CHINESE FABLES
AND
FOLK STORIES

The Moon is really beautiful with his round, bright face that shines with a soft and gentle light all over the world. But there was a time when he wasn't as beautiful as he is now. Six thousand years ago, the Moon’s face changed in a single [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]night. Before that, his face was so dark and gloomy that no one wanted to look at him, and because of this, he was always very sad.

One day he vented to the flowers and the stars—since they were the only ones that would ever meet his gaze.

He said, “I don’t want to be the Moon. I wish I were a star or a flower. If I were a star, even the tiniest one, some great general would take care of me; but sadly, I’m just the Moon and nobody likes me. If only I could be a flower and grow in a garden where the lovely women of the earth come, they would put me in their hair and admire my fragrance and beauty. Or, even if I could grow in the wilderness where no one could see, the birds would definitely come and sing sweet songs for me. But I’m just the Moon and no one respects me.”

The stars replied, “We can’t help you. We were born here and can’t leave our positions. We’ve never had anyone to help us. We do our duty, we work all day and twinkle at night to make the skies more beautiful. —But that’s all we can do,” they added, smiling coolly at the sorrowful Moon.

Then the flowers smiled gently and said, “We don’t know how we can help you. We always live in [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]one place—in a garden near the most beautiful girl in the world. Since she is kind to everyone in need, we’ll tell her about you. We love her a lot, and she loves us too. Her name is Tseh-N’io.”

Still, the Moon felt sad. So one evening, he went to see the beautiful maiden Tseh-N’io. When he saw her, he fell in love instantly. He said, “Your face is incredibly beautiful. I wish you would come to me, and that my face could be like yours. Your movements are gentle and graceful. Come with me, and we will be one—and perfect. I know that even the worst people in the world would have to look at you and instantly love you. Tell me, how did you become so beautiful?”

“I have always lived with people who were kind and happy, and I think that’s the reason for beauty and goodness,” replied Tseh-N’io.

And so the Moon visited the maiden every night. He knocked on her window, and she came. When he saw how kind and beautiful she was, his love deepened, and he longed more and more to be with her forever.

One day Tseh-N’io said to her mother, “I want to go to the Moon and live there with him forever. Will you let me go?”

Her mother thought so little of the question that [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]she didn’t respond, and Tseh-N’io told her friends that she was going to be the Moon’s bride.

In a few days, she was gone. Her mother searched everywhere but couldn’t find her. One of Tseh-N’io’s friends said, “She has gone with the Moon, because he asked her many times.”

A year and a year went by, and Tseh-N’io, the kind and beautiful earth maiden, did not come back. Then the people said, “She is gone for good. She is with the Moon.”

The Moon looks really stunning right now. It's cheerful and bright, casting a soft, gentle light on everything. Some people even say that the Moon is like Tseh-N’io, who was once the most beautiful of all the girls on Earth. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The old texts say that pigs are very dirty animals and not particularly valuable to the world or to people, and one of them tells this story:

Once upon a time, the horses and cattle threw a party. Even though the pigs were quite greedy, the horses said, [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]“Let’s invite them; maybe we can resolve our differences this way and become better friends. We’ll call this a Peace Party."

“Generations of pigs have broken through our fence, taken our food, drunk our water, and dug up our clean green grass; but it’s also true that the cattle kids have hurt a lot of young pigs.

“All this trouble and fighting isn't right, and we know that the Master wants us to live in peace with each other. Don’t you think it would be a good idea to host a Peace Party and resolve this conflict?”

The cattle said, “Who will be the leader of our group and send out the invitations? We need a leader who is both gentle and kind to go to the pigs’ place and invite them.”

The next day, a small and very gentle cow was sent to invite the pigs. As she walked over to the pigs’ yard, all the young ones jumped up and grunted, “What are you doing here? Do you want to fight?”

“No, I don’t want to fight,” said the cow. “I was sent here to invite you to our party. I’d like to know if you’ll come, so I can tell our leader.”

The young pigs and the older ones chatted together, and the older ones said, “The New Year feast is just around the corner. Maybe there will be some nice food for us at the party. I think we should go.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Then the old pigs found the best speaker in the family and sent word through him that they would be going to the party.

The day arrived, and the pigs all went to the party. There were about three hundred in total.

When they arrived, they saw that the leader of the cows was the most beautiful in the herd and very kind and gentle to her guests.

After a while, the leader spoke to them softly and said to the oldest pig, “We believe it would be nice and enjoyable if there were no more arguments in this pasture.

“Can you ask your people not to tear down the fences, mess up the place, and take our food? If you do that, we’ll agree that the oxen and horses won’t harm your children and we’ll let go of all the old issues starting today.”

Then one young pig stood up to speak. “This entire big pasture belongs to the Master, not you,” he said. “We can't go to other places for food.

“The Master sends someone to feed us, and sometimes he has us go to your yard to eat the corn and potatoes.”

“The staff cleans our area every day. When summer arrives, they fill the ponds with fresh water for us to bathe in. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“Now, friends, can’t you see that this place and this food all belong to the Master? We enjoy the food and go wherever we want. We take your food only after you’re done. It would go to waste on the ground if we didn’t do this.

“Answer this question—Do our people ever hurt your people? No; even though every year some of our children are killed by dangerous oxen and cows.

“What’s your food? It’s nothing; but our lives matter a lot to us.”

“Our Master never makes us work like he does the horses and oxen. He provides us with food and lets us play year after year because he prefers us.”

"You see the horses and oxen are always working. Some pull wagons, while others plow fields for rice; and they have to work—whether they're sick or healthy."

“Our people never work. Every day during happy hour, we play; and do you see how chubby we are?

“You never see our bones. Look at the old horses and the old oxen. Twenty years of work and no rest!

“I tell you, the Master doesn’t value the horses and oxen as much as he does the pigs.

“Friends, that's all I have to say. Do you have any questions? Is what I said not the truth?” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The old cow said, “Moo, Moo,” and shook her head sadly. The tired old horses groaned, “Huh, Huh,” and didn’t say a word.

The leader said, “My friends, it’s better not to stress over things we can’t know. We don’t really seem to understand our Master.

“It will soon be time for the New Year feast; so, good night. And may the pig people live in the world as long and happily as the horses and the oxen, even though our Peace Party didn’t succeed.”

On their way home, the little pigs were making a lot of noise, and everyone said, “We, we! We win, we win!”

Then the old horses and oxen talked to each other. “We’re stronger, smarter, and more useful than the pigs,” they said. “Why does the Master treat us this way?”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): Why do some have more power than others? Only one knows. Why do some live longer than others? Only one knows. Why do some try and fail, while others don’t try and still succeed? Only one knows. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

A widow had two sons, Yao-Pao, a boy still in school, and Yao-Moi who worked the fields.

Yao-Moi, the elder, was a good man; he had worked [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]hard for thirty years, but he had not gained wealth. He sent Yao-Pao to school and took good care of his mother.

One year, there was a lot of rain. The crops all failed in the fields, and the people in that country had nothing to eat. Yao-Moi had debts he couldn't pay, and when his harvest went bad, he became poorer than ever.

Then a severe famine hit, and twenty thousand people died in that area. Yao-Moi killed his oxen to keep his mother and brother from starving. Finally, he killed the horses and mules, as there were still six months until harvest. Every time he killed an animal for meat, the neighbors would come asking for food, and because he felt sorry for them, he couldn’t say no.

One widow came numerous times until she felt embarrassed to keep asking for the little he had. Eventually, she brought a young girl to him and said, “We are starving again. I’ll give you this girl for some meat. She’s strong and can help your mother.” But Yao-Moi replied, “No, I will give you the meat. I can’t take your girl from you.”

So he gave her meat again, and she took it home to her son. But when it was gone and they were weak and desperate from hunger, the widow said, “We will all die unless one person sacrifices themselves to save the others. My son can’t walk anymore. I will [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]kill the girl and save his life. He can then eat.” Her son replied, “No, don’t kill the girl, trade her to Yao-Moi for meat.” And the mother said, “Yao-Moi will soon starve too, and then he will kill her. It’s better if I do it;” and she took the large sharp knife to make it sharper.

She laid the girl down on a bench and got ready to kill her; but Yao-Moi happened to pass by the house just then, and hearing the moans and screams, he stopped to ask what was going on. The widow replied, “We’re starving. We’re going to have a funeral today. We’re going to kill and eat each other so that the last one can survive until the harvest.” But Yao-Moi said, “Oh no, don’t kill the girl. I’ll take her home with me, and you can have meat in exchange for her;” and he took her to his home and gave the widow a lot of meat for herself and her dying son.

Four months went by. Yao-Moi had nothing to eat at home, and they were all starving—Yao-Moi, his mom, his little brother, and the girl.

When the death hunger hit, and the mom realized her sons would die, she said, “I will kill the girl.” But Yao-Moi replied, “No, I don’t think we’re going to die. Let’s sleep tonight and see. I’m sure something will happen. It’s better to kill me than the girl child.”

So they went to bed that night. It was winter and [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]the house was cold and dark. There was no firewood, no light, no food; and they were starving.

Now, as the house became colder and darker, a profound sense of despair settled over them, and they all fell asleep.

And Yao-Moi had a dream, and he saw an old man in flowing white clothes, with a gold belt around his waist. His hair was long and white, and his face was gentle and kind. He called out, “Yao-Moi! Yao-Moi! Yao-Moi! Listen to my words. Do you know how many people have died in this land?”

Yao-Moi replied, “No, but I know there are many, because only three out of a hundred of those that were are still around.”

And the old man said, “In every house but yours, some have died, but everyone in your household is alive: you’ve even saved the girl. I know you’re a good man. You’ve worked the land for thirty years and have never complained about the heavens or the earth. The thunder and rain come, the winds blow, and the earth shakes, yet you remain patient and kind. You treat your mother well. You support your brother, send him to school, and are like a father to him. You have a compassionate heart for your neighbors' struggles. You live a good life, and because of that, you won't go hungry. Tomorrow morning, you must [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]get up early and head to the East Mountain in the wilderness. There, you’ll find plenty of meat, nuts, and seeds. Bring them back home to your family. I am a spirit sent to earth by the Greatest One.”

After saying this, the man left, and Yao-Moi jumped up with great joy to share the news with his family. Then he went to East Mountain through the wilderness, where he found corn, peanuts, and the meat of two hundred foxes already cooked and ready to eat.

And he was really happy, and brought home a lot of food and saved many lives.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): If people do good, they will be rewarded. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

When spring arrives in China, the marigold (long-life flower) blooms all over—on the mountains, in the fields, and by the riverside.

The marigold takes great pride in its large family, which [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]is so plentiful that it feels like there's barely enough space on earth for it.

Once there was a family of marigolds that lived under an evergreen tree. They grew together all summer long, side by side, their stems intertwined and their leaves mixed together.

Every year, the tree got bigger, until finally, no more sunlight or rain could get through its thick leaves and branches.

One day, the marigold asked the evergreen tree, “Who does this mountain belong to? You’re just one, while our family is thousands strong everywhere. We have beautiful flowers from summer until autumn arrives. These flowers produce seeds that survive through the winter, and in the spring, another generation emerges. In the summer, people travel many miles to this mountain to see us."

“These people take our flowers home. Some of us they put in baskets and call them basket flowers. Some they place in the maidens’ hair and refer to us as maiden flowers. School boys enjoy having us on their tables, and the students say we are their flowers. Older people collect us for their birthdays, and we are known as long-life flowers. When maidens get married, our flowers are arranged in a dish, and they honor the Flower God, calling us the pure flower. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“So you see how lovely the names we’ve been given are and how many people rely on us for their happiness.

“We need to bring more and more flowers into the world because there still aren’t enough.”

“But we who live under your shade aren't happy. You block out the sun so it never shines on us, and when it rains, not a single drop reaches our throats. The breeze comes, but it never makes its way into our home—no fresh air, no sunshine, no rain, until we fear we might die.

“For eighty years our family has lived here. Our kids sometimes say, ‘We hope that next year we get some sunshine,’ or ‘We hope we can soon have rain to drink.’ Still, no sunshine and no rain can reach us.”

“You've harmed so many of our people. When will you let us have sunlight, rain, and fresh air? Don't you realize that you’re destroying us?”

Then the evergreen tree said, “My dear friend, I can’t stop this. Your people are easier to move than I am. We are three brothers who have lived here for hundreds of years and we will be here forever. If we were to be moved, we would die. It’s you who should leave this place. Your seeds are light, and it would be easy for them to go. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“When summer arrives, the kids need us around. When the sun is blazing, boys and girls sit beneath our shade, and even though we might take down some of your family, we still have to serve humanity. Don’t you realize that the kids hang swings, and that women hang their babies’ cribs in our arms? The children also play horsey, climb on us, and enjoy many games in our shade.”

“Even though we help them and make them happy, they aren’t always nice to us. Sometimes they scratch my surface. Students carve words into my body with a sharp knife, but I can’t stop it. I’ve cried about this for many years, and I wish I could leave this place—but how can I move?”

“I don’t want to hurt you, dear friend, any more than I want to be hurt by others; but I’m a mountain evergreen and have to stay here forever. I hope you’ll be able to leave, because we really don’t want to fight.”

The marigold lowered her head and didn’t say anything. A deep silence surrounded the evergreen tree as he continued to grow, year after year, for a hundred years and many more.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): The weak cannot coexist with the strong. The poor cannot remain with the rich. Only those who are equal find happiness together. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, the king of the bees and his followers passed by the snail’s door making a huge racket. The [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] mother snail said, “I have sixteen babies sleeping on a leaf, and they need to sleep for fifteen days before they can walk. You’re definitely going to wake them up. You’re the loudest creatures that come by my door. How can my children sleep? Yesterday, your family and a crowd of your silly followers were here making so much noise, and now you’re back again today. If I lose even one baby because of this, I will come to your home and destroy it. Then you won’t have anywhere to live. Do you know this tree is mine? My master planted it twenty years ago so I and my children could eat its fruit. Every year, your people come here when my tree is in bloom and take the honey from the flowers; you not only rob me, but while you do it, you make loud and foolish sounds. If you don’t leave, I will call my master and my people.”

The king bee replied, “You have no master in this world. You came from the dirt. Your ancestors all perished in the wilderness and no one even cared because you’re of no use to anyone. We’re called Fon (Bee). People appreciate us, and they thrive on our honey, which is better than medicine. My kind [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]are found all over the world. Humanity likes us and offers us flowers. Do you really think you’re better than humans?”

“One day a mischievous boy tried to mess up our house, but his mom told him, ‘You ruin a lot of things, but you can't disturb the bees. They work hard every day and make honey for us. If you kill one bee, her whole colony will leave, and in winter we won’t have any honey for our bread.’ So the boy listened. He could catch birds and goldfish, ruin flowers, do whatever he wanted, but he couldn’t mess with us because we’re so helpful. But you, slow mover, aren’t good for anything.”

Then the snail was upset and went home to her family, saying, “The bees are our enemies. In fifteen days, five of you have to go to their place and take it down.”

So they went. But when they got to the bee’s house, they found no one there; and they said, “We’re glad because we can eat their honey.” And they ate honey until sunset. Then the bee king and all his subjects came in large numbers, singing, drumming, and dancing happily to their home.

When the bee king saw the five snails in his house, he said, “Friends, this is not your home or food. Why are you here eating all our honey? But [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] it’s late, and you’re welcome to stay overnight with us, as long as you don’t harm our children.”

The big snail just laughed and replied, “This honey is really nice. I've brought my family here. We’re going to stay not just one night or two, but forever, and we’ll eat your honey for our food as long as it lasts.”

The bee king said, “I’ll let you stay here for just one night. You can’t live in my house. You don’t do anything helpful. I’m even scared to let you stay for one night. My honey might all be taken, and the babies might be harmed while we sleep tonight.”

And he said to the wise old bees, “Don’t sleep. We can’t trust them.”

