內容簡介

《三字經》産生於宋代，並經過後人的修改。它每句3個字，所以叫“三字經”。全書總共約500句，其中講的許多觀念和道理，對中國人影響深遠。《三字經》已經被聯閤國教科文組織選入兒童道德修養的必讀書目，譯成多國文字，在全世界範圍內發行。《<三字經>故事》根據《三字經》，精選一些廣泛流傳的故事，以簡短而生動有趣的方式講述齣來。

The Three Character Classic came out during the Song Dynasty times and was modified later. As it has three characters in each sentence,the book is titled the Three CharacterClassic . It comprises about 500 sentences . Many ideas and truths in it have profound impact on the Chinese people. UNESCO incorporated the book into a list of compulsory books dedicated for the child moral education. It was translated into many languages and circulated globally.

內頁插圖

目錄

Contents

目錄

勸學故事

Studying Encouraging Tales

美德故事

Tales of Virtue

人纔故事

Tales of Talents

傳說故事

Legendary Tales

曆史故事

Historical Tales

《三字經》

精彩書摘

孔融讓梨

原文：

融四歲，能讓梨，

弟於長，宜先知。

故事：

生活在東漢末年的孔融，是現在的山東省麯阜市人。他齣生在中國最有名的書香世傢，是孔子的第二十世孫。孔融以文章和學問著稱，而中國人至今仍然津津樂道的，是他小時候的事情。

孔融兄弟一共七人，他排行第六，上麵有五個哥哥，下麵還有一個弟弟。七兄弟彼此之間非常友愛。孔融四歲時，有一次傢裏得到一些梨子，媽媽讓孩子們一起來吃。孩子們看見香甜多汁的梨子都很高興，因為梨子有的大，有的小，媽媽就讓最小的孔融和弟弟先挑選。孔融看瞭看，挑齣一個最小的，把大一些的梨子讓給瞭弟弟和哥哥們。

正好爸爸經過他們身邊，看見這情形，就問他：“媽媽讓你先挑選，你為什麼挑瞭個最小的呢？”孔融迴答：“我年齡小，不應該吃大的。”爸爸指著最小的兒子又問：“弟弟不是比你小嗎，為什麼你又把大梨留給他呢？”孔融答道：“他是弟弟，我是哥哥，應該照顧他呀！”

爸爸聽瞭孔融的迴答，覺得他聰明而又懂事，心裏很高興，但還是故意問：“這麼好吃的梨子，大傢都想多吃幾口，難道你就不想嗎？”孔融說：“我們是兄弟，感情好得不分彼此，哥哥和弟弟獲得瞭快樂，就等於我也獲得瞭快樂。”聽瞭孔融的話，哥哥、弟弟也紛紛謙讓，還把最好吃的梨子拿給爸爸媽媽嘗。看到這種情形，孔融的父母十分欣慰。

孔融十歲的時候，跟隨父親到首都洛陽，拜會名望很高的李膺（y~ng）。孔融先跑到李傢門前，守門人因為他是個孩子，不肯為他通報。孔融說：“我跟李先生傢有很親近的關係。”守門人隻得讓他進去。李膺不認識他，就問：“請問你的祖父或者父親跟我有交情嗎？”孔融迴答：“我的祖上是孔子，先生您的祖上是老子（本名李耳），孔子曾經拜老子為師，他們兩位是這樣的關係，那我傢與您傢不就世世代代都有交情嗎？”在座的人聽瞭都哈哈大笑，李膺也被孔融的解釋逗樂瞭，將他當作客人對待。孔融的父親來瞭，李膺誇奬說，這個孩子將來一定會成為瞭不起的人物。

孔融成年後果然成為一代名士，在文學和儒學方麵都很有成就。

Kong Rong Offers the Best Pears to Others

Kong Rong lived during the latter part of the Eastern Han, in Qufu City in what is now the province of Shandong. He was born into the most illustrious of all scholarly families in China, namely the Kong family. He was the twenty-second generation of Kong descendants, after Confucius. Kong Rong became famous for his literary achievements and scholarship, but the thing most people remember him for today relates to tales of his childhood.

He was sixth among seven brothers, with five older and one younger, all of whom got along extremely well. One time, the family was given some pears and the mother of the children wanted them all to share them. The children gazed at the pears, mouths watering, and noticed that some were larger and some were smaller. Kong Rong was four years old at the time. His mother asked the two youngest boys to choose first. Kong Rong chose the smallest of the pears and allowed both his older brothers and his younger brother to take the bigger ones.

Just then, his father happened to pass by and noticed this. He asked, “You were allowed to go first, so why did you choose the smallest?” Kong Rong answered, “I’m younger, so I shouldn’t have a larger pear.” His father pointed out that his little brother was even younger, so Kong Rong then said, “He is Little Brother, I am Older Brother to him, so naturally I need to look after him!”

The father was quite pleased with this but he continued to question his son. “Such delicious pears, and everyone wants a few more bites, don’t you feel the same way?” Kong Rong responded, “We are all brothers, and don’t distinguish between what’s yours and what’s mine. When my brothers are happy, that means I’m happy too.” Hearing all of this, the brothers all allowed others better pears as well and offered up the best pears to their mother and father.

