This book has two stories: Kong Rong Gave Up the Larger Pears and the Fox Assumes the Majesty of the Tiger.
Kong Rong (153 - 208) was a bureaucrat, poet, and minor warlord during the late Eastern Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms era of China. He was also the 20th generation descendant of Confucius. As he was once the governor of Beihai Commandery (present-day Weifang, Shandong). During his tenure of office, Kong Rong constructed cities, built schools, and advocated Confucianism.
Kong Rong showed his quick wits at an early age. In the Biography of the Rong Family, it is recorded that there were seven brothers in his family, and Kong Rong was the sixth son. One day, he was asked to choose a pear in priority. He, however, picked up the smallest pear, giving up the larger pears to his elder and younger brothers. He was praised by the clan for his humility and amiability.
Since then, Kong Rong's "pear choosing" story has been handed down as a well-known story commonly used to educate children even nowadays on the values of proper etiquette and etiquette. The story is also mentioned in the Three Character Classic, a text used for elementary education since the Song Dynasty.
In the Fox Assumes the Majesty of the Tiger, a tiger catches a fox while it is searching food in the forest. When the tiger is just about to eat it, the fox suddenly speaks: “Mr. Tiger, no hurries. Please listen to me. I was sent by Heaven to rule the animals. By eating me, you will violate the command of Heaven. ” The tiger is half in belief and half in doubt. Then the fox continues: “If you don’t believe me, just follow me to see whether the animals are afraid of me.” The tiger thought it was better to give it a try and followed the fox through the forest.
Two spotted deer immediately run away on seeing them; Rabbits and sheep also disappeared at once when they see the fox and the tiger; Even the wild boar and bear hid. The tiger doesn't realize that it is him that the beasts are really afraid of and let go of the fox.
This idiom means to bully or frighten others relying on other people’s power.
The book comes with Chinese characters and the Pinyin (phonetic transcriptions) and includes a VCD that children can enjoy watching on TV or computer. The VCD narrates most poems in this book in clear Mandarin Chinese and is accompanied by animated cartoons. Please see Q & A about VCD for more details.
孔融让梨
中国千百年来流传的一个道德教育故事，是中国古代东汉末文学家孔融的真实故事，教育人们凡事应该懂得谦让的礼仪。《三字经》中“融四岁，能让梨”即出于此。
孔融，字文举，东汉时期山东曲阜人，是孔子的第二十世孙，他是泰山都尉孔宙的第二个儿子。孔融四岁的时候，某年某月，正好是他祖父六十大寿，来客很多。有一盘香梨，放在寿台上面，母亲叫孔融把它分了。于是孔融就按长幼次序来分，每个人都分到了自己就得的一份，唯独给自己的那一个是最小的。父亲奇怪地问他："别人都分到大的梨子，你自己却分到小的，为什么呢？‘孔融从容答道："树有高的和低的，人有老的和小的，尊敬老人敬得长辈，是做人的道理！"父亲很是高兴。
狐假虎威
有一只老虎，在山下找食吃，他抓住了一只狐狸，张口就要吃，狐狸大叫道：“老虎，你别急，听我说，我是上帝派来做百兽之王的，你要是吃了我，那就是违背了上帝的命令。”老虎听了将信将疑。狐狸又说：“你如果不信，那我可以在你的前面走，看看动物们怕不怕我。”老虎想：试一试也好，就看狐狸走在前面。
两只梅花鹿远远看到他们，立刻逃跑了，几只兔子和黄羊看到他们，一下子逃得无影无踪，连凶猛的野猪和狗熊也躲了起来，不敢惹他们。老虎不知道那些动物怕的是他，还以为是怕狐狸呢。
成语狐假虎威比喻借着别人的威势，欺压人。