The next morning, the wise bees came and told the king, “Thirty-five babies died last night. The snails crawled all over our house and poisoned them. They also left a lot of dirt in the honey, and we're worried it could kill a human if they eat it. We need to get rid of them, O king.”

"One more day, and if they don't leave, we'll do something else," said the bee king.

Then he went to talk to the snails again and said, “Friends, you all look plump; I know you’re happy here and enjoy my honey, but why are you harming my people and ruining our honey? I think I [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]know why. I believe you’re an enemy because I remember meeting a snail mother a while back who scolded me and my people. I think you’re her children.

"That said, I'm telling you now that if you snails don't leave my house by tomorrow at noon, you'll die here."

“Do whatever you want,” said the snail, “we’re staying. We’re a free people. We go where we choose, eat what we want, and right now we want honey. We’ll eat all the honey you have if we feel like it. For now, we’re staying because we want to see what you can do that’s so impressive.”

Then the bee king looked serious and called all his soldiers together, and told them to get ready for battle. The first command was, “Prepare your wax until noon!” The second command was, “Sharpen your swords and be prepared!”

The massive army of thousands, armed with sharp stingers, was ordered to create the sound of battle and sting to the death if necessary.

The snails were scared by the battle cries and pulled into their shells. Then the king ordered the soldiers to bring wax quickly. While thousands of bees kept the snails frightened with the loud noise of battle, other soldiers filled the snails’ mouths with the [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]wax; and in two hours they were sealed so that they couldn't move or breathe.

The bee king then said to the snails, “At first, I thought you were friends, and I offered you shelter for the night and all the honey you could eat. But you believed the Creator made the earth just for you and nothing for anyone else. With attitudes like yours, if you were as big and powerful as the birds or the beasts, there would be no space for any other creature in the world. You truly meant it when you said you would stay, for now, you face your end.”

Then the king relocated all his people to a new home and left the snails to perish.

One day when the master came to collect honey and saw the empty hive and the five dead snails, he said, “This bee house, filled with honey, is contaminated. It needs to be cleaned.”

And the dead snails and the spoiled honey were buried in the ground together, but the bees continued to live, happy and useful.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): Those who are arrogant and self-centered want it all but don't deserve any of it. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

A widow named Hong-Mo lived in a small house near the marketplace. Every year she raised hundreds of chickens, which she sold to support herself and her two children.

Each day, the chickens went to the nearby fields and searched for bugs, rice, and green things to eat. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The biggest one was known as the king of the chickens because, out of all the hundreds in the flock, he was the strongest. Because of this, he was the leader of them all.

He took the flock to new spots for food. He could crow the loudest, and since he was the strongest, no one dared to challenge him at all.

One day he said to the group, “Let’s head to the other side of the mountain by the wilderness today and gather rice, wheat, corn, and wild silkworms. There isn’t enough food here.”

But the other chickens said, “We’re scared to go that far. There are foxes and eagles out there, and they’ll catch us.”

The king of the chickens said, “It’s better for all the old hens and cowards to stay at home.”

The king's secretary said, "I'm not afraid. I'll go with you." Then they set off together.

When they had walked a bit further, the secretary found a beetle, and just as he was about to eat it, the king lunged at him in a rage, saying, “Beetles belong to kings, not common chickens. Why didn’t you give it to me?” So they ended up fighting, and while they were battling, the beetle escaped and hid under the grass where it couldn’t be found.

And the secretary said, “I won’t fight for you, [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]and I won’t go to the wilderness with you.” And he went home again.

At sunset, the king returned home. The other chickens had saved the best spot for him to roost, but he was upset because none of them wanted to go into the wilderness with him, so he fought first with one and then with another.

He was a powerful warrior, so none of them could stand against him. And he plucked the feathers from many of the flock.

At last the chickens said, “We won’t serve this king any longer. We’re leaving this place. If Hong-Mo doesn’t find us another home, we’ll stay in the vegetable garden. We’ll do that for a couple of nights and see if she won’t give us somewhere else to live.”

So the next day, when Hong-Mo waited at sunset for the chickens to come home, the king was the only one who showed up.

And she asked the king, “Where are all my chickens?”

But he was proud and angry, and said, “They’re useless in the world. I wouldn’t mind if they never came back.”

Hong-Mo said, “You’re not the only chicken in the world. I want the others to come back. If you chase them all away, you’ll definitely run into trouble.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

But the king laughed and jumped up on the fence and crowed—“Nga-Un-Gan-Yu-Na” (coo-ka-doodle-doo-oo) in a loud voice. “I don’t care about you! I don’t care about you!”

Hong-Mo went outside and called for the chickens, searching for a long time in the fading light until night fell, but she couldn't find them. The next morning, she headed to the vegetable garden, and there she found her chickens. They were happy to see her, lowering their heads and flying over to her.

Hong-Mo said, “What are you doing? Why are you kids still out here when I’ve given you a nice house to live in?”

The secretary filled her in on all the issues with the king.

Hong-Mo said, “Now you need to be friendly with one another. Come with me, and I’ll bring you and your king together. We need to make peace here.”

When the chickens arrived where the king was, he paced around, dragging his wings on the ground and sharpening his spurs. His people had come to make peace, and they bowed their heads, looking pleased to see their king. But he continued to walk alone and refused to bow.

He said, “I’m a king—always a king. Do you know that? You bow your heads and think that [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]makes me happy. But what do I care? I wouldn’t care if there was never another chicken in the world but me. I am king.”

And he jumped up on a tree and sang some war songs. But suddenly an eagle who heard him flew down, grabbed him in its claws, and carried him away. And the chickens never saw their proud, argumentative king again.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): No matter how high your position in life is, it doesn’t give you the right to be arrogant and argumentative. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Once, a Lemon Tree and a Pumelo Tree lived and grew side by side in an old orchard.

When spring arrived, they bloomed with their beautiful flowers and were very happy.

And all the kids came to see them, and their hearts were filled with the joy of spring. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

When the warm winds blew, they bowed their heads and waved their blossom-covered arms until they looked like cheerful little flower girls dancing in the sunshine.

Then the birds gathered and sang sweet songs to the fragrant, cheerful trees, and their joy lasted from spring to summer.

But one summer night, the Lemon Tree talked all night long, sharing a deep sadness with the Pumelo Tree. She said, “I wish I were a Pumelo Tree, because I’ve learned that people don’t like my fruits as much as they like yours.

“The firstborn of my family are discarded or ruined. The second generation are taken from me and exposed to the sun for twenty days before they are accepted. They are never seen in the markets like your children are, because people say we are too bitter and sour."

"My kids don't have a good reputation. Oh, how I wish I weren't a Lemon Tree."

“Why did the Creator make your children so sweet that they have a great reputation everywhere, while mine are sour and unpleasant?

“My flowers are just like your flowers. My trees are appreciated just like yours, but my fruit is almost looked down upon. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“When the Moon festival on the 15th day of the 8th month arrives, your children have a joyful time because they are celebrated in every home. When the New Year celebration comes, your children are seated at the main table, and everyone exclaims, ‘Oh, how beautiful!’”

“Women and girls enjoy kissing your children's sweet faces. Oh, Mrs. Pumelo, I wish I could be as big a blessing to the world as you are.”

And the Pumelo said, “My dear friend, please don’t say these sad words to me. I’m sure that one day you will be loved just as much as I am."

“Did you know that the master talked about your beauty today?”

“What did he say?” asked the Lemon Tree.

“He said, ‘How beautiful the Lemon Tree is! I think I’ll try to graft the branches of the Lemon Tree onto the Pumelo Tree.’”

“Wait until another spring comes and you’ll see how much your children will be celebrated. How happy we’ll be together when you come to grow with me and I with you.”

So the next year, the master and his son took a sharp knife and cut the Lemon Tree’s branches, then attached them to the Pumelo Tree.

The first fruit arrived, and the kids danced with joy. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“How strange to see lemons growing on the Pumelo Tree!” they said.

And the lemons were no longer bitter and sour; instead, they were delightful to taste and beautiful to look at, so many were set aside for the upcoming feast day.

The Lemon Tree saw that her children were celebrated, and she felt very happy.

Her heart was thankful to the Pumelo Tree for raising her children to respected positions.

And from that time on, the Lemon Tree and the Pumelo shared the same body and the same mind, the same happiness and the same friends, for many generations to come.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): When you help someone else, you make two people happy. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, Woo Sing's dad brought home a mirror from the big city.

Woo Sing had never seen a mirror before. It was hung in the room while he was out playing, so when he came in, he didn’t understand what it was and thought he saw another boy. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

This made him really happy because he thought the boy had come to hang out with him.

He talked to the stranger in a really friendly manner, but got no response.

He laughed and waved his hand at the boy in the glass, who mirrored him perfectly.

Then Woo Sing thought, “I should get closer. Maybe he doesn’t hear me.” But when he started to walk, the other boy copied him.

Woo Sing paused to consider these peculiar behaviors and said to himself, “This kid is making fun of me; he copies everything I do.” The more he reflected on it, the angrier he grew, and soon he realized that the boy was getting angry as well.

So Woo Sing got really angry and hit the boy in the face, but he only hurt his hand and then went crying to his dad.

The father said, “The boy you saw was your own reflection. This should teach you an important lesson, my son. You should never show your anger in front of others. You hit the boy in the mirror and only ended up hurting yourself.

“Now remember, in real life, when you lash out without a reason, you'll end up hurting yourself the most.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Woo-Liu-Mai (sweet smelling flower) lost her husband when her baby boy was just two days old. She was young—only fifteen—and had loved her husband [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] deeply; now she felt very lonely and sad. In her heart, she questioned why the gods had taken him from her and the little baby, who needed him so much; but she was a good woman and patient, never complaining to the heavens or her friends.

One day she realized she needed to talk to someone about everything. So she went to her mother-in-law and said, “Mom, tomorrow is New Year’s Day and we need to celebrate and buy firecrackers and incense for the temple. We have thirty gods in our house and we worship often, but they don’t help us at all. They didn’t keep my husband alive or let us be happy together.”

Woo-Liu-Mai’s mother-in-law replied, “My dear, we can see plenty of people who are worse off than us. Look at the poor—there are many of them. They have no homes to live in. They go from one market to another, begging for rice and sweet potatoes. They walk constantly and wear themselves out trying to find enough food to survive. Sometimes they walk from early morning until nightfall and only manage to get one small meal.”

“And, daughter, do you not realize how many people get stuck and die alongside the road in the freezing winter? The New Year gives them a couple of days of joy, then the rest of the year they are left hungry and miserable. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“You married my son when you were really young, and you’re still quite young now. You have a nice home, lots of clothes, and a little son. I think you have wonderful blessings from the gods. Tomorrow is New Year’s Day, and we’ll buy some pretty red paper to cut into a thousand pieces and hang on our walls, doors, beds, and vases."

“We will have a joyful New Year and honor the gods. We will open our door wide, and our happy friends will come to us to celebrate the New Year. We will cook two sweet potatoes, one for you and one half for me, and the other half for the child. Just think of how wonderful our New Year will be.”

But early on New Year’s morning, Woo-Liu-Mai woke up and found her child dead in the bed next to her, and she ran to her mother-in-law, sobbing in her deep despair.

“We're not going to put up the red paper on the door or anywhere, Mom, because our happiness is gone now. We’ll have a funeral in three days.”

Woo-Liu-Mai’s mother then took a piece of blue cloth and nailed it to the door, so that people would know someone had died there and would stay away from the house to avoid bad luck. She laid the child on a cloth and covered him with another cloth until the third day, when he would be buried. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

When people walked by and saw the blue cloth on the door, they assumed that the elderly mother-in-law must have died.

The second day, Woo-Liu-Mai went to her mother’s house, which was quite far away, and said, “Mom, my child is dead. Just as New Year’s Day arrived, early in the morning, before sunrise—he passed away.”

Woo-Liu-Mai’s sisters, cousins, and neighbors came to console her because they felt sorry for her. She was now both a widow and without children. In China, being a widow is already frowned upon, but being both widowed and childless makes a woman feel almost like an outcast.

One of my favorite cousins, Woo-Lau-Chan, a really kind woman who loved Woo-Liu-Mai like a sister, had a baby that was the same age as the one who had died. When she heard the news, she felt deep sympathy for her cousin's immense sorrow. “How can my cousin find any comfort in life now?” she thought. “She lost her husband when she was so young, and now she has lost her only child. The first happiness is gone—the second happiness is gone. A widow has nothing left to look forward to in life. Oh, I want to do something for her. Clothes, money, bracelets, jewelry—they can't comfort her without her child.”

Woo-Lau-Chan then got dressed, picked up her sleeping child, and rushed to the house where the deceased baby was. She was courageous and entered the dark, empty room, and no one noticed her. She didn’t think about or worry about the bad luck it might bring, nor about herself at all. She only focused on the deep sadness of the dead child’s mother.

The motionless body was on the floor; she removed its clothes and put them on her own baby, then she waited until he had milk and fell asleep again; afterward, she placed him on the floor and took the body of the deceased child and went into the vast forest, where she left it.

She then returned to her cousin, smiling happily, and said, “Woo-Liu-Mai, I wish you would come with me to your place.”

“No,” said Woo-Liu-Mai sadly, “I will go tomorrow and bury my child. I will stay here until then.”

“But you can't wait until tomorrow. Come with me now. The gods told me in a dream last night that your child would live again. Kwoh-King might be crying for milk right now. Come, let’s go now.”

But Woo-Liu-Mai said, “No, that can't be. You're telling me what's not true. I will go tomorrow to bury my dead.”

Just then, a message came from the mother-in-law, “Your child is alive. Come home.”

Woo-Liu-Mai went home and saw the child sitting [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] on the grandmother’s lap. And the grandmother said, “For three days your child lay on the floor as if he were dead. His face has changed, his body has changed. It’s strange; he doesn’t seem like the same baby, but he is alive, alive.”

Then they joyfully thanked the gods, and the boy grew up wise beyond his years.

Woo-Liu-Mai’s heart was now filled with deep peace, and she no longer complained, even in secret, about the gods.

Woo-Lau-Chan, the real mother, kept her secret well and no one knew, but in her heart she said,

“The time will come when I have to tell my son everything. As the years go by, Kwoh-King, his kids and their kids will honor the ancestors who gave them life, and it’s only fair that he knows the truth and understands his own birthright.”

But in his youth, she said, “Not now, because the judgment of youth is unreliable, and he might abandon Woo-Liu-Mai and leave her feeling sad again.”

When Kwoh-King turned seven, he started school, and he picked things up quickly. But eventually, the money ran out, and Woo-Liu-Mai was too poor to keep sending him to the nearest school.

One of her cousins, who was a teacher, sent a message that he would teach the child, so he was sent to the school [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] where he didn’t have to pay. When Kwoh-King turned sixteen, he completed his studies with great distinction. He was still wiser beyond his years and went to work for the government, quickly being appointed to a high-ranking position.

Then his mother, Woo-Lau-Chan, who was also a widow, wrote the complete truth to Kwoh-King and to the government—his father’s name, his mother’s name, his home, his house—all with great care.

And the two mothers, the one who raised him and the one who gave birth to him, were summoned by the government; and when the Emperor heard this story, they were given a lovely house, and Kwoh-King lived nearby and took good care of both of them for as long as they lived. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Si-Ma-Quong lived in the province of Sze-Chuen. When he was young (around six years old), he played [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]with a dog and a cat, but they roamed all night long in the wilderness hunting for food, and his mother was worried he might catch some illness from them. So one day, his father spent a lot of money on Wa-Na-Juch, a bird with a beautiful song, for his son to play with.

Wa-Na-Juch hopped onto Si-Ma-Quong’s lap and shoulder and ate from his hand. He was a really handsome bird, and he sang all day long.

One day he flew out to the lake to take a bath, and Si-Ma-Quong was really happy watching him. Then he ran and told his mom, “Mü-Tsing,2 I saw the bird bathing in the lake. I think the water is too cold for him. Give him a nice hot bath, like the ones you give me.”

His mother said, “In winter, you take a warm bath, but not too hot.”

