55. ONE HUNDRED LIVES

　　"Are you feeling any better today?" Fan knew that his wife had tuberculosis,which was not easy to cure, but he took care of her very tenderly.

　　"Thank... you... for... your concern," his wife gasped out painfully.

　　Fan asked the best doctor in Jingkou, Chen Shihying, to treat his wife.Doctor Chen examined her carefully, and took Fan aside.
　
　　"There is a way to cure her, even though she is quite sick," the doctor said."Take the heads of one hundred sparrows, and make them into medicine according to this prescription. Then on the third and seventh days eat sparrow brains. That should do the trick. This is a secret passed down from my ancestors, and it never fails. But remember, you have to have one hundred sparrows. You can't be even one short."
　
　　Fan was eager to help his wife, so he rushed out and bought one hundred sparrows. They were all crowded into one big cage. They chirped and hopped around mournfully, because there wasn't enough space for them to enjoy themselves.Maybe they even knew they were going to be killed.
　
　　"What are you doing with all those sparrows?" Mrs. Fan asked.
　
　　"This is Doctor Chen's special prescription! We're going to make them into medicine, and you'll be up and around in no time," her husband cheerfully responded.
　　
　　"No, you can't do that!" Mrs. Fan sat up in bed. "You can't take one hundred lives to save my one life! I would rather die than let you kill those sparrows for me."
　　
　　Fan didn't know what to do.
　
　　"If you really love me," she continued, "Do as I say. Open the cage and let all of those sparrows go. Then even if I die, I will die at ease." What could he do? Fan took the cage out to the woods and let all one hundred sparrows go free.They flew into the bushes and trees and sang and cheeped. They looked and sounded very happy to be free.

　　In a few days, Mrs. Fan got out of bed again, even though she hadn't had any medicine. Her friends and relatives came to congratulate her on her speedy recovery from such a terrible disease. Everybody was very happy.

　　The next year, the Fans had a baby boy. He was lively and cute, but the funny thing was, on each arm he had a birthmark, and the birthmarks looked just like sparrows!

55.一百条生命
 
　　“今天好些了吗？”范问他的妻子。他妻子患了肺结核病，这种病很难治，但是他还是悉心照料妻子。

　　“谢……谢……你的……关心。”他妻子痛苦地喘着气。

　　范请了京口最好的医生，陈世英，来看他的妻子。陈医生仔细地检查后，把范拉到一边。

　　“尽管她病的很厉害，还是有救的。”医生说，“用一百只麻雀的头，根据这个药方把它们做成药。在第三天和第七天，吃麻雀脑。这会管用的。这是我祖先传下来的秘方，非常灵验。记住，一定要用一百只麻雀，少一只都不行。”

　　范热切地想要治好妻子，所以他赶紧买了一百只麻雀。它们都被关在一只笼子里，悲哀地唧唧叫着，在笼子里跳来跳去。因为笼子里挤得难受，也可能是它们知道自己很快就要被杀掉了。

　　“你要拿这些麻雀做什么？”范夫人问。

　　“这是陈医生的秘方！我们要把它们做成药，你马上就会好起来。”她丈夫高兴地说。

　　“不，你不能那么做！”范夫人在床上坐起来。“你不能用一百条性命来救我这一条命！我宁可死，也不愿意你为了我杀这些麻雀。”
　　范不知道怎么办好。

　　“你要是真的爱我，”她继续说，“照我说的做。把笼子打开，放走所有的麻雀。就算我死，也死得安心。”他能怎么办呢？范把笼子带到树林里，把一百只麻雀统统放了。它们飞进林中，又叫又唱。它们重得自由，非常高兴。

　　几天后，范夫人能起床了，尽管没吃什么药。她的亲友们都来恭贺她，那么快就从这么可怕的病中复原了。大家都很高兴。

　　第二年，范家得了一个活泼可爱的男孩。最奇怪的是，在两条臂上都有一个胎记，每个胎记看上去就像一只麻雀！