高素菊／编译

The boy who sang his blues away

Blues father called out to him before he left home to find work in the town. “Son,remember what I told you. Take care of yourself. Ill be home as fast as I can.”

Every morning after his father left, Blue would take a look at the blue coat his mother stitched for him when he was a baby. It used to keep him warm but he had outgrown the coat. It was the most precious gift from his mother. Though life was hard for father and son,Blue was always happy. “Sing your blues away,son,”his father told him. His father preferred the word “blues” instead of “troubles.” “It sounds nicer, father,” Blue replied. “Youve grown into a big clever boy!” as father and son hugged each other.

“Son,these were the words your mother whispered to me before she took her last breath,‘Husband, do you remember how we loved to walk and made our wishes, under the blue sky, as we went along? So I stitched a blue coat for our baby. Can you help me to put it on him? Your mother then held you in her arms and continued softly,‘Our baby looks so pretty in the blue coat. Tell him I love him and I will watch over him wherever he goes. Youre a good and brave husband. Teach our son to be like you. ‘Wife, I surely will! Shall we call our son Blue? She was too weak to talk further and nodded her head lightly and gave a sweet smile. She died still holding you in her arms.”

People usually sing when they are happy with plenty to eat but that was not the case for Blue. To start with, it was cold and there were holes in his shoes. He had only a small bowl of rice porridge, his father had left him. Blue knew his father often went hungry but there was always a small bowl for him on the table. Blue kept himself busy, as he had to gather wood in the forest. He remembered his fathers advice, “Sing your blues away and make believe that everything will be alright.” So Blue sang and gathered his woods happily. As birds flew by, they too would chirp along merrily when they heard Blue singing.

One day,he did not notice that a stranger was watching him. It was only when the man called out that Blue lifted up his head. “Boy,why are you singing? Are you not cold?”“I was but Ive been so busy I am warm,” replied Blue. “Your clothes are rags,youre thin and hungry. Surely you cant be happy. Why do you sing? Its silly.” “Not at all, I had sung my blues away. I also convinced myself that I am the happiest boy in the country. I am really happy!”

“Oh, can you help me? I have a little boy who cries all day. I give him everything he asks for. Yet he is unhappy. Please come and sing him your song and teach him your secret. Youre a brave little boy!” The stranger pleaded.

Blue nodded,“I will come after I have taken home the wood. When father comes home, there will be some wood to keep us warm. I go on singing until my heart opens up and sings too. I really have no secret.”

The stranger took Blue to a big cottage in the forest. In a beautiful room lay a sick boy on a silken couch. His eyes were red as he had been crying. He looked angrily at his father and stared at Blue. “Who are you? You look cold. Why do you smile?”

The father took his sons hands and told him how he saw Blue in the woods singing and looking happy in spite of being hungry and cold.

Blue came towards the boy and asked,“Would you like me to sing you a song?If you like it then I will continue.” As Blue sang, the boy smiled as he could feel that Blue sang with his heart. “What a beautiful song!” cried the boy,“Can you stay with me and teach me to sing so that I will not be sad?” “Of course,I will. My name is Blue and whats yours?” “Im called Ping which means peace. But I am always crying and never gives my father peace.” So Blue sang and taught Ping the true meaning of peace and how to be happy. Not only Blue and Ping became the best of friends but their fathers too.

Moral: Singing your blues away also means singing your troubles away. In simple terms, “never let trouble trouble you.”

唱走悲伤的男孩

布鲁的爸爸在离开家去城里找工作之前对布鲁说：“儿子，记住我所说的话，照顾好自己，我会尽快回来的。”

爸爸走后，他每天早上都要看一看妈妈在他小时候给他缝的一件蓝上衣。以前是为了保暖，现在已经不能穿了。这是妈妈给他的最珍贵的礼物。尽管父子生活艰辛，布鲁总是很高兴。“把悲伤唱走，儿子。”爸爸告诉他。爸爸宁愿用“悲伤”，而不用“麻烦”。“这个词听起来更好一些，爸爸。”布鲁说。“你是一个聪明的大男孩了。”父子俩拥抱在一起。

“儿子，你妈妈在临终前轻声对我说：‘你还记得我们多么喜欢在蓝天下散步，边走边许愿吗？所以我缝制了一件蓝上衣给我们的孩子。你帮我给他穿上吧。你妈妈抱着你，继续说道：‘我们的孩子穿蓝上衣真得很漂亮，告诉他我多么爱他，不管他到哪，我都会守护着他的。你是一个善良、勇敢的丈夫，把我们的儿子也培养成像你一样的人吧。‘我一定会的，我们给儿子取名叫布鲁吧。你妈妈太虚弱，说不出话了，只是轻轻点了点头，甜甜地笑了。她把你抱在怀里，静静地去了。”

通常，当人们能填饱肚子的时候，他们就会很高兴地唱歌，但布鲁却不能。首先，天开始变冷了，他的鞋上还有洞。他只能吃爸爸留给的一小碗稀饭。布鲁知道爸爸常常饿着肚子，但是桌上总会放着一小碗给他。布鲁每天很忙碌，因为他必须到森林里去捡柴。他记着爸爸的话：“唱走悲伤，相信一切都会好起来的。”于是，布鲁边唱边高兴地捡柴。当有鸟飞过听到布鲁唱歌时，它们也欢快地唱起来。

一天，他没有注意到一个陌生人正注视着他，直到那个人叫他名字的时候，他才抬起头来。“孩子，你为什么唱歌啊？你不冷吗？”“我冷啊，但是忙起来，我身子就暖和了。”布鲁答道。“你的衣服都破了，你又瘦又饿，一定不幸福，为什么唱歌呢？这多可笑。”“一点也不可笑，我把悲伤唱走了。我还告诉自己我是全国最幸福的小孩，我真的很幸福。”

“哦，你能帮我吗？我有一个小儿子整天哭。他要什么，我就给什么，他还是感到不幸福。我想请你给他唱歌，告诉他你的秘诀。你是一个很勇敢的小男孩。”陌生人请求道。

布鲁点点头。“等我把柴带回家后我就来。爸爸回来的时候我们就有柴取暖了。我不停地唱，我的心也打开跟着唱。我真的没有秘诀。”

陌生人把他带到森林里的一间大屋子里。漂亮的房间里，一个病男孩躺在柔软的沙发上。他的眼睛红红的。因为他刚哭过。他生气地看着爸爸，也盯着布鲁。“你是谁？你看起来很冷，为什么还笑？”

爸爸拉起儿子的手，告诉他说他看见布鲁在森林里唱歌，看起来很幸福，尽管他又饿又冷。

布鲁走近男孩笑问：“想听我给你唱一支歌吗？如果你喜欢听，我就接着唱。”布鲁唱的时候，男孩笑了，因为他能感受到布鲁是用心在唱。“多好听的歌！”男孩叫道，“你能和我呆在一起教我唱歌吗？那样我就不伤心了。”“当然可以，我叫布鲁，你呢？”我叫平，意思是和平，但我总是哭，从不让我爸爸安宁。“于是布鲁唱歌，告诉平和平的真正含义，并教他怎样才会幸福。不仅布鲁和平成了最好的朋友，他们的爸爸也成了最好的朋友。”

寓意：唱走悲伤，也唱走烦恼。简单地说，就是“不让烦恼靠近你”。