In a small Chinese town lived a poor young man named Ma Liang. He loved1. One night, an old man with a long beard visited Ma Liang in a2. He gave Ma Liang a paintbrush.
"Use this magic paintbrush to help the3, he said, "but don't use it to help people who are rich and greedy（贪婪的）, or the skill will leave you and you will never paint again. "
When Ma Liang4, he found the paintbrush lying on the table by his bed. He painted a butterfly and was5to see it fly off the page and out of the window. Ma Liang ran out of his little house and started painting things for people. He painted a buffalo（水牛）to help a farmer, food for hungry people and6for people who were cold.
7, a rich man heard about the paintbrush and asked Ma Liang to paint some gold for him, but Ma Liang8.
"If you don't paint for me, I'll cut your fingers9, "the rich man said. "Then you will never paint again. "
So Ma Liang painted an island of gold in the middle of a blue sea and a boat for the man. The man got in the boat and went on his way toward the island, laughing. When the rich man was halfway there, Ma Liang painted a10in the side of the boat. The boat sank into the water and nobody ever saw the man again.
