The Horse and the Mysterious Drawing

Long ago in China, there was a little boy who lived a nomadic life with hisfamily. Hunger and hardship followed them wherever they went. They triedto grow food once, but whenever the seeds were sown, winter came andall the seedlings became frozen.

One day, while passing by the Yellow River, the boy's white horse suddenlygot free of the reins and plunged into the river. After a while, the horsesprang out of the water with a drawing on its back.

Everyone wondered what...
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Long ago in China, there was a little boy who lived a nomadic life with hisfamily. Hunger and hardship followed them wherever they went. They triedto grow food once, but whenever the seeds were sown, winter came andall the seedlings became frozen.

One day, while passing by the Yellow River, the boy's white horse suddenlygot free of the reins and plunged into the river. After a while, the horsesprang out of the water with a drawing on its back.

Everyone wondered what the drawing meant, but only the boy was cleverenough to figure it out and explained to his family: "This drawing shows thecycle of the changing seasons. The horse wants to help us grow grains tomake food. Why don't we do what is on this drawing and sow seeds in thespring, water them in the summer, and harvest in the autumn. In the winter,we need to let the earth rest."

Following the farming method on the drawing, people had bountiful harvests year after year, providing enough grain for rice and dumplings.