When she bathed Si-Ma-Quong, she explained to him why the water shouldn’t be too hot for the bird, and he seemed to get it. But the next day when his mom went out, Si-Ma-Quong asked his bird, “Wa-Na-Juch, do you want a bath?” And the bird replied, “Chi-Chi,” which the boy took to mean “Yes, Yes.”

He poured some clean hot water into a dish and called the bird, but it wouldn’t even come close to the water.

This made Si-Ma-Quong angry. “You lied to me, and that’s not cool,” he said to the bird. “You said, [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]‘Yes, Yes,’ when I asked if you wanted a bath. Now, I will bathe you like Mü-Tsing bathes me.”

He then put the bird in the hot water, but it chirped loudly and tried to escape. “Don’t cry and be a bad bird,” said Si-Ma-Quong. “I cry sometimes too, when Mü-Tsing bathes me,” but in two or three minutes, the bird lay still and he put it on the table to dry.

When his mom came, he said, “Mü-Tsing, my bird is cold. He's on the table. I think he wants some clothes. Give him my fur jacket to keep him warm, so he'll stand up and sing.”

His mother didn’t know about the bath, so she said, “Oh no, the bird doesn’t need a jacket. He wears a feather jacket.”

She walked into the room and saw the bird lying on the table. She said, “He’s dead. Who did this, Si-Ma-Quong? He’s wet. Did he go to the pond? I think you killed him. If you did, your dad will definitely punish you, and he’ll never get you another bird.”

And Si-Ma-Quong cried and said, “Yes, I did it. I put him in hot water. I bathed him just like you bath me. At first, he didn’t want to go in, but I made him. Then he cried, ‘Chi-Chi-Chee.’ Will you tell my dad? I think he will forgive me if I tell him the truth. He did the last time I messed up.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

When it was time for dinner, his mom called him, but he refused to eat. He said, “I feel bad about Wa-Na-Juch, and I can't eat right now. Please wait for my dad to come back so I can tell him everything I've done.”

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Once Si-Ma-Quong and two other boys were trying to peel fruit from a neighbor's garden, but the peach skins were tough and the boys didn't have much skill. Their task seemed unlikely to be finished when a man walking by said, “I will show you how to peel the peaches. Boil some water, drop the peaches in, and take them out in no time, then you can easily remove their skins.”

The man whose peaches they were peeling arrived shortly and saw that the job was done. He looked at the fruit and said, “I’ve never seen fruit peeled with so little waste. How did you manage that?”

They showed him the hot water, and he said, “You’re very smart to know this method for peeling fruit. I’ll give a silver piece to each of the boys who figured it out.”

He asked the other two, “Did you?” and “Did you?” and they both replied, “Yes.” He then handed them the silver, but Si-Ma-Quong said, “No, I don’t want the silver. We didn’t even know how to peel the peach skins ourselves. A stranger showed us.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Now, these two events took place when Si-Ma-Quong was very young; he lived for seventy-two years and served his emperor and his country wisely. He accomplished many great things because he was honest in the small matters. History tells us that this man, who never spoke untruths as a child, young adult, or adult, was one of the greatest figures in Chinese history.

[__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Liang-Sheng-Yü was one of the greatest generals in China. He had served his kingdom wisely for many years when a war broke out involving four nations. Liang-Sheng-Yü defeated the other nations and brought them under his king's rule. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

He was also known as Seung-Foo, or the great Helper of the King. He received this esteemed title because he had served two generations of kings—father and son.

One day, Liang-Sheng-Yü criticized the general, Liang-Po, in front of the king. Liang-Po was furious about this and thought to himself, “Even though Liang-Sheng-Yü is a great general, he shouldn’t speak to me like that in front of the king. He pointed out my flaws in front of the king. Now I will criticize him and accuse him before the king. The king only forgave me because he knows I've done a lot of good for the kingdom.”

He went home, but he couldn't sleep because his heart was burning with anger. In the morning, his face was still sad because he couldn't shake off his huge disgrace in front of the king. His wife asked him, "What bothered you last night?" But he only replied, "Don't ask."

A servant brought him his breakfast, but it felt tasteless to him. The wine-servant offered him wine, but it tasted like water. Another servant brought him water to bathe, and he said, “It’s too cold.” But the water was just like it always had been.

Three days went by, and Liang-Po's heart didn’t change. Then he went to a friend’s house. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]On the way, from a distance, he saw Liang-Sheng-Yü coming and tried to meet and talk to him. But Liang-Sheng-Yü walked past on the other side and didn’t acknowledge him.

Liang-Po thought to himself, “This is such a strange and upsetting situation. I was never his enemy; why is he still so angry? Why won’t he confront me? I served the king alongside him for many years. I just don’t understand why he would turn away from me. He’s being unreasonable.”

He went home and wrote a letter to Liang-Sheng-Yü saying, “I saw you on Wun-Chung Street today, and I wanted to meet you and share many things. I think you didn’t want to see me because you walked on the other side with your back turned to me. So, my heart feels another sadness. I would like to see you tomorrow, soon after breakfast, and I invite you to come to my house and have lunch with me.”

But when the servant gave Liang-Sheng-Yü the letter and he read it, he tossed it into the fire and said nothing. The servant noticed and went home to tell Liang-Po.

Fifty days later, news arrived that the Chaa-Kwa Kingdom was preparing to go to war against the Juo Kingdom.

The king, therefore, sent a message to the general, Liang-Po, [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]and to the great helper, Liang-Sheng-Yü, saying, “I need you to come to me right away, your king.”

When he got the news, Liang-Po said, “I believe there will be a huge war with the Chaa-Kwa Kingdom.” So he held off on going to the king and ordered that four thousand soldiers should get ready for battle.

They got ready, and for two days Liang-Po put off leaving. But Liang-Sheng-Yü was already with the king. And deep down, he felt scared, thinking, “Liang-Po won't come. I’ve embarrassed him in front of the king. I messed up. But if he doesn’t show up, our nation is definitely doomed. We can't go into battle without him.”

The king asked him, “Why hasn’t General Liang-Po come to see me? We can’t go to war without the general. Without him, we can’t even respond to the Chaa-Kwa Kingdom.”

Liang-Sheng-Yü replied, “Before I go to sleep tonight, I will see the general.” Then he went home and told his servants, “I don’t have time to eat. I need to see General Liang-Po.” He instructed them to cut a bundle of thorn sticks, which he took and carried to Liang-Po’s house.

It was the time of Nyi-Kang (Everything Quiet) when Liang-Sheng-Yü arrived at General Liang-Po’s [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]house. He knocked on the door three or four times before the servants opened it and asked, “Who’s there?” He replied, “I’m Liang-Sheng-Yü. Tell your master I need to see him tonight, or I won’t make it.”

Liang-Po got dressed and went to the door. There, he saw an old man whose head was so bowed that it hid his face. He wore tattered clothes, carried a sword on his back, and held a bundle of thorny sticks in his hands. Then he knelt on the floor.

General Liang-Po said, “Who is this?” Then Liang-Sheng-Yü, the impressive and proud supporter of two generations of kings, replied, “I would like to see General Liang-Po.”

His face was still close to the floor, and his voice shook as he spoke. “General Liang-Po,” he said, “I was against you before the king, and I've realized that the fault was mine. I see that you were right, and I am guilty, not you. I have wronged you greatly. General Liang-Po, my sword is on my back, and a bundle of thorny sticks is in my hand. Take the sticks and hit me. Take the sword and behead me. We can't go to war tomorrow if we're not at peace tonight.”

Then Liang-Po, the great general, helped Liang-Sheng-Yü to his feet and said, “No, we’ve always been friends. We will be friends forever, and together we will serve our king. I hope you can forgive me. I [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]hope the king can forgive me too, because I’ve made mistakes as well. We will all forgive and be forgiven—then we will definitely be friends.”

The two great men knelt together and worshiped the Creator, and they both promised that from that moment on they would share the same mindset.

[__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

In ancient times, there was an old woodcutter who went to the mountain nearly every day to chop wood.

It was said that this old man was a miser who hoarded [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]his silver until it turned to gold, and that he valued gold more than anything else in the world.

One day, a wild tiger pounced on him, and even though he ran, he couldn't get away, and the tiger took him in its mouth.

The woodcutter’s son saw his father in danger and ran to save him if he could. He carried a long knife, and since he could run faster than the tiger, which had a man to carry, he quickly caught up to them.

His father wasn't badly hurt, since the tiger had him by his clothes. When the old woodcutter saw his son about to stab the tiger, he shouted out in panic:

“Don’t damage the tiger’s skin! Don’t damage the tiger’s skin! If you can kill him without making any cuts in his skin, we can get a lot of money for it. Kill him, but don’t cut his body.”

While the son was listening to his father's instructions, the tiger suddenly ran into the forest, taking the old man with him where the son couldn't follow, and he was soon killed.

And the wise man who told this story said, “Ah, this old man’s bravery was actually foolishness. His love for money was greater than his love for life itself.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Four hundred and fifty years ago in Sze-Cheung Province, Western China, there was an old farmer named Ah-Po.

The young farmers all said Ah-Po knew everything. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]If they wanted to know when it would rain, they asked Ah-Po, and when he said, “It won’t rain tomorrow,” or “You’ll need your bamboo hat this time tomorrow,” it turned out just like he said. He knew all about nature and how to get the best crops and seeds from the earth, and some people said he was a prophet.

One day, Ah-Po caught a huge mountain turtle. It was so big that both of Ah-Po’s sons had to carry it home. They tied its legs together and hung it on a sturdy stick, with each son resting an end of the stick on his shoulder.

Ah-Po said, “We’re not going to kill the turtle. He’s too old to eat, and I think we should keep him and watch the rings grow around his legs each year.” So they set aside a corner in the barnyard for him and fed him rice and water.

Ah-Po had a lot of chickens, and for three months, the turtle and the chickens got along just fine. But one day, all the young chickens gathered together and mocked the turtle. Then they said to him, “Why have you stayed here for so long? Why don’t you go back to your own home? This small barnyard corner isn’t as nice as your cave in the wild. You only have a [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]little sand and grass to live on here. The servant feeds you, but she never gives you any fruits from the wilderness. You’re really big, and you take up too much space. We need all the space we can get. You silly old thing, do you really think our parents want you around? No. There isn’t one of us who likes you. Plus, you’re not clean. You create too much mess. The servant girl gave you this water to drink, and your water bowl is still upside down. You spill rice all over our floor. Too many flies come around because of you, and we don’t like flies.”

The turtle waited until everyone finished scolding him. Then he said, “Do you really think I came here on my own? Who put me here, do you know? Do you think I like being in jail? You don’t need to be jealous. I never ate any rice that belonged to you or your family. I’m not living in your house. What’s your complaint? If our master decided to sell your whole family, he’d only get one piece of silver. Who are you to talk so much? Just wait; someday I might end up in a respected position.”

Some of the chickens went home and told their mother, “We had a fight with the turtle today, and he got the last word. Tomorrow we want you to come with us and show him that a chicken can argue just as well as a turtle.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The next day, all the chickens in the barnyard went to see the turtle. The old hen said, “My chicks came here to play yesterday, and you scolded them and chased them away. You said my whole family wasn't worth a single piece of silver. You think you're worth a ton of gold, right? No one likes you. Even your own master wouldn't eat you. The market would never buy something as old and tough as you. But I guess you'll have to stay here in our yard for a thousand years or so until you die. Then they'll take you to the wild and dump you in Nobody-Knows Lake.”

Then the turtle replied, “I’m a mountain turtle. I come from a smart family, and it’s not easy for even a person to catch me. Educated people, like doctors, know that I’m helpful for illnesses, but if everyone knew all the ways they could use me, I think there would soon be no turtles left in the world. Many Chinese people know that my skin is good for skin diseases, and my forefeet are effective for the devil-sickness in children, as they drive the devil away; and my shells are good for sore throats, and my stomach is good for stomachaches, and my bones are good for toothaches. Do you remember that not long ago our master brought three turtle eggs to feed your children? I heard him say, ‘Those little chickens caught cold in [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] that damp place, so I need to give them some turtle eggs.’ I saw your children eat those three eggs, and within two or three days, they were better."

“So you see, the turtle is a useful creature in the world, even for chickens. Why don’t you just leave me alone? Since I have to stay here against my will, it’s not fair that your kids bother me. Sometimes they take all my rice, and I go hungry, because our master won’t let me go outside this fence to find food for myself. I never come to your house and disturb you, but your children won’t even let me live peacefully in the small corner that our master gave me. If I had a few of my own kind here with me, like you do, I think you wouldn’t bother me. But I only have myself, while you have so many.”

“Yesterday, your kids scolded me and disrupted my peace. Today you're back; and tomorrow, and many tomorrows after that, I’m afraid I’ll keep getting scolded by your children and all their future offspring. To me—a mountain turtle—the lifespan of a clucking hen is just as brief as a day. I know the heavens are vast, and I know the earth is spacious and meant for all creatures. But you seem to think both the heavens and the earth exist solely for you and your chickens. If you could chase me away today, you'd try to get rid of the dog tomorrow, and eventually, you might even think the master shouldn’t have enough room in your earth and air to live in. This barnyard is big enough for birds, chickens, ducks, geese, and pigs. Having all of us here makes our master happy.”

The chickens walked away feeling embarrassed. As they talked among themselves, they said, “The turtle is right. It's silly to want everything. We barnyard animals need to coexist peacefully until the end of our days. The barnyard doesn’t belong to us; we only use it for a short time.”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): The Creator made the world for everyone to share, and while doing so, the strong shouldn't try to push out the weak. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

About two thousand four hundred and twenty years [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]ago, Tsen-Tsze2 was a child living in San-Szi Province. For twenty-one years, he studied various subjects with the great teacher, Confucius. He followed Confucius’s first major moral principle not just in his actions, but in his heart, even when he was punished for things he didn’t understand.3 And there’s no record of any other person ever doing this.

In his early childhood, he always loved and respected his father and mother. In the morning when he got up, he would go to see his parents before having breakfast.

One day, Tsen-Tsze's mom went to visit his grandparents. Before she left, she said, “Dear son, I’ll be back in one day. You and your dad will enjoy a day without me.” He knelt4 and bowed his head to show his respect as she departed. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The evening came and she still hadn’t returned, and Tsen-Tsze couldn’t eat or sleep that night because he was worried sick about his mother. When the maid called him for breakfast, he said, “No; I can’t eat until I see my mother’s face.” But his father insisted, “You need to eat and go to school.”

“I can’t eat or study until my mom gets here,” said Tsen-Tsze, and a message was sent to his teacher who replied, “You're not being very wise, Tsen-Tsze. If your mom were to die, would you then stop studying? I hope to see you back at school soon.”

At noon, his mom came. Then he had lunch, went to school, and studied his lessons.

When he got home from school, he always checked to see where his parents were before heading off to play. At meal times, he wouldn’t start eating until his mom and dad had begun. When he saw an older person on the street, he took off his hat and stepped aside respectfully to let them pass before continuing on his way.

Tsen-Tsze followed and respected these customs of courtesy. At school, he studied diligently and never left any assignments incomplete. Each day, he asked his teacher, “Did I do anything wrong today?”—his eagerness to learn the right thing and do all that he understood was immense. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, Tsen-Tsze's dad hit him with a long stick. 5 When he got up from the floor, he went over to his dad, took his hand, and asked, "Dad, did I do something wrong? Please tell me what it was." But his dad's face was flushed with anger, and he wouldn't explain.

Tsen-Tsze went to the classroom and grabbed his music box, then returned in front of his father, sitting down on the floor to play and sing for him. He sang,

And he said, “I read in history about many famous men who were great because they were kind. I hope to be like them. History says their fathers disciplined them when they were young.” But the anger still lingered on his father’s face, and he brought him a cup of tea and said, “Dad, are you thirsty?”

Then he took his father’s hand and went to the garden [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] where the birds were singing. He placed a flower on his father’s chest and asked, “Dad, do you like that? I do.”

