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媽媽給凡凡買了一本圖畫本子，每一頁圖都附有一條兒歌。凡凡一面塗著顏色，一面唱：「美麗有隻小小羊」。忽然凡凡把蠟筆一放：「媽媽，我也希望有隻小小羊！」媽媽和藹地說：「我們每個人心裡，都已經有一隻自己的小小羊了。不相信是不是？那麼，我來講美麗有隻小小羊的故事吧！」凡凡高興地拍手。這以下就是媽媽的故事了。
從前，有一個紅頭髮的小女孩，她的名字叫美麗。美麗和她的老奶奶，以及一隻小羊，住在山坡的這一邊，一個鄰居也沒有。有一天，美麗照例牽著她的小羊到山坡去吃草。可是她太專心看故事書了，等到她發現小羊不見了，她一點也不知道要往哪個方向去找？美麗著急得哭了。忽然，她聽見一個輕快的歌聲，歌聲中，還夾著一兩聲咩、咩的羊叫。美麗還來不及擦乾眼淚，就看到一個大男孩牽著她的小羊出現在面前了。「嗨！你知道這是誰的羊嗎？」
「是我的！是我的！」美麗連忙叫起來，小羊也咩、咩地應和著。大男孩把牽羊的繩子交給美麗，美麗高興又困窘地不知說什麼才好。
大男孩似乎很暸解她，爽朗地笑說：「不用介意，我們是鄰居，應該互才幫忙的。」
「鄰居？」美麗一臉狐疑，「我以為 -」
「哦！，我才搬來，就住在山坡的另一頭。」
美麗又不曉得該說什麼了，她自小除了奶奶以外，就沒見過旁人，眞還不懂得怎麼和人相處呢！大男孩好像很瞭解似地坐下來說：「你不要害怕，我以前也和你一樣，不會和人相處，也不太會說話。」他一面把斧頭放在一邊，把背上的木柴又擺在另一邊，一副準備長談的樣子。美麗抱起她的小羊，仍是一聲也不吭。
「我叫彼得。」大男孩自我介紹，「很久以前，我的父母就住在這兒，可是他們去世後，我只好到大都市去投靠我叔叔。那時我才七歲。」
美麗小聲地說：「我也七歲。」
彼得和氣地看著她，「七歲的孩子，又一直沒有別的鄰居，忽然住到一個熱鬧的城裡，左鄰右舍距離又那麼近，一大堆的大人小孩，那時我眞不知道怎麼辦才好。有時我要從人群中穿過，就硬擠過去，不知道該先說一聲：『借過』；有時不小心做錯了事，或撞到了人，也不曉得要說：『對不起』；人家給我東西，或幫我忙，我只會臉紅發呆，不知道說：『謝謝』；想拜託人，又不懂得說：『請』。結果常弄得別人不高興，我也不開心，小孩子們不愛和我玩，大人們也說我不懂規矩。」
「後來怎麼樣？」美麗急著問。
人＋二＝仁
彼得開心地笑了，慢條斯理地繼續說：「我的叔父看這情形，就送我上學，可是情況仍沒有好轉，一直到我們來了個新老師。」彼得停了停，又說：「他是個中國老師，從很遠很遠的地方來的。他說他的國家很古老很古老，可是卻有比山還要高的文化。」彼得回憶地敘述著，「他首先教我認一個中國字。」彼得用一枝細木條在地上畫了一個「人」字。
「你看這像什麼？」
美麗歪著頭，看了看：「好像一個人側面站著。」
「對了！」彼得在旁邊又加了兩畫，「這兩畫就是中國字的『二』，把『二』和『人』和起來，變成一個新的字——『仁』，那是愛人的意思。」
「爲什麼？」
「因爲你和別人在一起，學習怎麼樣好好地和人相處，不爭、不貪、不求，明白怎樣才能令別人高興，你也高興，這就是愛人的道理。你要不喜歡人，人家一定不高興，也不會喜歡你，對不對？」美麗點點頭，放開小羊。彼得繼續說：「所以學習怎麼樣和人相處得又和諧、又快樂，就是仁，也就是愛人的意思。正因為我愛人人，所以人人也愛我；因為人人愛我，更要我愛人人。」
「我懂了！」美麗兩眼發亮，「就像我愛奶奶，奶奶也愛我，我們相處得和諧又快樂。」
「對了！每個人天生就有一顆慈愛的根苗在心田裡，而這愛心就在父母、親人身邊滋長發育，所以親愛自己的親人，是天生自然的，只要把這心擴大到別人身上，你就會發現要愛別人，和別人和諧相處，一點也不困難。」彼得說到這裡，對著小羊咩咩叫兩聲，小羊就跑到他那兒去了。
「你看連對動物和善，動物都知道的，何況是人。」彼得又重新在地上畫了一個大大的「仁」字，「和人相處光有愛心也還是不夠的，有時我們有心愛護人，卻常常做了不合宜的事情，惹人家煩了，生氣了。」
羊+我=義
美麗插嘴：「我就是這樣，常惹奶奶生氣，可是我一點也不想奶奶生氣的。」
「對了！所以你還要再學這個字。」彼得一邊說，一邊寫了個大大的「義」字。「你看這上面是個『羊』字，畫得就像一隻羊，又有羊角，又有臉兒、眼兒的，很可愛是不是？下面是個『我』字。」
「我的羊？」美麗迷惑地盯著自己的小羊。
彼得笑了笑，忽然問：「這是誰的羊？」
「我的羊。」
「好，你的羊，你怎麼對待牠？」
「我照顧牠啊，該給牠草吃時，就帶牠來吃草；該牠休息了，就鋪個乾草堆給牠舒舒服服地睡；該－」美麗停下來，「我不會說，但我知道我該在什麼時候做什麼事。」
「對了！和人相處也是這樣，光有愛心是不夠的，要常常想這是我的羊，我的責任，該在什麼時候做什麼事，只要是合宜，馬上去做，這就叫做『義』，能這樣，你才可以和人好好相處。」
美麗高興地向彼得道謝，牽了她的小羊回去了，現在她也學了「仁義」這兩個中國字，也知道要怎樣以仁義來待人處事。 |
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Whose Lamb is This? Chapter Three:
