浙江天臺山的山峰是青黛色的，猶如豎起的畫屏。遠客紛沓而至，觀其美景。

    The peaks of Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang are green and black. They stand like an ornamental screen. People come from far away to enjoy the scenery here.

    幾千年來，這些秀麗的山峰上都建有許多的寺廟。有一個大廟的主持名叫智顗，約生活在公元539－597年間。因為他的智慧，隋煬帝賜封他為智者大師，這個名字至今仍為人們所知。　　

    For thousands of years, there have been many temples in these beautiful mountains. The head of a big temple there was called Zhiyi. He lived from about 539 to 597 AD. Because he was so wise, the Emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty gave him the title The Wise Master, and this is how he is known even today.

    當時，智者大師覺得時下之人過于殘忍，尤其是滿足口腹之欲時。他們可以殺掉任何活物，然后吃掉。　　

    At the time, The Wise Master felt that people were too cruel, especially when they wanted something to eat. They would kill almost anything that moved and eat it.

    他覺得必須做點什么。但怎么做呢？僧侶們又沒有錢。所以智者大師開始化緣，幾年后，他終于攢了足夠的錢。他拿這筆錢買了一塊地，并雇了一些人來幫他建一個池子。　　

    He decided something had to be done. But how? Monks don't have any money. So The Wise Master became a beggar for several years until he finally got enough money to get some land and hire some workers to build him a pond.

    人們看到后，紛紛嘲笑智者大師其實是個傻瓜！　　

    When people saw that, they laughed and said The Wise Master is pretty dumb!

    大師是智者，所以他一點也不在乎別人的嘲笑，繼續建造他的池塘。　　

    Because he was so wise, The Wise Master didn't care how much they laughed at him. He kept up work on his pond.

    工人們休息時，大師就向他們宣講佛教。他說：“佛經上說‘一切眾生皆有佛性。’你也許會對一條魚或者一只螃蟹不以為然，但是它們也能成佛。”　　

    When the workers had spare time, he told them about Buddhism. He said, "The sutras (the holy books of Buddhism) say, 'All living creatures have Buddha nature.' You may not think much of a fish or a crab, but they too can become Buddhas.

    “野生動物也同樣有佛性。如果一個人被野獸所殺，我們覺得很悲慘，我們會為那個人覺得難過。你們有沒有想過，當你們殺了一條魚，其他的魚也認為這很悲慘，同樣也會為這條魚感到難過嗎？”

    "Wild animals all have Buddha natures, too. If somebody gets killed by a wild animal, we think it's tragic. We feel sorry for that person. Hasn't it ever occurred to you that when you kill a fish, the other fish think it's tragic, and feel sorry for the dead fish?"

    智者大師解釋說，他之所以要挖一個池塘，就是為了讓人們有地方將魚蟹放生，而魚蟹也可以安居樂命。他把他的池塘起名為放生池。　　

    The Wise Master explained that he was making a pond so anybody who had a fish or crab could have a place to release it and let it live out its life in peace. He called his pond the Free Life Pond.

    工人們都被感動了，那些曾經嘲笑智者大師的人也為自己的自私感到羞愧。他們全都皈依了佛教，并且再也不殺生吃肉了。　　

    The workmen were moved, and the people who had laughed at him felt sorry for being so mean. They became Buddhists, and stopped killing animals to eat their meat.

    其他的寺廟也沿襲了智者大師的做法。如果你有機會參觀中國的佛寺，你很可能會看到放生池，里面生活著無憂無慮的魚、蟹和烏龜等，這些動物也不用擔心被人吃掉。　　

    Other temples copied his idea. If you have a chance to visit a Chinese Buddhist temple, you can probably see their Free Life Pond, full of happy fish and crabs and turtles that are safe from the worry of being cooked and eaten.