All this made Tsen-Tsze’s father reflect, and he thought to himself, “This boy isn’t like other kids his age.” From that day on, for as long as he lived, he never beat his son again.

Tsen-Tsze became a brilliant scholar and completed all his studies by the age of twenty-five. He was also a wise and virtuous man.

His generation and all the generations that followed have studied him and wished to be like him. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, a hunter was searching for a fox in the wild when he suddenly spotted thousands of birds flying toward the river. He stayed completely still and waited for them all to arrive.

The Yen Tzi, or Kind Birds, were chatting among themselves, and the hunter listened in. One of them asked, “Is everyone in our group here?”

And the Leader Bird said, “No, little One-Month-Old, Two-Month, and Mrs. This-Year aren’t here yet.”

And the Leader Bird said to the Lookout Birds, “You need to follow them and help them get to the river before five days are up. Our boats are dried and ready to set sail. It’s getting cold, and we all need to head south together.”

So the Lookout Birds flew all over the country to search for the lost birds. They found one with a broken wing, a little one with not enough feathers to fly far, and another with a wound in its leg from a hunter, along with others that were tired or starving. They found every missing bird, and this amazing family of friends was soon all together again.

But while the Lookout Birds were searching for the lost members of their own family, they heard another bird call out, “Help me! Help me, too!” So they paused and said, “Who’s calling? Someone must be in trouble.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]They flew over to a lemon tree and saw a Tailor Bird with her leg covered in blood. The Kind Birds asked, “Friend, how did you get into such trouble? What’s your name and where do you live?”

The Tailor Bird said, “I live in the South Province, eight hundred miles away. I came here to visit my friends and family. Three of my kids are with me, and we were heading back home to the south. We had covered sixty miles when I asked my kids to take a break in this lemon tree, and now I don’t even know where they are. I’m afraid the hunter got them. I’m hurt too, and I don’t think I’ll ever see my home again. I fear I’ll lose my life here.”

The Yen Tzi heard everything the Tailor Bird said. They talked among themselves and felt sorry for her since she had no one to take care of her, knowing her children had been killed by the hunter. “If we don’t save her life, she will definitely die,” they said.

So they asked, “Do you want to come with us? We know you eat different food. We survive on rice and fruit and a few insects. We’re not sure you can live the way we do. And we have to be on our boats for many, many hours.”

The Tailor Bird replied, “Sure, I’ll be happy to go, eat what you have, and not cause you any trouble.”

The Kind Birds helped the Tailor Bird join their [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]company and placed her in one of their boats, while two or three birds took care of her and fed her until she got better.

The hunter who shared this story said, “I’ve learned a lot by observing and studying the behaviors of the Kind Birds. I’ll never kill birds again.”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): During difficult times, a person should help not just their own, but others as well. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Confucius once overheard two of his students arguing. One was gentle and was known among all the students as a peaceful person. The other was intelligent and kind-hearted, but prone to intense anger. If he wanted to do something, he would go for it, and no one could stop him; if anyone tried to hold him back, he would erupt in sudden and fierce rage. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, after another one of these outbursts, he started to spit blood, and in a panic, he went to Confucius. “What should I do about my health?” he asked. “I’m afraid I won’t live much longer. Maybe it would be best for me to stop studying and working. I’m your student, and you care for me like a father. Please tell me what I should do for my health.”

Confucius replied, “Tsze-Lu, you’re misunderstanding your body. It’s not about studying or working in school; it’s your intense anger that’s causing the issues.”

“I’ll help you understand this. Remember when you and Nou-Wui had that argument? He was back to being calm and happy in no time, but it took you a long while to get over your anger. You can’t expect to live long if you keep acting like that. Every time one of the students says something you don’t like, you get really mad. There are a thousand students in this school. If each one offends you just once, you’ll have a temper tantrum a thousand times this year. And you’ll definitely get worn out if you don’t practice more self-control. I want to ask you some questions:—

"How many teeth do you have?"

"I have 32, teacher."

“How many languages?”

"Only one."

“How many teeth have you lost?” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“I lost one when I was nine, and four when I was around twenty-six.”

“And your tongue—is it still flawless?”

“Oh, totally.”

"You know Mun-Gun, who's pretty old?"

“Yeah, I know him well.”

“How many teeth do you think he had when you were that age?”

"I don’t know."

“How many does he have now?”

“Two, I think. But his tongue is perfect, even though he’s very old.”

“You see, the teeth are lost because they are strong and determined to get everything they want. They are tough and hurt the tongue many times, but the tongue never hurts the teeth. Yet, the tongue endures until the end, while the teeth are the first part of a person to decay. The tongue is calm and gentle with the teeth. It never gets angry and fights them, even when they’re wrong. It always helps them do their job of preparing food for the person, even though the teeth never help the tongue and always resist everything."

“And so it goes with people. The one who can resist the most is often the first to break down; and you, Tsze-Lu, will be the same if you don’t learn the important lesson of self-control.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Once there was a Chinese merchant who sold flowers and fish. In the winter, the flowers and fish each had their own place to stay, but one very cold winter, the merchant told his servants, “I think we should move the lily bulbs in with the fish. It's warmer there.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

And thousands of daffodil bulbs that were being prepared for the New Year’s celebration were brought into the house along with the fish.

This made the fish angry, and that night they scolded the daffodil.

“Friends,” said the fish, “this isn’t your place and we don’t want you here.

“We don’t like your smell. You will ruin our people. When men walk past our door, they will only see you.

“They will never see our family. You can’t help or do any good here; so you must go.

“Every day, hundreds of merchants and students come to see us. If you stand by our door, they'll surely think all the fish are gone and there's nothing but flowers left.”

"We don't want our place to smell so strongly of flowers. We don't like it. It's really bad and makes us feel sick."

The narcissus replied, “That’s weird, but we were just thinking about the same thing.”

“Some people say that fish smell bad, but I’ve never heard that about our flowers. I think I won’t say anything more about it. Let others decide.”

Then another flower spoke and said to the one who had been talking, “Be quiet, sister, this isn’t our home. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]We’ll leave tomorrow. Let the fish say whatever they want about us, but don’t argue with them. Everyone knows we’re not bad and that we smell sweet.”

When the morning sun rose, the doors were opened, and thousands of flowers had bloomed overnight, and the people said, “Oh, how lovely! Even a fish house can be made delightful. We wish it could be like this all the time.”

And one visitor said, “This place is so nice! Do fish or flowers live here?” And when he saw, he said, “It’s a shame to put delicate flowers in places that smell bad.”

Then three students came to buy flowers. The servants brought three pots from the fish house, and the students said, “We don’t want pots from the fish house. Give us different ones. These have an unpleasant smell, like the fish.”

The fish heard everything and were even angrier at the flowers. But the flowers heard too and felt delighted, saying, “How silly it is to fight and blame others.”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): Good people don’t need defending. Their greatest defense is within themselves. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Once, a farmer's son caught three young woodlarks. He took them home and gave them his biggest and best cage to live in. Soon, they were happy and sang almost all day long.

Everyone liked the birds a lot, except for the cat and the hen. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, the sun was shining really hot, and the birds tried to escape from the cage. They wanted to soar in the trees and bushes.

The farmer's boy knew what they wanted and hung their cage in the tree.

He said to himself, “I think my birds will like this. They can meet other birds. I know birds should be with birds. That’s their happiness.”

Then the woodlarks sang loudly and for a long time, because they were happy to be in the trees.

An old hen was sitting on some eggs nearby, and her chicks were just starting to hatch. The birds singing made her angry, and she called out to them, “Can you please stop that noise for a bit so I can hear my little ones? I can't hear a single thing they say. Your song isn't pretty at all. When other birds sing, their songs are sweet, but your noise hurts my ears. Why do you sing all the time? No one likes to hear you.”

“That foolish boy didn’t know much about birds, or he wouldn’t have caught you. There are plenty of other birds in the mountains. The thrush and the songbirds are great, with lovely voices and clean, beautiful feathers.

“Why couldn’t that silly boy catch them? They’re the birds I like. They’re nice to chickens and want to live with us, but you wood larks are our enemies, and our kids are scared to come near you.”

The birds didn’t respond to the hen's scolding. They sang and were happy, seemingly not aware of her.

This only made the hen even angrier, and when the cat walked by her door, she said, “Good morning, Mrs. Cat. Did you know we’ve been having a lot of trouble since our rivals, the wood larks, moved in? They’re always trying to escape the cage. I think they want to harm my chicks—or yours,” she added with a sly grin.

“Do you hear their harsh, ugly voices all day? I can’t sleep, I can’t find any comfort here since those birds arrived.”

“Our master's son brought them,” said the cat, “and we can't do anything about it. What would you do?”

“I told you,” said the hen, “that I don't like those birds. They should be killed or chased away.”

“I don’t really like them either,” replied the cat. “Cats and birds don’t mix well. Cats want to eat birds, you know, but then people like chickens. If you don’t want them here, we can do this. At noon, when the master’s son lets the birds out for a bath, they sit for a while in the sun to dry their feathers. When you see them come out, call ‘Cluck, cluck,’ and I’ll come and catch them or scare them away.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

When it was time for the birds to take their bath, the cat was asleep. The hen called loudly. The cat heard her and quietly sneaked over to where the birds were bathing.

But one of the birds saw the cat and said to her, “Mrs. Cat, what are you trying to do? We know what the hen told you about us last night. I heard her suggest that you kill us or chase us away. Isn’t that true?

“The old hen doesn't want us to stay here; but then the rats and mice don’t want you here either. I warn you not to touch us. If you kill us, the master’s boy will come after you, and he’ll end up killing and cooking the hen. Do you know how much he cares about us?

“Every morning before the sun rises, he's up; and do you know where he goes? He goes to the river to catch the little fish for us. He goes to the mountain and catches grasshoppers for us, and from the fields, he brings us seeds and rice.

“He works hard for us. Sometimes he brings other boys here just to listen to our songs. He spent a lot of money on our cage and our gemstone water dishes.

“Every day the master asks his son, ‘How are your birds, son?’”

“One day our brother refused to eat, and the boy said to his father, ‘What’s wrong with my bird, dad? All the food is right here, but he won’t eat.’ [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“The father replied, ‘I’ll call a doctor.’”

“And the doctor came and said, ‘The bird has a fever. Give him some Da-Wong-Sai and Tseng-Chu-Mi and he will be better soon.’ The boy paid the doctor for this; so you see how much he cares for us.

“When we don’t want to stay inside, he hangs us up in the trees so we can chat with other birds.

“Now, Mrs. Cat, do you see how well we’re taken care of? Go back and tell the old hen not to talk about us. Don’t pay attention to what she says against us, because if you kill us, as the hen wants you to, you will definitely have no life left in the world.

“You can see how sly the hen is. She won’t do the thing herself, but wants you to do it. That shows she’s your enemy as well as ours.”

“Oh, Mrs. Cat, don’t be silly. You have three little ones to look after. If you risk your life by taking ours, who will take care of your kids? Will the hen do it? I doubt it.”

When the cat heard such wisdom from a little bird, she said, “Well! Well! Well! I think you’re right,” and walked away.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): Real friends won’t ask you to do things they wouldn’t do themselves. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Tsing-Ching (Pure Gold) was four years old when his parents sent him to a “baby school”1 for the first [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]time and told him that the teacher could teach him everything he wanted to know.

When he saw a strange bird flying around, he asked his teacher, “What kind of bird is that up in the air?” His teacher replied, “A bird,” and explained that being a bird means flying around, singing everywhere, and making music for people.

The boy said, “Can’t I do it?” His teacher replied, “Yes, you can sing for the people, but you can’t fly unless you have wings.”

Tsing-Ching replied, “Yeah, I can do that, too. My grandma told me about a spirit with wings.”

His teacher said, “If your grandma told you that, you can give it a shot. You might become a man with wings someday.”2 [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Just then, the maid his mother had sent arrived to take him home from school.

When they got to the park near his house, Tsing-Ching said, “Lau-Mai, I want that long ladder and a long stick.” The nurse-girl wasn’t sure what he wanted them for, but she eventually had to give him both to stop him from crying. She was worried his mom would hear him and come outside to scold her for not looking after the kid properly.

As he grabbed the long ladder, he said, “Now I’m going to be a bird.” His nurse replied, “You can’t be a bird, Tsing-Ching. Birds fly. You can’t fly. Why are you trying to climb the ladder? That’s not how you become a bird.”

Lau-Mai helped him up a couple of steps when his mother called her to come inside, and she left him there for a little while.

He climbed up, up, nine steps by himself—and then fell down. But he wasn't hurt, nor did he cry; he felt no fear—he thought of just one thing—he was going to be a bird.

Suddenly, his mother came and saw him again trying [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] to climb up the ladder and asked, “What are you doing, Tsing-Ching?”

He replied, “I want to be a bird; hang on, I’ll try again. I know that birds fly in the air, not on the ground. I can’t fly on the earth. If I can get up high into the air, then I know I can fly.”

His mom thought he wanted to climb up and catch a bird; she looked all around and said, “There’s no bird up there right now.”

“But, Ah-Ma, 3 I want to be a bird.”

The servant Lau-Mai arrived just then and explained to his mother. She told him he was a foolish boy, then gave him food and sent him to school again.

In two hours, the teacher let all the boys go outside to play. They rushed to the pond where the goldfish were, because they enjoyed watching them swim in the water.

After exercising, they all went into the classroom, and Tsing-Ching told his teacher, “I saw a lot of goldfish swimming in the pond. Did you know that, teacher? A man fed them rice, and they all came out to him. They looked so happy, shaking their tails and waving their fins, swimming up and down and all around in the cool water. Oh, I would love to be a fish.”

His teacher said, “Learn your lessons now.” But Tsing-Ching couldn't focus on studying; he could only think about the fish. Soon he asked if he could go out for a drink. Then he went to the pond and took off his clothes, but the gardener saw him and asked, “What are you doing, boy? It's school time.”

“I want to be a fish,” said Tsing-Ching.

The gardener thought he wanted to catch the fish and said, “The fish are for your eyes, not for your hands. Don’t disturb them.”

Tsing-Ching sat down and waited for the gardener to leave. Then he stepped into the water and spoke to the fish.

“I’m going to be one of you now,” he said. “Come to me and show me how to swim with you.” But they all rushed off.

For half an hour, he splashed in the shallow water, trying to swim, until the teacher wondered, “Where is Tsing-Ching?” and sent a boy to check. The boy found him at the pond and told him to go to the classroom, saying the teacher would punish him if he didn’t.

“No,” said Tsing-Ching, “I’m going to be a fish; I told the teacher I was going to be a fish.” So the boy went back and told the teacher, who was really confused.

Finally, he went outside with a stick and asked, “Tsing-Ching, what are you doing here? Do you realize it's school time? You were only allowed [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] to go out for a drink, not to hang around and play. You've made a mistake.”

“Why, teacher, I told you that I want to be a fish,” said Tsing-Ching. “I don’t want books or assignments. I’m going to be a fish and I won’t go to school. Mom said you teach everything; now teach me how to be a fish.”

His teacher said, “How foolish you are, Tsing-Ching; you’re a boy, a man. You can learn many things that are better than being a fish. Come with me now.”

That night when Tsing-Ching was walking with his mother and nurse by the water, he saw the summer moon reflected on the lake.

“How weird, Ah-Ma, the moon is in the lake! Look, it lifts the lake and makes it ripple all the time. I want it. What kind of white ball is that?”

Then his mom told him that the moon was in the sky, not in the lake, and she explained and showed him. And when he saw the moon in the sky, he said, “I know that it’s not the moon in the lake because it shakes. It’s not still like the one in the sky. It’s a silver ball, I know.”

He asked so many questions that his mom got tired of answering and just let him keep asking without really paying attention. Then he wandered a bit away and started throwing stones into the water. The water splashed and the white ball [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] danced so beautifully that he wanted it really badly. He waded into the lake, going deeper and deeper, until he fell in. He screamed and swallowed some water, and it took a long time to revive him after his mom pulled him out of the lake.

