一篇篇流传千年的传统故事，有如一朵朵盛开的奇葩，凝结古人智慧，魅力无穷。

捏土造人的女娲、开弓射日的后羿、身老志坚的愚公、代父从军的木兰、英勇救母的沉香、千里寻夫的孟姜女、迁居断杼的孟母、缺乏团结的三个和尚……

他们就像万花筒里倏忽闪现的缤纷图景，在孩童稚嫩的心灵上留下一片瑰丽与神奇。

中英双语《中国传统故事美绘本》精选了中国多个传统故事，根据流传的原貌提炼加工后编写而成。

开启孩子们的心灵，就是开启智慧的宝盒。小小孩童长大成人时，也许还会记起这些故事带给自己的生命智慧和生活哲理。

今天给大家讲述的是中英双语传统故事《聚宝缸》，精美的绘图、生动活泼的文字、地道流畅的英文、引人入胜的故事，带你读懂 “贪心不足蛇吞象” 的道理。

上

很久以前，在一个小山村里，住着一位老伯伯。

Long long ago, there lived an old man in a small mountain village.


 
他家里很穷，只有山坡上少得可怜的一小片田地，收获的粮食根本不够填饱肚子。平时他只能靠在山上挖点野菜，和着粮食一起吃，才不至于饿死。

Tilling a tiny plot of land on the mountain slope, his family could barely harvest enough to feed themselves. To save themselves from starvation, they had to look for wild vegetables on the mountain.
 


村子里的大多数人都像他一样，经常吃不饱肚子，因为村里的好田地都让大财主王扒皮给占去了。

All the other people in the village led a similar life, having not food in their bellys, or clothes on their back. Why? All the fertile land in the village had been seized by a power landlord named Wang Bapi.



 
春天来了，为了种好庄稼，多收点粮食，老伯伯打算把自己的田地深挖一遍。这天，老伯伯正在挖地，一锄头下去，突然听到“嘭”的一声，好像碰到了什么硬东西。

It was now spring, and longing for a better harvest, the old man decided to plough his land. However one day he was doing the plowing, the old man heard a strange sound. The sound came as the old man struck his hoe on something hard.

他丢下锄头，扒开泥土，发现了一个缸——这个缸应该是很多年前的东西了。

He put aside his hoe and brushed away the earth to take a look. Lying there was a pot that looked very old indeed.
 


干完活，老伯伯把缸背回了家。他把家里仅有的那点米倒进缸里，就忙着去烧水做饭了。水烧开了，老伯伯去米缸取米。奇怪的事情发生了——取出米后，缸里的米并没有变少。

After finishing his work, the old man brought the pot home. Inside it, he put in the last handful of rice that was at his home, and started to boil water for cooking. Seeing the water boiling, he went over to the pot and took out some rice. To his surprise, the same amount of rice remained in the pot. 

他不敢相信自己的眼睛。这是怎么回事？于是，他把缸里的米全都倒了出来，发现缸里竟然还有那么多米。

He could not believe his eyes. What happened? He immediately poured all the rice out of the pot. But looking inside the pot, he was amazed to see the same amount of rice still resting in the pot.



老伯伯恍然大悟，原来他得到的是一只聚宝缸。老伯伯从缸里倒出很多米，留够了自己吃的，把其余的都分给了村子里的穷人。

“This must be a magic treasure pot,” the old man suddenly realized. He put aside some of the rice for his own family, and distributed the remaining amount among his poor fellow villagers.

老伯伯挖出聚宝缸的事，像长了翅膀似的，很快就传遍全村。村里的大财主王扒皮也知道了这件事。他带着一大帮打手，想把聚宝缸抢走。

His story about the pot soon became known throughout the entire village. Wang Bapi, the landlord, also learned of it. Bringing with him a big gang of hired thugs, he attempted to rob the treasure pot.



他们刚一踏进老伯伯的家门，老伯伯就高高举起聚宝缸说：“你们要是上来抢，我就把它摔碎，谁也别想得到它！”王扒皮怕老伯伯真的把聚宝缸摔碎，只好带着打手灰溜溜地离开了。

However, the moment they got to his home, the old man raised the pot high in the air and said, “I’ll break it if you try to rob me. If I cannot have it, neither can you!” Fearing that the old man might break the pot, the landlord and his men left with their tails between their legs.



聚宝缸弄不到手，王扒皮怎么也不甘心。他饭也吃不香，觉也睡不好，脑子里都是聚宝缸的影子。想啊想啊，他终于想出了一个坏点子。

But the landlord could not stop thinking about this magic treasure pot. He lost his appetite, and became sleepless. The treasure pot constantly loomed before his eyes. He racked his brains, finally hit upon a vicious and cruel idea.
 


老伯伯偷了他家祖上传下来的聚宝缸。县太爷一听，马上让当差的把老伯伯和聚宝缸带到了县衙门。

He went to the magistrate and accused the old man of stealing the treasure pot. He said the pot had belonged to his ancestors. At this complaint, the local magistrate sent some of his workers to go and fetch the old man and the treasure pot.
 
 

(To be continued.)

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