提 要

寒假期間，電視上密集播出風靡華人地區的《琅琊榜》，劇中的帝王專橫猜疑、心胸狹窄，眾人對他懼怕遠多於尊敬；相形之下，本文中的國王則胸襟廣闊，而且非常講理，值得尊敬。

Once, a farmer was ploughing his field when suddenly his pick-axe hit something under the ground. "Clink!" came the sound. "What could it be？" the farmer wondered.

He carefully dug up the ground and was amazed to see two big pots full of gold coins buried there. The farmer cried with joy. He had never seen so much treasure.

The Secret he decided to take it home before anybody else saw it. "But that won't be a good idea!" he thought. He feared his talkative wife may spread the news around. "Once the people come to know about it, they will be after me!" thought the farmer. He was in a dilemma; neither could he leave the treasure there, nor could he take it home.

So, he planned to test his wife. "I will tell her something and ask her to keep it a secret. If she obeys me and keeps the secret, I need not fear that she will talk about the treasure." So, the farmer buried the pots of gold again and went home. As soon as he saw his wife, he said, "Did you hear？ The king has a tortoise inside his belly!" "Is that so？" asked his wife. "Yes, dear!" said the farmer. "Please keep this a secret."

"Of course!" his wife nodded. But it wasn’t to be. That afternoon, as the farmer was taking a nap, his wife went to the neighbors, "Did you hear？ The king has a tortoise inside his belly!" she said.

The news spread. And spreading fast, then finally reached the palace to the king himself. The king was very upset and asked one of his courtiers to find out who had been spreading the rumor.

The courtier had heard it from his friend, who in turn had heard it from the washer man, who in turn had heard it from his wife, who in turn had heard it from her sister...... and the chain went on until finally reached the farmer.

The king sent his guards to bring the farmer. When the farmer saw the king's guards, he knew his wife had been talking. "What a fool I've been to ask my wife to keep a secret. Now I will have to pay for my foolishness," he thought.

The farmer was produced before the king, "Why did you spread such a silly rumor about me？" asked the king, who was very angry. "Tell me or I shall have you beheaded!"

The farmer was terribly frightened. He decided to tell the truth, "This is the only way I can get away alive," he thought.

"Speak up!" shouted the king. "Why did you spread the rumor？" "I didn't spread the rumor, Your Majesty!" the farmer replied softly. "It was my wife who did it!" "What do you mean？" asked the king. The farmer said, " I wanted to test whether my wife could keep a secret or not. And so I......" "What secret？" the king interrupted.

"That I have found two pots full of gold coins!" replied the farmer." TWO POTS OF GOLD COINS!" the king exclaimed. "Where？" Now the farmer knew that once he showed the pots to the king, he would get only a meager sum as a reward. So, he replied, " I will tell you where it is, your Majesty, but first you must promise me that you will let me take half of it."

"I promise!" said the king. The farmer then took the king to his field and showed him the treasure. "You deserve to keep both pots for speaking the truth, dear farmer," said the king.

The farmer was very happy to hear this, he thanked the king and carried his treasure home. Now he had no need to keep it a secret.

解 說

有一次，一個農夫在自己的土地耕田的時候，他的鎬突然敲出「碰！」的一聲，「地面下有東西，那會是什麼呢？」農夫不禁納悶。

他小心翼翼地挖出，驚訝地發現，是兩個裝滿金幣的大鍋，農夫忍不住歡呼，他從來沒有見過這麼多的寶藏。

他決定把兩大鍋金幣祕密地帶回家之前，突然覺得：「這不會是一個好主意！」他擔心他多嘴的妻子會到處亂說，一旦人們知道這件事，大家都會追著我跑，農夫陷入兩難，既不能把財寶留在那裡，也不能把它帶回家。

因此，他打算「測試」自己的妻子：「我會告訴她的事情，讓她保守祕密，如果她照辦並保密，我就不用擔心她會洩露寶藏的祕密。」於是，農夫又把金幣鍋埋回土裡，回家去了。當他看到老婆，就說：「你聽說了嗎？國王的肚子裡有隻烏龜！」 「是嗎？」妻子問，「是啊，親愛的！」農夫說：「請保守這個祕密。」

「當然了！」農夫的妻子點點頭，但這是不可能的。那天下午，農夫正在睡午覺時，他的妻子就忍不住跑去告訴鄰居 ：「你聽說了嗎？國王的肚子裡有隻烏龜！」

消息傳開，並迅速蔓延，終於傳到皇宮，讓國王本人聽見了，他很不高興，要求他的臣子，找出是誰在散布謠言。

大臣是從他的朋友聽來的，他的朋友又從洗衣工聽來的，洗衣工的「消息」來自他的妻子，她又從她的妹妹聽到……一路牽扯到最後，終於找到了源頭：「農夫」。

國王派遣他的衛兵帶農夫進宮。當農夫看到國王的衛兵，就知道他的妻子又多嘴了： 「我真是一個傻瓜，竟希望妻子保守祕密。現在，我將為我的愚蠢付出代價。」

農夫被帶到在國王面前，「你為什麼要散布這樣無聊的謠言針對我？」國王非常生氣的問，「告訴我答案，否則我就把你的腦袋砍掉！」

農民非常害怕，他決定全部如實稟告，「這是我能活著離開皇宮的唯一途徑，」他想。

「快說！」國王喊著，「你為什麼要散布謠言？」 「我沒有傳播謠言，陛下！」農民輕聲回答，「是我的妻子做的！」 「什麼意思？」國王問。農夫說：「我想試試我的妻子是否能保守祕密，所以，我……」「什麼祕密？」國王打斷農夫的話。

「就是我發現了兩個裝滿金幣的大鍋！」農夫說，「兩大鍋金幣！」國王驚呼：「在哪裡？」農夫當下醒悟，一旦讓國王看到金幣，他將只能得到微薄的獎勵金。於是他說：「我會告訴你它在哪裡，但首先陛下要答應我，讓我拿一半。」

「我答應！」國王說，於是農夫把國王帶領到自己的農地，秀出他的寶藏。「兩大鍋金幣你都應該留下，因為你講真話，親愛的農夫！」國王說。

農夫很高興聽到這句話，他向國王道謝，並把寶藏搬回家。現在，他沒有保守祕密的必要了。