Chinese Æsop:

One day, an old priest stopped at a wayside inn to rest, spread out his mat, and sat down with his bag. Soon afterwards, a young fellow of the neighbour- hood also arrived at the inn ; he was a farm-labourer and wore short clothes, not a long robe like the priest and men who read books. He took a seat near to the priest and the two were soon laughing and talking together. By and by, the young man cast a glance at his own rough dress and said with a sigh, " See, what a miserable wretch I am." " You seem to me well fed and healthy enough," replied the priest ; " why in the middle of our pleasant chat do you suddenly complain of being a miserable wretch ? " " What pleasure can I find," retorted the young man, " in this life of mine, working every day as I do from early morn to late at night ? I should like to be a great general and win battles, or to be a rich man and have fine food and wine, and listen to good music, or to be a great man at

Gan Luo was a famous child prodigy in the State of Qin, he became Prime Minister at age 12, and was youngest Prime Minister in the whole Chinese history. At the time, Gan Luo's grandfather was the Prime Minister. Once he offended the King of Qin. The King of Qin created an impossible task for Gan Mao. He wanted Gan Mao to bring him an egg produced by a cock. When Gan Luo learned about this problem, he offered to attend court on behalf of Gan Mao. The next day, Gan Luo attended court with other Ministers. The King of Qin was surprised to see him, and asked where Gan Mao was. Gan Luo replied, "He is at home now. He is giving birth." All the ministers roared with laughter. The King of Qin was furious. He slammed the table and said, "Nonsense! How can a man give birth?" "Since a man cannot give birth, how do you expect a cock to lay an egg? Gan Luo was quick to reply.

Fu Xi was the first of the Three Sovereigns of ancient China, who reigned B.C. 2953 — 2838. Fu Xi was born on the lower-middle reaches of the Yellow River in a place called Chengji. The land was swept by a great flood and only Fu Xi and his sister Nüwa survived. They retired to Kunlun Mountain where they prayed for a sign from the Emperor of Heaven. The divine being approved their union. Then Fu Xi and Nüwa found a way by using clay to create human figures, and made the clay figures to come alive. Fu Xi taught his opffsprings to cook, to fish with nets, and to hunt with weapons made of iron. He instituted marriage and offered the first open air sacrifices to heaven. Fu Xi developed the Eight Diagrams from the marks on the back of a tortoise.

孔融 K'ung Jung, died A.D. 208, a descendant of Confucius in the 20th generation. He has five elder brothers, and one younger brother. When K'ung Jung at four years of age was asked why he chose all the small pears and left the bigger ones for the rest of the family he replied, "I am a small boy, so I take the small pears."