心懷善意，化敵為友

Once upon a time， there lived a farmer who had a little land. His name was Tuan and he was a very good-natured1） person. He lived in a hut2） with his wife and children and earned a living by selling whatever crops he could produce.

Tuan loved to help others. Whenever someone fell ill or needed something badly， Tuan was there to help. There seemed to be none who hated this man.

But there was one person who hated Tuan with all his heart. He was Juan， a neighbor of Tuan's， who lived on the land next to him. A lazy person by nature， Juan hardly ever put in as much effort to cultivate his land as Tuan did. So when the harvest season arrived every year， Juan found that he had very few crops to sell. Tuan on the other hand， earned a handsome3） profit through the selling of his produce4）.

One year， Juan could no longer contain5） his jealousy. Just days before Tuan was to reap6） his harvest， Juan set fire to his crops at night. Tuan was asleep at the time and it was only the alertness of one of his other neighbors that saved many of his crops from being destroyed in the deadly flames of the fire.

When the flames were put out， Tuan saw in which direction the fire had started. Tuan didn't know about Juan's animosity7） towards him， but he let the matter rest and decided to take action only if he saw Juan repeating his evil act once again.

Only days later， Tuan was awakened by the sound of lamentations8）. He went out to find a crowd beside Juan's hut. He rushed over to find that Juan's son had fallen ill and that the village doctor was unable to provide a cure for his illness. Tuan knew what he had to do. He untied his own horse and rode in a hurry to the town that was ten miles away and fetched a more experienced doctor who lived there.

This doctor was able to identify the disease correctly and provided the correct treatment for it. Within hours， the boy was found to be soundly9） asleep and Tuan went with the doctor to take him back to the town.

A day later， Juan went to Tuan's hut and began to weep bitterly. He confessed10） to his sins but was surprised when Tuan told him that he knew all about them.

\"You knew that I had set fire to your crops？ And still you fetched the doctor for my son？\" asked Juan.

Tuan nodded and said， \"I did what I knew was right. Could I do wrong just because you had done so？\"

Juan stood up and embraced Tuan. Both men were in tears and so were the others who stood by them.

From that day on， Juan changed. Within a year， he could produce more crops on his land through his hard work. When the others asked him how he had changed so much， he only replied， \"It was the goodness and love of Tuan that transformed me.\"

從前有一位農民，他有一小塊地。他叫圖安，是一位生性非常善良的人。他和妻子及孩子們住在一間簡陋的小房子里，靠出售自己種的各種糧食為生。

圖安很樂于助人。每當有人生病或急需什么東西時，他就會去幫忙。似乎沒有誰會討厭他。

不過，有一個人卻打心眼里討厭圖安，他就是住在圖安隔壁的鄰居胡安。胡安生性懶惰，種地時幾乎從來不會像圖安那樣付出那么多的勞動。所以，每年收獲的季節(jié)來臨時，胡安就會發(fā)現(xiàn)自己沒有多少糧食可賣，而圖安卻能通過出售自己的農產品賺上一大筆。

有一年，胡安再也無法克制自己的嫉妒。就在圖安即將收割莊稼的前幾天，胡安在夜里往圖安的地里放了一把火。圖安當時睡著了，要不是他的另外一位鄰居提醒他，他的大部分莊稼就會在熊熊烈火中毀于一旦。

火被撲滅后，圖安發(fā)現(xiàn)了火是從哪邊燒起來的。圖安當時并不知道胡安恨自己，但是他選擇息事寧人，并決定只有當胡安再干這種壞事時才采取行動。

僅僅幾天之后，圖安被一陣悲慟聲吵醒了。他出去一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)胡安的房子旁有一群人。他急忙跑過去，發(fā)現(xiàn)胡安的兒子生病了，而且村里的大夫對此束手無策。圖安知道自己該做什么。他解開自己的馬，騎著它飛奔到十英里以外的鎮(zhèn)上，把住在那里的一位更有經驗的大夫接了過來。

這位大夫準確地診斷出了疾病，并對癥下藥。沒過幾個小時，大家就發(fā)現(xiàn)男孩睡熟了，于是圖安跟著大夫走了，好把他送回鎮(zhèn)上。

第二天，胡安來到圖安家，痛哭流涕起來。他坦白了自己的罪行，而當圖安告訴他自己知道這一切時，胡安很是驚訝。

“你知道是我朝你的莊稼放了火？而你卻還為我的兒子請來了大夫？”胡安問道。

圖安點了點頭，說：“我做了自己覺得是正確的事情。就因為你沒干好事，我就能干壞事嗎？”

胡安站了起來，抱住了圖安。他們倆和站在一旁的其他人都落淚了。

從那天起，胡安便改過自新。憑借著自己的努力勞作，他用了不到一年的時間就能在自己的土地上收獲更多的莊稼了。每當別人問起他是如何發(fā)生如此巨變的，他只是說：“是圖安的善良和愛改變了我。”

1.good-natured [?ɡ?d?ne?t??（r）d] adj. 本性善良的；和善的

2.hut [h?t] n. 簡陋的小房子

3.handsome [?h?ns?m] adj. 相當大的，可觀的

4.produce [?pr?dju?s] n. （尤指）農產品

5.contain [k?n?te?n] vt. 克制（強烈的感情）

6.reap [ri?p] vt. 收割（莊稼）；收獲

7.animosity [??n??m?s?ti] n. （尤指表現(xiàn)于行動的）仇恨；敵意；憎惡

8.lamentation [?l?m?n?te??n] n. 悲慟；哀悼

9.soundly [sa?ndli] adv. 酣暢地

10.confess [k?n?fes] vi. 坦白；承認（多與to連用）