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EELS IN THE URN 瓮中的鳗鱼 The Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty in China lasted from 1573 to 1620，the same year the Pilgrims reached Massachusetts in America. At that time， in the beautiful Chinese city of Hangchou， the city Marco Polo called Kinsai and praised as the grandest， most beautiful city on earth， as splendid as paradise， lived a very rich man named Yu. 中国明朝万历年间(1573-1620年)， 1620年也就是 清教徒抵达美国麻萨诸塞州 的那一年 .当时，中国有个美丽的城市叫杭州，城里住着一个叫姓余的富贾。马可波罗曾称杭州为Kinsai并且称赞它是世界上最壮观、最美丽的城市，宛如人间天堂。 Mr. Yu enjoyed doing good deeds. He never killed anything. 余先生乐于行善，从不杀生。 At the time of our story， a family in his neighborhood had been robbed of almost everything they had. Mr. Yu generously donated money to help his neighbors get back on their feet. His neighbors wife was deeply touched by his kindness. 在这个故事发生的时间，余先生的一户邻居被抢劫一空。余先生慷慨解囊，助其重立门户。邻人之妻深感其德。 One day she happened to get ten eels， so she sent them over to Mr. Yus house so he could cook them for his aged mother. Even though eels are a great delicacy for most Chinese， the Yus never killed anything， so their servants put the eels into a big pottery urn and prepared to let them go someday. What with one thing and another， everybody forgot all about the eels in the urn. | 