When the neighbors heard about it, they said, “What a foolish boy; not happy with what he can do—he's always wanting things he can't have.”

Many people in this world are like Tsing-Ching. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

This is the true story of a boy who followed the law of Confucius about honoring his parents perfectly throughout his life.

Few have been able to do this. Among a people of [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]many millions who have kept records for over four thousand years, only twenty-four men have been deemed worthy of the great honor of being called Hsao-Tsze.

Twelve hundred years ago, in Chê-Kiong Province, there lived a poor widow and her son, Wong-Ziang. The father had passed away when Wong-Ziang was an infant, and soon they were left with just their small home and not a single coin to buy food.

So the mother went to many places every day and asked for food for herself and her child. For seven long years, every day in the cold rain or in the sunshine, this poor widow begged for food and kept herself and her child from starving.

She was a good woman and never complained, not even to the heavens. In her heart, she often thought, “No mother should be sad when she has a good son. My boy is genuine without needing to be taught. Many mothers have sons, but none are like him.”

When Wong-Ziang was fourteen, he said to his mother, “Mom, I’m going to find a job and we’ll have food. You need to rest now.”

In the early morning, he went to the marketplace and asked many people for work. By noon, when the workers were leaving the marketplace, they said, “You’re too young to work here.”

As he was hungry, he went to a merchant’s house and [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]asked for food; and because he was a polite boy and asked so earnestly, the merchant told his cook to give him food. Wong-Ziang wouldn't eat the food, but took it home to his mother.

Ninety times Wong-Ziang left home at sunrise. He looked for work all day, and every night he brought food home to his mother and reassured her with, “I’ll find work soon, Ah Ma. One guy says he’ll need me soon; or someone told me about another place to look for work,” and in many other ways he comforted his mother.

When he handed her the food he brought, she would say, “You eat, too.” But he would always reply, “I’ve already eaten; you go first.” And after she finished eating, he would have what was left.

One time Wong-Ziang’s mother got sick. He said, “I’ll go get the doctor.” But his mother replied, “I don’t have any money. Wait, and you’ll soon have work. I think I’ll be better then.”

But Wong-Ziang ran to the city of Nim-Chu and asked the doctor to come see his mother. He said to him as they walked to his mother’s house:

“My mother doesn’t get up at sunrise. She’s weak and sick and can’t eat. She doesn’t want a doctor because we don’t have any money, but I believe you will wait, and when I find work, I’ll pay you.” The doctor [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]said, “I always help the poor when I can, and I won’t charge you this time.”

When they arrived at the widow’s house, the doctor checked her tongue, eyes, and pulse. He then said, “She’s very weak. I’ll leave some medicine, but it’s better for her to eat good food that she enjoys. She should have boiled carp in rice wine twice over the next five days. But it’s winter, and the river is frozen. I don’t know how you’ll get that fish,” and then he left.

Wong-Ziang gave his mom the medicine, and she asked, “What did the doctor say about me?”

“He said you needed a carp cooked in rice wine so that you could be strong,” answered Wong-Ziang. “It’s really easy for me to find one. I’m going to the river now.”

But the mother said, “Not right now, my son. Wait until spring. The river is frozen over.”

“I'll check it out,” said Wong-Ziang; and he put on his fishing gear.2

His mom said, “I’m afraid you’ll drown if you go into the water.”

“I'll check first to see if there are any fish,” he said. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

When Wong-Ziang got to the river, he saw it was frozen over. He made a big hole in the ice and jumped in. After swimming and diving for a while, he caught a fish for his mom.

But he could barely catch his breath in the cold water, and when he came out, he couldn't stand on the ice.

He fell down, and his clothes froze to the ice along with the net and the fish he had caught.

“He's been gone for a while,” thought his mother. She called over a passing servant girl and said, “Ah Moi, could you go down to the River Ching-Ki and see if my son is there?”

Ah Moi went and saw the boy and the fish in the net lying still on the ice together.

She shouted, “Wong-Ziang,” but when there was no response, she thought, “He’s dead,” and ran away in panic. Then she bumped into a farmer riding his cow and told him, “Wong-Ziang is dead on the ice.” The farmer got off his cow and went with her to check it out.

The farmer removed his coat and wrapped it around the boy. He held him in his arms and said to the servant, “I don’t think he’s dead. Take the fish and net to Wong-Ziang’s mother right away.”

In an hour, Wong-Ziang came back to life. He got up [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]and cooked the fish for his mom. And in fifteen days, she was better.

*   *   *

Soon after this, Wong-Ziang got a job in the next village as the cook for a wealthy professor who had many students.

One day he went to the woods to chop wood. His mom knew her son worked hard, so she went with him to help, and they worked until sunset.

Suddenly, a small tiger emerged from the forest toward the mother, and out of fear, she became almost paralyzed. Wong-Ziang screamed and made a huge commotion. He threw his clothes at the beast, and it ran away. Then he carried his mother home, and the neighbors who had seen him grow up said, “Wong-Ziang will become a Hsao-Tsze if he keeps acting like this.”

Wong-Ziang was twenty-one years old when his mother passed away, and he had never spent a day apart from her in his entire life. His teachers, classmates, and neighbors all liked him, saying, “We can learn a valuable lesson from Wong-Ziang, who loved and honored his mother completely.”

While his mother was alive, Wong-Ziang worked for her and dedicated little time or money to studying; but after she passed away, he studied diligently. Each day, when he finished his work in [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]the professor's kitchen, he would always sit outside the classroom door, where he could hear the teacher giving lessons to the students.3

For seven years, he studied this way without the teacher, Liao-Tsai, knowing; but one day he discovered what Wong-Ziang had been up to. Eventually, he came to love him like his own son and asked him, “Would you like to be my Chi-tsze (adopted son)?”

And Wong-Ziang said, “I would, but I’m poor and uneducated, and you’re wealthy and respected. It just can’t happen.”

But his teacher said, “I want you in my school. I’ve had many students, but none have worked and learned like you. I’ve known many sons, but none have served and honored their parents as faithfully as you. Think about this for two or three days and then give me your answer.”

After three days, Wong-Ziang made a decision. He went to see Liao-Tsai, his teacher, and knelt before him, bowing his head low. From that moment on, he became as close as a son to the professor.

In sixteen years, Wong-Ziang graduated from the prestigious university with top honors. He had studied [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]all the books from the Chinese schools and was now a Han-Ling (Ph.D.).

He served his country and emperor wisely and held a high-ranking government position for over twenty years. People referred to him as Zien-Zan in front of the emperor. However, when he returned to his home province, where everyone was familiar with his accomplishments throughout his life, they bowed their heads in affection and called him “Hsao-Tsze.”

[__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Yung-Moi was one of the wisest men in China. He had lived in the mountains and studied Confucius's books for twenty years, and then he taught others. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

He taught school for ten years and, due to his wisdom, had many students—over two thousand in total. He was now sixty years old and was highly respected by many people.

One day, he decided to throw a party for his students. So he let them all know and requested that each person share a story at the party.

After he invited his guests, he thought, “I need to have a story ready for tomorrow night too. What should it be?” And he walked down to the river, deep in thought.

There he saw two creatures at the edge of the river fighting. One was a large bivalve;1 the other was a snipe that had been fishing in the river.

They fought for a long time, really going at it, until a hunter with a gun and a net happened to walk by and noticed them. He was quiet and approached them slowly, but they were so focused on trying to defeat each other that they didn’t see him. So, he caught both of them and took them home in his net.

Yung-Moi, the wise teacher, thought carefully and said to himself, “There’s a purpose in all this,” and he walked slowly back to his classroom. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

He sat down at his desk and thought, stirring the ink in his inkpot without even realizing what he was doing.

Then he wrote this story and said: “In my mind, this is a strange thing. The snipe is a wonderful creature in the air. It has two wings and a great ability to fend for itself.

“Small fish swim in the water, and the snipe can choose any one it wants, but it cannot live in the bivalve's home or try to take its life without facing its own demise.”

“If he could go underwater and survive, there wouldn’t be any little fish left in the river, and if he were as big as an eagle or a bear, there would soon be no fish left in the world. I’m glad the Creator made him a small creature and not too powerful."

“The bivalve has a remarkable ability to live underwater. Small swimming creatures can’t escape if they swim past his entrance, but if he could move around like other fish, with his immense strength and appetite for many fish, I believe the mother of all fish couldn’t provide enough to satisfy his insatiable hunger, for he keeps his doors open all day, letting in the creatures that swim by.”

“I had fish from the river last night for dinner, but I doubt they ever passed the bivalve’s place or he would have had them for his supper.”

“When the clam and the snipe teamed up, each [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] thought, ‘I have a lot of power; I want what you have, and I’ll take it from you, even if it means killing you.’”

“The snipe saw the bivalve’s door open and thought, ‘What nice white meat; I’ll take that,’ and he pecked at it. The bivalve shut his doors tight and held the snipe so he couldn’t escape.

“And they fought; each one trying to kill the other, until the hunter came and caught them both. Then the hunter took the snipe and the clam home and said to his wife, ‘We’re going to have a great dinner tonight.’ His wife looked and was very happy to have two such delicious things at once. The hunter said, ‘Cook the clam well, and let’s add some Tung-Ku2 and Cho-Chen-Cho3 with it. Save the shells and store them carefully to dry, and I’ll sell them to the guy who makes furniture for inlaying his tables.

“The pearls inside this clam will earn me a lot of money from the jeweler. I’ll invite my mom over for dinner. The clam is more than enough for all of us, and she’ll be happy. She’s never eaten clams before.”

“‘I won't kill the snipe. I want to keep it to show my son and nephew. Give it rice to eat and some [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] water to drink, and keep it in the cage. Tomorrow, I'll give it some fish, and in a few days, I'll take it to the school teacher. Then, once I train it to sing, I'll take it to the marketplace and sell it for a good amount of silver.’”

At the party the next evening, all the students shared stories. Finally, the teacher told the story of the fight between the swimming and flying creatures again.

“Now, I’m going to ask you a question,” he said to the students. “If the snipe is flying in the air, can a person catch it? And if the bivalve stays under the cave in the river, can a person harm it?”

And the students all said, “No, teacher.”

“Well, it was sad that the snipe and the bivalve got caught yesterday. Can you tell me why?”

“We don't know,” said the scholars.

And the teacher said, “They are happy and strong beings when they don’t hurt each other. The snipe soars in the sky, the bivalve swims in its ocean home, and each finds joy in its own way.

“Now you see these two creatures fighting together, the snipe and the bivalve, and they didn’t win by battling. The hunter is the only one who succeeded."

“It’s the same with the three nations currently at war. They [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]are like the hunter, the snipe, and the clam. They should be living in harmony. They lose their way when they battle each other.”

Then Yung-Moi drew a picture of the countries at war for his students.

"One and Three symbolize two nations at war with each other. One asks Two for permission to move an army through his territory to fight Three. While One's army is away, the people back home start fighting amongst themselves, leading to a civil war. Number Two takes advantage of this situation, and with One's army absent (who is trying to defeat Three), easily conquers One. Number Two then controls both nations One and Two, and with this added power, marches into Number Three’s territory and defeats him, resulting in all three countries now being under Number Two's control." [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One night the lion was really hungry, but since the animals in the wild knew and were scared of him from a distance, he couldn’t find any food. So he decided to visit the young mule that lived by the farmer's house, and when [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]he saw her, he smiled warmly and asked, “What do you eat, lovely Lii, that makes you so sleek and plump? What makes your coat so smooth and beautiful? I bet your owner feeds you fresh, tender grass and plump young pig.”

The mule replied, “No, I'm healthy because I'm calm. My coat looks nice because I don’t get into fights with other animals. But why are you here, Sii? Are you hungry? I think you’re looking for something to eat.”

The lion said, “Oh, no, I’m not hungry. I just walk around to enjoy the cool, fresh air. Plus, the night is really beautiful. The moon is up in the clear sky with the stars, creating a soft light, which is why I came to see you. Would you like to take a walk with me? I’ll take you to meet my friend, the pig. I never go to his house alone; I always bring a friend with me.”

The mule asked, “Should we go somewhere else?”

“Yes,” replied the lion, “I think we should go visit another friend of mine who lives nearby.”

Then the mule asked his mom, “Can I go with Sii to see his friend?”

“Who is his friend?” the mother asked.

“The farmer's pig,” said the mule.

“I don’t think it’s a problem if you only go there,” said the mother mule. “But you mustn’t go anywhere else [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]with Sii. I’ve heard the hunter is looking for him, so you need to be careful. Don’t trust him completely, because I’m worried he’ll try to lead you somewhere else or into something wrong. If I let you go, you need to come home before midnight. The moon will still be out, and you’ll be able to see your way.”

So the lion and the mule went to see the pig who lived in a house in the farmer’s yard. But as soon as the pig saw the lion, he shouted loudly for his mother.

The lion said, “He’s scared of me. I’ll hide, and you can go in first.”

When the pig saw that the mule was by itself, he figured the lion had left. He swung his door open wide and was really welcoming to the mule, saying, “Come in.”

But the lion jumped out from his hiding spot and caught the pig as he approached the door. The pig called out to his mother in sheer panic. And the mule pleaded with the lion, saying, “Please let the poor little creature go free.”

But the lion said, “No way, I have a bunch of pigs at my place. It’s better for him to come with me.”

Then the lion picked up the pig, and the mule trailed behind. Before long, they reached a spot where a handsome dog was lying on some hay behind a net. The lion didn’t seem to notice the net, as he dropped the pig and attempted to catch the dog, who cried out loudly for mercy. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

But the lion said to the silly mule, “Look how disrespectful the dog is to us. We came to visit him, and he’s making a loud fuss and trying to alert the hunter so he can chase us off. I’ve never felt so insulted. Come here, Lii-Tsze, right now and help me!”

The mule approached the lion, and the net dropped, trapping them both. At dawn, the hunter arrived and discovered the mule and the lion in his net. The mule pleaded sincerely, saying, “Hunter, you know me and you know my mother. We are your friends and we mean no harm. Please, set me free, oh hunter, set me free!”

The hunter said, “No, I won’t let you go. You might be good, but you’re with bad company and have to deal with the consequences. I’ll take you and the lion to the marketplace and sell you for money. That’s my right. I’m a hunter. If you get caught in my net, that’s your problem. If I catch you, that’s my problem.”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): Bad company is a risky thing for both people and animals. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Confucius had spent countless days teaching people about righteousness. One day, he said to himself:

“I've been teaching for many years, and now I’m going to take a break for a [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] while.” He thought for a few days and said, “Where can I go to find some peace?” Then he talked to Tsze-Lu, Yen-Yuen, and Tsze-Kong, his loyal students, saying, “I've been considering taking a three-moon break to visit Tai-San Mountain, but I don’t want to go alone. I’d like you to come with me. What do you think is the best spot on the mountain?”

“On the southwest side where the sun shines warmly and the wind doesn’t blow cold,” answered Tsze-Kong. And Tsze-Lu, Tsze-Kong, and Yen-Yuen went to their own rooms and planned the journey.

After ten days, Confucius and his students went to Tai-San Mountain to relax for three months; but even there, his students studied, as they brought their books along.

As Confucius walked on Tai-San Mountain, he said, “How amazing and beautiful are the things made by the Creator; even the trees, bushes, and flowers are beyond human understanding.” Then he went to the temple and saw the images of respected figures, and when he looked at the face of Dai-Yee, the Just, he said, “You are truly remarkable. We remember and honor you, and future generations will remember and honor you as well.”

When he had walked another half-mile, he got tired [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]and sat down under the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing tree, and soon he fell asleep.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. He woke up thinking his fellow students had arrived, but seeing no one there, he lay back down to sleep. Again, he heard the same noise, and looking up, he saw the Mön-Tien-Sing and the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing trees staring at each other; but they weren’t happy. The Mön-Tien-Sing looked angry, and in a fit of rage, she said to the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing, “If I were the Creator, I wouldn’t let you live. Year after year goes by, and you don’t grow. You eat a lot of food and have more space than I do, yet you still don’t grow. I’ve never heard of you doing anything good since you were born, and it’s said you’ve lived here for five hundred years. Your branches are twisted, and your bark is rough.

