The Spider's Thread

第1話

It happened one day. Sakyamuni Buddha was wandering alone at the edge of the lotus pond in the Sukhavati. All of the lotus flowers in the pond are as white as jewels, and the golden stamens in the middle of the flowers give off an indescribably good smell. The Sukhavati must be just in the morning.

At last he stood at the edge of the pond and looked down through the lotus leaves that covered the surface of the water. The bottom of this lotus pond is just at the bottom of hell, so you can clearly see the view of the Sanzu River and the mountains of needles through the crystal-like water as if you were looking through goggles.

His eyes were caught by the sight of a man named Kandata wriggling in the depths of hell with other sinners. This man is a great thief who has killed people, set his house on fire, and done all sorts of bad things, but he still did one good deed. One time he was passing through a deep forest and saw a small spider crawling on the side of the road. So he quickly put his foot up and tried to step on it, but he said, "No, no, this too must be something small but with life. It's a pity to take that life so carelessly". He thought about it suddenly and finally saved the spider without killing it.

As the Buddha was looking at the state of hell, he remembered that Kandata had saved the spider. And as a reward for doing such a good deed, he thought he'd save him from hell if he could. Fortunately, when he looked to his side, a spider in Sukhavati strung a beautiful silvery thread on a jade-colored lotus leaf. He gently picked up the thread and lowered it straight down through the jewel-like white lotus to the depths of hell far below.

lotus......（名）蓮

stamen......（名）雄蕊

give off......発する

indescribably......（副）言葉では言い表せなく

sinner......（名）罪人

set fire......火を放つ

deed......（名）行為

crawl......（動）這う

step on......踏みつける

jade......（名）翡翠