A story by Lu Xun (1919) — a poor man in a dirty gown, a wine shop that laughs at him, and nineteen coins.
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Before we read, let's learn the words you'll need. Think first — then click Reveal to check.
Read the sentence. What does the bold word mean? Then reveal.
Read the meaning. Say the word. The first letter helps you.
Read the sentence and choose a, b or c. Then reveal.
This is a famous Chinese story, told here in simple English. A boy who works in a wine shop tells it, many years later. Read each part, then try the questions from memory.
In our town, the wine shops have a big counter facing the street. Working men come after work and stand at the counter. They pay four coins for a bowl of warm rice wine, and one more coin for a plate of beans. Rich, educated men wear long gowns. They go inside, sit down, and order food and wine.
When I was twelve, I started to work in a wine shop. The boss said I looked too stupid to serve the rich customers, so I worked outside. Then he said I was bad at that too. So I got the most boring job: warming the wine. All day I stood behind the counter. The boss had an angry face. The customers were not friendly. Only when Kong Yiji came could I laugh a little. That is why I still remember him.
Kong Yiji was the only man who wore a long gown and stood at the counter with the working men. He was tall and big, with a pale face, scars, and a grey, untidy beard. His gown was dirty and torn — maybe ten years without washing. When he talked, he used old words from old books, and nobody understood him.
When he came in, everybody laughed. "Kong Yiji! You've got a new scar on your face!" He did not answer. "Two bowls of wine, and a plate of beans," he said, and put nine coins on the counter. "You've been stealing again!" they shouted. "I saw you! You stole books from the He family, and they beat you!" Kong Yiji went red. "Taking books is not stealing! A scholar… taking books… that is not stealing!" Then he said more old words, and the whole shop laughed and laughed.
1. What is different about Kong Yiji?
2. What does he say when they say he stole books?
1. He wears a long gown, like a rich educated man, but he stands at the counter with the working men. His gown is dirty and torn.
2. 'Taking books is not stealing!' — because he is a scholar. Then he uses old words nobody understands, and everybody laughs.
People said Kong Yiji studied for many years, but he never passed the exams. He could not get a job, so he became poorer and poorer. He wrote beautifully, so people paid him to copy books. But he loved wine and hated work. After a few days, he disappeared — with the books, the paper and the pens. So nobody gave him work any more, and sometimes he stole. But in our shop, he was the best customer: he always paid. If he had no money, the boss wrote his name on the board, but in a month he always paid, and his name was cleaned off.
After half a bowl of wine, the men started again. "Kong Yiji, can you really read?" He looked at them as if the question was stupid. "Then why did you never pass even the smallest exam?" Kong Yiji's face went grey. He said some old words. Nobody understood. Everybody laughed. The boss laughed too.
Kong Yiji could not talk to the men, so he talked to children. One day he said to me: "Have you been to school? Then I'll test you. The word 'hui' in 'aniseed beans' — how do you write it?" I thought: a beggar wants to test me? I turned my face away. He waited, and then said, very kindly: "You can't write it? I'll teach you. You must remember it. When you are a boss, you will need it for the accounts." I said lazily: "Who needs you? It's 'grass' on top and a box under it." Kong Yiji was very happy. "Yes! Yes! And did you know there are four ways to write it?" I walked away. He sighed, and looked very sorry.
Sometimes the children came to laugh at him. He gave them beans, one each. Then they looked at the plate for more. He put his hand over the plate. "Not many left! Not many, not many!" he said in his old-book words, and the children ran away laughing.
Kong Yiji made people laugh. But without him, life was just the same.
1. Why did nobody give Kong Yiji work?
2. What did he try to teach the boy?
1. Because he loved wine and hated work. After a few days he disappeared with the books, paper and pens.
2. How to write the word 'hui' in 'aniseed beans' — and that there are four ways to write it. The boy was not interested.
One day in autumn, the boss looked at the board and said: "Kong Yiji hasn't come for a long time. He still owes nineteen coins!" A customer said: "He can't come. They broke his legs." "Oh!" said the boss. "He stole again — from the Ding family, the rich scholar's house. They beat him half the night and broke his legs." "And then?" "Who knows? Maybe he's dead." The boss said nothing more and went back to his accounts.