“You're not even pleasant to look at. Do you think people care about you? No, because you have neither flowers nor fruit. If people sit under your shade when the wind picks up, I bet your sharp, ugly leaves would fall on them and poke them.”

“It’s odd that the woodcutter hasn’t taken you down—such a useless thing. If I were the Creator, I wouldn’t let the sun shine on you, nor would I [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]give you rain to drink. I would make the wind blow fiercely until you fell down dead."

“You see, I have the sweetest flowers and everyone loves me. One day, two women walked by, and one of them said, ‘Mön-Tien-Sing, I really wish I could take you with me. You are so beautiful, but I’m afraid you don’t like me. Three times I’ve picked your flowers for my hair, but I was careless and brushed against a bush, causing all your lovely petals to fall to the ground. I wish I could take you to my garden so that you would grow there and bloom your beautiful flowers every third moon forever.’”

“My name is Mön-Tien-Sing, which means Flowers-every-three-moons. If you don’t know another meaning it has, I’ll tell you.”

“When you look up at the sky on a summer night, do you know how many stars there are? Even a person can't count a clear sky filled with shining stars. I am Mön-Tien-Sing. Mön means full; Tien means heaven; and Sing means stars:—‘sky filled with stars’—that is my name. I grow very quickly. Every three moons, I produce a thousand and a thousand flowers. I don’t need anyone to take care of me since I grow everywhere. Even the chickens and birds like me. They come to me, eat my seeds, and get fat.”

“If I were the Creator, the Mön-Tien-Sing would [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]grow everywhere in the world and fill the earth with its sweetness, but oh, I wish I could get away from you. I don’t even want to see you, and yet I have to stand by your side all the time. Your branches are too strong; when the wind blows, they come close and hurt me and ruin my beautiful flowers. I will pray to the Creator to send a woodcutter to take you down today—worthless, evil thing.”

The Fa-Nien-Ts’ing didn’t respond, even though he lowered his head in shame. He knew he was ugly, with sharp leaves and rough bark, but he told himself, “I know in my heart that someday, someone will appreciate me, too. The Creator made me, and he surely made me for a reason. I will be patient and wait.”

In about three months, the cold days arrived, and everything froze. The rivers were still, the flowers disappeared, and the trees and bushes lost all their leaves. But the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing held his head high and smiled bravely, keeping his leaves, which grew greener and greener. Then he said to himself, “The cool wind is good for me. The frost doesn’t harm me. I feel better. This is my happy time, because people like having green in their homes now. Today, they came to the mountain and found nothing else that was still green but my leaves." [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“A young man was about to get married. He couldn’t find any flowers. So he took some of my leaves and branches to decorate his house. The birds come to me for shelter from the cold wind and snow. They say the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing is a great home for them.”

“The winter is freezing, freezing every day, but I keep getting greener and greener. The woodcutter comes and stands next to me and says that I shield him from the cold wind. I know the Creator made me for something good.”

Then Confucius woke up. He looked up, down, and all around him. There was no living thing nearby except the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing and the Mön-Tien-Sing, and he said:

“It was a dream, but I definitely heard the Mön-Tien-Sing trying to argue with the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing. I know that worldly matters hold deep significance, and this is my lesson: I don’t want to be like the Mön-Tien-Sing, but I aspire to be like the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing.”

He got up and gently placed his hand on the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing and said, “You've been standing here for a long time, patient one. The cold heart of winter doesn’t change who you are any more than it does for birds, animals, people, or even your enemy, the Mön-Tien-Sing.

“The cold weather makes you stronger, as you blossom [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]like spring, and there isn’t any other tree, bush, or flower that can do this. When winter's frost arrives, where are the flowers, where are the leaves, where are all the beautiful growing things? Where is the grass, where is the green of the field? They are gone. The first cold winter wind of hardship takes them away one by one, but you alone can endure sorrow and become even more beautiful.”

“Your life is a lesson for me. I'm serving the king and the people, but not many like me now. Three kings have tried to kill me, even though my belief is to serve the world and help everyone."

"But kings won't pay attention to what I say, and my brothers try to push me away, like the Mön-Tien-Sing wanted to get rid of the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing. I went four days without food, surrounded by many enemies while the king exiled me. But I know it’s my responsibility to live and share my teachings in the world, even though it feels like winter for me and the harsh winds of hardship blow, while the hearts of my people seem hard and cold like blocks of ice. I hope to be like the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing and stand strong on the mountain of righteousness forever, so that I, Confucius, can bring goodness to a cold world."

“I would not be like the Mön-Tien-Sing. It’s adorned in the morning with beautiful flowers that [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]fall off by evening. It looks stunning for an hour, but it’s fragile compared to all others. It produces no fruit, and its flowers only last for a day, while the Fa-Nien-Ts’ing is resilient in heart and mind, even when the world is against him.”

[__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Man’s body is an amazing and incredible thing. His hands are strong for work; his feet are strong for walking; his nose can tell if things are good to eat; his ears hear clearly; his eyes help him see everything in the world and read books; his brain can think great [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]thoughts. So, we call the human body a perfect thing.

But one day the different parts of a man's body argued about their roles. The stomach faced many complaints. The hands and feet said, “We work all day and yet we get no credit. Do you know who we’re working for?”

The eyes said, “We find lots of chickens, fish, eggs, and plenty of rice and tea for our hunger. He takes everything without putting in any effort. He doesn’t even think about it. And even though he never does anything for us, we’re always working for him.”

Then they all agreed to stop working for just the stomach. They said, “Tomorrow we’ll tell the heart and let him decide1 who is to blame.”

So the next day, the tongue told the brain about it, and the brain said, “I’ll see the judge tonight.”

When the heart heard the story, it said, “Yes, you’re right. If all of you lie down and refuse to help the stomach; if you don’t give him any rice or meat to eat, or any tea to drink, he will learn that he can’t live without you.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

In a little while, the stomach craved food and said to the hands, “Get me a piece of fish, some rice, and a cup of tea.” The hands stayed silent and said nothing.

Then the stomach said to the feet, “Will you go out and have Men-Yen bring me a bowl of chop-suey-meen?2 I am hungry.”

The feet replied, “No, sir, we’re not working for you anymore.” And they lay down.

The stomach was hungry, but everyone said, “We don’t care; we won’t work for him.”

After a while, the eyes realized they couldn't see well; and in the theater next door, the drums were pounding loudly, but the ears couldn't hear. The heart asked, “How is the stomach doing?” The brain replied, “We’re no longer doing anything for him or helping him, and I think he’s going to die. I’m scared that I will die too, and that all the others will die as well. I don't think we did the right thing by abandoning the stomach. Don’t you think it would be best to tell the feet to go out and get some chop-suey for the stomach? If he had that, he might help us again. We're all definitely going to die without his support.”

But the foolish judge said, “Let him get his own food; let him do his own work.”

“He can't do that,” said the brain. “He lives in [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] a place with high walls around him, so he can't get out. The hands and feet have always brought his food to him.”

The judge asked, “Has he talked about it today?”

And the brain replied, “No.”

So they agreed to let the stomach handle itself for one more day.

But that night, they were all discovered dead together, as they couldn't live without one another.

This fable was recounted by the Chinese general, Tsii, to the Chinese emperor about twelve hundred years ago. The emperor was upset with a province of his own people and wanted to send this general, along with soldiers, to deal with them. However, the general refused to go, and in his discussion with the emperor, he used this fable to explain his reasons for disagreement and to demonstrate how each part is essential to the whole. This fable was translated into Japanese in 1891, and the Japanese have added the following Ee-sze (meaning):

The stomach represents the emperor. The hands, eyes, feet, and all other body parts symbolize the people. Once more, the stomach is like a mother, while the other parts are like the children.

So everyone needs to contribute to their [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]nation and Emperor. Every child should do something for their family and mother. These contributions are essential for the nation to be powerful and for the family to be strong and united.

[__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, a fox said to a crab, “Hey, little crawler, have you ever run in your life?”

“Yes,” said the crab, “I often scurry from the mud to the grass and back to the river.”

“Oh, come on,” said the fox, “that's barely a distance at all. How many legs do you have? I’ve only [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]four. Honestly, if I had as many legs as you, I’d be able to run at least six times faster than you do. Did you realize that you’re actually a pretty slow and foolish creature? Even though I only have four legs, I run ten times farther than you. I’ve never seen anyone with as many legs as you who runs so slowly.”

The crab said, “Would you want to race against a silly creature like me? I’ll try to run as fast as you. I know I'm small, so why don’t we go weigh ourselves and see how much heavier you are? Since you’re ten times bigger than me, you’ll obviously have to run ten times faster.”

“Another reason you can run so fast is that you have such a nice tail and keep it held up high. If you let me lower it, I don’t think you would be able to run any faster than I do.”

“Oh, fine,” said the fox, sneering, “do whatever you want, and this race will be so easy for me that I won’t even need to try. Your many legs and your foolish head don’t match at all. If I had my wits and all of your legs, there wouldn’t be any creature in the forest that could outrun me. As it stands, no one can outsmart me. I’m known for being clever. Even humans say, ‘Sly as a fox.’ So go ahead and do as you please, foolish one.”

“If you let me tie your beautiful tail down so [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]it stays in place,” said the crab, “I’m sure I can win the race.”

“Oh, no, you can’t,” said the fox. “But I’ll show you, even with your dumb, slow mind, that it won’t change anything. Now, how do you want me to hold my tail?”

Said the crab, “If you let me hang something on your tail to weigh it down, I’m sure you can’t run faster than I can.”

“Do whatever you want,” said the fox.

“Let me get closer,” said the crab, “and when I have it attached to your tail, I’ll say ‘Ready!’ Then you can begin.”

So the crab crawled behind and grabbed the fox’s tail with his pincers and said, “Ready!” The fox ran and ran until he got tired. And when he stopped, there was the crab next to him.

“Where are you now?” said the crab. “I thought you were supposed to run ten times faster than I do. You’re not even ahead of me with all your bragging.”

The fox, out of breath, lowered his head in shame and walked away, hoping never to see the crab again.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): A loud, arrogant mouth is worse for a man than it is for a fox. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, Mai-Qwai (Little Rose) ran home upset to her mother and said, “Mü-Tsing, I don’t want to be called Rose anymore. I was just in Dun-Qure’s garden, and she asked me, ‘Which flower do you like the most in our garden?’ and I told her I liked my name-flower the best. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“Then they all laughed and said, ‘We don’t. Can’t you see the thorns on the roses? When we walk by, they tear our dresses. When we touch them, our hands bleed. No, we don’t like the roses. The calf doesn’t like them either. They poke her nose when she tries to eat, and even mom can’t pick them without scissors. Once, when she had a big bunch of roses, little sister tried to get one and it pricked her hands and face, making her cry for hours. Other flowers don’t cause trouble like that, and we don’t understand why anyone likes the rose the most. We think it’s really silly to like a troublesome flower and be named after it.’”

“I don’t like my name, flower, Mü-Tsing, and I don’t want to carry its name anymore.”

“Don’t cry, sweetie,” her mom said, “and I’ll tell you some things about the rose. Do you like rose sugar?”1

“Yes, absolutely,” Rose replied, her face lighting up.

“And rose essential oil?”

“Oh, yes, Mü-Tsing.”

“I thought you didn’t like the rose. So you shouldn’t like the good things it creates.”

“But, Mü-Tsing, can you tell me why the rose god made [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]the rose grow with so many thorns? Other flowers don’t have that.”

“Listen, my dear child. If the rosebush were like other plants and still had its beautiful flowers, I think we would never get to enjoy any ourselves. They would be too easy to pick. The rose god was very wise and surrounded his beautiful flower with thorns. When he created it, he made it so sweet-smelling that all the gods paused their work the day it was done. The thorns signify, Respect the rose that blooms forever. Cows can’t touch it, pigs never go near it, and careless kids or wasteful people can’t destroy it. Do you see, dear, why the rose needs thorns?”

The next morning, Rose discovered a gorgeous new rose pillow in her room, crafted from sweet-smelling petals. As she rested her head on the fragrant pillow, she said, “Mü-Tsing, I don’t want to change my name.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Once, a mother eagle had a nest with three eggs in it, and she was very happy as she waited for her three chicks to hatch. But one day, two schoolboys, named Jeung-Po and Hui-Yin, who knew about her nest, were talking, and one of them said, [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]“Did you know that the eagle likes the rice birds?” The other boy replied, “No, she doesn’t; I’ve seen her chase them away.”

But the one named Jeung-Po said, “Not only can I make an eagle like a sparrow, but I can make them change their natures and live together.”

"You can't do that," answered Hui-Yin.

“Will you give me a silver coin if I can make the eagle act like the rice birds and befriend them?”

And Hui-Yin said, “Yes, I’ll give you a piece of silver if you do that, but I know you can’t.” And so they clapped hands.1

So Jeung-Po went out hunting, catching many birds, until he eventually came across a rice bird’s nest with five eggs in it. He took three of the eggs and placed them in the mother eagle’s nest, and then he took three eggs from the eagle’s nest and returned them to the nest of the rice bird.

In twenty-five days, the eagle’s nest had three baby birds in it, and Jeung-Po was happy. One day, he heard the mother eagle talking to her three babies:

“I don’t know why your feathers aren’t like mine, why your voices are so different, and why you are such tiny things. I’ll go and ask my oldest son to come [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]here tomorrow and see if he can explain why you are like this.”

On the next day, the eagle’s son came to visit his mother and said, “Mom, I’m happy to see my three little brothers, but their faces don’t look like yours or mine.”

“I know that what you’re saying is true,” said the eagle mother. “I wanted you to come so we could talk about this strange thing. You are my child, and they are mine too, but they aren’t like you and me.”

“I will see what they eat,” said the eagle son. Then he gave them a piece of meat, but they couldn’t eat it.

“They want rice all the time,” the eagle mom told him. “They won’t eat meat.” The mystery was so puzzling that the eagles couldn’t grasp it.

Soon the unusual nestlings were flying with their eagle mother. One day, she took them to a nice spot to play, and on their way back, they passed a rice bird who called out to them. The eagle mother said, “Don't go with him. Come with me.” But the little ones didn’t listen. When the rice bird said, “Chi-Chi,” and flew down to a rice field, the three little ones left their eagle mother and followed the rice bird.

The eagle mother called out several times, but her unusual children didn't come to her. Then she said to the [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]rice bird, “Why did my children respond to your call but not mine? How did you manage to teach them in one breath what I haven't been able to teach them their entire lives?”

And the rice-bird dad said, “They aren't your kids. They belong to the rice-bird mom. She's coming now; just wait and see.”

Soon sixteen rice birds flew nearby, and the eagle mother saw that they were all just like her children. The rice bird said, “You see, I told you so.”

“But they have to be my kids,” said the eagle mom. “I don’t get this because I’ve never had kids like them before. My other kids were like me, and they never acted this way. But I’ll take them home again and feed them, and when they get older, they might turn out like me and the rest of my family.”

“It will never happen,” said the rice bird. “I’m certain of it. Don’t hold out hope that these children will ever be eagles. They don’t eat meat; they eat rice. They instinctively know the rice bird’s call. They don’t speak the same language you do, nor do they sing the same songs. They are definitely rice birds, and you can’t keep them in your home for much longer.”

The eagle mother kept trying to call her kids, but all they said was, “Chic, chic,” which meant [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] that they wouldn’t come. She waited a long time, but they still wouldn’t go with her. Then she scolded the rice birds, saying, “You are a bad influence, and you’ve tempted my children to stay with you. Why don’t you tell them to come home with me, their mother? If you don’t stop your bad behavior, I’ll either eat you or chase you away.”

The eagle mother flew off by herself to the mountain, where she perched on a large rock and waited a long time for her chicks to return.

