Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ma Liang. He was extremely fond of drawing. Ma Liang's family was very poor, so poor that they couldn't afford a single pen. But this didn't stop his passion for painting. Every day, he used tree branches to draw on the ground. He drew very earnestly, and whatever he drew looked like the real thing.
One night, Ma Liang had a dream. In the dream, he saw an old grandfather with a white beard. The old grandfather was very kind. He handed Ma Liang a pen and said to him, "This is a magic pen. You should use it to help the poor." When Ma Liang woke up, he found that he was really holding a pen in his hand. He was overjoyed. He tried to draw a little bird, and unexpectedly, the little bird flew off the paper. Ma Liang knew that this was indeed a magic pen.
Since then, Ma Liang began to use this magic pen to help the poor. There was a farmer whose plow ox died of illness. Without an ox, he couldn't plow the fields, and he was very worried. When Ma Liang knew about this, he picked up the magic pen and drew a plow ox for the farmer. Immediately, the plow ox came to life and happily plowed in the field. The farmer was very grateful to Ma Liang. Another time, the fishermen in the village didn't have a boat to go fishing at sea. Ma Liang drew a sturdy fishing boat for the fishermen, and the fishermen happily sailed the boat out to sea.
Soon, the news that Ma Liang used the magic pen to help the poor spread. The greedy king heard about this. He wanted Ma Liang to draw a gold mountain for him. The king sent his men to capture Ma Liang and bring him into the palace. The king ordered Ma Liang to draw a gold mountain for him, but Ma Liang refused. So the king locked him up, without giving him any food or water, trying to force him to submit.
Ma Liang thought of a plan. He said to the king, "I can draw a gold mountain for you, but you have to untie me so that I can draw well." The king agreed. Ma Liang picked up the magic pen and first drew a vast sea with rough waves. Then, he drew a gold mountain in the middle of the sea. When the king saw the gold mountain, his eyes lit up. He couldn't wait to ask Ma Liang to draw a large ship for him so that he could go to the gold mountain to get gold.
Ma Liang drew a large ship again. The king boarded the ship with many soldiers and sailed towards the gold mountain. When the ship reached the middle of the sea, Ma Liang drew a few more strokes. Suddenly, a violent storm blew up on the sea, and huge waves were raised. The waves overturned the king's ship, and the king and his soldiers all fell into the sea and were drowned. Ma Liang defeated the greedy king with the magic pen and then returned to the village to continue using his magic pen to help the poor.
