Sima Guang Breaks the Vat

09/06/20 • 2 min

Sima Guang Breaks the Vat

Sima Guang was nine years old. He liked to play in his backyard with his friends Wang Wei, Li Na, and Zhang Yong.

One day, the friends were playing in the yard. Wang Wei said, “I bet I can climb up to the top of the water vat!” (A water vat is a very big clay jar used to keep rain water).

“Do not go to the top of the water vat!” said Li Na. “It is too high.”

“It is not too high for me!” said Wang Wei.

“Stay down here and play,” said Sima Guang.

“No, I want to go up!” said Wang Wei, so he climbed up to the top of the vat. When he was at the top he stood on one foot and called, “Look at me – one foot!”

“Ooh, clever!” said Zhang Yong.

Then – oh, no! Wang Wei fell down into the water vat!

“I cannot swim!” he called. “The water is too deep!”

“We must run for help!” said Li Na.

“No!” said Sima Guang. “That will take too long!”

“Then we cannot do anything to help,” yelled Li Na in fear. “Ahhh!” yelled Zhang Yong in fear, too. “AHHH!” they all yelled together.

Then, Sima Guang saw a rock. He picked up the rock and threw it at the bottom of the water vat. The vat did not crack. He picked up the rock and threw it again. There was a very small crack this time. He threw it again. Then a bigger crack! All at once, a very big wave of water flew out of the broken water vat.

And with the wave of water, out rolled Wang Wei! Wet but happy to be alive, thanks to Sima Guang.

Sima Guang Breaks the Vat

Sima Guang was nine years old. He liked to play in his backyard with his friends Wang Wei, Li Na, and Zhang Yong.

One day, the friends were playing in the yard. Wang Wei said, “I bet I can climb up to the top of the water vat!” (A water vat is a very big clay jar used to keep rain water).

“Do not go to the top of the water vat!” said Li Na. “It is too high.”

“It is not too high for me!” said Wang Wei.

“Stay down here and play,” said Sima Guang.

“No, I want to go up!” said Wang Wei, so he climbed up to the top of the vat. When he was at the top he stood on one foot and called, “Look at me – one foot!”

“Ooh, clever!” said Zhang Yong.

Then – oh, no! Wang Wei fell down into the water vat!

“I cannot swim!” he called. “The water is too deep!”

“We must run for help!” said Li Na.

“No!” said Sima Guang. “That will take too long!”

“Then we cannot do anything to help,” yelled Li Na in fear. “Ahhh!” yelled Zhang Yong in fear, too. “AHHH!” they all yelled together.

And with the wave of water, out rolled Wang Wei! Wet but happy to be alive, thanks to Sima Guang.

Previous Episode

The Sick Lion

The Sick Lion

A Lion had come to the end of his days, and he lay sick and close to death at the mouth of his cave, gasping for breath. The animals, his subjects, came round him and drew nearer as he grew more and more helpless. When they saw him so weak, they thought to themselves: "Now is the time to pay off old grudges." So, the Boar came and dug his tusks into the lion; then a Bull gored him with his horns; still the Lion lay helpless before them: so the Ass, feeling quite safe from danger, came up, and turning his tail to the Lion kicked the lion in his face. "This is like dying twice, to have to endure these attacks from such cowardly creatures when I am powerless." growled the Lion.

And, the moral is... Only cowards insult dying majesty.

Next Episode

Weighing the Elephant

Weighing the Elephant

A long time ago, people who lived in China knew that a strange, amazing beast called an elephant, lived in a faraway land, but no one had ever seen one. One day, a ruler from a distant country came to see the Emperor of China. He brought a gift, and that gift was a real, live elephant!

Never had anyone in China seen anything like it. It was all anyone at court could talk about.

“This elephant is bigger than a water buffalo!” said one mandarin.

“Are you kidding?” said a second. “It’s bigger than a rhino!”

“You must be joking,” said a third. “This elephant is bigger than TWO rhinos!”

One day the Emperor said to his council, “I want to know how much this amazing elephant weighs. Who can tell me how to weigh it?”

“I can!” said the first mandarin, who used to be a merchant. “We will just put it on a scale.”

“Not likely,” said the Emperor. “There is no scale that could hold the weight of an elephant without breaking.”

“I can tell you!” said the second mandarin, who used to be a tailor. He said, “We will measure the elephant.”

“No,” said the Emperor with a sigh. “Even if you measured all the different parts of an elephant, you would still not know how much it weighs.”

“I can tell you!” said the third mandarin, who used to be a baker. “We will cut up the elephant and cook it. Then we will know.”

“We will surely NOT do that, idiot!” roared the Emperor. “Is there NO ONE who can tell me how to weigh the elephant?”

Then a small voice said, “I can.”

All eyes turned to the voice. It was the Emperor’s son!

“Son!” said the Emperor. “You should be in bed.”

“But I know how,” said the boy. “It’s easy.”

“Very well,” said the Emperor with a smile. “Tell me how to weigh the elephant.”

So the boy said. “You put the elephant in a big boat and take the boat out on the water. Draw a line on the side of the boat where the water comes up to. Then bring the boat back to shore and take the elephant off the boat. Put rocks on the boat, one by one. When the boat sinks to the same watermark line it had when the elephant was in it, bring the boat to shore again. Take out the rocks and weigh them, one by one, then add the weight of all the rocks up. That is how you can tell how much the elephant weighs!"

"Wonderful! Wonderful!" shouted everyone.

“It will work!” called out the first mandarin.

“What a clever plan!” said the second.

“Who knew this child would know?” said the third.

And the fame of Emperor's clever son travelled far and wide.