21. GENERAL MAO AND THE TURTLE

毛将军和龟的故事

During the Chin dynasty about 1,600 years ago, there was a kindhearted Confucian scholar named Mao Bao. Once, before he had passed the imperial examinations and become a government official, he happened to see a fisherman on his way to the market to sell a turtle he had caught. Mao Bao immediately bought the turtle, but instead of eating it, he took it to a nearby lake and let it go.

距今1600多年前的晋代，有个心地善良的儒生叫毛宝。科举做官之前，有一次，他碰巧看到有一个渔夫，带着一只捉到的龟去集市上卖。毛宝当即把那只龟买下来，他没有吃了它，而是把它带到附近的湖中放了。

Later, Mao Bao became a very powerful general. Even the best generals lose sometimes, though, and at Chucheng, General Mao's forces were beaten by Shi Jilung, and they had to run for their lives.

后来，毛宝成了一名威猛的将军。可是最优秀的将军也有吃败仗的时候，在楚城，毛宝的部队被石季龙打败了，他们只好四散逃命。

The enemy was following hot on their heels. General Mao was running as fast as anyone else. He reached a lake, but there were no boats around, and there was no bridge. There was no way to cross the water. General Mao couldn't swim, and anyway, he was dressed in battle armor, which would carry him straight to the bottom.

敌人紧追不舍，毛将军和其他将士一样匆匆逃命。他跑到了一个湖边，但是那儿既没有船也没有桥，根本没办法过河。毛将军不会游泳，而且又穿着盔甲，即使游泳也会沉底。

He looked back and saw the enemy was almost on top of him. He sighed and said, "The heavens have abandoned me!"

他往后一看，敌人很快就要追上来了。他叹了口气：“天要亡我！”

Rather than fall into enemy hands, General Mao prepared to take his own life. Just as he was about to commit suicide, he noticed something huge come to the surface of the water, and float over close to the shore where he was preparing to kill himself.

为了不落入敌人的手中，毛将军准备自己了断。正要自杀的时候，他发现有一个很大的东西浮上水面，朝他准备自杀的岸边游来。

He had no time to worry about what was floating in the lake. The enemy was coming closer and closer. General Mao decided, "If I kill myself here, the enemy will capture my corpse, which will disgrace my country and my emperor. It will be better for me to throw myself into the lake so they cannot find my corpse." With that, he leaped into the water of the lake.

他顾不上留心水里浮着的东西是什么了，敌人正在步步逼近。他下了决心：如果我死在这儿，敌人会得到我的尸首，这会有辱于我的国家和君王。我还是投水自尽的好，这样他们也无法得到我的尸首。想到这儿，他一跃跳进了湖中。

But to his surprise, he landed on something. Then he started to move away from the shore, across the lake, to the other side. General Mao was astonished.

很奇怪的是，他落在什么东西上边。接着他开始离岸边，穿过湖，向对岸移去。毛将军异常惊讶。

The enemy reached the lake. They shrieked and howled and shot arrows at General Mao, but he was already out of range. The arrows fell into the water and didn't hit him.

敌人追到了岸边。他们咆哮着朝毛将军放箭，但是他早在射程之外了。箭纷纷落入水中，一点也没伤着他。

General Mao looked down and discovered he was standing on a huge turtle! The turtle took him to the other side of the lake. General Mao got off and climbed up the bank. The turtle came to the surface and nodded to him. Then it sank back into the water and swam away.

毛将军低头一看，发现自己站在一只巨龟上！龟把他载到了湖的对岸，毛将军从龟背上下来，爬上岸。那只龟浮出水面，向他点了点头，然后又沉入水里游走了。

Then General Mao remembered that dozens of years before, he had saved a turtle and released it in a lake -- this very lake!

毛将军（这才）记起了，多年前他曾救过一只龟，并把它放回湖中——就是这个湖！

Now, in his time of need, the turtle had come to rescue him: a life for a life!

现在，危急时刻，乌龟赶来救了他：一命还一命！

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