The insect that kills the greatest number of human
beings is the mosquito; it kills millions of adults and children
each year. The number of human beings killed by mosquitoes far exceeds
that of any wars, natural disasters or assassinations. This tiny
but extremely vicious demon kills at least four million people every
year! Many people get all kinds of strange diseases because they
are infected by the mosquito.
We have to protect ourselves, because there are
more mosquitoes in the world than we could ever kill! We could not
kill them all even if we wanted to so don't be "silly"
("kill" and "silly" in Chinese have a similar
pronunciation.); we should just endeavor to protect ourselves. Cover
your children with mosquito nets when they sleep, just like you
would cover a wok (Master and everyone laugh), and let them sleep
inside. You can do the same for the bigger kids as well - it's convenient.
You don't have to kill the mosquitoes, just use
mosquito nets and window screens! Your window screens are most inviting
- with mesh holes so large that even I could go through them. (Laughter)
I heard that even Master's transformation body can go through those
small holes, not to mention mosquitoes.
When buying window screens, choose those made of
a fine mesh to prevent the tiniest mosquitoes from entering. There
is a type of screen made of very fine mesh that can stop mosquitoes
while still maintaining ventilation. What's the use if the mesh
holes are so big? At night, mosquitoes can see very clearly from
outside the mesh just as though they were looking through binoculars.
So in they go. They say, "Since the door is open, I'll just
go in easily."
Even when you have installed window screens, do
not switch on the lights too early. Try to see things with your
naked eyes or use a flashlight, and switch on the lights later in
the evening when the mosquitoes have gone to sleep.
About five to seven in the evening, it is dinner
time for mosquitoes (laughter), so there are plenty of them around.
They disappear at about nine or ten! If possible, do not switch
on the lights when they come out to eat. Switch on the outdoor lights
instead of the indoor ones; so even if there were some mosquitoes
inside, they will go for the light outside. Should you switch on
the lights indoors, mosquitoes will come in even if there were originally
none inside!