Cherishing Words As Gold

(Originally In Chinese)

Once there was a child who had lived to be seven without

ever having spoken one word. His parents thought he was dumb.

They took him to a doctor, but were unable to find out the reason

why he wouldn't speak. No matter what they tried,

he did not say anything.

One day, as the child was eating soup, in the middle of the

meal he suddenly exclaimed, "Ayah! Too much salt!"

Everyone was startled, "Ah! Aren't you dumb?"

"What!" he replied. "Who is dumb? I think you're dumb!"

His family wondered and asked, "Why didn't you say anything

for the past seven years, and now all of a sudden you begin to talk?"

He replied, "There had never been anything to complain about!

But whoever cooked the food today, put so much salt in it.

How can anyone swallow something like this!?"

惜语如金

有一个小孩，他从小到七岁没有讲过一句话，父母

都认为他是哑巴，带他去看医生也找不出理由，

试什么办法还是不会讲话。

　 有一天，这个小孩吃饭时喝下一口汤后，突然说：

「哎呀！太多盐巴了！」大家都吓了一跳：

「啊！你不是哑巴吗？」他说：「哑什么巴，

你才是哑巴，谁哑巴！」他的家人感到很好奇，

就问他：「怎么你七年来都不讲一句话，

今天忽然间就讲话了？」他说：「从来没什么应该抱怨嘛！

今天是什么人煮，放那么多盐巴，那么咸怎么能吃？」