China's Fairy Tales: A Good Horse with a Magic Pen

Once upon a time, there was a child named Ma Liang. Father and mother died long ago, and they made a living by cutting firewood and grass by themselves. He liked to learn painting since he was a child, but Lian Bi didn't!

One day, he walked through the gate of a school and saw the magistrate in the yamen, drawing with a pen. He walked in unconsciously and said to the master, I really want to learn to draw. Can you lend me a pen? County magistrate stared his one eye, bah! Spit on his face and scold: Poor wretched wants to learn painting with a pen? Dream! Say that finish, will he launched the door. Ma Liang is an ambitious child. He said, I don't believe it. Why can't poor children even learn to draw?

Since then, he has made up his mind to learn painting and practice hard every day. He went up the mountain to collect firewood, broke a branch and learned to track birds in the sand. He went to the river to mow the grass, so he dipped the grass roots in the river and learned to draw fish on the shore stone. In the evening, when I got home, I took a piece of charcoal and painted the things I had painted during the day one by one on the wall of the cave. He still learns to draw without strokes.

Year after year, Ma Liang never stopped learning painting. His cave walls are painted with overlapping pictures, and the twists are all painted. Of course, the progress is also very fast. Really painted birds can't crow, and painted fish can't swim. Once, he drew a little hen at the entrance of the village, and the eagle hovered over the entrance of the village all day. Once, he drew a black-haired wolf behind the mountain, scaring cattle and sheep from eating grass behind the mountain. But Ma Liang doesn't have a pen yet! He thought, if only there were a pen!

One night, Ma Liang was lying in the cave because he had been working and studying painting all day. As soon as he lay down, he fell asleep in a daze

I don't know when colorful lights came up in the cave. An old man with a white beard came over and gave him a pen: This is a magic pen, so use it well! Ma Liang took it and saw that the pen was golden; Hold it in your hand. It's heavy. He jumped up with joy: thank you, grandpa. Ma Liang didn't finish his words. The old man with white beard is missing.

Ma Liang woke up and rubbed his eyes in surprise. It was a dream! This is not a dream! Isn't that pen well held in your own hand!

He was very happy, so he ran out, knocked on doors, woke up all his partners and told them: I have a pen! It's only midnight! He drew a bird, which fluttered its wings and flew to the sky to sing to him. He drew a fish with a brush. The fish bent its tail, swam into the water and danced to him with the swing. He said happily, "How wonderful this magic pen is!" Ma Liang uses this magic pen to draw pictures for the poor in the village every day: whoever doesn't have a plow, draw him a plow; Whoever has no cow, draw him a cow; Whoever doesn't have a waterwheel will draw him a waterwheel; Whoever has no stone mill, draw him a stone mill.

There is no windtight wall in the world, and the news soon reached the ears of a county magistrate in a neighboring village. The magistrate sent two servants to arrest him and force him to paint.

Ma Liang is very young, but he was born to be difficult to deal with. He saw through the bad heart of the rich, and no matter how coaxed or frightened by the county magistrate, he refused to draw a gold ingot. The rich man kept him in the stable and gave him no food.

At night, the snow is falling, and a thick layer has accumulated on the ground. The judge thought that Ma Liang did not starve to death, but froze to death. He walked through the stable door, only to see the red light in the crack of the door and smell a delicious smell. He felt strange, close to his eyes and took a photo under the door. Ah! Ma Liang not only didn't die, but also lit a big stove and baked and ate hot cakes on the fire! Knowing that this stove and cake must have been painted by Ma Liang, the county magistrate angrily called the servants and asked them to kill Ma Liang and take away the magic pen. A dozen fierce servants rushed into the stable, but Ma Liang disappeared. I see a ladder on the east wall. When it was dark, Ma Liang climbed the ladder and climbed over the wall. The county magistrate hurried up the ladder to chase after him, and fell down before climbing three steps. It turns out that this ladder was drawn by Ma Liang with magic.

Ma Liang went out of the county magistrate's house. He knows he can't live in the village. He waved to his village and said silently:

Bye, guys! Ma Liang used magic to draw a fine horse, jumped on his horse and ran to the road. I didn't go far when I heard something behind me. Looking back, the torch was brightly lit, and the county magistrate rode a fast horse and caught up with a dozen or twenty servants with a bright steel knife in his hand.