Humaneness and Integrity |
Mother gave Fanny a coloring book which had a children's song on each page. As Fanny colored, she sang the song "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Suddenly Fanny put down her crayon and exclaimed, "Mommy, I wish I had a little lamb, too!" Mother gently told her, "Each one of us already has our own little lamb right in our heart. You don't believe it? Well, let me tell you the story "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Fanny clapped her hands in delight. Mother's story is as follows:
Once upon a time, there was a red-haired little girl named Mary, who lived with her Grandma and a little lamb on the slope of a mountain. They did not have a single neighbor. One day, Mary led her little lamb out to graze on the mountainside as usual. But she became so engrossed in looking at her storybook, that when she discovered her lamb had disappeared, she had no idea where to look for it! Mary was awfully worried and started to cry. Suddenly she heard the sound of someone singing a cheerful tune, intermingled with bleating of a lamb. Before she even had time to wipe her tears dry, a big boy leading her little lamb appeared before her. "Hi! Do you know whose lamb this is?"
"It's mine, it's mine!" Mary cried at once, and the little lamb bleated in response. The big boy handed the rope for leading the lamb to Mary, who was both happy and at a loss for words.
The boy seemed to understand her, and smiling brightly, he said, "It's nothing. We are neighbors, so we should help each other out."
"Neighbors?" Mary's face was full of doubt. "But I thought—"
"Yup! I just moved here, to the other side of the slope."
Again, Mary didn't know what to say, for from early youth, she had never seen anyone except her Grandma, and she had no idea of how to interact with people. Seeming to understand her, the older boy sat down and said, "Don't be afraid. I used to be just like you, not knowing how act around people, and not very good at talking." He set his ax down on one side, and unloaded the wood he had been hauling to another side, as if getting ready for a long discussion. Mary hugged her little lamb, still not uttering a word.
