Shen Bi Ma Liang

I heard that once upon a time, there was a child named Ma Liang. His father and mother had long passed away, and he relied on himself to make ends meet by cutting firewood and grass. He has loved learning to draw since he was young, but he doesn't even have a pen!
One day, he walked past the entrance of a school and saw the teacher inside, holding a pen and drawing. He walked in unconsciously and said to the teacher, 'I really want to learn painting. Can you lend me a pen?'? The teacher glared at him, bah! Spitting on his face, he cursed, 'Poor kid wants a pen, but he still wants to learn painting?'? I'm dreaming! After speaking, he drove him out of the door. Ma Liang is a ambitious child. He said, 'I don't believe it. Why can't poor children even learn painting?'!
From then on, he made up his mind to learn painting and practiced diligently every day. When he went to the mountain to gather firewood, he broke a branch and learned to describe flying birds in the sand. When he went to the river to mow the grass, he dipped the grass roots in the river water and traced the swimming fish on the shore stones. At night, when I returned home, I took a piece of charcoal and painted the things I had painted during the day on the wall of the cave again, one by one. Without a pen, he still learns to draw.
Year by year, Ma Liang has never stopped learning painting. On the four walls of his cave, the paintings were superimposed, and all the flowers were painted. Of course, progress is also very fast. If you draw a bird, it's almost impossible to sing, and if you draw a fish, it's almost impossible to swim. Once, he drew a little hen at the entrance of the village, and there were eagles circling in the sky all day long. Once, he drew a black haired wolf behind the mountain, so scared that the cows and sheep dared not eat grass behind the mountain. But Ma Liang doesn't have a pen yet! He thought to himself, how great it would be to have a pen!
One night, Ma Liang was lying in a cave because he had been working and learning painting all day and was already very tired. As soon as he lay down, he fell asleep in a daze.
I don't know when, a burst of colorful light shone in the cave. An old man with a white beard came and gave him a pen: this is a divine pen, use it well! Ma Liang took a look and saw the golden light shining brightly; Holding it in your hand, heavy and heavy. He jumped up with joy and said, "Thank you, Grandpa… Before Ma Liang could finish speaking, the white bearded old man had already disappeared.
Ma Liang was startled and woke up, rubbing his eyes. It turned out to be a dream! But it's not a dream! Isn't that pen in your hand very well!
He was very happy and ran out, knocking on doors door to door, waking up his friends and telling them, 'I have a pen!'! It's only midnight now! He drew a bird with his pen, and the bird flapped its wings and flew into the sky, singing and chirping at him. He drew a fish with a pen, the fish curved its tail, swam into the water, and danced to him with a swaying motion. He was overjoyed and said, 'This magical pen is so great!'! With this divine pen, Ma Liang paints for the poor in the village every day: whoever doesn't have a plow or rake, he paints them; Whoever doesn't have a plow cow, he will draw a plow cow for him; Whoever doesn't have a water wheel, he will draw a water wheel for them; Whoever doesn't have a stone mill, he will draw one for him
There is no impenetrable wall in the world, and the news quickly reached the ears of a wealthy man in a nearby village. This wealthy man sent two families to arrest him and force him to paint.
Although Ma Liang is young, he was born with a tough personality. He saw through the bad intentions of wealthy people, and no matter how they tried to coax or scare him, he refused to draw a gold ingot. The wealthy man locked him up in a stable and didn't give him food to eat.
In the evening, snow was falling in a flurry, and a thick layer had already accumulated on the ground. The wealthy man thought that Ma Liang was not starving to death this time, but he must have frozen to death. He walked past the entrance of the stable and saw a bright red light shining through the crack of the door, as well as a fragrant smell. He felt strange, leaned in and put a piece through the crack in the door, ah! Ma Liang not only didn't die, but also lit a big stove, roasting the fire while eating hot cakes! The wealthy man knew that the stove and cakes must have been drawn by Ma Liang with a divine pen, so he angrily called his servants to kill Ma Liang and take away the divine pen. More than ten fierce servants rushed into the stable, but did not see Ma Liang. They only saw a ladder leaning against the east wall. Ma Liang took advantage of the darkness and climbed up the ladder, climbed over the wall and walked away. The wealthy man hurriedly climbed up the ladder to chase after him, but before climbing three steps, he fell down. Originally, this ladder was painted by Ma Liang with a divine brush.
Ma Liang left the wealthy man's house and knew he couldn't live in the village anymore. He waved his hand to his own village and silently said:
Goodbye, my friends! Ma Liang used his divine pen to draw a large horse, jumped onto its back, and ran towards the main road. I didn't walk much, only heard a commotion behind me. Looking back, the torch shone brightly, and the wealthy man rode a fast horse, holding a shiny steel knife, and chased after him with ten or twenty family members.
