LESSON 4 A CHINESE TEACHER

A CHINESE TEACHER

1. Children in China are taught about a good and wise man who lived in that country many, many years ago.

2. The lessons he taught to his scholars were good at that time, and are just as good to-day.

3. Here are some of them. "Do as you would be done by." "Learn as much as you can, for in wisdom lies true joy." "Form good habits in youth; it will be easy then to live well in manhood."

4. "Your duty is to live well and to act honestly by your friends." "Take care of your father and mother in old age, as some return for the care they gave to your youth."

5. "Be true to your promise, be temperate [1] , be diligent [2] , so will you find peace."

6. Walking out one day with his pupils, this teacher came to a poor woman who was weeping bitterly.

7. He asked the cause of her grief. She told him that she had lost father, husband, and son within a few weeks by the attacks of a fierce tiger.

8. The teacher asked her why she did not move from a place where there was so much danger. She replied [3] that here she could live in peace, because the ruler of the country was a man with a kind heart.

9. "See," said he, turning to his scholars, "to the shame of mankind be it said, a cruel ruler is feared more than wild beasts."

10. The name of this wise teacher was Confucius.

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Early to bed, and early to rise,

Makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.

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[1] be temperate: Avoid excess; be careful not to overdo anything.

[2] diligent: Industrious; steady at work.

[3] replied: Answered.