The Titmouse’s Reward山雀的报答

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.

在约两千年前的汉代，华阴山北面住着一家姓杨的农户，他们全家都是农民。杨家夫妻非常珍爱他们的独子，并给他起名叫做宝——财宝的意思。

杨宝不仅聪明、善良、机敏，而且眉清目秀，一表人才。他的父母将他的头发几乎全部剪去， 只留下头顶上的两撮头发，扎成两个发髻。人们都觉得他是个可爱的孩子。

杨宝热爱自然。他常常在华阴山的树林里玩。杨宝九岁的时候，一天，他跟往常一样正在外边玩，忽然听到树林上方传来一阵凄厉的叫声。他抬头一看，只见一只猫头鹰正在空中抓着一只山雀。猫头鹰发现有人在看它捕猎，受到惊吓，丢下了山雀。那只山雀被摔得太重而昏了过去，躺在地上一动不动。

蚂蚁们想搬走山雀当食物。由于山雀先被猫头鹰的利爪所伤，又从空中跌下，已经动弹不得了。杨宝跑过去，拾起山雀，掸去蚂蚁。他把山雀带回家，放在一个竹笼里饲养。

杨宝很珍爱这只小鸟。他用菊花的花瓣来喂它，还细心地照料它的伤口，直到它康复能够飞翔。然后他把它带到树林里放生了。

“你现在自由了！小心猫头鹰！再见了！”

没过多久，杨宝做了一个奇怪的梦。梦中一个穿着褐色衣服的小孩过来感谢他的救命之恩。他送给杨宝四只贵重的玉镯，说：“你好，我是王母娘娘的使者。你救了我的命，我要把这四只无瑕的玉镯送给你来表达我的谢意。我还祝愿你的子孙后代都像纯洁的玉一样无瑕，而且官运亨通。”

杨宝并不想接受这些礼物，但那个褐衣男孩一再坚持，最后他只好收下了镯子。刚收下，他就醒了，发现刚才只是个梦。

“这个梦真奇怪。”他边想边摇摇头。

后来，杨宝的儿子、孙子 、曾孙、玄孙，人品都像纯洁的玉一样无瑕。他的四代子孙都成了高官。

（舒 林 供稿）