Magical Egg / 神奇鳥蛋
Written by / Li Wen-Huan  文／李文煥

During her summer break in eighth grade, Hsuan finally completed the mission given by Sister Mazu—she had finished reading all five hundred braille books.
小萱在國二的暑假，終於完成了媽祖姊姊給的任務——她摸完了整整五百本點字書。

It was a summer night. The cicadas had gone silent, moonlight shone on the longan tree in Grandma’s yard in Beigang, and the breeze gently brushed by.
那是一個夏天的夜晚，蟬聲悄然歇息，月光灑在北港外婆家院子的龍眼樹上，清風輕拂，

Hsuan sat comfortably in a lounge chair, enjoying the peace of the summer night while concentrating on reading her 500th braille book, *The Cosmic Chicken*.
小萱舒服地坐在涼椅上，一邊享受夏夜的寧靜，一邊專注地摸讀著她的第500本點字書《天外奇雞》。

Just as her fingers traced the last line, a deep yet clear hoot of an owl rang through the night.
就在她指尖劃過最後一行字的瞬間，一聲低沉卻清晰的貓頭鷹鳴叫響起。

It swooped down to perch on a branch of the longan tree, its eyes shining like two jewels of the night sky, staring straight at Hsuan.
牠飛降至龍眼樹枝頭，眼神像兩顆夜空的寶石，注視著小萱。

"Child! Congratulations," the owl spoke, "Sister Mazu sent me to celebrate with you. You are truly a diligent and determined girl."
「孩子！恭喜你，」貓頭鷹開口說話，「媽祖姊姊要我來向你道賀。你真是個用心又有毅力的女孩。」

To others, it sounded like an ordinary bird’s call, but Hsuan understood it—she really could speak bird language now!
對一般人而言，那只是普通的鳥叫聲，但小萱聽懂了——她真的會聽鳥語了！

Even more magical, when she spoke, her voice turned into elegant, clear bird sounds.
而更神奇的是，當她開口想說話時，發出的聲音竟然也成了優雅清脆的鳥語。

"Owl brother, thank you for being here and bringing this blessing…"
「貓頭鷹哥哥，感謝你來守候與祝福……」

The owl nodded, feathers gently swaying. "Tonight, I’m not just here to congratulate you. I bring a special gift from the bird realm."
貓頭鷹點點頭，羽毛輕輕晃動：「今晚，我不只是來祝賀，還帶來一份鳥族獻上的神秘禮物。」

He hooted three times toward the night sky. Suddenly, Hsuan heard noisy chatter from above. Bird voices shouted, "We’ve brought the gift!"
牠對著夜空咕咕叫了三聲，這時，小萱忽然聽到天上傳來一陣吵雜的聲音，有鳥語大聲喊著：「我們送禮物來了！」

Four night herons descended gracefully from the clouds like mythical storks.
只見四隻夜鶴從雲端滑翔而下，姿態優雅有如傳說中的送子鳥，

They held in their beaks a massive egg, as large as a watermelon, and gently placed it beside Hsuan on the grass.
牠們嘴裡銜著一顆巨大如大西瓜般的鳥蛋，輕輕地將它放在小萱身旁的草地上。

Hsuan widened her eyes, curious, and reached out to touch the egg.
小萱瞪大眼睛，好奇地伸手摸著鳥蛋，

At once, a strange pulse surged from her palm into her chest, as if awakening a mysterious power deep within.
瞬間一股奇異的波動從手心傳入心底，彷彿能感受到某種神奇的力量在她體內悄然甦醒。

"Wow—what is this? Such a huge egg?" she exclaimed.
「哇——這是什麼？這麼大一顆蛋？」她驚呼。

The owl spoke solemnly: "From today on, when you read braille books, you must read aloud in bird language, with your body close to the egg.
貓頭鷹語氣莊重地說：「從今天開始，你在讀點字書時，要開口用鳥語朗讀，並讓你的身體靠著這顆蛋。

When you finish eighty-one more books and continue to incubate it with your bird-voice vibrations, it will release a beam of golden light, and from it, the bird realm’s gift will emerge."
當你再摸完八十一本點字書，並以鳥語的聲波持續孵化它後，它就會發出一道金光，從中誕生出我們鳥族獻給你的神奇禮物。」

"Will it… be a bird?" Hsuan asked curiously.
「它……會是鳥嗎？」小萱好奇地問。

"Hmm… not exactly. It carries the bloodline of ancient birds and dragons—a miracle that only appears to children with the heart of a reader."
「嗯……不完全是。它來自遠古鳥類與龍族交會的血脈，一種只會出現在擁有閱讀之心的孩子面前的奇蹟。」

That night, Hsuan carried the giant egg into her room and gently placed it in a basket beside her bed.
那晚，小萱抱著巨大的鳥蛋進屋，輕輕地將它安置在自己床旁的籃子裡，

She even wrapped it with blankets. She couldn’t sleep, her heart full of anticipation.
還特別用棉被包好。她一夜未眠，心中充滿期待——

In the days to come, she would read even more diligently, waiting for the magical egg to hatch.
接下來的日子，她會更努力地閱讀，等待那顆神奇鳥蛋孵化的時刻。

She didn’t know that inside the egg was a little dinosaur who would one day change her life—
她不知道，那顆鳥蛋裡，正酣睡著一隻未來會改變她生命的小恐龍——

A round, adorable, big-eyed chubby dragon.
一隻圓滾滾、萌萌的大眼小肥龍。

(To be continued: See next story—The Birth of Little Chubby Dragon)
（未完待續，請見下一篇：《小肥龍的誕生》）
