牛的舌头
Judge Bao and the case of the cut ox tongue
Name: ________________ Date: ________
一千年前的宋朝，有一个县官，叫包拯。那时候，他是天长县的县官。
一天早上，一个农民哭着来到了县里，一进门就跪下了：“大人，我家的牛被人割了舌头！”
原来，昨天晚上，有人偷偷进了他家的牛棚，把牛的舌头割了下来。牛没有了舌头，就不能吃草，过不了几天就会死。对一个农民来说，一头牛差不多就是全家的希望。
包拯听完，想了一会儿，问：“那头牛还活着吗？”
“还活着，可是它已经什么都吃不了了。”
“那你回家去，把牛杀了，把肉卖了吧。”
农民一下子愣住了。在宋朝，牛是种地用的，没有官府同意，自己杀牛是犯法的。他小声说：“大人，杀牛是要被抓的呀。”
包拯说：“你只管回去杀，别的事不用你管。”
农民不明白为什么，可是县官都这么说了，他只好回家，把牛杀了，然后在街上卖牛肉。
没过几天，又有一个人来到了县里。这个人一进门就大声说：“大人，我要告状！村里有人自己把牛杀了，还在街上卖肉，这是犯法的！”
包拯看着他，慢慢地说：“你为什么先割了人家牛的舌头，现在又来说他犯法？”
那个人吓了一大跳，脸色一下子变得很难看。他没想到县官什么都知道，只好跪下认了罪。
其实，包拯的办法并不复杂。割牛舌头，对割舌头的人自己一点儿好处也没有，只会让别人难过。做这种事的人，一定跟农民有仇。这样的人，看见农民杀了牛，一定会马上来告状，想让他也受到惩罚。所以，包拯什么都不用做，只要等着就行了。
这件事写在《宋史》里。后来，包拯做了很多年的官，一直很公正，老百姓叫他“包青天”。今天在京剧里，他还是一张黑脸，额头上有一个白色的月亮。
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 农民 | nóngmín | peasant; farmer |
| 抓 | zhuā | to pay close attention to; to take charge of (as in 抓紧) |
| 脸色 | liǎnsè | complexion; color of one's face |
| 老百姓 | láobǎixìng | ordinary people; common folk |
| 割 | gē | to cut; to cut off |
| 舌头 | shétou | tongue |
| 偷偷 | tōutōu | secretly; stealthily |
| 杀 | shā | to kill; to slaughter; (gaming) to kill an opponent |
| 种地 | zhòngdì | to farm; to till the land |
| 吓 | xià | to frighten; to scare; to be frightened |
| 罪 | zuì | crime; guilt; sin |
| 惩罚 | chéngfá | punishment; penalty; to punish |
English (for the teacher)
A thousand years ago, in the Song dynasty, there was a county magistrate called Bao Zheng. At the time, he was the magistrate of Tianchang county.
One morning, a farmer came to the county office in tears, and fell to his knees the moment he was through the door: “Your Honour, someone has cut out my ox's tongue!”
It turned out that the night before, someone had sneaked into his ox shed and cut out the ox's tongue. Without a tongue, an ox can't eat grass, and in a few days it will die. For a farmer, an ox is almost the whole family's hope.
When he had heard it all, Bao Zheng thought for a moment and asked: “Is that ox still alive?”
“It's still alive, but it can't eat anything any more.”
“Then go home, kill the ox and sell the meat.”
The farmer was stunned. In the Song dynasty oxen were for working the fields, and killing one privately without the government's permission was against the law. He said quietly: “Your Honour, people get arrested for killing an ox.”
Bao Zheng said: “Just go back and kill it; leave everything else to me.”
The farmer didn't understand why, but since the magistrate himself had said so, he had no choice: he went home, killed the ox and then sold the beef in the street.
A few days later, another man came into the county office. The moment he was through the door he said loudly: “Your Honour, I want to bring a charge! Someone in our village has killed his own ox and is selling the meat in the street, and that's against the law!”
Bao Zheng looked at him and said slowly: “Why did you first cut out that man's ox's tongue, and now come to say he broke the law?”
The man got a terrible fright, and his face suddenly turned an awful colour. He had never imagined the magistrate knew everything, and he had no choice but to kneel and confess.
In fact, Bao Zheng's method wasn't complicated. Cutting out an ox's tongue does the one who does it no good at all; it can only make someone else miserable. Whoever does a thing like that must have a grudge against the farmer. A man like that, seeing the farmer kill his ox, would be sure to come straight in and report him, wanting him to be punished too. So Bao Zheng didn't need to do anything; he only had to wait.
This case is written in the History of Song. Later, Bao Zheng served as an official for many years and was always fair, and ordinary people called him “Bao the Clear Sky”. In Peking opera today, he still has a black face, with a white moon on his forehead.