The night fell, but her little ones didn’t come back. Deep down, the mother eagle knew they were gone for good. She cried out in her sorrow all through the dark night. In the morning, she searched for a long time, but couldn’t find them. She told herself:

“This is a weird and terrible thing that has happened to me. I recall once hearing a bird argue that some of her chicks had left her in the same way, and she thought some naughty kid had swapped her eggs. She had six yellow chicks in her nest, and when they learned to fly, they flew off with the yellow songbirds. One day, she discovered her own chicks in a camphor tree. I hope that I can find my own children.”

Just then, she ran into the mother of the quarrel-birds, and she asked her, “How did you find your own kids?” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

And the quarrel-bird mother said, “I was walking by the camphor tree when I saw the little ones by themselves, and I asked, ‘What are you doing here?’ And they replied, ‘Eating nuts!’

“Do you like nuts?” I asked.

“Sure, sounds good.”

“‘Where did you come from?’ I asked.

“‘We came from the yellow-bird family.’”

“‘But you don’t look like the yellow birds.’”

“ ‘No, and we didn’t talk or eat like they did.’”

“Where's your home now?”

"‘We don't have a home.’"

“Why don’t you live with the yellow-bird mom?”

“‘We weren't happy there. The others don't eat or drink, nor do they sing like we do. We don't like them, and they don't like us.’”

“You are like me and mine,” I said to them. We looked at each other and saw the same feathers and the same color. Then they asked me where my home was, and I told them it was under a rock on Wu-Toa Mountain. So they followed me, and my home and my food made them happy. In some way—though we couldn't explain how—we felt deep down that we belonged to each other. And we were happy, happy.

The eagle mother thought a lot about the story of the quarrel-bird, and the next morning she left her nest [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] early and went into the wilderness to find her lost children. Along the way, she met a cousin eagle who asked her, “Why are you crying so much?”

The eagle mother replied, “I’ve lost three chicks. Have you seen any—lost in the wild? I couldn't sleep all night because I’m really worried.”

The eagle cousin said, “I saw three young eagles pass by here. They went to the Fah-Nim tree and ate its fruit. They were playing there and looked really happy.”

The eagle mom went to the Fah-Nim tree and saw three little eagles; and she said, “Kids, how did you get here?”

The little eagles responded, “We’re not your kids. Why do you call us? We haven’t had a mother since we were born. The rice bird abandoned us when we were young. She said we weren’t her children. Then an eagle showed up and fed us until we could fly.”

The eagle mother said, “You look like my older kids, and I think you’re mine. Do you want to come with me and see our home?”

Then the little eagles chatted and said, “She’s really nice to us. We don’t know her, but we could go check out her home.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

So they went, and in that eagle mother's house, they quickly recognized her as their mother, and she recognized her own children.

And Jeung-Po lost the money because it was clear that he couldn't change nature. Each bird returned to its own kind. The eagle is always an eagle, and the rice bird is always a rice bird.

Ee-Sze (Meaning): The good cannot coexist with the evil; light cannot become darkness, nor can darkness become light. White is always white and black is always black. A rice bird is always a rice bird and an eagle is always an eagle. Each is true to its own nature and kind. A person should not attempt to change the things that the Creator made unchangeable. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Woo-Hsing lived close to the market, and all the kids thought he was an amazing guy. He trained great dogs to do almost everything except talk. If someone wanted a dog trained, Woo-Hsing was the person to go to. Whether it was for hunting, performing [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] tricks in public, or going door to door—he could teach his dogs anything and everything. That’s why the kids saw him as such a wonderful man.

It was time for Woo-Hsing’s little boy to learn how to train dogs. So one day he brought home a very young dog from the market. Then he explained how the dog should be trained. It would take three years to teach him everything: to play soldier with a gun, to dance, to bow his head, to kneel, to play churn the rice, 1 to swim with a boy on his back, or to take a basket and go from door to door begging for rice and money for his master. Even then, his training wouldn't be complete until he could hunt foxes, gibbons, mouse-deer, and other animals.

Woo-Hsing’s little boy was named Yiong-Yueng, which in Chinese means “Forever.” The reason for the name was this: Woo-Hsing had been blessed with many sons, but they all died young. So when the last one was born, he named him Forever, saying, “He will live a long time, and I won’t be childless.”

Yiong-Yueng called his dog Hsi-Long, which means “for fun.” He was a very smart dog and learned so [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]many tricks in no time that he was known and admired by all the boys in the area.

One day, a group of kids walking home from school ran into Hsi-Long on the road. They all yelled, “Look, it’s Yiong-Yueng’s dog! Let’s have some fun and make him show us all his tricks!”

So one boy said, “Hey, Hsi-Long! Come here,” but the dog didn’t even pay attention to him. Then another boy grabbed his tail because he wouldn’t listen; Hsi-Long bit the boy’s finger and growled, and the boy ran home crying.

Another boy said, “Watch me. I'm going to make him carry me on his back for a swim in the water like he does with Yiong-Yueng;” and he grabbed Hsi-Long roughly and tried to drag him into the water. But the dog tugged on his clothes and growled so fiercely that the boys scattered and ran home.

One of the boys, Ah-Gum, told his mom what happened and how mad they all were at the dog, who they thought deserved a beating. “When Yiong-Yueng has guests, Hsi-Long kneels and bows and shows off all his tricks for him; why wouldn’t he do them for us, Ah-Ma? How can we get him to do the tricks for us?”

“Well, my son,” said his mother, “you wanted the dog to do a lot for you. Have you ever done [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]anything for the dog? You are a stranger to him. Did you ever give him anything to eat or drink?

“Try this,” the mother said. “Tomorrow, take a bowl of rice, add a bit of meat and gravy, and give it to the dog. Speak kindly to him and pet him. Do this two or three times, and he will definitely start to like and trust you. After that, he will do everything he knows how to do for you.”

"You'll see that people in the world are pretty much the same, my son. Don't expect others to do things for you if you don't do anything for them; that's not fair. You have to give if you want to receive, and it's better to give first." [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The Kwung-Lun Mountain is incredibly high—over ten thousand feet. Most of the time, its peak is shrouded in clouds, and since it was formed, no one has managed to find a way to climb up to where they can see the face of the great Kwung-Lun. Eagles and the San-Chi birds always inhabit this majestic mountain. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, Kwung-Lun talked to the nearby Tai-San Mountain and said, “I am the tallest mountain in the world. I’m the steepest and most respected of all the mountains around here. The farmers come to me; from morning until the evening sun, they come and take the big rocks from my base. And from the first light of day until night falls around my peak, the birds sing for me. I have the San-Chi birds. They have the most beautiful feathers in the world. They shine in the sun and have a different kind of beauty under the moon. People pay more gold for this feather than any other on earth. The San-Chi is mine. I take care of it, and it always lives with me.

“Yesterday, a teacher and his students came here, and I heard him share this story about Confucius:—

“ ‘One day, Confucius was speaking with the young King Loa-Bai, and he asked the king, “Have you ever been to Kwung-Lun Mountain?” The [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]king replied, “No.” Then Confucius showed him a beautiful fan made of feathers from the San-Chi birds. “Have you ever seen feathers like these?” he asked.

“ ‘ “I am a king and I have seen many things,” said the young king, “but I have never seen colors so incredibly beautiful. I will give you one thousand pieces of silver if you bring me a fan like this one.”

“ ‘And Confucius answered, “If I can get you to do one thing that I really want, I’ll give you the fan, because I don’t want to sell it. I can’t just take money for it since it was given to my respected ancestor, my great-great-grandfather. But as I mentioned, if you follow my advice on a particular matter, you can have the fan.”

“ ‘I’ll take your advice,’ said the young king. ‘What do you want me to do?’

“ ‘ “You’re a king2 with great strength,” Confucius said. “You have more soldiers than any other king. But if you were a lion, you wouldn’t kill all the other animals in the wild just to prove your strength. Or, if you were the biggest fish in the waters, you wouldn’t swallow all the weaker fish.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“The young king replied, “No, I wouldn’t! If I were a lion, I would allow all the weaker animals to dance before me in joy and safety.”

“‘“You’re a strong and great king,” said Confucius. “Other kingdoms are weaker than yours. Their kings don't want to fight unless they have to. If you take my advice and don’t force them into war for six years, you'll receive many gifts from these kingdoms. You’ll get this amazing fan made from the feathers of one hundred and twenty San-Chi birds, along with gold and ivory that’s beautifully carved; and you’ll receive gems of many colors, battle horses, and bears’ feet.3 If you follow my advice, the other nations will give you these things.”’

“ ‘ “How soon will I get these things?” the young king asked.

“‘“In one year,” Confucius replied, “you will have them. I need time to go back to the rulers of these kingdoms.”

“‘So the king agreed to do what Confucius wanted; and Confucius said, “I’m giving you my fan now, and if in a year it turns out as I said, the fan is yours. But if you start a war with any other nation during that time, you have to give the gift back to me.”’

“ ‘Then Confucius went to meet the leaders of the [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]weaker kingdoms, and four of them promised peace and sent gifts to the young king. But one of the kings refused to pay tribute and wouldn’t say when he would start a war.

“ ‘When nearly a year had gone by, the young king told Confucius, “Only four kings have sent me gifts. Does the other nation want war, or will its king send me a gift like the others have?”

“‘ “Will you not accept my fan as a gift from me, and let the small, weak nation be?” said Confucius.

“Then the king got really angry. He ripped his long robe and said, “I’m going to destroy the nation that’s my enemy. We're going to have war now.”

“‘‘The year of your promise isn’t over yet,” Confucius said. “If you do that, you have to return the priceless fan.” The young king handed Confucius his fan and walked away.

“The king told his general to get ready for war. But just a few hours later, he regretted his decision because he valued Confucius's fan more than gold or jewels. He instructed his general to stop preparing for battle. He also ordered that a good speaker be sent with this message to Confucius.”

“ ‘I, the king, feel deeply troubled. I want you to come to me and bring with you the fan that I value [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]more than any gem. I won’t fight against the weaker kingdom.’”

“ ‘I have important work and can't come today,’ replied Confucius, ‘but I will see the king tomorrow.’

“Then the king was very happy again, because he really wanted to have the fan.

“‘When the next day came, the king sent the most esteemed chair (carried by eight men) and went himself to meet Confucius, who held the priceless fan in his hand, for he clearly understood the young king's intentions.

“ ‘And when he got closer, the king couldn’t see Confucius. He only saw the bright colors of the fan he wanted so badly. Confucius said, “I thought you were going to destroy the weaker nation. Why do you want me to come here?”

“Then the king bowed to Confucius and said, “I was wrong. I've thought about this a lot, and I will take your advice and maintain peace. Now, can you give me the fan?”

“ ‘ “No, you can't have the fan based on the agreement you broke, because when you sent me away, you were gearing up to attack the weaker nation,” said Confucius.

“ ‘And the young King fell to the ground with his face down, and his attendants rushed to help him. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“ ‘ “If you make a new agreement,” Confucius said, “and promise that you will never be the first to go to war, I will give you this fan that you really want.”

“ ‘The young king made the deal. And Confucius gave him the fan. The king thought to himself, “This fan means more to me than many kingdoms. In all of humanity, there’s nothing else so beautiful. My heart has longed for this amazing fan made of San-Chi feathers and featuring this rare carving above all else.” ’ ”

When the Kwung-Lun Mountain shared this story with the Tai-San Mountain, he said, “Even though I have the San-Chi birds, the most beautiful of all creation, it’s strange to me that thousands upon thousands of people bow their heads and worship you, while I stand here and am barely acknowledged.”

“You don’t offer anything significant to the people. You lack beauty. You’re not tall or impressive. Your head isn’t above the clouds. You can’t see the dark, secret caves of thunder or the hidden origins of the storm. You’ve never given feathers, more stunning than flowers, to a king. Why do people worship you instead of me? The hunter [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] comes to me, and the farmer takes my stones, but they forget me, the giver. Now, tell me honestly, why do people love and worship you instead of me?”

And the Tai-San Mountain replied, “Let me explain why. You are very arrogant. You are rigid, cold, and proud, from your base to your peak. You lack kindness. Children can’t play at your feet. In the summer when people come to harvest fruit and grain, you offer them nothing; and they can’t come to you to gather the San-Da. It hurts their feet to walk among your rocks and stones. No one can visit you. You don’t welcome them. How can they show you worship?”

“I’m more humble and gentle. Birds come to me to build their nests, and people always gather around me in the summer. My heart is open, and everyone knows me well and loves me.”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): The proud and the gentle coexist in the world. However, the gentle and loving experience a happiness that the proud cannot comprehend. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

One day, Ah-Fou’s dad said to him, “Come here, my boy, and I’ll tell you a story. Do you remember the huge lion we saw one day that Ah-Kay caught? You know, a strong rope held him, and he roared and tried to break free until he died. Then, when Ah-Kay took him out of the net, he looked closely at the rope and the [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]bamboo and found that five of the strong ropes were broken.

“How strong is the lion? Twenty kids like you couldn't break one strand of that huge rope. But the lion broke five whole ropes. He’s the strongest of all animals. He catches many creatures for food, but once he lost a fight with one of the smallest animals in the wild. Do you know what it was?”

“A bird could fight and then fly away. Was it really a bird?”

"No, my child."

“A man is stronger than a lion.”

“No, don’t you remember the woodcutter who could take on five strong men? One night, a wild lion caught and killed him.”

“Then what was the tiniest of all the wild creatures that faced off against a lion?”

The father said, “I’ll tell you a story: Once in the summer, the lion was really thirsty. But the sun had dried up all the water near the lion’s home, so he went to a bunch of places looking for it. Eventually, he found an old well, but the water wasn’t fresh. Since the lion was extremely thirsty, he said, ‘I have to drink, even if the water is stale.’”

“But when he reached down into the old well, he [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]found that it was the home of all the mosquitoes in the wilderness.

“The mosquitoes said to the lion, ‘Leave us alone, we don’t want you here. This is our home and we’re happy. We don’t want the lion, the fox, or the bear to come here. You’re not our friend. Why are you here?’”

“The lion roared and said, ‘Weak and foolish beings! I am the lion. It’s you who should leave, because I’ve come to drink. This is my territory, and I am the king. Do you know, weaklings, that when I emerge from my lair and roar, all the creatures of the wilderness tremble like leaves and bow their heads to me? Who are you to claim a home and tell me what I can or can’t do?’”

“Then the mosquitoes replied, ‘You are just one. You talk as if you are many. Our kind has called this old well home long before your noise was heard in the wild. Many generations of us have been born here. This home is ours, and we decide who can come or go. And yet you come and tell us to leave our own place. If you don’t leave us alone, we’ll summon our people, and you’ll find out what trouble is.’”

“But the lion held his head high with pride and anger and said, ‘What are you, oh tiny one? I will wipe out all of your useless people. When I drink, I will only open my mouth a little wider, and you shall [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] be swallowed up like the water. And tomorrow, I will forget that I drank today.’”

“ ‘Arrogant one,’ said the mosquitoes, ‘we don’t believe you can wipe out all our kind. If you want a fight, let’s see. We know your name is powerful and that all animals show you respect; but our kind can take you down.’”

“The lion leaped high in his anger and said, ‘No other animal in the wild has dared to speak to me—the king—like this. Have I come to the disgusting well of the foolish mosquitoes for advice?’ He raised his head proudly, let out a fierce battle roar, and prepared to strike down all the mosquitoes."

“Then the mosquitoes, big and small, buzzed around him. Many flew into his ears, the tiniest ones got into his nose, and the large old ones entered his mouth to sting. Thousands and thousands hovered in the air just above his head, making a loud noise, and the lion soon realized that he couldn’t win.”

