There was a treasure mountain on the sea, where there were many, many rare treasures shining with brilliant light and dazzling the eyes.

A seaman got a pearl of 1 can (1/30 metre) in diameter, which glistened brightly. He took a ship to take it home.

But before the ship had sailed for 100 li, all of a sudden black clouds rolled all over the sky, and a strong wind blew to unleash huge waves. The ship was tossed about violently. A flood dragon was seen emerging from the stormy sea and looking very terrifying.

The crew advised the seaman: "It seems that the flood dragon wants to have your pearl. Please throw it into the sea at once; otherwise you will get us into trouble."

At the moment, the seaman was in a dilemma. He couldn't bear to part with the pearl; on the other hand, he was afraid of the imminent disaster. His head was covered with perspiration from anxiety. After a while, with his teeth clenched to endure the pain, he gouged out a piece of flesh from his thigh to conceal the pearl there. The storm on the sea subsided at once.

As soon as the seaman got home, he took out the dazzling pearl immediately. But not long afterwards he died of the festering wound in his thigh.

海上，有一座宝山。宝山上，有许许多多奇珍异宝，光芒四射，非常耀眼。

一个海员得到一颗直径一寸的明珠，金灿灿的，便乘船把它运回家。

可是，航行不到百里，突然间，满天乌云滚滚，刮起了大风，掀起了巨浪，船身颠簸得很厉害。人们只见一条蛟龙，在惊涛骇浪中出没，样子非常可怕。

船工劝告海员说：“看样子，这条蛟龙想要得到您的这颗明珠啊!请您赶快把它抛到海里去吧，否则就会连累了我们。”

这时候，海员左右为难：丢掉吧，实在舍不得；不丢吧，又怕大难临头，急得满头大汗。过了一会儿，他咬紧牙关，忍着痛，剜开大腿上的一块肉，把明珠藏了进去。海上的风浪立即小了。

这个海员回到家里后，连忙取出了耀眼的明珠。但是不久，他因大腿的伤口溃烂而死了。