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很久很久以前，有一个国王非常喜欢吃鱼，他没有一餐不吃鱼的。一天，天气非常恶劣，没有渔夫出去打鱼。国王说，谁要是能带给他一条鱼，他就奖给他一切他想要的东西。 一个老渔夫在恶劣的天气下去河里打鱼了。很幸运.他抓住了一条大鱼。他决定把鱼带给国王。 在宫殿门口，老人被卫兵拦住了。“你必须保证把国王奖励给你的东西分我一半，不然你别想进去。”卫兵说。老人只好同意了。 一个大臣在庭园里看到了老人，他也让老人保证把国王的奖励分他一半，才让老人进去见国王。 国王看到渔夫送来鱼很高兴。他命令大臣给老人很多金子。但老人不接受金子，说：“不，我不想要金子。我只想挨荆条抽，抽打我两百下。” 国王听了这话困惑不解。很快他就明白了一切。卫兵和大臣各被抽打了一百下；领受了渔夫向国王要的一半奖励。 I Want to Be Beaten with a Cane Long, long ago，there lived a king who liked to eat fish very much. He wouldn’t have a meal without fish. One day，the weather was so bad that no fisherman went fishing. The King said that whoever brought him a fish could get everything he wanted. An old fisherman went fishing in the river in the bad weather. He was lucky enough to catch a big fish. He decided to send it to the King. At the palace gate the old man was stopped by a guard. “You must promise to give me half of the things that the King will give you，or you can t go in,” said the guard. The old man had to promise to do so. A minister met the old man in the courtyard. He did not let the old man in until he promised to give him half of the things the King would give him for the fish. The King was very glad to see the fish the fisherman offered. He asked the minister to give the old fisherman a lot of gold, however，the fisherman refused and said，“No, I don’t want any gold. What I want is to be beaten with a cane for two hundred hits. ” The King was very confused when he heard that. Soon he understood everything. The guard and the minister each were given one hundred hits——half of the things the fisherman asked the King to give. |
