be a
huge loss.
You see, your majesty, I have been learning a special art for the last few
years. I was teaching my horse to fly in the last two years. One more
year, my horse would have learned to fly, but now I am going to die and
with my death, that art of making a horse fly will also end and my horse
will not be able to learn to fly. That's why I am crying.”
“那你为什么哭？” 国王问道。Ramunu 回答说：“我哭是因为如果我今天死
了，那将是一个巨大的损失。陛下您看，我这几年一直在学习一门绝学。 在
过去的两年里，我一直在教我的马飞行。 再过一年，我的马就可以学会飞
了，现在我要死了，我一死，马飞的术也就完了，我的马也学不会飞了。 这
就是我哭的原因。”

10. 10
Hearing about a flying horse, the king thought, “If I have a flying horse,
I will be able to fly on the horse. No one can defeat me in war. I will
become famous all over the world.”
The ambitious king began to have a strong desire for a flying horse.
The king immediately said to the magician, “I can give you one more
year but you will have to give that flying horse to me.”
The magician replied, “Sure sir, it will be my pleasure to give that flying
horse to you.”
听说有飞马，国王想：“如果我有一匹飞马，我就能骑在马上飞翔。 没有人能
在战争中打败我。 我会成为全世界的名人。”雄心勃勃的国王开始对一匹飞马
产生了强烈的渴望。国王立即对魔术师说：“我可以再给你一年，但你必须把
那匹飞马给我。”魔术师回答说：“好的，先生，我很乐意把那匹飞马送给你。”

11. 11
The king said, “If that horse could fly, then you will be a completely
free man and I will give you a handsome reward too. But if that horse
could not fly then I will hang you to death immediately.”
The magician agreed and the king allowed him to go home for one year
to complete the art of making his horse fly.
When Ramunu the magician retuned home happily, there was an
atmosphere of mourning in the magician's house. Everyone was
thinking that by then, the magician must have been hanged to death.
国王说：“如果那匹马能飞起来，你就可以自由自在了，我也给你重赏。 可要
是那匹马飞不起来，我就立刻吊死你。”魔术师同意了，国王允许他回家一
年，以完成让他的马飞起来的艺术。当魔术师拉穆努兴高采烈地回到家时，
魔术师家里却充满了哀悼的气氛。 所有人都在想，这时候魔法师肯定已经被
吊死了。

12. 12
Everyone was surprised to see the magician alive. The magician
told the whole thing to his family. His family was very happy at
first but later his wife became sad because she knew that there
would not be such a horse which could fly. And then after one
year the king would come to know this. Ramunu the magician
would be hanged to death.
However, Ramunu remained optimistic, happy and cheerful.
看到魔法师还活着，大家都很惊讶。 魔术师把整件事告诉了他的家人。 他的
家人起初很高兴，后来他的妻子很伤心，因为她知道不会有这样一匹会飞的
马。 一年后，国王就会知道这一点。 魔术师拉穆努将被绞死。然而，
Ramunu 仍然保持乐观、快乐和开朗。

13. 13
He told his wife, “A year is a very long time and we do not know what is going
to happen in this one year. Therefore, let us not worry about the future and
enjoy the present moment.”
It so happened that after six months, the king died suddenly. After three
months from the king’s death, the magician’s horse died.
Now, as the king was neither alive nor the horse, Ramunu the magician was
completely a free man. The new king could not enforce the proclamation or
death sentence of the previous king.
And so Ramunu and his wife lived happily and peacefully until they passed
away at a ripe old age.
他对妻子说：“一年是很长的时间，我们不知道这一年会发生什么。 所以，让我们不
要为未来忧虑，好好享受当下。”碰巧六个月后，国王突然去世了。 国王死后三个
月，魔术师的马也死了。现在，国王已不在人世，马也已不在，魔术师拉穆努完全是
一个自由人。 新国王不能执行前任国王的宣告或死刑判决。Ramunu 和他的妻子就
这样幸福而平静地生活着，直到他们高龄去世。

14. 14
佛法反思
The root causes of Dukkha are
Craving, Attachment, Ignorance
and the Ego-Self.
苦的根本原因是贪爱、执着、无
明和自我。
The past is dead and gone. The
future is yet to come, an
uncertainty. For peace, train the
mind to be in the NOW.
过去已经死去。 未来尚未到来，充满不
确定性。 为了和平，训练头脑在当下。
Live Righteously,
Mindfully. Develop
Right View. Follow the
Noble 8-Fold Path.
正念正念地生活。
培养正见。
遵循八正道。
Life is uncertain. Death is
certain. The point and
mode of death is uncertain.
Worry about these facts
is futile.
生活是不确定的。 死是一定
的。 死亡的时间点和方式
是不确定的。
担心这些事实是徒劳的。
With Metta,
Bro.
Oh Teik Bin
The End
(结束)