Over 2,000 years ago, in China, there lived a boy called Confucius. When he was only three, his father died. His mother was very poor. In those days, people had to pay to go to school and his mother did not have enough money to send him.
As Confucius grew up, he wanted to learn things. So he decided to teach himself. Unluckily he was a strange-looking boy. The other children pointed and made fun of him. They called him names and laughed at him. Confucius got very upset, but he was a kind, gentle boy and did not fight back.
Confucius did not play with other children. He went off to talk to holy men (圣人)in the temple (寺庙)and learnt from them. He talked to artists and musicians and learnt from them. If he tried to do something difficult, he kept trying over and over again until he learnt how to do it. In this way the boy taught himself to read and write and learnt lots of interesting things. Confucius grew up to be a very clever man.
When he was a man, Confucius became the mayor of the city of Changtu. People were very happy when he was their leader because he was a wise ruler. He used his abilities and skills in a clever and new way.
People sometimes call him the wisest man who ever lived. We still remember many of his wise sayings today.
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