58. THE TURTLE WHO HEALED THE MAID
 
　　"Don't forget to scrub that turtle thoroughly before you cook it," the Chengs said on their way out to do some errands. "It's so big you'll have to be careful how you cook it. Be sure to do a good job."
　
　　"Sure, I know," their maid said. When they had left, she went to the kitchen and looked at the turtle, figuring out where to start. But when she saw the turtle sitting there on the floor, she felt sorry for it. "Poor turtle. Wouldn't you rather be swimming in the river than swimming in gravy?"
　　
　　Why did the maid feel sorry for this particular turtle? She had cooked plenty of turtles for the Chengs, because they loved to eat turtle. Well, who knows, she felt sorry for it, that's all, so she picked it up and headed for the door to let it go.
　
　　"No, that won't do, what'll the Chengs do when they come back expecting a turtle feast and I tell them, sorry, I let it go? But even if they whip me, that won't hurt me as much as cooking this turtle would hurt it." So the maid made up her mind and let the turtle go.
　　
　　Sure enough, when the Chengs came back ready for a feast and found the table bare, they bawled out the maid and beat her and whipped her. But she got over it, and everybody more or less forgot about it.
　
　　Later, there was an epidemic. The maid got terribly sick. The Chengs had the doctor in to look at her, and the doctor told them they might as well get her coffin ready, because she was a goner.
　　That night, the maid sensed something crawling out of the pond, something slimy, wet, and muddy. It was coming closer to her. Closer and closer it came. It came into her room, and crept up to her bed. Then it crawled onto her bed, but for some reason, the maid wasn't frightened.

　　Then that wet, muddy thing climbed up on top of her, and she felt cool allover. She hadn't felt so comfortable for days.

　　The next morning, Mrs. Cheng came in with a tape measure to see what size coffin to buy, and found her maid sitting up. She was all muddy, but she looked much better. "You're up?" Mrs. Cheng asked.

　　"Yes, Ma'am, it's very strange, but I feel a lot better today."
　
　　"why are you all muddy?"

　　The maid told her about what happened during the night. Mrs. Cheng really got worried then, because she thought her maid was delirious. She decided to keep watch that night.

　　At midnight, the Chengs saw that big turtle the maid had let go crawl back into the room and smear mud all over the maid. They couldn't believe their eyes, but within days, their maid was up and around again, one of the only persons to recover from the epidemic.

　　From then on, the Chengs never ate another turtle.

58.治好丫环的乌龟

　　“别忘了在煮之前把乌龟擦干净，”程家的人出门办事前说，“这龟很大，煮的时候小心点。好好做。”

　　“是，知道了。”丫环说。他们离开后，丫环去厨房看那只龟，思量该怎么开始。但是当她看到地板上那只龟时，很同情它。“可怜的乌龟，你一定更愿意在河里游泳而不是在肉汤里游泳吧？”

　　为什么丫环会例外地同情这只龟呢？她为程家煮过很多次乌龟，因为他们很喜欢吃乌龟。谁知道呢，她就是同情这只乌龟。所以她把它提起来，走到门外把它放了。

　　“不，不行。当他们回来要吃龟肉时，而我说，对不起，我放了它了，他们会怎么样呢？但就算他们用鞭子抽我，我受的罪也不会比把乌龟被煮受的罪大吧。”所以丫环下了决心，要放走乌龟。

　　当然，当程家的人回来准备吃龟时，发现桌子是空的。他们责骂丫环，还鞭打她。但是她最后熬过去了，大家差不多都忘了这回事。

　　不久，出现了一场流行病。丫环病得很重。程家请了医生来看她，但是医生对他们说还是早点准备棺材吧，她快要死了。

　　那天，丫环感觉到有什么东西从池塘里爬出来，那东西粘乎乎、湿漉漉的，还沾着泥巴。它向她爬得越来越近了。越来越近。它进了她的房间，爬上她的床。奇怪的是，丫环一点也不怕。

　　然后那个湿湿的、沾着泥的东西爬到她身上，她马上觉得全身凉快。她已经很久没有这么舒服了。

　　第二天早上，程夫人拿了一根带子进来想要量量看需要买多大的棺材，却发现她的丫环坐起来了。她浑身都是泥，但是她看上去好多了。“你起来了？”程夫人问。

　　“是，夫人，很奇怪，但是我今天觉得好多了。”

　　“你怎么全身都是泥？”

　　丫环把昨晚的事情告诉她。程夫人觉得有点担心，她想她的丫环肯定是神志不清。她决定晚上要仔细观察。

　　午夜的时候，程家人看到被丫环放走的那只大乌龟爬到房间里，把泥涂到丫环身上。他们简直不敢相信自己的眼睛，但是没几天，他们的丫环又活泼泼的了，她是那个流行病中唯一康复的人。

　　从那以后，程家再也不吃乌龟了。