提要

英語有一句諺語：「Virtue is its own reward.」（美德本身就是獎賞），

行善不需要任何報酬或補償，因為幫助人的感覺充實愉悅，所以有人說：「施比受更有福。」

A long time ago there lived a young man in a village. He was poor but very kind and helpful by nature. His name was Ma Liang. The young man worked for a rich man who was so rude and bad.

Ma Liang loved to draw the pictures and he was such a good artist . One day he saw in his dream that a kind looking old man is saying to him：" I will give you a magic painting brush, which you can use to help the poor and needy people whatever you will draw with this brush that will come to life". When Ma Liang got up he was so happy to find a magic brush near his pillow.

The kind young man started using the magic brush to help the poor people. Whenever he found someone in need for something or in trouble, he helped him with the magic brush.

One day the poor people found it difficult to get water to irrigate their fields, Ma Liang drew a river near their field, those poor ones were so happy that they had a river for watering their crops.

Ma Liang drew a cow when he saw that it was so difficult for villagers to till their fields without a cow, and the cow came to life to till the soil .

All the people loved Ma Liang because this kind young man was always there to help them whenever they were in trouble.

After some time the rich bad man for whom Ma Liang worked, heard about his magic brush and took the magic brush from him.

The rich bad man intention was bad and he wanted to use the brush for his own profit .He tried so hard to draw with the help of magic brush but did not succeed . He ordered his men to get Ma Liang and said to him " I will set you free if you draw a gold mountain for me, or I will kill you.

Ma Liang took the brush and painted a picture of sea, bad man angrily shouted：" How dare you to draw a sea when I told you to draw a gold mountain?" Now young man drew a gold mountain which was across the sea , the bad man was happy and said：" Now draw a ship so that I could go to the gold mountain ."

Ma Liang drew the ship and the bad man with all his men boarded the ship, when he reached the shore of the gold mountain, Ma Liang drew a huge prison, locked the bad man and all his men in.

Ma Liang was now free to make everyone's life wonderful, with the help of his magic brush.

解說

很久很久以前，一個村莊裡住著一位年輕男子。他很窮但很善良，天性樂於助人。他的名字叫馬良，他替一個富人打工，那個富人粗魯又壞心。

馬良喜歡畫畫，而且畫得很好。有一天，他在夢中看到了一個老人對他說：「我給你一支神奇的筆刷，你可以用它來幫助窮人和有需要的人，無論你用這個筆刷繪製什麼，都會變成真的。」馬良醒後果真開心地發現，一支神奇的筆刷在他的枕頭旁邊。

馬良隨即開始用筆刷幫助窮人。每當他發現有人需要幫忙或者遇到麻煩，他可以「刷」出解決辦法。

有一天，窮人發現沒水可灌溉農田，眼看莊稼就要旱死，馬良用筆刷畫了一條河，苦哈哈的農人喜出望外。

當馬良發現村民沒有牛幫忙，耕種田地十分辛苦，於是他畫了一頭牛來耕地。

因為這個位善良年輕人總是在有需要的時候伸出援手，所有的村民都愛馬良。

過了一段時間，那個富有的壞人聽說，幫他打工的馬良有支神奇筆刷，於是命令手下抓住馬良，把筆刷搶了過來。壞富人的貪得無厭，一心只想用筆刷為自己增加更多的財富。他努力的畫呀畫，但什麼也沒畫出來。

他命令手下將馬良帶到面前，對他說：「我可以放你自由，但是你必須畫一座『金山』給我，如果不從，我會殺了你。」

馬良拿著筆刷畫了一幅海景，壞富人生氣地咆哮：「叫你畫一座金山，你竟敢畫海？」善良的年輕人接著畫了隔海相望的一座金山，壞人高興的說：「現在畫一艘可以帶我去金山的船。」馬良照辦後，壞人與他所有的手下都登上了船，當他們到達金山的岸邊時，馬良畫了一個巨大的監獄，將所有的壞人都關進裡面。

從此靠著魔法筆刷的幫助，自由的馬良讓大家一起過著美妙的人生。

對話

Tom: Hello, it’s been a long time since I have seen you.

Betty: It is true that I have not seen you in a while.

Tom: Exactly how long do you think that it has been?

Betty: I believe that it has been two years since we last saw each other.

Tom: So where have you been since I last saw you?

Betty: I am working on my doctorate at USC.

Tom: What is your field of emphasis?

Betty: I decided to pursue international communications.

Tom: I think that you will be very employable after you finish your degree.

Betty: I hope that when I finish I will find good work.

湯姆：妳好，有一段時間沒見到妳了。

貝蒂：是啊，好久不見。

湯姆：究竟有多久呢？

貝蒂：從上一次見到面，應該已經有兩年了。

湯姆：那麼，妳到哪裡去了？

貝蒂：我在南加州大學修博士學位。

湯姆：妳主修什麼？

貝蒂：我決定研究國際傳播。

湯姆：我認為妳拿到學位後，就業應該很容易。

貝蒂：我希望畢業後會找到好工作。

WOW!原來如此

field

「field」在文中是指「田地」。例如：「They were working in the corn fields.」（他們在玉米田裡耕作。）

「field」也是「場地」。例如：「She made a fortune in the diamond fields of South Africa.」 （她在南非的鑽石礦區賺到一筆財富。）

「field」也可以用在「（專業）領域」。例如：「 Betty is a scholar in the field of Linguistics.」（貝蒂是語言學領域的學者。）

dare

「dare」是「膽敢」。例如：「He did not dare to leave his bicycle there.」（他不敢把腳踏車停在那裡。）有時候，「dare」也當作「挑戰（激將）」。例如：「I dare you to race me.」（諒你也不敢跟我比賽。）

reach

「reach」文中的意思是「抵達」。例如：「When will they reach Taipei？」（他們什麼時候抵達台北？）「reach」也是「取得聯繫」。例如：「We tried to reach them by telephone.」（我們試著用電話與他們聯絡。）「reach」也有「伸手（求助）」。的意思例如：「They are reaching for help.」（他們正伸手待援。）