九色鹿

沈麗

One day， a man dropped into a river and was nearly drowned1. A deer with nine colors happened to pass by and he jumped into the river and saved the man. The man was so thankful that he knelt down before the nine-colored deer and said， “Thank you， deer. Id like to be your servant2 from today on. Ill cut grass to feed you every day.” The deer refused him and said to him， “Never mind. But please dont tell others that youve seen me.” The man made a promise that he would never tell others where the deer was. Then he went home.

The king in this country had a lovely daughter. One night， she dreamed of a deer with nine colors and its antlers3 were as white as snow. So the next morning， the princess pleaded4 her father to get the deer for her. She wanted to use the fur of the deer to make a scarf.

The king put up a notice， announcing5 that if anyone who knew where the nine-colored deer was and caught the deer for the princess， he would be given half of the kingdom， he would also be given a lot of gold.

The man who the deer saved saw the notice. He said to himself， “This is a great chance for me. Ill be rich at once. Maybe I can marry the beautiful princess some day. But how about the deer and how about my promise？ Pooh. For all I care.” So he ran to the palace and told the king where the nine-colored deer was. He then led a group of soldiers to catch the deer. Although the deers good friend peacock saw the soldiers coming over and asked the deer to run away as soon as possible， it was still too late. The deer was caught by the soldiers.

When the soldiers were to shoot at the deer， the deer pleaded， “I want to see the king before I die.” The deer was taken to see the king. He asked the king， “Dear king， I only want to know who told you where I was before I die.” The king pointed at the man beside him and said， “Its him.” The deer saw the man and broke into tears， “I saved you from the river at the risk of my life. You promised not to tell anyone where I lived. But you didnt keep your promise. Youre not a real man.”

On hearing this， the king was very angry， “Youre an ungrateful6 man. You dont keep your promise. You shouldnt live in the world any longer.”

Then the man was thrown into the river and the nine-colored deer was set free by the king.

一天，一個人掉進了河里，差點被淹死了。一只九色鹿碰巧路過這兒。它跳進河里救起了這個人。那個人非常感激九色鹿，跪倒在它面前，說：“謝謝你，鹿，從今天開始，我要做你的仆人，每天割草給你吃。”九色鹿拒絕了他，說：“沒關系，但請你不要告訴別人你見過我?！蹦侨税l(fā)誓說他永遠不會告訴別人九色鹿在哪兒。然后，那人就回家了。

這個國家的國王有一個可愛的女兒。一天晚上，她夢見一只鹿。這只鹿有九種顏色，它的角像雪一樣白。第二天早晨，公主懇求她的父親把那只鹿給她找來，她想用鹿皮做圍巾。

國王貼出告示，宣布誰要知道九色鹿在哪里并為公主捉住九色鹿，他將得到半個王國，還會得到很多金子。

被九色鹿救起的那個人看到了告示，自言自語地說：“這對我來說是個絕佳的機會，我要發(fā)財了，也許有一天我還會和美麗的公主結婚?？删派乖趺崔k呢？我發(fā)的誓又怎么辦呢？唉，管它呢！”于是，他跑到了王宮，告訴國王九色鹿在哪兒，然后他帶領一隊士兵去抓九色鹿。盡管九色鹿的好朋友孔雀看到士兵過來了，叫九色鹿快逃，但這已經太晚了，九色鹿被士兵抓住了。

當士兵正要射向九色鹿時，九色鹿懇求道：“在我死之前，我想見見國王?！本派贡粠У絿趺媲啊Ｋ鼏枃酰骸坝H愛的國王，在我死之前，我只想知道是誰告訴您我在哪兒的?！眹踔钢磉叺哪莻€人說：“就是他?！本派挂豢茨莻€人就大哭起來：“我冒著生命危險把你從河里救上來，你發(fā)誓不告訴任何人我住在哪兒，但是你背信棄義，你不是一個真正的男人。”

聽了九色鹿的話，國王十分氣憤：“你真是個忘恩負義的人。你不遵守自己的承諾，不配活在這個世界上?！?/p>

最后，那個人被扔進了河里，九色鹿卻被國王釋放了。