On the verge of catching up, Ma Liang took his time, drawing a bow and arrow with a stroke of genius. As soon as the arrow came up, it hit the magistrate's throat with a whoosh, and the magistrate turned over and dismounted. Ma Liang patted the big horse, which flew forward like a fly.

Ma Liang ran day and night on the road for a few days, and came to a small town. He found it far from home, so he lived here. He painted many pictures and took them to the neighborhood to sell. Because he was afraid that others would know, he stopped painting. He painted either a few mouths or a broken leg.

One day, he drew a white crane with no eyes. Accidentally, a drop of ink splashed on its face, and the crane opened its eyes and flapped its wings and flew into the sky.

Now, the whole town is a sensation. Local officials immediately told the emperor about it. The emperor issued an imperial edict and sent someone to call him to Kyoto. Ma Liang refused to go, so they dragged him away.

The emperor got the magic pen and drew it himself. He drew a golden mountain first. The insatiable emperor painted one picture after another and drew many overlapping pictures. Nice painting, this is Jinshan! But piles of big stones; If you press it too much, it will collapse and almost hurt the emperor's foot.

The emperor won't give up. He thought to himself, if you can't draw a golden hill, replace it with a golden brick. He drew one too small, the other too small, and finally drew a long bar. Beautiful painting, that is, the golden brick! But it was a long python, opening its mouth like a blood basin and coming at him. Thanks to the guards' quick rescue, otherwise the emperor would have been eaten by the boa constrictor.

The emperor had no choice but to let Ma Liang out, and said something nice to him, saying that he would give him a lot of gold and silver and marry the princess to win the hearts of women all over the world.

Ma Liang wanted to get the magic pen back, and he pretended to agree. The emperor was very happy to see Ma Liang agree, so he returned the magic pen to Ma Liang and asked Ma Liang to paint for him. The emperor thought, if you can't draw a golden hill, draw a cash cow! On a cash cow, Qian Shengqian. How nice it is to shake it gently and lose a lot of money! He asked Ma Liang to draw a cash cow.

Ma Liang made up his mind and said nothing. With a wave of his hand, an endless sea appeared in front of him. The blue water, without a ripple, shines like a jade mirror. The emperor was very unhappy when he saw it. He looked blank and scolded: I asked you to draw a cash cow, but who asked you to draw the sea!

Ma Liang drew an island in the middle of the sea. He drew a tall and big tree on the island and said, isn't this a cash cow? When the emperor saw the tree, it was shining with dazzling golden light. He swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva in his throat. Giggling, he said anxiously to Ma Liang, Draw a boat quickly! I want to shake money in the middle of the sea! Ma Liang rowed a big wooden boat, and the emperor took his queen, prince, princess and many ministers and generals aboard.

Ma Liang rowed a few more downwinds, the sea rippled thickly, and the big wooden boat started.

The emperor felt itchy and felt that the ship was sailing too slowly. He shouted from the bow: the wind is getting stronger! The wind is getting stronger! Ma Liang added some strong winds. The sea is rough and full of white sails, and the wooden boat is heading for the middle of the sea quickly.

Ma Liang added some strong winds. The sea growled uneasily, rolled up the waves, and the big wooden boat staggered.

The emperor was afraid. He shook his hand at Ma Liang and shouted: Enough, Feng! Enough wind! Ma Liang pretended not to hear and kept drawing the wind. The sea was raging and the waves jumped on the boat. The ship tilted and it was in chaos.

The emperor was soaked in seawater, grabbed the mast of the ship and shouted: The wind is too strong! The boat is going to capsize! Stop drawing! Ma Liang ignored him and continued to maintain his style of painting. The wind is getting stronger and stronger, with many thick dark clouds, lightning and thunder, and heavy rain pouring down. The waves became more fierce, and the sea kept pressing on the ship like a collapsed high wall. The ship capsized and broke, and the emperor and they both sank to the bottom of the sea.

After the death of the emperor, the story of "a good horse with a wonderful pen" spread. However, where did Ma Liang go? Nobody knows. Some said: He went back to his hometown in Henan, where he was with his farming partners. Some said: He wandered around and painted for many poor people.