我們靠自己 （圖文繪本、中英對照）

劉墉
聞名兩岸的畫家、作家、教育家。出版文學藝術作品一百餘種，被譯為英、韓、泰、越等國文字，在世界各地個展三十餘次。


劉倚帆
美國哥倫比亞大學及賓州大學華頓商學院研究所畢業。美國水雲齋文化事業有限公司總經理，致力推廣中華教育、藝術及文學。曾任「字節跳動」美國商業部副總監及「華納兄弟」中國製片部經理。英譯作品有《漢字有意思》、《劉墉的情與藝》及《劉墉畫集》。

故事裡有故事
不久前，我出版《小沙彌遇見劉墉》，承蒙星雲大師寫序，大師在序裡說他早年剛到臺灣的時候，常常借廟口演講，發現只要他講故事，群眾就會漸漸向他集中，故事講完開始說理了，大家又慢慢散去。等他再講故事，大家又聚攏過來。一場演講大約兩個鐘頭，群眾就像潮水一樣，聚散好幾次。
我四十多年前在丹維爾作駐館藝術家的時候，也有類似的經驗：美術館為了推展中華文化，可能早上要我去教小學生，晚上又安排我在研究所演講。那時候我的英文很差，不太能說道理，只好講故事。我發現不論對小朋友或研究生，最討好的就是說故事，其中又以寓言故事為佳。因為同一個故事可以讓小孩目不轉睛，也可以讓大學生興味盎然，多年之後學生可能把我的名字都忘了，還會提起我當年講過的故事。
這本書裡就收集了我過去五十年間寫的寓言故事，有些很簡短，像是沙漠跟海洋利益交換、貓跟狗劃分地盤、魚跟鉤比賽打賭、毛蟲對上帝抱怨。有些比較寫實，像是富翁的大房簷、十二個孩子、三把麵條和傳家寶，還有些是以較長的童話故事出現，像是鞋子們開大會、老虎跟猴子吹牛、橡樹與小草對話。
古人談詩，說詩有一個好處是可以「主文而譎諫，言之者無罪，聞之者足以戒」，意思是透過婉轉比喻的方式勸人，可以讓被勸的人自己思考，而不至於傷面子。我的寓言故事應該也如此，小朋友可能看到的是花草蟲魚老虎貓咪，成年人卻可能咀嚼出背後反諷的東西。有趣味又能玩味的東西容易流傳，希望有一天大家雖然把我遺忘，還能記得這本書裡的一些小故事。
劉墉 二〇二〇年十月

我們靠自己
「媽媽！為什麼我從出生，就要背這個又重又硬的殼呢？真是累死了！」小蝸牛問媽媽。
「因為我們的身體沒有骨骼的支撐，只能爬，爬又爬不快。」媽媽說。
「毛蟲姐姐沒有骨頭，也爬不快，為什麼她不用背又重又硬的殼呢？」
「因為毛蟲姐姐能變成蝴蝶，天空會保護她。」
「蚯蚓弟弟沒有骨頭，也爬不快，更不會變，他為什麼不背又重又硬的殼呢？」
「因為蚯蚓弟弟會鑽土，大地會保護他。」
小蝸牛哭了起來：「我好可憐，天空不保護，大地也不保護。」
「所以我們有殼啊！」蝸牛媽媽拍拍小蝸牛：
「我們不靠天，也不靠地，我們靠自己。」

We Rely on Ourselves
“Mom, why do we have to carry this hard and heavy shell our whole lives? It’s so exhausting!” the little snail asked its mother.
“Because we don’t have a skeleton to support us. We can only crawl—slowly,” Mother answered.
“Miss Caterpillar has no bones and crawls slowly too. Why doesn’t she carry a hard and heavy shell?”
“Because Miss Caterpillar can turn into a butterfly. The sky will protect her.”
“Mr. Earthworm has no bones, crawls slowly, and doesn’t turn into anything else. Why doesn’t he carry a hard and heavy shell?”
“Because Mr. Earthworm can dig into the soil. The earth will protect him.”
The little snail started to cry. “Poor me! The sky doesn’t protect me, and neither does the earth.”
“That is why we have shells!” Mother comforted the little snail. “We do not rely on the sky, and we do not rely on the earth. We rely on ourselves.”

十二個孩子
某地突然流行一種怪病，患者都是幼兒，由於過去沒有那樣的病歷，症狀又惡化得極快，使得群醫束手，幼兒一個接一個地死去。
有位富翁的獨子也染上這種病，富翁四處打聽，終於發現那病是從國外傳來的，只有一種藥可以救，而且一劑見效。只是那種藥非常昂貴，效期又短，即使用乾冰保存，也只能維持七十二小時，加上是特別製作，一次必須購買整打包裝。
「我只需要一劑！」富翁打電報問。
「一劑不賣，必須一次訂十二劑！」回電毫不通融。
為了救愛兒的命，雖然對富翁而言，這十二劑也是極大的負擔，他還是訂了。
特效藥立刻空運過來，但是就在到達的前一刻，富翁的獨子卻已經等不及而斷氣。富翁的妻子撫屍痛哭，卻見丈夫衝出門去，置愛兒的屍體於不顧。
原來富翁衝去機場拿藥，再晝夜不停地驅車到各地醫院詢問，遇見與他愛兒患同樣病的孩子，便留下一劑藥離開，兩天兩夜不食不眠，他終於把藥在過時之前送給了十二個垂危的病童，但是當他蒼白著臉跨進家門時，卻被不知情的妻子狠狠打了一記耳光：「你這無情的東西，怪不得絕子！」
富翁並沒有絕子，他有了十二個孩子，經常繞在膝下，全鄉的人都說：那十二個孩子的命是他賜予的。

Twelve Children
There was an epidemic of a strange disease that only affected young children. It was a novel disease, and the symptoms worsened extremely quickly. Doctors were helpless, and children were dying one after the other.

A wealthy man’s only son also contracted this disease. The wealthy man searched for answers everywhere and discovered that this disease originated from another country. One cure existed; one dose of an antiserum was all that he needed. However, the antiserum was very expensive and would lose its effectiveness in 72 hours, even if kept on ice. The antiserum was also difficult to cultivate, and so it had to be purchased by the batch.

“I only need one dose!” the wealthy man wrote in his message.

“We don’t sell single doses. The minimum order is 12 in a batch,” the other side replied rigidly.

Even for such a wealthy man, purchasing 12 doses would be a financial burden. But for the sake of saving his son’s life, he placed the order.

The antiserum was immediately shipped by air. On the day it was set to arrive, the wealthy man’s son passed away. The wealthy man’s wife sobbed over the son’s body, but she saw her husband rush out the door, with no regard for their deceased son.

It turns out that the wealthy man was rushing to the airport to pick up the antiserum. Then, day and night, he drove to various hospitals and asked to meet children with the same disease that his son had. He gave each of them one dose of the antiserum. For two days and two nights, he neither slept nor ate. Before the antiserum expired, he was able to distribute the 12 doses to 12 dying children. But when he finally arrived home, tired and pale, he was unexpectedly greeted by a hard slap in the face from his wife: “You’re so heartless—no wonder you have no more children!”

However, the wealthy man did have children. He had 12. They often surrounded him at his knees, and the whole village said, “He gave those 12 children their lives.”