As he was about to chase after him, Ma Liang calmly drew a bow and an arrow with his divine pen. As soon as the arrow was wound, it whistled and hit the wealthy man's throat. The wealthy man turned over and fell off his horse. Ma Liang patted the big horse, and it flew forward like flying.
Ma Liang ran on the road day and night for a few days, and arrived at a town. Seeing that it was already far away from his hometown, he settled down here. He drew many paintings and sold them to the neighbors. Because he was afraid that others would know, he didn't let the painting come to life. The things he painted were either silent or had broken legs.
One day, he drew a white crane without eyes. Accidentally, a drop of ink splashed onto its face, and the white crane opened its eyes, flapped its wings, and flew into the sky.
This caused a sensation throughout the entire town. The local officials immediately reported this matter to the emperor. The emperor issued an imperial decree and sent someone to summon him to Kyoto. Ma Liang refused to go, they pulled him away.
Ma Liang had heard many stories of emperors bullying the poor, and he hated them so much that he refused to paint for the emperor! The emperor asked him to draw a dragon, but he drew a big gecko instead; The emperor asked him to draw a phoenix, but he drew a big crow instead. The Great Gecko and the Great Crow are very ugly, crawling and barking around in the Golden Luang Hall, and even fighting, causing chaos in the palace. The emperor was extremely angry and ordered his guards to snatch his divine pen and beat him up in prison.
The emperor received the divine pen and drew it himself. He first drew a golden mountain. The greedy emperor painted one after another, painting one after another, repeatedly drawing many. Take a good look, which is Jinshan! But it's piles of big stones; Too much pressure was applied from above, causing it to collapse and almost injuring the emperor's foot.
The emperor is still not giving up. He thought to himself, if painting a golden mountain doesn't work, he'll exchange it for gold bricks. He drew a piece that was too small, another piece that was too small, and finally drew a long, big line. Take a good look, which one is a gold brick! But it was a long python, with a bloodthirsty mouth, rushing towards him. Fortunately, the guards saved him quickly, otherwise, the emperor would have been eaten by a python long ago.
The emperor had no choice but to release Ma Liang and hypocritically said some kind words to him, saying that he wanted to give him a lot of gold and silver, and even said that he wanted to marry the princess to him and invite him to be his son-in-law.
Ma Liang was determined to regain the divine pen, so he pretended to agree. The emperor was very happy when he saw that Ma Liang had agreed, so he returned the divine pen to Ma Liang and asked him to draw for him. The emperor thought, if drawing gold and gold bricks doesn't work, then draw a money tree instead! On the money tree, there are all kinds of money growing. With a gentle shake, a lot of money can fall off. How great! He asked Ma Liang to draw a money tree.
Ma Liang made up his mind and didn't say anything. With a wave of his pen, an endless sea appeared before his eyes. The blue seawater, without any ripples, shines like a large jade mirror. The emperor was very unhappy when he saw it, his face turned stern, and he cursed, 'Who told you to draw the money tree? Who told you to draw the sea!'!
Ma Liang drew a small island in the middle of the sea, and on the island he drew a tall and big tree. He said, 'Isn't this a money tree?'? The emperor saw the tree, emitting a dazzling golden light, and swallowed a few sips of saliva in his throat. He chuckled and eagerly said to Ma Liang, 'Draw a boat quickly!'! I want to go to the center of the sea to make money! Ma Liang drew a very large wooden boat, and the emperor brought his empress, crown prince, princess, and many ministers and generals on board.
Ma Liang drew a few more strokes of the wind, causing the sea to create dense ripples, and the large wooden boat began to sail.
The emperor felt itchy in his heart and complained that the ship was moving too slowly. He shouted from the bow of the ship, 'The wind is stronger!'! The wind is stronger Ma Liang added a few bold strokes. The sea was in turmoil, with white sails bulging and wooden boats rapidly sailing towards the center of the sea.
Ma Liang added a few strong winds. The sea roared anxiously, rolling up rolling waves, and the large wooden boat swayed.
The emperor was afraid and shook his hand at Ma Liang, shouting loudly, 'The wind is enough!'! The wind is enough Ma Liang pretended not to hear and continued to draw the wind without stopping. The seawater became angry and the waves rushed onto the boat. The ship tilted and there was chaos on board.
The emperor was soaked all over by the seawater, holding onto the mast of the ship and shouting incessantly, 'The wind is too strong!'! The ship is about to capsize! Don't draw anymore Ma Liang ignored him and continued to paint without stopping. The wind was stronger, and there were many thick black clouds, which were roaring, lightning, and rainstorm. The waves grew stronger, and the seawater collapsed like high walls, continuously pressing onto the ship. The ship capsized, shattered, and the emperor and his companions sank to the bottom of the sea.
After the emperor's death, the story of "The Divine Brush Ma Liang" spread. But where did Ma Liang go later, no one knows. Some say that he returned to his hometown and was with his farming partners. Some say that he wandered around and specialized in painting for many poor people.