In ancient China, there was a famous scholar named Tong Hui. When he was a child he was admired by everyone for his cleverness.
One day, Tong Hui’s mother dropped a bucket into a well to draw some water. She suddenly let out a cry when she drew the bucket from the well. Tong Hui ran over immediately. His mother’s jade hairpin had dropped into the well. The hairpin was a gift from his grandmother at a wedding party. His mother loved it more than anything she owned. Now it had disappeared in the water, and she was heartbroken!
His mother carried a long pole and put it into the well to see if she could locate the hairpin. But, she saw and felt nothing in the dark well. The effort tired her out. She looked up at the sun and said to herself, “If the sun could shine down into the well, maybe I would have some chance!” The words gave Tong Hui an idea. He was reminded of a game he played where he reflected sunlight using a mirror. So, he took a mirror and tried to reflect the sunshine into the well. Nevertheless, whatever he tried, he could not do it with only one mirror. He was very frustrated.Tong Hui thought for a while and took out another mirror. He placed one mirror near the well, tilting it slightly downward. He held the other in his hands and tilted it upward to reflect the sunlight. In this way, he tried to enable the sunlight to be reflected into the well. Tong Hui adjusted the mirrors several times until finally sunlight penetrated through the clear water and down to the bottom of the well. Exposed to the sunshine, the hairpin clearly came into sight. Tong Hui’s mother was overjoyed, “You did it , my son. I can see it!”
“Let’s twist a piece of wire into a hook, fasten it to one end of the pole and use it to catch the hairpin,” Tong Hui suggested. His mother did as he said and finally managed to get her hairpin out of the water.
Tong Hui’s mother was very happy. And when others heard this story, they all said Tong Hui was a most clever boy.
