提要

改編印度小朋友Tara Maithili Mishra的故事。親情是無價的，財富卻未必萬能，如果失去了家人，有享用不盡的財富也不會快樂，所以，會選擇一家人守在一起吃苦，總有雲破日出的一天，也決不會犧牲家人，換取榮華富貴。

Eddie was picking mushrooms in the woods. He sighed for all he found was a few measly ones. His wife Amy asked, "A good catch?" Eddie shook his head, so Amy sighed along.

She went into their hut and said to the children, "Mary, Tom, please work extra hard and be grateful for what we have. I will go sell the mushrooms your father has found." "Don't worry mommy, we know. If papa doesn't find much, then we won't eat much. I can help you clean at Robertson's house if you like." assured Mary, mommy smiled. Her son Tom asked "Mommy, can I go for a walk?" Amy agreed, "Yes, of course, Tom."

Tom was in the mountains when he tripped. When he tried to find what he had tripped on, he saw a milky white pearl that shimmered in the sand. Tom picked it up and hobbled home.

"Mommy! mommy! Look what I found in the mountains!" hollered Tom. Amy stared at it in disbelief. "Well done, my son!" Later, she went to the market and sold the pearl and mushrooms for a sizable sum. She had enough money to buy Mary and Tom their favorite sweets and fruits and two rations per person for dinner. They usually only had half per person.

The pearl seemed to be lucky as Eddie found abundant mushrooms the next day and Amy sold it for more money than she had the pearl. For the next days the family had plenty to eat but then the food finally ran out and they were hungry again.

Tom took for another walk, hope to find another pearl. He went to the same spot where he had found the previous one and leaned against the mountain wall with exhaustion. He fell backward into a cave, a cave full of pearls and gold. Tom gathered five pearls and an armful of gold coins, and rushed back home to mommy.

Amy was ecstatic and sold all of them in the market and bought heaps and heaps of food. The family was full belly for two weeks, but then, food ran out again.

Just as he had done before Tom ran up the mountain to the cave, but he screamed on arrival, a black spirit was in the cave. "Who dares to enter my cave? You will be punished severely!" "I'm sss-sorry. I didn't .....know. I'll be off home now." stuttered Tom. "I don't think so." boomed the mountain spirit. It sent a blazing light flashing from its finger that pierced his skin. He shrieked once and fell, lifeless. His shriek was so loud, ll the birds flew off from the mountaintop.

Mary was cleaning while she heard the shriek and ran up the mountain. The entrance to the cave was open and she saw the body of Tom. She was bereft and shouted "Can I do anything to bring him back? I'll give my own life for him!" The spirit was amazed by her devotion to her brother and offered "If you truly want to bring him back, then I will give you a wish. You can have plenty to eat, drink and live on or your dear brother's life. It's a choice for the whole family, so I suggest asking your parents. Oh, and do decide before sundown."

Mary carefully brought her brother's body down to the hut and cried "mommy! Tom was killed by the legendary mountain spirit! The spirit said to decide between plenty of food or Tom. I pick Tom." mommy cried "Tom! Of course! I'll ask Eddie." Eddie agreed.

Mary brought Tom up as the sun was about to set and told the spirit "Spirit, please bring my brother back." The spirit chanted some mysterious words again and again. Tom jolted back to life. She handed him some sweets and smiled "Let's go home."

Mysteriously, from that day on, this family lived well and happily never suffering from hunger again.

解說

艾迪正在樹林裡採蘑菇。當他發現找到的都是些可憐的小傢伙時，嘆了口氣。他的妻子愛咪問：「收穫好嗎？」看到艾迪搖了搖頭，愛咪也跟著嘆了口氣。

她走進他們的小屋，對孩子們說：「瑪麗、湯姆，要更努力、珍惜我們所擁有的東西喔。我去賣你父親找到的蘑菇。」「媽媽別擔心，我們知道，如果爸爸收穫少，那麼我們就不吃太多。如果妳允許，我可以幫幫忙打掃羅勃森的家。」瑪麗鄭重其事地說，媽媽笑了。

她的兒子湯姆問：「媽媽，我可以去散個步嗎？」愛咪點頭：「行啊，當然可以，湯姆。」

湯姆在山上散步時被絆倒，他試圖找到害他摔跤的東西時，看到一顆乳白色的珍珠在沙子裡發光。湯姆撿起珍珠，步履蹣跚地回家。

「媽媽，媽媽，看我在山上找到了什麼！」湯姆喊著。愛咪難以置信地盯著珍珠：「幹得好，我的兒子！」接著，她去市場賣了蘑菇和珍珠，價格相當可觀。於是她有足夠的錢，可以買孩子們最喜歡的糖果和水果，以及每人雙份的晚餐。本來，他們每人只能吃半份。

珍珠似乎帶來好運，因為艾迪第二天發現了數量豐富的蘑菇，愛咪賣掉它們得到比賣珍珠更多的錢。在接下來的日子裡，這家人享有豐足的食物，但食物總會吃完，艾迪一家又挨餓了。

湯姆再度上山散步，希望再找到另一顆珍珠。他走到上次發現珍珠的同一個地方，筋疲力盡地靠著山壁時，跌進一個洞穴裡，一個滿是珍珠與黃金的洞穴。湯姆拿了五顆珍珠和一大捧金幣，然後衝回家找媽媽。

愛咪欣喜若狂，在市場上賣掉了這些黃金、珍珠，買了一大堆食物，整整兩星期，讓全家人每餐都把肚子吃得鼓鼓的，然後，食物再度告罄。

正如他之前所做的那樣，湯姆跑向山洞，但他到達洞口後驚呼，洞裡有一個黑山精：「誰敢跑進我的洞穴？你會受到嚴厲的懲罰！」「我很抱……歉，我不……知道，我現在回家了。」湯姆結結巴巴地說。

「我不這麼認為！」發飆的山精，從指尖射出刺眼的閃光，刺穿湯姆的皮膚，讓他尖叫摔倒、毫無生氣。他的叫聲如此淒厲，所有的鳥兒都被嚇得越過山頂飛走了。

聽到淒厲叫聲的時候，正在屋裡打掃的瑪麗，立即跑上山找哥哥。洞穴的入口敞開，沒有生命跡象的湯姆躺在地上。

她絕望地大喊：「我可以做些什麼讓他回來嗎？我願為他獻上自己的生命！」她對哥哥的奉獻精神，令山精頗為驚訝，於是說：「如果妳真的那麼想讓他回來，那麼我給妳一個願望……妳可以從此過著吃喝不盡的生活，或者，換回妳親愛兄弟的一條命。這是一個關係全家的選擇，所以我建議妳問問父母。」「哦，要在日落之前做出決定。」

瑪麗小心翼翼地將哥哥帶回小屋，喊道：「媽媽，湯姆被傳說中的山精殺了！山精要我們決定，要吃不完的食物，還是要湯姆，我選湯姆。」媽媽叫道：「湯姆！當然選湯姆，我問問艾迪。」艾迪也贊成。

當太陽快下山時，瑪麗把湯姆帶上山，並告訴山精：「精靈，請讓我的兄弟回來。」於是在山精重覆吟誦著一些神祕的字句後，湯姆抖動著身體活了過來。瑪麗遞給他一些糖果，笑著說：「我們回家吧。」

神奇的是，這相親相愛的一家人從那天起開始，過著幸福快樂的好日子，再也沒有挨餓了。