When Kong Rong was ten years old, he accompanied his father to the capital city of Luoyang to pay a formal call on the famous personage Li Ying. Kong Rong got to the door first, and the guard there would not announce him, since he was just a child. Kong Rong declared, “I have a very close relationship with Mr. Li’s family,” so the guard had no choice but to let him in. Li Ying did not recognize Kong Rong, however, and instead asked, “Please let me know, did your father or grandfather have some connection to me?” Kong Rong replied, “My ancestor was Confucius, and Sir, your ancestor was Laozi (whose original name was Li Er). Confucius regarded Lao-zi as his teacher. That was the relationship, so our families have had a connection through many generations.” Those sitting nearby laughed at this, and Li Ying himself was also pleased with the explanation. He treated little Kong Rong as an honored guest. When Kong Rong’s father arrived, Li Ying boasted that the child would certainly be a great man in the future.

Indeed, when he grew up, Kong Rong became “one in a generation” in the fields of literature and the Ru-school of philosophy.

前言/序言

前言

中國古代重視對兒童和青少年的教育，産生瞭多種流傳很廣的啓濛讀物，以使學生加強修養，增長智慧。《三字經》《百傢姓》《韆字文》和《幼學瓊林》就是這些濛學讀物中的佼佼者，它們的主要功能是使學生認識漢字，並對他們進行文化和品德教育。

這些濛學讀物內容通俗易懂，形式簡單，讀起來很像歌謠，非常適閤讀者朗讀和背誦。對很多中國人來說，這些讀物是對他們一生影響最大的書籍，他們通過這些讀物認識漢字，瞭解中國的曆史、地理、社會等多方麵的知識，並受到品德教育。直到今天，中國人仍然喜愛和重視這些濛學讀物。

上麵提到的四本書中，《韆字文》産生最早，是南北朝時梁朝人編寫的，4個字一句，共250句，1000個字，所以稱為“韆字文”。

《三字經》産生於宋代，並經過後人的修改。它每句3個字，所以叫“三字經”。全書總共約500句，其中講的許多觀念和道理，對中國人影響深遠。《三字經》已經被聯閤國教科文組織選入兒童道德修養的必讀書目，譯成多國文字，在全世界範圍內發行。

《百傢姓》也産生於宋代，是有關中國人姓氏的啓濛讀物，采用4個字一句的歌謠形式，共計568字，介紹瞭504個中國人的姓氏。

《幼學瓊林》在這四本書裏産生最晚，是明朝人編寫的。它內容極為豐富，幾乎是一部小型的自然和社會百科全書，所以有人說“讀瞭《幼學》走天下”。

這些書中蘊藏著豐厚的中華民族曆史文化傳統，尤其是其中提到的那些雋永、生動的故事，令讀者印象深刻。“中國濛學經典故事”叢書從上述四本書中精選齣一些在中國廣泛流傳的故事，以簡短而生動有趣的文字講述齣來，通過它們，嚮全世界廣大的讀者介紹中華民族的曆史文化知識和思想、道德觀念。書中的故事分成若乾現代人容易理解的類型，並配以幽默生動的漫畫。

這套叢書不僅適閤兒童和青少年，也適閤廣大對中國文化感興趣、初步接觸中國曆史文化的讀者。

Preface

The ancient China long ago has stressed on the child and youth education. Many primer readings spreading far and beyond came into focus, thus strengthening the cause of child upbringing and brightness. The Three Character Classic, the Hundreds Surnames, the Thousand Character Classic, and the Children's Knowledge Treasury are the best examples of such primer readings. Their main goal is to enable the child to learn characters and educate them about culture and morality.

The readings are easy to understand, and simple to read and recite as they resemble songs. They influenced the lives of many Chinese. They learned Chinese, as well as gaining knowledge on Chinese history, geography, and society. They are well-educated on morality too. Till today, Chinese still love and stress these readings.

Of the above-mentioned four books, the Thousand Character Classic came out earliest. It was compiled by a man of the Liang Dynasty. With four characters in each sentence, there are 250 sentences and 1,000 characters in the book. Due to this reason, the book is titled the Thousand Character Classic.

The Three Character Classic came out during the Song Dynasty times and was modified later. As it has three characters in each sentence, the book is titled the Three Character Classic. It comprises about 500 sentences. Many ideas and truths in it have profound impact on the Chinese people. UNESCO incorporated the book into a list of compulsory books dedicated for the child moral education. It was translated into many languages and circulated globally.

The Hundreds Surnames came out during the Song Dynasty times. It is a primer reading related to the Chinese surnames. With a total of 568 characters and in the form of songs with four characters in each sentence, it introduced 504 Chinese surnames in all.

The Children’s Knowledge Treasury came out the latest. The people of Ming Dynasty compiled this book. With rich contents, it became a miniencyclopeadia of natural and social sciences. It owns the reputation of “Making you knowledgeable enough after reading the Children's Knowledge Treasury”.

We can see profound historical and cultural traditions clearly in these books - especially those vivid and meaningful tales greatly impress the readers. Tales from China's Classic Essential Readings has selected tales spreading far and beyond in China from the above four books and tells them in short, lively and interesting truths. Readers, around the world, can learn the historical and cultural knowledge of the Chinese nation, ideology and morality through them. The tales are divided into categories to be easily understood by modern people, with the support of humorous and vivid cartoons.

The books are not only suitable for children and youth, but also for readers with interest in Chinese culture. They can experience the contact with Chinese history and culture.