Once upon a time there was a country called Zen. The king of that country was so cruel to his subjects, that the king of Tse went to make war against him. The people who lived in Zen were very glad of this, and as the king of Tse approached with his army, they carried him baskets of rice and bowls of food, and they helped tim in every way they could because. they thought that he would be kind to them.
But as soon as the king of Tse gained the victory, he became cruel too. He killed their father and carried off their children and their brothers to his own country. He pulled down the temple, where they worshipped their idols and took all the incense burners and bells and bowls, with many other things of gold, to beautify his palace. So instead of helping the poor people, he made them poorer than ever.
When the other kings, who lived near by, heard how the king of Tse was acting, they decided to punish him and called their soldiers to come and fight. Then the king of Tso was afraid, and he sent for Mencius, to ask him what to do.
The sage told him to send back all the pretty things which he had stolen from the temple, and to let all the captives go to rheic homes, and then the other kings would not attack him. And so he learned that a conqueror must be kind-hearted and just and must be better than the king whom he has conquered."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.