Once upon a time, there was a poor and kind young man called Ma Liang. He helped a rich man to tend cattle. He liked drawing and drew pictures everywhere. One night, he dreamed that an old man gave him a magic paintbrush and asked him to use it to help poor people. When he woke up, he found the magic paintbrush in his desk.
From that day on, he used the paintbrush whenever people needed help. When he saw that people had no water to use in the fields, he drew a river and the river came to life. People could bring water from the river to the field and save a lot of time and energy. When he saw it was difficult for people to till lands, he drew a cow and the cow came to life. People could use the cow to till lands very easily.
He became famous as many people knew about the magic paintbrush.
The rich man whom Ma Liang helped was a bad man. He sent some people to the Ma Liang's home and took him to the prison. After getting the magic paintbrush, he invited a lot of his friends to come to his home. However, none of the pictures he drew become real.
He was very angry and asked some people to get Ma Liang. He said to Ma Liang, "If you draw some pictures for me and turn them to life, I will set you free." Ma Liang said, "I can help you."
The rich man laughed and said, "I want a golden mountain. I will go there to gather gold."
The young man drew a sea first. The rich man was angry and said," Why did you draw a sea? I do not want this. I want a golden mountain. Draw it quickly." Then the young man drew a golden mountain which was far away from the sea. The rich man saw that and felt very happy. He said, "Draw a big ship quickly. I want to go there to gather gold." The young man smiled quietly and drew a big ship. The rich man jumped into the ship first and a lot of his family and friends jumped in too. When the ship sailed to the middle of the sea, the young man drew a large wave and it destroyed the ship. So the rich man and his friends died.
After that, the young man lived with his family happily and kept on helping the poor people. So the magic paintbrush was known by everyone.
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从前，有个穷苦但是善良的年轻人名叫马良。他帮一个有钱人看牛。他喜欢画画，所以无处不画。一个晚上，他梦见一个老人给他一支神笔，要他用它来帮助穷人。当他醒来时，那支神笔就在他的桌子上。
从那天开始，他用他的神笔来帮助那些需要帮助的人。当他看到人们没有水来灌田，他就画一条河，河就变成一条真的河流。人们从河里拿水到田里，节省了很多精力与时间。他看到人们耕田辛苦，他就画了只牛，牛就变成了真的牛。人们用牛来耕田，轻松得多了。
因为很多人知道了神笔的事，他因此远近闻名。
他为他干活的那个有钱人是个坏人。他派人到马良的家把马良关进监牢里。得到了马良的神笔后，富人邀请了很多朋友到他的家里来。可是，他所画的图画，没有一幅能活了起来。
他很生气，派人去把马良带来。他对马良说：‘如果你能画些图画，然后令这些图画或了去来，我就让你自由。’马良说：‘我可以帮你。’
富人笑了，说：‘我要一座金山。我要到那里去取金。’
年轻人先画了一片海。富人很生气地说：‘为什么画海？我不要这个。我要金山。快给我画。’年轻人接着在海的远方画了一座金山。富人看了很生气。他说，‘快点画一艘大船。我要到那儿取金。’年轻人暗笑，画了一艘大船。富人先跳上大船，他的家人与朋友都跟着跳上去。当船行走到海的中央时，年轻人画了大风浪，把船给毁了。所以，富人与他的朋友全被淹死了。
此后，年轻人与他的家人快快乐乐地生活，并且继续帮助穷人。所以，他的神笔人人皆知。
