提要
常聽到的成語:「以小人之心,度君子之腹。」是心胸狹隘、自私自利的小人,用卑劣的心意猜測、處處懷疑別人跟他過不去。另一個惡魔雖然絕對不是君子,但無端被冤枉也算是倒楣;而用計謀為地方除害,也屬莫可奈何。
Once in a village near a desert, there was a huge mansion with seven doors. The mansion belonged to a rich woman and her three daughters. Every night, the woman would instruct her daughters to lock all the seven doors properly. "Be careful, girls," she would warn them. "Even if a single door is left open, the demons living in the desert will find their way into our mansion!"
The two ferocious demons had been terrorizing the villagers by attacking them in their homes. So, people would keep their doors locked and windows closed, especially during the nights.
The rich woman had to look not one, but seven doors! So, she had assigned the duty to her three daughters, who would each take turns to lock the seven doors at night.
One night, it was the youngest daughter's turn, which had been working outdoors all day and was very tired. After dinner, all the others retired to their chambers while the youngest one began locking the doors, one by one. By the time she locked the sixth door, she was completely exhausted. She forgot to lock the seventh door and went to sleep.
That night, one of the demons noticed the door open an barged in. Dhum! Dhum! came the sound as he walked into the hall. The mother woke up with a start and began to shout at her youngest daughter, "It's your mistake, you left the door open!"
The demon caught hold of the youngest daughter, put her into a large sack and carried her away. "I will take this girl to my house!" he roared.
"She will cook for me and keep the cave clean."
On the way, the demon stopped to meet his friend, another demon who lived nearby. But he didn't want to tell the other demon about the girl. Leaving the sack behind, he went to meet his friend.
After a while, he returned, picked up the sack, and went home. As soon as he opened the sack, he was in for a shock! "Where has the girl gone?" thundered the demon.
Actually, the clever girl had escaped from the sack while the demon had gone to meet his friend. She had placed rocks inside the sack. The demon was mad with anger. "I shall bring her back!" he screamed, rushing back to the girl's house.
Meanwhile, the safe and sound girl had returned home and made a plan wither sister and mother to get rid of the demon. When the demon arrived, the girl hid inside the house while her sisters began to wail loudly, "Poor girl! She escaped from one demon but was caught by the other!"
Hearing this, the demon was furious, "So, it is the other demon that has snatched her away from me!" He rushed to the other demon's cave and attacked him. In a terrible fight, they destroyed each other and vanished. Thus, the youngest daughter saved, not only herself and her family, but also freed her village from the wicked demons.
解說
曾經在沙漠附近的一個村莊、一棟有七扇門的豪宅裡,住著一個富婆和她的三個女兒。富婆每天晚上都會指示女兒,把七扇門鎖好:「小心點,女孩們。」她會警告她們,「即使一扇門打開,住在沙漠中的惡魔就會進到我們的家。」
兩個猙獰的惡魔一直威脅他們的家園、恐嚇村民。所以,人們會鎖住門窗,尤其是在晚上。
富婆要看的不是一扇,而是七扇門!所以,她分配責任給她的三個女兒,她們每天晚上都輪流鎖七扇門。
有一天晚上,輪到最小的女兒,因為一整天都在戶外工作,她非常累。晚飯後,所有的人都回房休息,最小的女兒獨自一個一個地開始鎖門。當她鎖上第六扇門時,已經筋疲力盡,忘記鎖上第七扇門她就去睡了。
那天晚上,其中一個惡魔發現那扇開著的門。噹!噹!惡魔走進大廳時發出巨響。富婆一被吵醒就開始對小女兒大喊:「這是妳的錯,妳讓門打開了!」
惡魔抓住小女兒,把她放進一個大麻袋帶走。「我會把這個女孩帶回我家!」牠吼著。
「她將要為我做飯,打掃洞穴。」
惡魔在路上遇見牠的朋友,另一個住在附近的惡魔。但牠不想讓牠的惡魔朋友知道關於這女孩的事。於是隨手放下袋子走進朋友家。
過了一會兒惡魔回來了,牠拿起麻袋回家,一打開袋子,牠就大吃一驚!「那個女孩哪裡去了?」惡魔吼叫。
其實,這聰明的女孩在惡魔去見朋友時,從袋裡掙脫。她把石頭放在袋子裡代替。惡魔氣得發狂:「我會把她帶回來的!」牠尖叫著,衝回女孩家。
同時,小女兒已安然無恙地回到家,並且擬好計畫,讓姐姐與母親徹底擺脫這個惡魔。當惡魔到門口的時候,女孩藏在房間裡,姐姐們卻開始大聲哀號:「可憐的女孩,她從一個惡魔手裡逃出來,卻被另一個抓住了!」
聽到這話,惡魔大發雷霆:「原來是那個傢伙把她從我袋子裡奪走!」牠衝到另一個惡魔的山洞裡發動攻擊。在一場慘烈的惡鬥中,牠們彼此摧毀、之後一起消失。小女兒不僅救了自己和家人,而且還讓她的村莊從此免除惡魔之患。