Passage G1c

 9

THE STORY OF SILK

The story of silk is a fascinating one.

About 4,000 years ago the Chinese discovered the secret of the cocoon. No one knows exactly how or when this important discovery was made. One story says that a young princess was drinking tea in her garden and watching the silkworms form cocoons. By chance one dropped into her tea and the hot liquid softened it. When the girl tried to take the cocoon out of her tea, she pulled out a long silk thread.

The Chinese learned to weave the silk thread into cloth. For 2,000 years they were the only people who knew how to make silk. Chinese merchants sold silk throughout Asia and Europe and became rich.

Everyone wanted to learn how to make silk, but the Chinese kept the secret carefully.

Finally the secret was stolen in the sixth century. It is said that two monks learned about the silkworms and their cocoons. They spent several years in China and finally found a way to take some silkworm eggs out of the country without anyone finding out. The monks always carried canes. One day they hid some eggs in the canes, and left China with them. It is said that the development of the silk industry in other countries came from those few eggs which the monks carried out of China.

CAREFUL AND CARELESS

Careful and careless are as different as fire and water. But strangely enough, many scientists have both these qualities, that is, they are both careful and careless. Newton, the well-known English scientist, is such a person.

Once Newton invited a friend to a dinner at home. When they were ready to eat, Newton left to get a bottle of wine. But after his friend had waited for a long time, Newton still didn't come back. Finally his friend found Newton in his lab. The reason was that when Newton was going to get the bottle of wine, he suddenly had a new idea for the experiment he was doing, so he completely forgot his friend and the dinner. There was another time when Newton was leading a horse up a mountain, holding the rein in his hand. While he was walking, he kept thinking of problems he had met in his studies. When he got to the top of the mountain, he found that the rein was not in his hand and that the horse was gone.

Among scientists, there are many people like Newton. Einstein was one. Once he was waiting for a friend at a bridge. While waiting, he became lost in thought. It started to rain. The rain kept on for some time. When Einstein took out a piece of paper from his pocket to write something down, the paper was wet and then he realized that it was raining. His clothes had become soaked in the rain. But after he put the paper into his pocket, he again forgot he was standing in the rain.

Many scientists are careless about how they live. This is because they are too careful in their studies.

10

LU BAN'S BET

One day while Lu Ban and his younger sister were visiting West Lake in Hangzhou, they were caught in a sudden heavy rain and had to turn back. "What a pity!" thought Sister Lu.

When they reached home, she said to her brother: "You're the best craftsman around here, but I'll make a bet with you. Let's see who can invent something that will let people enjoy the scenery even in the rain."

Lu Ban laughed. "All right," he said, "but there must be a time limit. Three days?"

"No, just one night. We start tonight and stop at the first cock's crow."

Lu Ban was surprised. "All right, it's a bet."

When it turned dark, Lu Ban started building a pavilion at the lakeside. Under the pavilion, people would be able to enjoy the scenery, even in wet weather. When he finished, he went home and looked through the window of his sister's workshop. All was quiet inside.

Lu Ban went back and built another pavilion, then another, and still another. He built nine and started working on the tenth, but before he could finish, he heard a cock crowing, so he stopped.

Soon the sun rose. As he stood by one of the pavilions wondering what his sister had done, Lu Ban saw something coming towards him, something like the roof of a pavilion. Under it was his sister!

As she came nearer, Lu Ban saw that she was holding a bamboo pole which had something round and flat at one end and was covered with silk of many colors.

“What a useful thing! How clever” he cried out, examining his sister's invention.

Sister Lu smiled. “Mine can only be used by a single person, while yours can be used by many at the same time. What's more, it was your design that gave me the idea. The scenery looks so much nicer with your pavilions.”

Some people say that was the beginning of the Hangzhou umbrella.