THE TITMOUSE'S REWARD
山雀的報答
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 Treasure Pao.
兩千年前的漢代，華陰山北面，住着一姓楊的農戶。他們全家都是農民，他們非常珍愛他們的獨子，並給他起名叫做寶——財寶的意思。
Yang Pao 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.
楊寶不僅聰明、善良、機敏，而且眉清目秀，一表人材。他的父母剃光他的頭， 只留下頭頂的兩撮頭髮，紮成兩個髮髻 .每個人都 承認他很聰明 .
Yang Pao 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. It was so dazed it just lay there without moving.
楊寶熱愛自然。他時常在華陰山的森林裏玩。九歲的時候，一天他跟往常一樣在外邊玩。忽然他聽到上方傳來一陣驚叫聲。他擡頭一看，見一隻貓頭鷹剛在空中抓住了一隻山雀 .發現有人在看見它捕獵，貓頭鷹受到驚嚇，丟下了山雀。那隻山雀被摔昏了，躺在地上一動不動。
Ants then came to take it away for food， but the titmouse had been hurt by the owl's claws and the fall to the ground， so it couldn't move. Yang Pao ran over and picked the titmouse up， brushing away the ants. He took the titmouse home and raised it in a bamboo cage.
螞蟻們想搬走山雀當食物。山雀先被貓頭鷹的利爪所傷，又從空中跌下，因此已經動彈不得。楊寶跑過去，拾起山雀，撣去螞蟻。他把山雀帶回家，放在一個竹籠裏飼養。
He loved his little bird. He fed it 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.
他很珍愛這隻小鳥。他用菊花的花瓣來餵它，還照料它的傷口， 直到它康復能夠飛翔 .之後他把它帶到樹林裏放生了。
"You're free now！ Watch out for owls！ Goodbye！！"
"你現在自由了！ 小心貓頭鷹 ！再見了！"
Not long afterwards， he had a strange dream. A child dressed in brown clothes came to thank him for saving his life. He presented Pao with four priceless white 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."
之後不久，楊寶做了一個奇怪的夢。一個穿着褐色衣服的小孩過來感謝他的救命之恩。他送給楊寶四個貴重的玉鐲，說："你好，我是王母娘娘的使者。你救了我的命，我要把這四個無暇的玉鐲送給你來表達我的謝意。我還祝願你的子孫後代都像純潔的玉一樣無暇，官運亨通."
Yang Pao 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.
楊寶並不想接受這些禮物，但那個褐衣男孩一再堅持，他最後收下了鐲子。剛收下，他就醒了，發現剛纔只是個夢。
"That sure was a strange dream，" he thought， shaking his head.
"這個夢真奇怪。"他邊想邊晃腦袋。
Yang Pao's sons， grandsons， great-grandsons， and great- grandsons were as spotless as pure jade. For four generations， his descendants all held posts in the top ranks of the government.
楊寶的兒子、孫子 、曾孫……，都像純潔的玉一樣無暇。他的四代子孫都是高官。
