The Titmouse’s Reward山雀的報(bào)答

During the Han dynasty， about two thousand years ago， to the north of Huayin Mountain， there lived a family called Yang. They were farmers， and had only one child， who was so precious to him that they named him Bao.

Yang Bao was not only clever， kind and quick-witted， but he was also very good-looking with his clear eyebrows and bright eyes. His parent shaved all of his hair off except for two locks on the top， which they tied into two knots. Everybody agreed that he was very cute.

Yang Bao loved nature. He spent a lot of time playing in the forests of Huayin Mountain. One day when he was nine years old， he was playing outdoors as usual. All of a sudden he heard a cry above him. He looked up and saw a hunting owl had just snatched a little bird， a titmouse， out of the air. The owl was so startled to discover someone watching it hunt that it dropped the titmouse， which fell to the ground. The titmouse was so dazed that it just lay there without moving.

Ants then came to take it away for food， but the titmouse had been hurt by the owls claws and then fall to the ground， so it couldnt move. Yang Bao ran over and picked the titmouse up， brushing away the ants. He took the titmouse home and raised it in a bamboo cage.

He loved his little bird. He fed it on chrysanthemum petals and tended to its wounds until it was strong enough to fly. Then he took it to the forest and let it go.

“Youre free now！ Watch out for owls！ Goodbye！”

Not long afterwards， he had a strange dream. A child dressed in brown clothes came to thank him for saving his life. He presented Yang Bao with four priceless jade bracelets， saying， “Sir， I am an envoy of the Heavenly Queen. You have saved my life. I would like to show my gratitude by presenting these four immaculate jade bracelets to you， with my blessing that your children and grandchildren be as spotless as pure jade， and hold posts in the top ranks of the government.”

Yang Bao did not want to take the gift， but the little boy dressed in brown insisted， so he finally took the bracelets. As soon as he did， he woke up and found that it had just been a dream.

“That sure was a strange dream.” He thought， shaking his head.

Yang Baos sons， grandsons， great-grandsons and great-great-grandsons were as spotless as pure jade. For four generations， his descendants all held posts in the top ranks of the government.

在約兩千年前的漢代，華陰山北面住著一家姓楊的農(nóng)戶，他們?nèi)叶际寝r(nóng)民。楊家夫妻非常珍愛(ài)他們的獨(dú)子，并給他起名叫做寶——財(cái)寶的意思。

楊寶不僅聰明、善良、機(jī)敏，而且眉清目秀，一表人才。他的父母將他的頭發(fā)幾乎全部剪去， 只留下頭頂上的兩撮頭發(fā)，扎成兩個(gè)發(fā)髻。人們都覺(jué)得他是個(gè)可愛(ài)的孩子。

楊寶熱愛(ài)自然。他常常在華陰山的樹(shù)林里玩。楊寶九歲的時(shí)候，一天，他跟往常一樣正在外邊玩，忽然聽(tīng)到樹(shù)林上方傳來(lái)一陣凄厲的叫聲。他抬頭一看，只見(jiàn)一只貓頭鷹正在空中抓著一只山雀。貓頭鷹發(fā)現(xiàn)有人在看它捕獵，受到驚嚇，丟下了山雀。那只山雀被摔得太重而昏了過(guò)去，躺在地上一動(dòng)不動(dòng)。

螞蟻們想搬走山雀當(dāng)食物。由于山雀先被貓頭鷹的利爪所傷，又從空中跌下，已經(jīng)動(dòng)彈不得了。楊寶跑過(guò)去，拾起山雀，撣去螞蟻。他把山雀帶回家，放在一個(gè)竹籠里飼養(yǎng)。

楊寶很珍愛(ài)這只小鳥(niǎo)。他用菊花的花瓣來(lái)喂它，還細(xì)心地照料它的傷口，直到它康復(fù)能夠飛翔。然后他把它帶到樹(shù)林里放生了。

“你現(xiàn)在自由了！小心貓頭鷹！再見(jiàn)了！”

沒(méi)過(guò)多久，楊寶做了一個(gè)奇怪的夢(mèng)。夢(mèng)中一個(gè)穿著褐色衣服的小孩過(guò)來(lái)感謝他的救命之恩。他送給楊寶四只貴重的玉鐲，說(shuō)：“你好，我是王母娘娘的使者。你救了我的命，我要把這四只無(wú)瑕的玉鐲送給你來(lái)表達(dá)我的謝意。我還祝愿你的子孫后代都像純潔的玉一樣無(wú)瑕，而且官運(yùn)亨通?！?/p>

楊寶并不想接受這些禮物，但那個(gè)褐衣男孩一再堅(jiān)持，最后他只好收下了鐲子。剛收下，他就醒了，發(fā)現(xiàn)剛才只是個(gè)夢(mèng)。

“這個(gè)夢(mèng)真奇怪?！彼呄脒厯u搖頭。

后來(lái)，楊寶的兒子、孫子 、曾孫、玄孫，人品都像純潔的玉一樣無(wú)瑕。他的四代子孫都成了高官。

（舒 林 供稿）