62. HOW AH-3 GOT OUT OF THE WELL

　　Once there was a bad monk called Liaokong. He didn't act like a monk. He never did nice deeds or helped living creatures. He didn't look like a monk, either.Most monks do so many good deeds, and think so many nice thoughts, that they look kind and gentle. Not Liaokong. He always walked around with an expression on his face like a porcupine in a bad mood.

　　He was interested in a member of the lily family called Deer Bamboo. Its formal name is HuangJing. It grows about three feet high, with pointed leaves. At the beginning of summer, pale green bulbs appear hanging below the leaves, and then it grows a dark colored fruit about the size of a bean. The leaves and root are sweet, and they say that Deer Bamboo can even lengthen your life.
　
　　Really? This can make you live longer? That's what Liaokong wanted to know, but he didn't want to experiment on himself. He had a neighbor named Tang Ah-3, who had a number instead of a name. He was the dumbest guy around.

　　Liaokong put a bunch of Deer Bamboo in the bottom of a dry well and called Ah-3 over.

　　"Ah-3, I have to say you're a great guy and a true pal. I like you so much I'm going to tell you a secret. Look down this well here. See that Deer Bamboo down there? All you have to do is stay down there and sniff it and you can live forever."

　　"Really? Gee, that's great! I'm lucky to have you for a friend? Ah-3 believed Liaokong, and he was so touched that he almost cried as he climbed into the well. Once he got inside, Liaokong fastened the cover on the well. When Ah-3 realized he was trapped, he did begin to cry.

　　By sundown, the air in there was getting bad. Ah-3 thought, "If I don't get out of here pretty soon, I'll smother before I starve." But he couldn't get out. All he could do was cry.

　　But then, between his sobs, he heard a voice calling him. "Ah-3! Ah-3! TangAh-3! Can you hear me?"

　　"Who's that?" It was so dark he couldn't see a thing.

　　"Don't worry! There's a little hole in this well cover. If you look carefully,you can see starlight through it. What you have to do now is lie down quietly and look through that hole. You have to concentrate, and keep concentrating. Then your whole body will fly up in the air and you can get out of the well."

　　"Are you kidding? Who are you?"

　　"I am a fox. Everybody knows foxes are full of tricks, and I am too, but once I got trapped and you freed me. Don't you remember?"                                                                                                                                     
　　"Oh, yeah, I do. Huh. Hey, I didn't know you could talk."

　　"I don't unless I have to. You're in a terrible fix, so I've come to help you out, since you saved my life before. Now hush, no more chatting. Lie down and stare at that hole! Your life depends on it!"

　　Ah-3 did as he was told, and a week later, sure enough, he flew out of the well. Then he went home and had dinner.

　　When Liaokong saw that Ah-3 was back, he was sure that Deer Bamboo worked, so he dumped a pile of it down the well and jumped in after it. He had a friend put on the lid after he jumped in.

　　A month later, the friend thought, "Liaokong sure is quiet down there in his well. Maybe I ought to take a look to see how he's doing." He opened the well, and down there at the bottom, on a big pile of Deer Bamboo, he saw the bad monk Liaokong, smothered to death.

62.逃出井底的阿三

　　从前有个心术不正的和尚，叫做了空。他的行止根本不像个和尚，从不做好事或者救助生命。大多数和尚都是正思正行的，看上去和蔼有礼。但是了空不是。他走路的时候，脸上的神情就像是一只发怒的刺猬。

　　他对一种百合科的、叫做鹿竹的植物很感兴趣。鹿竹的学名是黄精。它一般有三英尺高，长着着尖尖的叶子。在夏初的时候，它的叶子下就出现了浅绿色的球状果子，这种果子的颜色会渐渐变深，它最后大约有豆子那么大。鹿竹的叶子和根很甜，甚至有人说吃了鹿竹可以延年益寿。

　　真的是这样吗？鹿竹可以让人延年益寿？这正是了空想弄明白的，但他可不想拿自己来做试验。他有个邻居叫唐阿三，他是附近最傻的人。

　　了空把一捆鹿竹扔在一个枯井里，然后把阿三叫来。

　　“阿三。我知道你是一个了不起的人，又是我真正的朋友。我很喜欢你，因此我要告诉你一个秘密。你看看井里看到那些鹿竹了吗？你只要呆在井里闻闻它，你就可以长生不老了。”

　　“真的？呀，那太好了！有你这样一个朋友，我真是太幸运了!”阿三相信了了空的话，当他爬到井里时感动得快要哭了。当他进去后，了空就盖上了井盖。当阿三发现自己被困住了，他开始痛哭起来。

    到了傍晚，井里的空气变得稀薄了。阿三想，“如果我不赶快从井里出去，在我饿死之前就会被憋闷死了。”但是他又出不去，只好痛哭不已。
　　就在这时候，除了他自己的呜咽声，他还听到一个声音在叫他。“阿三！阿三！唐阿三！你能听见我吗？”

　　“是谁？”井里很暗，他什么也看不见。

　　“别担心。在井盖上有个小洞。如果你仔细看，可以看到从那里透进来的星光。你现在只要静静地躺下来，凝视的着那个洞。你必须集中注意力，一直要集中。然后你的身体就会在空中浮起来，你就能从井里出去了。”

　　“你是在开玩笑吧？你到底是谁？”

　　“我是一只狐狸。人人都知道狐狸是最诡计多端的，我就是这样，可是有一次我还是被抓住了。是你救了我，你还记得吗？”

　　“哦，是的，我是这么做过。啊，哈，我都不知道你能说话。”

　　“除非有必要，我才说话。你现在处境危急，所以我赶过来把你救出去，因为你以前救过我的命。快点，不要再说话了，躺下来看着那个洞！你的命就全靠它了。”

　　阿三照着做了，一个星期后，他果然飞出了井。然后他回家美美地吃了一顿。

　　当了空看到阿三回来后，他断定鹿竹确有奇效。所以他在井里倒了一堆鹿竹，然后跳进去，还让他的一个朋友把井盖盖上。

　　一个月后，他的朋友想，“了空现在井里没有动静，也许我该去看看他现在怎么样了。”他打开井盖，看见了空躺的井底那一堆鹿竹上，他已经被闷死了。