Zheng He was an amazing man. He was born in 1371. Ten years later, he was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di became the king of China and he asked Zheng He to join his government.

    The king wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led some sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly travelled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships have even reached South America and Australia.

    Each trip lasted more than one year and it is believed he sailed more than 50,000 kilometres during the years of his travels. Zheng He led a fleet with about 28, 000 men and over 250 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers horses.

    On these trips he took many Chinese goods like silk and medicine with him to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats which were filled with expensive things such as gold and treasures, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

    It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. The Columbus of the East, Zheng He, died in 1433. After that. The new king had these trips stopped and he burned almost all the books about Zheng He's travels, because he believed the trips were unlucky and too expensive. It is only in the last 50 years that historians have begun to carefully study the adventures of great Zheng He.

—He has a cold.

    Many years ago there was a smart prince. But he never listened to his parents when they asked him to clean his room.

    One day, a princess(公主) in another country was going to hold a party. She invited all the princes from nearby countries. The prince was excited, and prepared with great care.

    However, on the day of the party, his room was so messy(凌乱的) that he couldn't find his invitation. He looked for it everywhere, but couldn't find it anywhere. So he decided to clean his room. Luckily, he found it at last.

    When he finally arrived at the party, it was over. The prince was very sad and he decided to change himself.

    Sometimes not everything was bad. The princess had not found her favourite boyfriend at the party. And later she had another party. This time the prince got everything ready. He got to the party on time, and met the princess. Soon they fell in love with each other.

    Once upon a time, there lived an old man. He had three sons. One day, he called them together and said, "Sons, I will die soon. To my eldest son give half my camels, to my second, one third(三分之ー), and to my youngest, one ninth(九分之一)." Soon after that he died.

    The old man had seventeen camels, and the three brothers didn't know how to do as their father said. They thought for a long time about the problem, and it seemed that they must either kill some of the camels and cut them into pieces, or disobey their father. At last, they went to their father's old friend and asked for his advice. As soon as he heard their story, he said. "I will help you. I was a good friend of your fathers. I am old. I have only one camel, but take it. It is yours."

    The three sons thanked the old man and took his camel. Now they found it was easy to do as their father wished. The eldest took half—that was nine camels; the second took one third—that was six; and the youngest took one ninth—that was two.

    After each had got his camels, they found that there was still a camel there. To show their thanks to their father's friend, they gave the camel back to him.

Sima Guang hit the tank(缸)

Dear Tom

    I'm very happy that you are interested in traditional Chinese stories

    I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours,

Li Mei