76. THE LITTER OF FOUR

　　There was once an old man named Zhu Ping. He was always kind, but he especially loved animals. One day he went to visit a relative. When he got there, the relative was dragging out four puppies.
　
　　"What are you doing with those?" Zhu Ping asked.

　　"I'm going to go ditch them. Our dog had a litter of four puppies, and you know people say four puppies in a litter is bad luck, so I'm going to get rid of them now."

　　"Would you give them to me instead?"

　　"It's your neck. Go ahead." This is how Zhu Ping became the proud owner of four frisky puppy dogs. He took good care of them and enjoyed playing with them, and before long, they had grown into four strong, healthy dogs.

　　One evening as Zhu was sitting at home, he heard a whispering sound in the grasses outside. Closer and closer came the sound, getting louder as it came. First it sounded like a whisper, then a breeze, then it sounded like a mighty wind roaring through the valley!

　　Zhu went out to investigate, and there, a few paces from his door, he saw a huge python! Its body was the size of a wheel. It looked around savagely with its gigantic, mesmerizing eyes, and its bright red tongue hung out, twitching.

　　Then it spotted Zhu! Like an arrow launching from the bow, it charged straight for him! Chu was petrified. He was too scared to even whimper.

　　Then, just as he seemed to be doomed, his four dogs came flying at the snake! They flung themselves at it, seemingly unafraid of this enormous monster, barking and baying as they attacked from four sides.

　　The commotion brought out the neighborhood. Nobody dared approach the python, but they all cheered on the four brave dogs from a distance.

　　In an instant, two of the dogs had fastened themselves onto the python's throat. They were too far up for the snake to bite them. Serpent blood spurted through the air, and in a minute, the huge python was dead.

　　The dogs inspected the corpse for a moment, sniffing it carefully. Then they contemptuously scratched some dirt over its corpse, and came to Zhu Ping with their tongues hanging out, wagging their tails. All the neighbors burst into applause as Zhu Ping squatted down to pat the dogs. They licked his arms and face.
　　"Who says a litter of four is unlucky?" Zhu Ping asked his dogs.

　　"Little did I think that when I saved your lives, one day you would save my life!

　　"Saving others' lives is saving your own life!"

76.一窝四只

　　 从前有个叫祝平的老人。他非常善良，特别喜欢动物。有一天他去拜访亲戚。去了以后，他看到亲戚拖出四只小狗。

　  “你这是要干什么？”祝平问。

　　“我要埋了它们。我们家的狗一窝生了四只小狗，你知道，人们常说一窝生了四只小狗是很倒霉的，我现在就把它们处理掉。”

　　“你能把它们都给我吗?”

　　“只要你愿意，带去吧。”于是祝平成了四只可爱的小狗的主人。他细心照料它们，经常和它们一起玩。不久，它们就长成了四只强壮、健康的狗。

　　一天晚上，祝坐在家里，他听到屋外草丛里传来一阵沙沙的响声。那个声音越来越近了，越来越响。它一开始还是像阵耳语，然后像微风，最后就像横扫村子的狂风！

　　祝出去查看，就在门口几步远的地方，他看到了一条巨蟒！它的身体有轮子那么粗。它正在用它的巨大的、恐怖的眼睛凶猛地环望四周，鲜红的信子一吞一吐。

　　发现了祝！它如箭出弦一般向他冲去！祝浑身僵硬了，吓得都叫不出来了。

　　正当他死到临头时，他的四只狗向蛇飞扑过去！它们叫着，奋不顾身地扑过去，从四个方向对蛇发起攻击，好像一点也不怕这个庞然大物，

　　这场骚乱把邻居们都引来了。没人敢接近那条蟒蛇，他们都为那几条从远方来的狗叫好。

　　才一会，两只狗已经咬住了蟒蛇的喉咙。它们离得远，所以蟒蛇咬不着它们。蛇血在空中喷射出来，很快，大蟒蛇就死了。

狗小心翼翼地嗅了一会蛇尸，然后轻蔑地刨了些土盖在蛇尸上，之后才伸着舌头，摇着尾巴向祝平跑去。当祝平蹲下来拍这些狗的时候，周围的人群里爆发出一阵掌声。狗舔着祝平的手和脸。

“谁说一窝四只是不吉利的呢？”祝平对他的狗说。

　　“我从来没想过，我救了你们的命，有朝一日你们也会救了我的命。”

　　“救别人的命，就是救自己的命啊！”