The Brave Soldier

The brave soldier

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Hou Chin who lived in the small Taiwanese village of Shin Chuang. He was very kind. Whenever he saw

a big boy beating a smaller boy, he always stopped him and helped the smaller boy. Because of this, all the big boys hated him.

Soon, all the big boys collected together and chased Hou Chin out of village. He moved to another village and stayed with his aunt. His aunt liked him very much:

One day, he went to sleep on top of a pile of wood. A few minutes later, his aunt’s maid came along and saw a tiger sleeping on top of the pile of wood. She ran told Hou Chin’s aunt what she had seen.

“There are no tigers in Taiwan,” said Hou Chin’s aunt. “You must be dreaming.” They went together to the pile of wood and saw Hou Chin just waking up. His aunt thought Hou Chin must be a very unusual young man who perhaps one day would become a great man.

“I think you should join the army,” she said to him. Hou Chin agreed. Before he left to join the army, she made him a pair of large boots because his feet were very big. He put the boots in a bag which he carried on his back.

As he was big and strong, he has given the job of carrying the army’s flag into battle. One day, the army was defeated. All the soldiers ran away. After Hou Chin had run about half a mile, he remembered that he had left bag behind. He went back to look for it.

When the enemy soldiers saw him returning carrying his flag, they thought there must be a large army behind him. They all ran away. Hou Chin’s general congratulated him and promoted him to captain. Everyone thought he was a hero. He served in the army for many years and became a famous general.