“He roared and jumped, and two of his front feet went into the well. The well was narrow and deep, and he couldn’t get out, because his two hind feet were in the air and his head was hanging down. And as he died, he said to himself:

“ ‘My pride and anger have led me to this outcome. If I had spoken kindly, the mosquitoes might have [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]provided me with water for my thirst. I was smart and strong in the wild, and even the mightiest animals were scared of my power. But I battled the mosquitoes and now I die—not because I lack the strength to win, but because of the foolishness of anger.’ ”

Ee-Sze (Meaning): The wise can overcome the foolish. Power means nothing, strength means nothing. The wise, kind, and careful will always prevail. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Six hundred years ago, the people of Southern China trained elephants and taught them to perform various tasks. They assisted farmers and woodcutters, and helped maintain the roads twice a year; an elephant could do significantly more work than any other animal. The elephants were so intelligent that people became superstitious [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] about them, believing they could see into the depths of a person's heart.

A judge named Ko-Kia-Yong had an elephant that was trained to do amazing things, or so they said. Three cases that came before him were decided by a wise old elephant he owned. Here’s how one of the decisions was made:

A man stood before the judge and said that some robbers had broken into his house during the night and had stolen all his gold and jewels—everything he had. He asked the judge to find and punish the thieves.

In three months, five robbers were caught. When they were brought before the judge, they bowed down to him and each one said, “I’ve never stolen anything.”

The man and woman who had been robbed were called. And the woman said, “That guy with the long gray hair is the one who robbed us.”

The judge asked, “Are you sure it’s him, and how do you know?”

She replied, “Yeah, I remember. He took the bracelet off my arm and I looked into his face.”

"Did the other four rob you too?" the judge asked.

The woman replied, “I don’t know.”

But the judge said, “The man you claim is a robber doesn’t seem like one to me. His face is kind and [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]gentle. I can’t make a decision based on your testimony. I know only one way to find out, and we’ll soon know the truth in this matter. I’ll have my elephant brought in to examine the men. He can read a person’s mind and heart; those who aren’t guilty have nothing to fear because he will certainly know who committed this crime.”

Four of the men looked happy.

They were stripped and stood naked—except for the cloth—before the judge and the nation's laws, and the elephant was brought in.

Then the judge said to the elephant, “Check out these guys and tell us which one is the thief.” The elephant touched each of the five accused men with his trunk, from their heads to their feet.

And the old man with white hair and the three others stood still, laughing at the elephant with happy expressions; they felt in their hearts that they were innocent and believed the elephant knew that too. But the fifth man trembled with fear, and his face changed to several colors. While the elephant was inspecting him, the judge said, “Do your duty,” and struck the bench loudly. The elephant took the guilty man and threw him down on the floor, dead.

Then the judge said to the four innocent men, “You can leave now.” And to the woman, he warned, “Be careful about who you accuse.” Then he turned to the elephant, [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] “Food and water are ready for you. I hope you live a long time and help me make wise judgments.”

After this, many wise men who weren't superstitious went to the judge and said:

“We know that your elephant can't read the heart and mind of a person. What kind of food do you give him and what do you teach him? A person lives only from sixty to one hundred years and knows very little. How could an elephant read a person's heart, something that a person can't even do? Did the spirit of a dead person become wise and enter that elephant? We ask that you explain.”

And Ko-Kio-Yong, the wise judge, laughed and said, “My elephant eats and drinks like other elephants. I’m sure he can’t tell a robber from an honest person, but that’s a belief among our people. The honest person believes it and is unafraid because they’ve done nothing wrong. The thief believes it and is filled with dread. A trial before the elephant is just a confession out of fear.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The people of the northern nation were giving King Ting Ming Wong a lot of trouble, so one day he ordered his general, Gui Süt Yun, to declare war on them. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

The brave general got ready to march north immediately. He led an army of twenty-five thousand cavalry, followed by one thousand infantry.

By the time they got to Mau Tin Lang, the soldiers were really tired since they had been marching for ten days. They were ordered to take a three-day rest before moving on.

The weather was really warm, and on the second day there was no water left, not even to drink. The soldiers dug wells in various spots, hoping to find water; but each time they were let down.

A report was then made to the general, Gui Süt Yun, stating, “The men and horses are close to dying from lack of water.”

Then the general sent out many men in different directions within a ten-mile radius to look for water.

The next morning, two hundred men were dead, and there was still no water to be found.

Then the general, Gui Süt Yun, said, “We will all die here if we can't find water. If it's within a hundred miles, I’ll find it.” He then got on his favorite war horse and rode until both he and the horse were about to collapse from the relentless thirst. He tried to feed his horse some green leaves, but he was weak and suffering, so he lay down to rest and sleep. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] He cried out in anguish. Then he looked up to the sky and said:

“Has our king committed a serious mistake, or have our soldiers done something wrong? Why should we die here in a foreign land? While I rest and sleep here, may a spirit guide me to a way out of this great trouble.

“It’s possible that if the northern kingdom is correct, we’ll die here without even fighting. But if we’re right, this shouldn’t be happening. When we first arrived, there was plenty of water. Why did the ground absorb all the water and leave us to perish? As I sleep, may a spirit reveal the meaning of all this.”

Then he fell asleep. He dreamed of a giant ant in the wilderness, and a bird swooped down to eat the ant. But the ant spoke up and said, "I know you birds are always trying to eat our kind. But it’s not fair for one creature to eat another. You could easily overpower any ant and eat it if you wanted, but humans are in charge of this world. When the hunter comes, you can't escape his arrow or net."

“It’s not right for one creature to be against another. You go your way, and I’ll go mine, so I can find food for my kids.”

“I have one hundred and fifty eggs in my nest right now, and I hope they all hatch soon. Then my kids [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]will rely on me to take care of them. They will all die if you eat me, their parent. The earth has plenty of grain, wheat, and rice. That's enough for your food.”

Then the bird replied, “Tell me what makes you so wise. I’m a bird. I’m way more beautiful than you, and I have a lovely song. All the kids love me. It's true, as you said, that hunters sometimes catch my kind. But there are lots of people who keep birds in their homes and teach them to sing. Then they take us to the concert hall or theater where they earn money from our songs.

“One member of the bird family delivers messages for people, and our feathers are used to make feather balls for kids to play with. So you see, birds are really useful. But when it comes to ants, I can’t understand how they’re useful to people or animals.”

“Oh, you’re wrong,” said the ant sincerely. “Do you see this general here? He needs my help right now. Do you know why he’s lying here? He and his war horse are close to dying because they don’t have any water. Soon, over a thousand soldiers will be dead. Then the northern nation will take over this general’s nation, and his people will be left without a country. But I will save them.”

“Long ago, our people saved a nation. There was a war between the eastern and western nations, and [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] the general, Hai Hau, almost died from lack of water, just like this general is right now. But my people always build their homes near water, and he followed their path, and they led him to water and saved many lives.”

Then the bird opened its mouth and laughed mockingly, “Chic, Chic, I don’t believe that story. You’re not telling the truth. I know of something really terrible your people have done, and I’m going to tell you about it.

“Once, men built a huge tower on North Mountain, but it quickly fell back down. After a while, they figured out what caused the problem. It wasn’t the wind, the storm, the rain, or even the earthquake that brought the tower down. It turned out that ants had eaten the wood, which made it break and collapse.”

“Birds don’t cause trouble in the world. Ants do. But I’ll give you a fair warning: if you don’t do this good thing you claim you will, I’ll eat you right away.”

The ant replied, “You’ll see that I can save this general, his troops, and his horses.”

The ant then went straight to the general’s ear and said to him, “Do you remember General Hai Hau who got lost in this wilderness? If you head into the forest, you’ll see a dark path filled with my people. They will guide you to their nests near the large cave spring [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]in the wilderness, named Hai Hau after the general who discovered it. It’s just half a mile from here.”

Then the general, Gui Süt Yun, woke up and said, “That’s odd, but I definitely heard an ant and a bird talking while I was sleeping. Where’s my map? I had no idea about the Hai Hau cave.”

He discovered the big cave spring, and he and his horse had a drink. Then he rushed back to the soldiers, and they were saved. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

There were thirty-five students at the school in Qui-Chu, and three of them were girls. The boys played on their own while the three girls played together.

One day the teacher said to his mother, “I think I [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]will have the girls wear boys’ clothes next year, if they come to school.”

“Why are you going to do this?” his mother asked.

“Because the boys don't like the girls at school. They won't play, read, or write with them. They tease them and laugh at them. I'm afraid the girls will have to leave the school next year, and they are only nine years old. But we’ll see.”1

When the next year came, the mother was ready to do what her son suggested. She took some fabric and made boys' clothes for the three girls, which she dressed them in to see how they'd look as boys.

When the girls were all dressed up, they looked at each other and laughed. “What are you going to do about the ear-holes, grandma?” they asked. “The boys will definitely figure out we’re girls.”

The mother called her son and asked him, “What should we do about the ear-holes? They look like boys [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] now, except for that one thing. I'm worried the girls can't go to school.”

“I'll look into it,” her son replied. He thought a lot over the next two days. Then he went to find an old doctor in the nearby village, far enough away so that no one would recognize him. He asked the doctor, “Is it possible to close up the ear holes so that girls’ ears look like boys’?”

“Oh, sure,” the doctor replied, “I can do that if you pay me.” Then he came and put something in the ear holes and colored it to match the skin, and the grandmother was happy to send the girls to school.

But the teacher forgot and called them by girls' names. The others laughed at the three boys with silly names, but they didn’t seem to remember them.

Five or six months passed, and the boys still hadn’t realized that the three scholars with the pretty names were the girls from last year. Then one boy approached the teacher and asked, “Why do those boys have girls’ names? I want to know.”

The teacher paused for a moment and said, “Lily—Beauty—Moon. That boy was named Lily, I believe, because he turned so red2 when he was a tiny baby. His mother thought he should be called ‘Red,’ but [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] that isn’t a pretty name for a baby, so they decided on Lily instead.

“Don’t you think the name Beauty fits him? He’s the cutest guy in school. I bet his mom called him Beauty because he was such an adorable baby. He’s as pretty as a girl. I think it’s only right that he’s called Beauty. Moon’s name suits him too. You know he’s gentle and fair. Have you ever seen a kinder guy in school? I think he’s always been really gentle and nice, so that’s why his mom gave him that name. All his friends like him just like they do the moon.”

The boy ran away and told the other students what his teacher had said about the three boys with the pretty names.

New Year arrived, and each boy had to write his name on a piece of paper and give it to the teacher so he could assign them their school names.3 Eight chose the name Beauty, and seventeen opted for Moon, while the rest wanted to be called Lily. They hoped the teacher would let them use those as their school names.

In the summer, the students had a break and the teacher went away for a while.

One day, they were all at the playground playing “Theater.” They chose nine of the cutest boys, painted red and white on their faces, dressed them like girls, and bound their feet to make them look smaller. Six boys wore fake beards. Then, they stacked chairs and tables high to create a mountain, and the boys with bound feet were supposed to cross over to the other side. The boys who had to climb over the mountain from the opposite side were careless, and when they all met at the top, they tumbled down in a pile. One boy broke his arm, another broke his finger, and one hurt his eye. The other boys didn’t stick around to help or see what they could do for the injured. Everyone except the three girls, who were dressed like boys, ran away in fear, leaving the hurt kids lying on the ground.

One girl ran to get the doctor. The other two stayed behind, giving water to the injured, fanning their faces, keeping the flies away, and caring for them like little mothers. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

In a few minutes, the doctor arrived. He asked, “What were you doing, guys?” The boys were so hurt and scared that they couldn’t speak, but the girls explained how it all happened.

The doctor wrapped up the broken arm and finger and treated the bruised eye. He was a skilled doctor and said, “These boys need to stay still for several days. They can't move without my permission; so who is willing to take care of them?”

“We'll help,” said the three girls.

*   *   *

The teacher returned and school started up again. When he called out the names of the students, they gave the ones they liked best—Lily, Beauty, and Moon—just like before, but the teacher said, “No, these names are all wrong.

“There is only one Lily, one Beauty, and one Moon in this school now. You boys can’t use the names I gave you. You had beautiful names, but your actions were not beautiful.

“You ran away when your classmates were in pain. You felt no sympathy for them. If it weren't for Lily, Beauty, and Moon, they would have perished. These names have significance. Beauty makes the world a nicer place for us to inhabit. The Moon shines and provides us with [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]soft light. The Lily offers us beauty and lovely scents.”

“Your actions didn't match the names. After this, when guys want those names, they have to do something to earn them.”

[__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

In the San-Wui district, in the garden of a wealthy merchant, lived the Lon-da-Tang1 (rattan vine) and the Mui-Kwi (rose tree).

One day, the rose tree asked the rattan vine, "Lon-da-Tang, how do you grow so quickly? [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__] What do you eat that lets you go wherever you want? Nothing seems to harm you. Nothing seems to stop you, not even the stone fences or the clay roofs. You have no fear, and there seems to be no danger for you. You don’t mind the heat of the sun when he’s close in the summer. The rain falls heavily from dark clouds in the sky, and you’re not scared. The wind blows hard and pushes our heads to the ground, but you don’t seem to care at all.”

Then the Lon-da-Tang, with a proud and cheerful summer face, replied to the rose tree, “Mui-Kwi-Si2 (Mrs. Rose Tree), you should be made to leave this garden. I wouldn't let you grow here if I were in charge.

“I've known you for five or six years. The master planted you in the ground and gave you plenty of soil to grow in. He waters you every morning. In the winter, he provides you with a cover and a bed of straw. He trims your branches and takes care of you in many ways. And yet, you don’t grow. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

“You're nine years old now and only five or six feet tall, while I’m just four years old and my branches stretch for thousands of feet. You grow a few flowers in the summer, and that’s all you can manage. You have no fruit and not many leaves. You just stand in the garden and do nothing helpful. You should be embarrassed. Do you see my branches? Even though I’ve only been here for four years, I already reach over this house and I'm climbing the fence on the other side. Next year, I’m going to cover another house.”

“The master likes me in the summer because I keep the hot sun off the roof and make his house cool. The kids like me, too. Sometimes they climb onto my branches and swing. And the fence likes me because I cover it so thickly that I protect it from the kids and the pigs. The birds build their nests high in my branches, and they like me, too. The bugs like me because I give them a home, and they feed on my leaves. So the master knows that I’m good for many things.”

“The birds won’t come to you because you’re so small; they can’t build a nest on you. The master’s wife doesn’t care much for you because you have so many thorns that she struggles to gather your flowers. You’re pretty, but who cares? The fence is high, and no one sees you. And so you just stand there and do nothing.” [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]

Then the rose tree replied, “Lon-da-Tang, with all your bragging, you can't even stand on your own. At least I can do that. I know I’m not big, and the birds don’t build their nests in me. I can’t grow as fast as you, but my offspring are known all over the world and are called the sweetest of all flowers.”

“And besides, I’m independent. I don’t rely on anyone else. If your house or your fence falls down, where will your empty bragging get you?”

“I don't care what you say about me, whether you think a rose is good or bad, strong or weak. I don't want to depend on the fence or roof like you do. Someday, when the house and fence get old, they'll fall down, and what will you do then?”

Soon after this, a huge storm hit. In San-Wiu, many houses were partially destroyed and the fences collapsed. The roof of the merchant’s house was ripped off. The once-proud rattan vine, Lon-da-Tang, was snapped in several places, and its head lay low on the ground.

But the rose tree stood strong. And she laughed and said to the rattan, “I told you it was risky to rely on others and never learn to stand on your own. I wouldn’t trust any house or fence to hold me up. I’d rather be independent. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]I grow all the leaves, stems, and flowers I want, and so I stand here forever. The north wind comes and I bow my head to the south. Then the south wind comes and opens my beautiful flowers. I am the rose tree, and in my own strength I stand.”

The following new Ee-Sze has been added to this old story:

Ee-Sze (Meaning): China and its people should be like a rose bush. We need to depend on ourselves. We’re better learners than fighters; there was a time when we ran into trouble and turned to Japan for help. Later, when we had issues with Japan, Russia said she would assist us. But she turned out to be even worse, wanting to take our land away and make us a nation without a home. [__A_TAG_PLACEHOLDER_0__]