WHO CAN CLIMB THE MOUNTAIN

　　爬山高人

　　There were two warring tribes in the Andes, one that lived in the lowlands and the other highin the mountains.

　　One day the mountain people invaded the lowlanders, and as part of their plundering of thepeople, they kidnapped a baby of one of the lowlander families and took the infant with them backup into the mountains.

　　The lowlanders didn't know how to climb the mountain. They didn't know any clue of thepath that the mountain people used, and they didn't know where to find the mountain people orhow to track them in the steep terrain .

　　Even so, they sent out their best party of fighting men to climb the mountain and bring thebaby home. The men tried one method of climbing and then another. After several days of efforts,however, they had climbed only a couple of hundred feet. Feeling hopeless and helpless, thelowlanders decided that the cause was lost, and they prepared to return to their village below. Asthey were packing their gear for the descent, they saw the baby's mother walking toward them.

　　They realized that she was coming down the mountain that they hadn't figured out how to climb.

　　And they saw that she had the baby strapped to her back. How could that be?

　　One man greeted her and said, “We, the strongest and most able men in the village, couldn'tclimb this mountain. How did you do this?”

　　The mother shrugged her shoulders and said, “It isn't your baby.”

　　安第斯山脉境内居住着两个交战的部落，一个部落住在低地，另一个部落住在高地。

　　有一天，高地原住民入侵低地人的家园，四处抢掠。其中，他们还强行抱走了一户低地人家的婴儿，带回了高地。

　　低地人不会爬山。他们不知道高地人是从什么路线爬上山去的，更不知道上哪儿去找高地人，或是怎么在陡峭的地形上追踪他们的足迹。

　　即便如此，低地人还是派出了一组最骁勇善战的人马往山上爬，要把婴儿救回来。这些人爬山时，方法试了一种又一种。可是爬了几天，只行进了几百英尺。这些低地勇士们又绝望又无助，觉得不可能爬得上去了，就准备返回身后的村庄。他们收拾工具准备下山的时候，看见婴儿的母亲正朝他们走来，这才意识到人家是从他们此刻还没搞清楚怎么爬的山上下来的。孩子就绑在母亲背上。这是怎么回事呢？

　　一个勇士去跟孩子的母亲打招呼，问道：“我们可是村里一等一身强力壮、无所不能的勇士，我们都爬不了的山，您是怎么爬上去的？”

　　母亲耸耸肩膀说：“这要是你的孩子，你也爬得上去！”