"My name is Peter," the big boy introduced himself. "A long time ago, my parents lived right here. But after they passed away, I had to go to the big city to live with my uncle. At that time I was only seven."
Mary whispered, "I'm seven, too."
Peter looked at her gently and said, "A seven-year old child who had never had any neighbors, I suddenly found myself living in the busy city, with neighbors to my left and right, so close by, and a bunch of adults and children. I really didn't know what to do. Sometimes when I had to pass through a crowd, I would just push my way through, not knowing to say, "Excuse me." Or when I accidentally did something wrong, or bumped into someone, I didn't know to say, "Sorry." When others gave me something or helped me out, I just blushed like an idiot, not knowing to say, "Thank you." When I wanted to ask someone for something, I didn't know to say, "Please." As a result, I often made other people upset, and I was unhappy with myself as well. The other kids didn't like to play with me, and the grown-ups said I was unruly."
"And then what happened?" Mary asked anxiously.
Peter smiled happily and slowly continued, "Seeing the situation, my uncle sent me to school, but things still didn't improve, until a new teacher came one day." Peter paused, and then said, "He was a Chinese teacher, and he came from far, far away. He told us that his country was very ancient, but that it had a lofty culture." Thinking back, Peter recounted, "First he taught me one Chinese character." Using a narrow strip of wood, Peter drew the character for "person" on the ground.
"What does this look like to you?"
Mary tilted her head and looked at it: "It's like looking at a standing person from the side."
"Right!" Peter then added two strokes beside it. "These two strokes are the character for 'two'. When 'person' and 'two' are put together, the new character 'humane' is formed, which means to love people."
"Why?"
"When you are together with others, you must learn to get along well by not fighting, not being greedy, and not seeking. You should know how to make other people happy, so you will also be happy. That's what it means to love people. If you dislike other people, you can be sure they will not be happy, and they won't like you either, right?" Mary nodded her head, and released her lamb. Peter continued, "Learning to get along with people in harmony and joy is to be humane, and is what it means to love people. Because I love people, people also love me. Because people love me, I should also love people."
"I get it!" Mary's eyes brightened. "It's like my Grandma. Granny loves me, and we live together in harmony and happiness."
"Right! Every one of us has the seed of love and compassion in our heart, and it grows and develops towards our parents and relatives. That's why loving our own relatives is the most natural thing. And if you can expand this love to include other people, you will find that it's not at all difficult to love others and get along harmoniously with them." After saying this, Peter called "Miehhh, Miehh" to the lamb, and it scampered over to him. "See, even animals know when you're good to them, how much the more do people." Peter drew another large character for "humane" on the ground, and said, "But in getting along with others, it's not enough just to have love. Sometimes we want to love and care for others, but we often do things improperly, making people upset and angry."
Mary broke in, "That's just how I am. I often make Grandma angry, but I had never have any intention to make her mad."
"Right! So you have to learn another word." Peter wrote a big character for "righteousness." "Do you see that the upper half is the character for 'sheep'? It looks just like a sheep, with horns, a face, and eyes--isn't it cute? And the lower half is the character for 'I'."
"Is it my lamb?" Mary stared at her own lamb.
Peter smiled, and abruptly asked, "Whose lamb is this?"
"My lamb."
"OK, it's your lamb. How do you treat it?"
"Well, I take care of it, and when it's time to graze, I bring it here to graze. When it's time to rest, I make a bed of hay so it can rest comfortably, and when it's time..." Mary paused, then said, "I can't describe it, but I just know what to do and when to do it."
"Exactly! Getting along with people is also like that. It's not enough just to love them. We must always think, 'This is my lamb and I am responsible for it.' Whatever it is that we should do, as long as it is proper, we should immediately do it. That's 'integrity'. Only if you can be like this can you get along well with others."
Mary thanked Peter happily, and led her lamb home. Now she has learned the words "humaneness" and "integrity," and knows how to get along with people and handle matters using humaneness and integrity.
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