Once upon a time， there lived a farmer who had a little land. His name was Tuan and he was a very good-natured1） person. He lived in a hut2） with his wife and children and earned a living by selling whatever crops he could produce.

Tuan loved to help others. Whenever someone fell ill or needed something badly， Tuan was there to help. There seemed to be none who hated this man.

But there was one person who hated Tuan with all his heart. He was Juan， a neighbor of Tuan's， who lived on the land next to him. A lazy person by nature， Juan hardly ever put in as much effort to cultivate his land as Tuan did. So when the harvest season arrived every year， Juan found that he had very few crops to sell. Tuan on the other hand， earned a handsome3） profit through the selling of his produce4）.

One year， Juan could no longer contain5） his jealousy. Just days before Tuan was to reap6） his harvest， Juan set fire to his crops at night. Tuan was asleep at the time and it was only the alertness of one of his other neighbors that saved many of his crops from being destroyed in the deadly flames of the fire.

When the flames were put out， Tuan saw in which direction the fire had started. Tuan didn't know about Juan's animosity7） towards him， but he let the matter rest and decided to take action only if he saw Juan repeating his evil act once again.

Only days later， Tuan was awakened by the sound of lamentations8）. He went out to find a crowd beside Juan's hut. He rushed over to find that Juan's son had fallen ill and that the village doctor was unable to provide a cure for his illness. Tuan knew what he had to do. He untied his own horse and rode in a hurry to the town that was ten miles away and fetched a more experienced doctor who lived there.

This doctor was able to identify the disease correctly and provided the correct treatment for it. Within hours， the boy was found to be soundly9） asleep and Tuan went with the doctor to take him back to the town.

A day later， Juan went to Tuan's hut and began to weep bitterly. He confessed10） to his sins but was surprised when Tuan told him that he knew all about them.

\"You knew that I had set fire to your crops？ And still you fetched the doctor for my son？\" asked Juan.

Tuan nodded and said， \"I did what I knew was right. Could I do wrong just because you had done so？\"

Juan stood up and embraced Tuan. Both men were in tears and so were the others who stood by them.

From that day on， Juan changed. Within a year， he could produce more crops on his land through his hard work. When the others asked him how he had changed so much， he only replied， \"It was the goodness and love of Tuan that transformed me.\"

從前有一位農(nóng)民，他有一小塊地。他叫圖安，是一位生性非常善良的人。他和妻子及孩子們住在一間簡(jiǎn)陋的小房子里，靠出售自己種的各種糧食為生。

圖安很樂(lè)于助人。每當(dāng)有人生病或急需什么東西時(shí)，他就會(huì)去幫忙。似乎沒(méi)有誰(shuí)會(huì)討厭他。

不過(guò)，有一個(gè)人卻打心眼里討厭圖安，他就是住在圖安隔壁的鄰居胡安。胡安生性懶惰，種地時(shí)幾乎從來(lái)不會(huì)像圖安那樣付出那么多的勞動(dòng)。所以，每年收獲的季節(jié)來(lái)臨時(shí)，胡安就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己沒(méi)有多少糧食可賣，而圖安卻能通過(guò)出售自己的農(nóng)產(chǎn)品賺上一大筆。

有一年，胡安再也無(wú)法克制自己的嫉妒。就在圖安即將收割莊稼的前幾天，胡安在夜里往圖安的地里放了一把火。圖安當(dāng)時(shí)睡著了，要不是他的另外一位鄰居提醒他，他的大部分莊稼就會(huì)在熊熊烈火中毀于一旦。

火被撲滅后，圖安發(fā)現(xiàn)了火是從哪邊燒起來(lái)的。圖安當(dāng)時(shí)并不知道胡安恨自己，但是他選擇息事寧人，并決定只有當(dāng)胡安再干這種壞事時(shí)才采取行動(dòng)。

僅僅幾天之后，圖安被一陣悲慟聲吵醒了。他出去一看，發(fā)現(xiàn)胡安的房子旁有一群人。他急忙跑過(guò)去，發(fā)現(xiàn)胡安的兒子生病了，而且村里的大夫?qū)Υ耸譄o(wú)策。圖安知道自己該做什么。他解開(kāi)自己的馬，騎著它飛奔到十英里以外的鎮(zhèn)上，把住在那里的一位更有經(jīng)驗(yàn)的大夫接了過(guò)來(lái)。

這位大夫準(zhǔn)確地診斷出了疾病，并對(duì)癥下藥。沒(méi)過(guò)幾個(gè)小時(shí)，大家就發(fā)現(xiàn)男孩睡熟了，于是圖安跟著大夫走了，好把他送回鎮(zhèn)上。

第二天，胡安來(lái)到圖安家，痛哭流涕起來(lái)。他坦白了自己的罪行，而當(dāng)圖安告訴他自己知道這一切時(shí)，胡安很是驚訝。

“你知道是我朝你的莊稼放了火？而你卻還為我的兒子請(qǐng)來(lái)了大夫？”胡安問(wèn)道。

圖安點(diǎn)了點(diǎn)頭，說(shuō)：“我做了自己覺(jué)得是正確的事情。就因?yàn)槟銢](méi)干好事，我就能干壞事嗎？”

胡安站了起來(lái)，抱住了圖安。他們倆和站在一旁的其他人都落淚了。

從那天起，胡安便改過(guò)自新。憑借著自己的努力勞作，他用了不到一年的時(shí)間就能在自己的土地上收獲更多的莊稼了。每當(dāng)別人問(wèn)起他是如何發(fā)生如此巨變的，他只是說(shuō)：“是圖安的善良和愛(ài)改變了我?！?/p>

1.good-natured [?ɡ?d?ne?t??（r）d] adj. 本性善良的；和善的

2.hut [h?t] n. 簡(jiǎn)陋的小房子

3.handsome [?h?ns?m] adj. 相當(dāng)大的，可觀的

4.produce [?pr?dju?s] n. （尤指）農(nóng)產(chǎn)品

5.contain [k?n?te?n] vt. 克制（強(qiáng)烈的感情）

6.reap [ri?p] vt. 收割（莊稼）；收獲

7.animosity [??n??m?s?ti] n. （尤指表現(xiàn)于行動(dòng)的）仇恨；敵意；憎惡

8.lamentation [?l?m?n?te??n] n. 悲慟；哀悼

9.soundly [sa?ndli] adv. 酣暢地

10.confess [k?n?fes] vi. 坦白；承認(rèn)（多與to連用）