The Blessings of the River 河流的祝福

陳佳

Once there lived a boy named Krishna on the banks of the river Kaveri. He was the eldest among five children. Krishnas father was a very lovable and hardworking man. Even though he worked hard， his earnings were not enough to meet both ends.

At nights， with only a quarter-filled stomach， the children could not sleep. To make them sleep， Krishnas father used to play the flute1 and tell them stories about the mercy of the river Kaveri. Through his stories Krishna started loving the river very much and he thought of the river as a goddess.

Once， on a rainy day， Krishnas father fell ill. Seeing his siblings2 crying for food， Krishna went to the market and a merchant gave him the work of loading and unloading heavy sacks3. With a starving stomach， he worked hard till the evening. From the wages4 he got， he bought food for his family and medicines for his father.

從前有一個男孩名叫克里希納，他住在卡維里河畔。他是五個孩子中年齡最大的?？死锵＜{的父親是一個非常可愛而勤奮的人。盡管他努力工作，但他的收入還不夠維持生計。

晚上，孩子們只能填飽四分之一的肚子，睡不著覺。為了讓他們睡著覺，克里希納的父親常吹奏笛子，給他們講關(guān)于卡維里河的仁慈的故事。通過他的故事，克里希納愛上了這條河，他認(rèn)為這條河是位女神。

一次，在一個雨天，克里希納的父親生病了?？吹剿男值芙忝脗兛拗缘?，克里希納去了市場，有個商人給了他裝卸沉重袋子的工作。他餓著肚子，努力工作到了晚上。他用薪水為家人買了食物，給父親買了藥。

On his way， when he reached near the river， he heard somebody crying from the river. He ran towards the river and saw a man crying for help—he was drowning. Krishna put the things on the bank of the river and jumped into the river. It was very dark and the river current was rough. But he swam towards the man and saved him. The man was very happy and thanked him. He asked about Krishnas whereabouts5 and went away.

Suddenly Krishna thought of his home and ran to take the food he had kept on the bank. To his shock， he found that the river had washed away all the things. He cried loudly and asked the river， “How can I go home without the food？ You ate all the food for my family and made us hungry， but even then I thank you for helping me to save a man.”

He sat there crying for many hours. He even forgot about the time. It was late night. He slowly walked towards his house. When he reached near his house he heard the music of his fathers flute. He ran to the house. He could not believe his eyes. The man whom he had saved was sitting there.

Krishna looked at his father. Then his father told him what had happened. That man was a noble and rich merchant of the nearby village. On his way to the village he had to cross the river Kaveri. While crossing， he had accidentally fallen down into the water. He was very impressed with Krishnas courage and helping mentality. So he had come to Krishnas house with food for the family and was waiting to see Krishna to give him a good job in his shop.

On hearing this， tears came out of Krishnas eyes. He ran towards the river and said， “Oh River goddess！You took our one days food with one hand and in return gave us food for the whole life with the other.” He thanked the river and returned home happily.

在回家路上，當(dāng)他走近河邊時，聽到河那邊有人在哭。他朝河邊跑去，看見一個人在呼救——他溺水了。克里希納把東西放在河岸上，然后跳進(jìn)河里。天很黑，河水湍急。但他游向那個人，救了他。那個人非常高興，很感謝克里希納，問了他的住處就走了。

突然，克里希納想起來他的家，跑去拿他留在岸邊的食物。令他震驚的是，他發(fā)現(xiàn)河水沖走了所有的東西。他大聲哭著問這條河：“沒有食物我怎么回家？你吃了所有我給家人的食物，讓我們挨餓，但即使這樣，我還是感謝你幫助我救人。”

他坐在那里哭了好幾個小時，甚至忘記了時間。到了深夜，他慢慢地朝家里走去。當(dāng)走到家附近時，他聽到了他父親吹奏笛子的樂聲。他跑進(jìn)家門后，不敢相信自己的眼睛。他救的那個人就坐在那里。

克里希納看著他的父親，然后他父親告訴他發(fā)生了什么事。那個人是附近村子里一位高貴的富商。在去村子的路上，他不得不穿過卡維里河。過河時，他不小心掉進(jìn)了水里。他對克里希納的勇氣和樂于助人的精神印象深刻。于是他帶著食物來到克里希納的家，等著見他，讓他在自己的店里做一份好工作。

聽到這個，克里希納的眼睛里流出了淚水。他跑到河邊，說：“哦，河女神！你一只手拿走了我們一天的食物，另一只手給了我們一輩子的食物作為回報。”他感謝這條河，愉快地回家了。

Notes

1. flute? ?n. 長笛

2. sibling? ?n. 兄弟姊妹

3. sack? ?n. 麻布袋

4. wage? ?n. 工資

5. whereabouts? n. 下落;行蹤;去向;所在之處