杭州大井巷有一家药店：“朱养心”。相传从前有一个跛足烂腿的乞丐——李铁拐，一天，这乞丐向这家药店去求乞，向店主哀求道：“施主！我肚子饿得很，脚又烂得很厉害，请发点慈悲心，给我医治医治吧！”

这时大伙儿正在吃饭，店主一听这悲呼之声，忙放下碗筷跑了出来。只见一个跛足烂腿的乞丐，瘦削的身躯，发黄的病容，衣衫褴褛，腿上血肉糢糊，那脚都快烂掉了。不由得生出了怜悯之心，悲从中来，觉得他确实够可怜了。

于是，店主从柜台里取出些钱布施，让他吃些斋饭，并且亲自帮他把伤口细心的清理干净，拿出上等药膏小心翼翼的替他涂上，这乞丐就千恩万谢，蹒跚的离开了。

从那天起，这跛足烂腿的乞丐，天天到这家药店来行乞求医，店主总是给他几个钱，并替他换药、涂药、尽心医治。

过了几天，那乞丐脚已好了，跑到那家药店去道谢。他对店主说：“施主！您心地慈善，花了很大功夫把我的脚医好，您的大恩大德，我都不知怎么报答才好呢？如今我只能替您画一张水墨龙。这张画很有用处喔！倘若哪天何处失火，这只水墨龙，便会变成真的龙，喷出水来灭大火。”

说完，就叫店主拿一张纸和一枝大笔。店主道：“对不住，我们没有大笔，只有小笔。”

那乞丐说：“没关系，拿一把扫帚好了。”

于是店主叫伙计拿来一把扫帚和一张纸，只见那乞丐拿起了扫帚，蘸了墨水，在纸上一挥而就，顷刻间，一条栩栩如生，活灵活现的黑龙展现眼前，水墨淋漓，像极了！刚把画画好，那乞丐一溜烟似的架起祥云腾空而去。店主一见，才知道他是个神仙哪！

过了几年，那地方发生大火，四邻隔壁的房屋都被火烧光，只有朱养心这家药店屹立完好，一点也没有损失，可见这画的灵妙。

一天，有几个贼儿，眼见这画这么神奇，心生邪念，想在夜间偷它。可是说来奇怪，当他们利用黑夜潜入店内下手的时候，这画忽然一分为二，二分为四，变成了数百张，张张都一样，看得贼们眼花撩乱，莫名其妙，不知哪一张是真的，更不知从何偷起，只好夹著尾巴，狼狈退出。

于是这画经久能够保存，所以这家药店也因这段佳话而声名大噪。


A Beggar With Supernormal Powers Made a Painted Dragon Come Alive

There is a Chinese medicine shop, called Zhu Yangxin, in Dajing alley of Hangzhou City. According to legend, there used to be a lame beggar, Li Tieguai, whose legs and feet were damaged. One day, the beggar went to the shop and begged the owner: “Sir! I am hungry, and my feet are very swollen and painful. Please be merciful and give me some medicine to help me!”

Although the owner and his family were just sitting down to a meal, on hearing the cry of grief, the shopkeeper immediately stopped eating and rushed to the door. On seeing a lame beggar with a thin body, a yellowish face, ragged clothes, bloody limbs, and gangrenous feet, his heart of compassion came forth and he felt that the beggar was pitiful.

The owner gave some money to the beggar, got him some food from his own table to eat, carefully cleaned up his wounds, and applied the best ointment. After thanking the shop owner, the beggar staggered off and left.

From then on, this lame beggar came to the store to beg for medical treatment every day. Every time, the owner gave him some money, changed his bandages, applied ointment on his feet, and treated him with compassion and consideration.

A few days later, the beggar’s feet recovered. The beggar came to the store to thank the owner, saying to the shopkeeper: “Sir! You are so charitable that you took a lot of effort to cure my feet. I don’t know how to repay your great kindness. Now I can only draw a dragon in wash ink for you, which is useful! If one day there is a fire, the wash-painting dragon will become a real dragon and spray water to extinguish the fire.”

After speaking, he asked the owner to bring him a piece of paper and a large brush pen. The owner said: “Sorry, we don’t have a big pen, only a small pen.”

The beggar said: “It’s okay. Get a broom.”

So, the shopkeeper asked his assistant to bring a broom and a piece of paper. He saw the beggar pick up the broom, dip it in ink, and wave it at the paper. Instantly, a lifelike, vivid black dragon appeared in front of him, with the ink still wet and dripping! As soon as he finished the painting, the beggar rose up into the air and left like a wisp of smoke. When the shopkeeper saw him, he knew he was a god!

A few years later, there was a big fire in that area that burned down the houses next to each other. Only the medicine store of Zhu Yangxin remained intact, with no damage at all. It showed the magical power of the brush painting.

One day, a few thieves saw that this painting was magical and wanted to steal it. But strangely enough, when they snuck into the store at night, the artwork suddenly divided into two, then into four, and then turned itself into hundreds of pictures. All the images were identical. The thieves were dazzled and confused. They did not know which one was real and retreated in a panic.

So the medicine store was able to preserve the painting for many years and the story became well-known.

https://visiontimes.com/2020/08/08/a-beggar-with-supernormal-powers-made-a-painted-dragon-come-alive.html