And a merchant said, "Speak to us of Buying and Selling."

And he answered and said:

To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands.

It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied.

Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.

When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices, -

Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value.

And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour.

To such men you should say,

"Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net;

For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us."

And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players, - buy of their gifts also.

For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul.

And before you leave the marketplace, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands.

For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied.

买卖

一位商贾说，请给我们谈谈买卖。

他回答说：

大地为你们果实累累，如果你们不懂，就不要捧满双手。

你们应当在交换大地的馈赠中体会富裕与满足。

但此种交换若非在爱心的仁善公平中进行，便会导致一些人贪得无厌，另一些人饥肠辘辘。

在市场上，你们这些在海上、田间和果园里辛勤劳作的人们，与织工、陶工和采集香料的人们相遇……

那就请求大地的主宰精神来到你们之中，为你们圣化度量衡器和计价法则。

勿让空手而来的人加入你们的交易，他们会以空言换取你们的劳动。

你们当对这些人说：

"与我们一同去耕田，或与我们的兄弟一同去海上撒网;

因为土地和海洋对你们就像对我们一样慷慨。"

如果歌者、舞者和吹笛者也来到市场，----请同样买下他们的礼物。

因为他们也采集了果实和乳香，而他们所带来的，尽管由梦幻织造，也是你们灵魂的衣食。

当你们离开集市时，审视一下是否有人空手而归。

因为大地的主宰精神不会安眠于风中，直到你们中最低微之人的需求也得到满足。