Reading

Passage 1

 Kuang Heng

(The Hardworking Boy)

     

Long ago in a faraway land in China, there lived a poor boy. 

His name was Kuang Heng. Even though the boy was poor, he loved reading. Through reading, he found happiness and joy.

However, being born in a poor family, Kuang Heng could not afford to buy books. So he would work for the rich and asked for nothing in return than books. They would give him a lot of books because he was helpful and hardworking.

While growing up, he had to work in the fields during the day and read at night.Unfortunately, he was still poor and it troubled him that he had to use candles to read. Each time the candle burnt out, he had to stop reading.

One night while he was reading, the moon was shining brightly. He saw a ray of light shining through a hole in the wall.

It caught his attention, Kuang Heng went near to see where the light was coming from. It was actually from his neighbour's house.

Immediately, he thought of an idea. He took his knife and widened the hole to allow more light to come in. Soon, it was bright enough for him to do his reading easily.

From that day onwards, he read every night using the light coming from his neighbour's house.
He was glad that he could read more books. He was grateful to the neighbour.

Years passed and his diligence paid off. Kuang Heng was intelligent and full of wisdom.

He wrote many books and became famous in China. It was his determination and diligence that made a famous person.


(Adapted from the story of Kuang Heng.)

Passage 2

                                     Helping Others

Once there was a small boy named Shankar. He belonged to a poor family. One day, he was crossing through the forest carrying some woods. He saw an old man who was very hungry. Shankar wanted to give him some food, but he did not have food for his own. So he continued on his way.  On his way, he saw a deer who was very thirsty. He wanted to give him some water ,but he did not have water for himself . So he went on his way ahead .

Then he saw a man who wanted to make a camp but he did not have woods. Shankar asked his problem and gave some woods to him. In return, he gave him some food and water. Now he went back to the old man and gave him some food and gave some water to the deer. The old man and the deer were very happy. Shankar then happily went on his way.

However, one day Shankar fell down the hill. He was in pain but he couldn't move and no one was there to help him . But, the old man who he had helped before saw him, he quickly came and pulled him up the hill. He had many wounds on his legs. The deer whom Shankar had given water saw his wounds and quickly went to the forest and brought some herbs. After some time his wounds were covered. All were very happy that they were able to help each other.

Moral: If you help others, then they will also help you.