This book has two stories: Wu Song Fights the Tiger and /Zhang Liang Picks Up the Shoes.
Wu Song is a fictional character in Water Margin, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. He ranks 14th of the 36 Heavenly Spirits of the 108 Liangshan heroes. According to legend, Wu Song was a student of the archer Zhou Tong and he specialised in Chuojiao, Ditangquan, and the use of the staff.
In the story of Wu Song Fights the Tiger, Wu Song passes by a tavern near Jingyang Ridge, where a large sign reads "Three Bowls Do Not Cross Ridge" (三碗不過崗). This arouses his interest and he stops there for a break.
The waiter explains to Wu Song that the wine sold at the tavern is so strong that customers get drunk after having three bowls and are unable to cross the ridge ahead, hence the sign. Wu Song is still sober after drinking three bowls and he demands that the waiter continue serving him wine. By the end of his meal, Wu Song had consumed 18 bowls of wine in total and appears tipsy. He is about to leave when the waiter stops him and warns him about a fierce man-eating tiger at Jingyang Ridge. Wu Song suspects that the waiter is lying to him because he wants him to spend the night there to earn extra money, so he ignores the waiter and continues on his journey.
While crossing Jingyang Ridge, Wu Song sees an official warning sign and is now convinced that there is really a tiger at the ridge. However, he refuses to turn back because he knows that the waiter will scorn him if he did. He moves on and encounters a ferocious tiger while trying to take a nap to get over the effect of alcohol. He accidentally breaks his staff while fending off the beast and has no weapon to defend himself.
Under the influence of alcohol, he ends up slaying the tiger by pinning it to the ground and bashing its head repeatedly with his bare fists. He becomes famous for his heroic deed.
Zhang Liang, alias Zhifang, was born in Han Kingdom (now known as the center of Henan province and lying southeast of Shanxi province). In order to avoid the chaos of war, he moved to Nayang in Henan and then moved to Pei Kingdom. Later on, he settled down in Pei Kingdom and naturalized there.
In Zhang Liang's childhood, on a windy, snowy winter day, he happened upon Yishui Bridge in the town of Xiapi. The old man threw one of his shoes down to the bridge on purpose and said to Zhang Liang: "Little boy, please go to pick my shoe back up for me." Zhang Liang did not hesitate.
Regardless of the danger of slipping into the river and being exposed to the cold wind, he went down to the bridge and picked up the shoe for the old man. The old man did not take the shoe, but offered his foot to Zhang Liang and asked him put the shoe on it for him. Zhang Liang did not mind and helped the old man put the shoe on respectfully.
The old man smiled and said: "Boy, you are highly promising. Come here tomorrow morning and I will teach you some things." The next day, before the crack of dawn, Zhang Liang came to the bridge and saw that the old man was already there. The old man said: "You came here later than me. I cannot teach you the Tao today." It happened like this three times. The third time, Zhang Liang finally got to the bridge earlier than the old man.
The old man finally gave Zhang Liang a book and said: "When you fully understand the book, you will be able to serve as the chief military counselor for a king in the future. If you need my help in the future, come to see me. I am the yellow stone at the foot of the Gucheng Mountain." Zhang Liang went back home and he studied the book very hard and finally mastered its essence. He was able to understand all of its intricacy and became very familiar with military tactics. Later, he assisted Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han dynasty, to found the dynasty and unite China.
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 with animated cartoons. Please see Q & A about VCD for more details.
武松打虎
武松回家探望哥哥，途中路过景阳冈。在冈下酒店喝了很多酒，踉跄着向冈上走去。兴不多事，只见一棵树上写着："近因景阳冈大虫伤人，但有过冈克上，应结伙成队过冈，请勿自误。"武松认为，这是酒家写来吓人的，为的是让过客住他的店，竟不理它，继续往前走。 太阳快落山时，武松来到一破庙前，见庙门贴了一张官府告示，武松读后，方知山上真有虎，待要回去住店，怕店家笑话，又继续向前走。由于酒力发作，便找了一块大青石，仰身躺下，刚要入睡，忽听一阵狂风呼啸，一只斑斓猛虎朝武松扑了过来，武松急忙一闪身，躲在老虎背后。老虎一纵身，武松又躲了过去。老虎急了，大吼一声，用尾巴向武松打来，武松又急忙跳开，并趁猛虎转身的那一霎间，举起哨棒，运足力气，朝虎头猛打下去。只听"咔嚓"一声，哨棒打在树枝上。老虎兽性*大发，又向武松扑过来，武松扔掉半截棒，顺势骑在虎背上，左手揪住老虎头上的皮，右手猛击虎头，没多久就把老虎打得眼、嘴、鼻、耳到处流血，趴在地上不能动弹。武松怕老虎装死，举起半截哨棒又打了一阵，见那老虎确实没气了，才住手。从此武松威名大震。
张良捡鞋的故事
中国古代有一个名人，叫张良。关于他的故事很多，下面是他小时候的故事。
张良家附近有一座桥，有一天，张良刚走上那座桥就看见一位白胡子老人从对面走来。那位老人看见张良就脱下自己的鞋仍到桥下，然后对张良说：“孩子，下去替我捡回来！” 张良看了看桥下的鞋，又看了看老人，马上跑到桥下去帮助他捡鞋。可是，张良刚把鞋交给老人，老人又把鞋仍到桥下去了，“孩子，再下去替我捡回来！” 张良又吃惊又生气，但是因为对方是位老人，没办法，就又到桥下去捡那只鞋。张良刚要把鞋交给那位老人，老人却抬起脚说：“孩子，给我穿上！” 张良虽然很生气，但还是蹲下来，给老人穿上了鞋。鞋穿好了，老人谢也不谢，站起来就走。张良说：“真是一位奇怪的老人。“
老人走了几步，突然又回来了，对张良说：”你真是个好孩子。后天早晨，你到着座桥上来，我要给你一件重要的东西。"
第三天早晨，张良来到那座桥上的时候，老人已经在桥上等着他了。老人不满意地对张良说：”跟老人约定了时间，怎么能迟到呢？你回去吧，后天早一点到这里来！“
两天以后，张良很早就来到那座桥上，他想：”今天肯定不会迟到了。“ 可是，当他到那儿的时候，老人又在桥上等着他了。老人生气的说：你怎么又迟到了？回去吧，后天早一点到这里来！“ 说完又生气的走了。
又过了两天，天还没亮，张良就到桥上去了。他在桥上等着老人。天渐渐亮了，老人还没来，他又等了很长时间，才看见那位老人从远处慢慢地走来。老人满意地对张良说：”孩子，你就是我要找到的人。“ 他拿出一本书交给了张良，”这是一本兵法书，你要刻苦学习，以后肯定有用。“
张良刻苦学习那本兵法书，后来真的成了中国历史上有名的政治家，军事家。”