Winter came. One afternoon the shop was empty. Suddenly I heard a quiet voice: "Warm a bowl of wine." I looked over the counter. Kong Yiji was sitting on the ground by the door. His face was dark and thin. He sat on a straw mat, and he had a rope over his shoulders to hold it. "Warm a bowl of wine," he said again.
The boss looked out. "Kong Yiji? You still owe nineteen coins!" "Next time," said Kong Yiji. "This time I have money. Make the wine good." The boss laughed, as always. "Kong Yiji, you've been stealing again!" This time Kong Yiji only said: "Don't laugh at me." "Why are your legs broken, then?" "I fell," he said quietly. "I fell…" His eyes said: please, don't talk about it. But the men laughed.
I warmed the wine and put it on the step. He took four coins from his pocket and put them in my hand. His hand was covered in mud. He had walked here on his hands. He drank the wine. Then, slowly, on his hands, he went away, and the men laughed.
At the end of the year, the boss said: "Kong Yiji still owes nineteen coins!" In summer, he said it again. Then he stopped saying it.
I never saw Kong Yiji again. He is probably dead.
1. What happened to Kong Yiji's legs?
2. How does he come to the shop the last time, and how does he pay?
1. He stole from the Ding family, a rich scholar's house. They beat him and broke his legs.
2. On his hands, sitting on a straw mat. He pays four coins with a hand covered in mud.
Kong Yiji is full of opposites: a scholar, but poor; he steals, but he pays. To tell his story, you need three small words that join ideas: but (opposite), because (reason), so (result).
Choose the right word.
1. Kong Yiji wore a long gown, he stood with the working men.
2. He was poor he never passed the exams.
3. He could not get a job, he stole.
4. He stole, he always paid the wine shop.
5. He could not walk, he came on his hands.
1. but
2. because
3. so
4. but
5. so
Use the word in brackets.
1. He loved wine. He hated work. (but)
2. Nobody gave him work. He disappeared with the books. (because)
3. He was kind to children. The men would not talk to him. (because)
4. He stole from a rich house. They broke his legs. (so)
1. He loved wine, but he hated work.
2. Nobody gave him work because he disappeared with the books.
3. He was kind to children because the men would not talk to him.
4. He stole from a rich house, so they broke his legs.
Say the same idea the other way round.
1. He was poor because he had no job. → He had no job, he was poor.
2. Everybody laughed, so the boy laughed too. → The boy laughed everybody laughed.
3. The boy remembers him because he made him laugh. → He made the boy laugh, the boy remembers him.
4. He owed nineteen coins, so the boss remembered his name. → The boss remembered his name he owed nineteen coins.
1. so
2. because
3. so
4. because
In the Speak tab, tell the story with a but in every sentence about Kong Yiji — he is a man of opposites.
Lu Xun (1881–1936) is the most important Chinese writer of the twentieth century. He studied to be a doctor, but he stopped, because he wanted to 'cure' China's spirit, not its body. He wrote this story in 1919. He said it was his favourite. In old China, only men who passed very hard exams could wear a long gown and get a good job. Those exams stopped in 1905. Kong Yiji is a man from a world that has already died.
Nobody in the story hates Kong Yiji. They enjoy him. The boss, the customers, the children, and the boy who tells the story — they all laugh. Lu Xun wanted to show a country that watches suffering like a show. Kong Yiji's only good thing is that he pays his debts. His only kind act is to try to teach a boy a word. And all that is left of him is nineteen coins on a board.
This is the heart of the lesson — do all three out loud. The timer helps you keep going: fill the time with details.
Tell 'Kong Yiji' to someone who does not know it: the wine shop → the man in the gown → 'taking books is not stealing' → the copying jobs → four ways to write a word → the beans → the broken legs → the last bowl of wine → nineteen coins.
Use but, because and so, and at least five key words (wine shop, gown, steal, beans, poor, laugh, scholar, owe, break, hands).
Who is responsible for Kong Yiji's sad life: the exam system, the rich family who broke his legs, the boss, the customers, the boy — or Kong Yiji himself? Choose one and give two reasons. Then choose another for one minute.
Describe a person that people laugh at — real, famous, or from a story. Use but, because and so.
Not sure what to talk about? Choose one: