One very cold night, when he little thought any one was outside, he heard a voice calling, "Your reverence5! your reverence!" So he rose and went out to see who it was, and there he beheld6 an old badger7 standing8. Any ordinary man would have been greatly alarmed at the apparition9; but the priest, being such as he has been described above, showed no sign of fear, but asked the creature his business. Upon this the badger respectfully bent its knees, and said:
"Hitherto, sir, my lair10 has been in the mountains, and of snow or frost I have taken no heed11; but now I am growing old, and this severe cold is more that I can bear. I pray you to let me enter and warm myself at the fire of your cottage, that I may live through this bitter night."
When the priest heard what a helpless state the beast was reduced to, he was filled with pity, and said:
"That's a very slight matter; make haste and come in and warm yourself."
The badger, delighted with so good a reception, went into the hut, and squatting12 down by the fire began to warm itself; and
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the priest, with renewed fervour, recited his prayers and struck his bell before the image of Buddha13, looking straight before him. After two hours the badger took its leave, with profuse14 expressions of thanks, and went out; and from that time forth15 it came every night to the hut. As the badger would collect and bring with it dried branches and dead leaves from the hills for firewood, the priest at last became very friendly with it, and got used to its company; so that if ever, as the night wore on, the badger did not arrive, he used to miss it, and wonder why it did not come. When the winter was over, and the spring-time came at the end of the second month, the badger gave up its visits, and was no more seen; but, on the return of the winter, the beast resumed its old habit of coming to the hut. When this practice had gone on for ten years, one day the badger said to the priest, "Through your reverence's kindness for all these years, I have been able to pass the winter nights in comfort. Your favours are such that, during all my life, and even after my death, I must remember them. What can I do to requite16 them? If there is anything that you wish for, pray tell me."
The priest, smiling at this speech, answered, "Being such as I am, I have no desire and no wishes. Glad as I am to hear your kind intentions, there is nothing that I can ask you to do for me. You need feel no anxiety on my account. As long as I live, when the winter comes, you shall be welcome here." The badger, on hearing this, could not conceal17 its admiration18 at the depth of the old man's benevolence19; but having so much to be grateful for, it felt hurt at not being able to requite it. As this subject was often renewed between them, the priest at last, touched by the goodness of the badger's heart, said, "Since I have shaven my head, renounced20 the world, and forsaken21 the pleasures of this life, I have no desire to gratify, yet I own I should like to possess three riyos in gold. Food and raiment I receive by the favour of the villagers, so I take no heed for those things. Were I to die to-morrow, and attain22 my wish of being born again into the next world, the same kind folk have promised to meet and bury my body. Thus, although I have no other reason to wish for money, still if I had three riyos I would
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offer them up at some holy shrine23, that masses and prayers might be said for me, whereby I might enter into salvation24. Yet I would not get this money by violent or unlawful means; I only think of what might be if I had it. So you see, since you have expressed such kind feelings toward me, I have told you what is on my mind." When the priest had done speaking, the badger leaned its head on one side with a puzzled and anxious look, so much so that the old man was sorry he had expressed a wish which seemed to give the beast trouble, and tried to retract25 what he had said. "Posthumous26 honours, after all, are the wish of ordinary men, I, who am a priest, ought not to entertain such thoughts, or to want money; so pray pay no attention to what I have said;" and the badger, feigning27 assent28 to what the priest had impressed upon it, returned to the hills as usual.
From that time forth the badger came no more to the hut. The priest thought this very strange, but imagined either that the badger stayed away because it did not like to come without the money, or that it had been killed in an attempt to steal it; and he blamed himself for having added to his sins for no purpose, repenting29 when it was too late: persuaded, however, that the badger must have been killed, he passed his time in putting up prayers upon prayers for it.
After three years had gone by, one night the old man heard a voice near his door calling out, "Your reverence! your reverence!"
As the voice was like that of the badger, he jumped up as soon as he heard it, and ran out to open the door; and there, sure enough, was the badger. The priest, in great delight, cried out, "And so you are safe and sound, after all! Why have you been so long without coming here? I have been expecting you anxiously this long while."
So the badger came into the hut, and said, "If the money which you required had been for unlawful purposes, I could easily have procured30 as much as ever you might have wanted; but when I heard that it was to be offered to a temple for masses for your soul, I thought that, if I were to steal the hidden treasure of some other man, you could not apply to a sacred purpose
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money which had been obtained at the expense of his sorrow. So I went to the island of Sado, and gathering31 the sand and earth which had been cast away as worthless by the miners, fused it afresh in the fire; and at this work I spent months and days." As the badger finished speaking, the priest looked at the money which it had produced, and sure enough he saw that it was bright and new and clean; so he took the money, and received it respectfully, raising it to his head.
"And so you have had all this toil32 and labour on account of a foolish speech of mine? I have obtained my heart's desire, and am truly thankful."
As he was thanking the badger with great politeness and ceremony, the beast said, "In doing this I have but fulfilled my own wish; still I hope that you will tell this thing to no man."
"Indeed," replied the priest, "I cannot choose but tell this story. For if I keep the money in my poor hut, it will be stolen by thieves: I must either give it to some one to keep for me, or else at once offer it up at the temple. And when I do this, when people see a poor old priest with a sum of money quite unsuited to his station, they will think it very suspicious, and I shall have to tell the tale as it occurred; but as I shall say that the badger that gave me the money has ceased coming to my hut, you need not fear being waylaid33, but can come, as of old, and shelter yourself from the cold." To this the badger nodded assent, and as long as the old priest lived, it came and spent the winter nights with him.
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1
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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2
meditation
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| n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录 | |
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3
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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4
revered
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| v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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5
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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6
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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7
badger
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| v.一再烦扰，一再要求，纠缠 | |
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8
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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9
apparition
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| n.幽灵，神奇的现象 | |
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10
lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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11
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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12
squatting
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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13
Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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14
profuse
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| adj.很多的，大量的，极其丰富的 | |
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15
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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16
requite
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| v.报酬，报答 | |
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17
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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18
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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19
benevolence
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| n.慈悲，捐助 | |
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20
renounced
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| v.声明放弃( renounce的过去式和过去分词 )；宣布放弃；宣布与…决裂；宣布摒弃 | |
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21
Forsaken
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| adj. 被遗忘的, 被抛弃的 动词forsake的过去分词 | |
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22
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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23
shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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24
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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25
retract
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| vt.缩回，撤回收回，取消 | |
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26
posthumous
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| adj.遗腹的；父亡后出生的；死后的，身后的 | |
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27
feigning
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| 假装，伪装( feign的现在分词 )； 捏造（借口、理由等） | |
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28
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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29
repenting
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| 对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的现在分词 ) | |
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30
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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31
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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32
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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33
waylaid
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| v.拦截，拦路( waylay的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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