97.SPARE AN OLD HEN

　　It was a happy gathering. The host told Lian Yucheng, "I'm overjoyed you could come, and from such a distance! I'll spread out an extra special feast for this occasion."

Lian said, "You don't have to go to so much trouble for a relative. It's not like I was an imperial official or something."

　　Another relative said, "We've got a nice, fat hen ready for the knife. We'll butcher her tomorrow morning and eat her for lunch tomorrow."

　　Lian didn't like big fancy meals in the first place, and in the second place, he felt sorry for the hen, so he thought up an excuse. "I eat only vegetarian food on certain days, and tomorrow is my vegetarian day, so I have to ask you not to kill that hen for me. Your sincerity fills my heart better than a hen could fill my stomach."

　　"Well, if you insist. Then we'll all eat vegetarian food tomorrow," his relative said.

Then, all too early, it was time for Lian Yucheng to end his visit and go home. On his way back, he got to a wide river and waited for the ferry.

　　Little did he imagine that as soon as he got on the ferry, an old man with a white beard on the shore pointed at him and shouted, "There's a liar on board! Somebody said he's a vegetarian, but he's no such thing at all! Don't take him across the river on your ferry!"

　　With that, the people on the boat started asking who the culprit was. Finally,Lian confessed. "I told a white lie, but I didn't do it to hurt anybody." The other people didn't care what reason he gave, they didn't want him on board any more, so pushing and pulling, they got him off the ferry, and threw his luggage on the shore after him. Then they cast off.

　　Lian was pretty mad. He decided to find that old guy and ask who told him to butt into Lian's business. But the funny thing was that he couldn't find the old guy, so he just sat on the shore with his luggage watching the ferry get smaller and smaller as it crossed the river.

　　But then suddenly a terrible storm came up. The wind blew so mightily that before they could cross to the other side, the ferry went down with all hands. Not a single person on the ferry survived.

　　Lian never knew that when he spared that old hen, he was saving his own life!

97.为母鸡说情

　　这是一次快乐的聚会。主人对连玉成说，“你从这么远的地方来看我，我真是太高兴了！就为这个，我要再办一次宴席来好好招待你。”

　　 连玉成说道，“您不用为了一个亲戚这么麻烦。我又不是什么钦差大臣之类的大人物。”

　　 另一个亲戚说，“我们有一只又大又肥的母鸡。明天早上就把它宰了，中午就能吃了。”

　　连玉成既不愿意大吃大喝，又很为那只母鸡难过，于是他想了一个借口。“在一些特别的日子里我只吃素，明天正好是吃素的日子，所以请你们不要为我杀那只母鸡。对我来说，你们的诚意远比母鸡更让我感动。”
“好吧，如果你坚持的话，那我们明天就都吃素好了。”他的亲戚说道。

　　招待结束后，连玉成也该起程回家了。在回家的路上，他来到了一条宽阔的河边，准备搭渡船过河。

　　没想到，他刚刚登上渡船，一个白胡子老头就在岸边指着他喊道，“船上有一个骗子！那个人说他只吃素，其实他根本不是！别让他坐你们的船过河！”

　　船上的人听到这话，便开始查问到底谁是这个骗子。最后，连玉成不得不坦白了，“我是撒了善意的谎，可是我并没有伤害任何人。 ”其他的人根本不听他的解释，他们不想让他留在船上，于是人们又推又拉，把连玉成赶下了船，还把他的行李扔在了岸边。然后，人们起锚出发了。

　　连玉成气极了。他决心要找到那个老家伙，问问是谁指使他插手自己的事情的。但奇怪的是他再也找不到那个老家伙，于是他只好坐在岸边看着渡船在河里越走越远，越来越小。

　　但是突然之间，河面上刮起了狂风。呼啸的狂风使得渡船还没到对岸就淹没于河水之中。没有一个人幸存下来。

　　连玉成永远也不会知道，当他救了老母鸡时，他实际上是救了自己的性命。