畫貓的男孩

Origin: Japan Joyce譯

畫貓的男孩

The Boy Who Drew Cats

Origin: Japan Joyce譯

寓言·童話O nce there was a boy who loved to draw. His name was Joji.

Joji grew up on a farm with lots of brothers and sisters. The others were a big help to their father and mother. But not Joji!

He did nothing for hours but draw in the dirt with a stick. And what Joji drew was just one thing.

Cats.

Cats, cats, and more cats. Small cats, big cats, thin cats, fat cats. Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats.

“Joji,” his father told him, “you must stop drawing all those cats! How will you ever be a farmer?”

“I’m sorry, Father. I’ll try to stop.”

And he did try. But whenever Joji saw one of the farm cats go by, he forgot about his chores and drew another cat.

“Joji will never make a farmer,” said the farmer sadly to his wife.

“Maybe he could be a priest,” she told him. “Why don’t you take him to the temple?”

So the farmer brought Joji to the priest at the village temple. The priest said, “I will gladly teach him.”

From then on, Joji lived at the temple. The priest gave him lessons in reading and writing. Joji had his own box of writing tools, with a brush and an ink stick and a stone.

Joji loved to make the ink. He poured water in the hollow of the stone. He dipped the ink stick in the water. Then he rubbed the stick on the stone. And there was the ink for his brush!

從前有個男孩非常喜歡畫畫。他的名字叫讓一。

讓一在農場長大，兄弟姐妹眾多。他的其他兄弟姐妹都是父母親的好幫手，但讓一不是！

讓一在好幾個小時里什么也沒干，就只是拿著一根棒子在泥土上畫畫，而且他只畫一樣東西。

貓。

貓，貓，還是貓。小貓、大貓、瘦貓、胖貓。貓，貓，貓，貓，貓。

“讓一，”他爸爸對他說，“你不能再繼續畫那些貓了！這樣下去你怎么當得了農民呢？”

“對不起，爸爸。我會努力不再畫的。”

他確實努力了。但每當讓一看到農場的貓經過時，他就會忘記手上的活兒，轉而畫起貓來。

“讓一永遠都當不成農民，”農民傷心地和他的妻子說道。

“也許他可以當僧人，”她對他說。“何不把他送去寺廟呢？”

因此農民帶著讓一去拜見了村里寺廟的住持。住持說，“我很樂意教導他。”

從那時起，讓一就住在了寺廟里。住持教他讀書和寫字。讓一有一盒自己的文具，里面有一支毛筆、一塊墨和一個硯臺。

讓一喜歡磨墨。他把水倒進空硯臺里，再把墨條伸進水里，然后開始研磨墨條，最后便磨出了蘸染毛筆的墨水。

Now, the other students worked hard at their writing. But not Joji! With his brush and rice paper, he did nothing for hours but draw. And what Joji drew was just one thing.

Cats.

Cats, cats, and more cats. Small cats, big cats, thin cats, fat cats. Cats, cats, cats, cats, cats.

“Joji,” the priest told him, “you must stop drawing all those cats! How will you ever be a priest?”

“I’m sorry, honorable sir. I’ll try to stop.”

And he did try. But whenever Joji saw one of the temple cats go by, he forgot about his writing and drew another cat.

That was bad enough. Then Joji started drawing on the1)folding screens of the temple. Soon there were cats on all the rice-paper panels. They were everywhere!

“Joji, you’ll never make a priest,” the priest told him sadly. “You’ll just have to go home.”

Joji went to his room and packed his things. But he was afraid to go home. He knew his father would be angry.

Then he remembered another temple in a village nearby. “Maybe I can stay with the priest there.”

Joji started out walking. It was already night when he got to the other village.

He climbed the steps to the temple and knocked. There was no answer. He opened the heavy door. It was all dark inside.

“That’s strange,” said Joji. “Why isn’t anyone here?”

He lit a lamp by the door. Then he saw something that made him clap. All around the big room were folding screens with empty rice-paper panels.

此刻，其他學生都在認真寫字。但讓一沒有！數小時內，他什么也沒干，只用毛筆和宣紙畫畫。而且讓一只畫一樣東西。

貓。

貓，貓，還是貓。小貓、大貓、瘦貓、胖貓。貓，貓，貓，貓，貓。

“讓一，”主持對他說，“你不能再繼續畫那些貓了！這么下去你怎么當得了僧人？”

“對不起，大人。我會努力不再畫的。”

他確實努力了。但每當讓一看到寺廟里的貓經過時，他就忘記了寫字，轉而畫起畫來。……