有一個人死后，在去閻羅殿的路上，遇見一座金碧輝煌的宮殿。宮殿的主人請求他留下來居住。
A man died and was on his way to another world, either the Heaven or the hell. He saw an extremely magnificent palace half way and the owner of the palace asked him to stay and live in the palace.

這個人說：“我在人世間辛辛苦苦地忙碌了一輩子，現在只想吃，想睡，我討厭工作。”
The man said, “I have been working arduously during my life and now I just want to eat and sleep without any work.”

宮殿主人答道：“若是這樣，那么世界上再也沒有比這里更適宜居住的了。我這里有山珍海味，你想吃什么就吃什么，不會有人來阻止你。而且，我保證沒有任何事情需要你做。”于是，這個人就住了下來。
The owner of the palace said, “If so, there is nowhere else better than here for you. There are a wealth of seafood and delicacies in my palace and you can eat whatever you want without anyone stopping you. Moreover, you can rest assured that nothing needs to be done by you.” Then, the man settled down in the palace.

開始的一段日子，這個人吃了睡，睡了吃，感到非常快樂。漸漸地，他覺得有點寂寞和空虛，于是去見宮殿主人，抱怨道：“這種每天吃吃睡睡的日子過久了也沒有意思。我對這種生活已經提不起一點興趣了。你能否為我找一個工作?”
At the beginning, the man felt very happy at the rotation of eating and sleeping. But gradually, he felt a bit lonely and void. So he went to the owner and groaned, “It is very tedious to live by just eating and sleeping every day. Now I show no interest in this kind of life any more. Could you help me find a job?”

宮殿的主人答道：“對不起，我們這里從來就不曾有過工作。”
The owner replied, “Sorry, there is no job here at all.”

又過了幾個月，這個人實在忍不住了，又去見宮殿的主人：“這種日子我實在受不了。如果你不給我工作，我寧愿去下地獄，也不要再住在這里了。”
After another several months, the man could not bear the present life and went to the owner again, “I really could not stand this sort of life any more. If you do not offer me a job, I would prefer to go to the hell instead of living here.”

宮殿的主人輕蔑地笑了：“你認為這里是天堂嗎?這里本來就是地獄啊!”
The owner of the palace smiled contemptuously, “Do you think it is Heaven here? It is actually the hell!”

（中文作者: 選自<<小故事網>> 譯者: 愛爾蘭都柏林大學 賴小琪）