Kuang Heng is diligent in his studies. He has a candle, but his neighbor has a candle but he didn't catch it. Heng wanted to paint its light through the wall and send a book to reflect the light. City people can't read their surnames. They have money at home and many books. Therefore, Heng is cooperating with him, not claiming compensation. The master asked Heng strangely, and Heng said, "May the master read all the books." The host sighed, gave books and became a university.
Vernacular translation:
Kuang Heng is diligent and studious, but there is no candle lighting at home. There are candles in the neighbor's house, but the light can't reach his house, so Kuang Heng cut a hole in the wall to attract the neighbor's light, so that the light can shine on the book and read. There is a large family in the same town called illiterate, and there are many books at home.
Kuang Heng went to his house as an employee, and he didn't want to be paid. The host was surprised and asked him why. He said, "I hope I can get your book and read it through." Hearing this, the master sighed deeply and lent him the book. Therefore, Kuang Heng became a great scholar.
Source: Miscellanies of Xijing by Liu Xin in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Extended data:
Introduction to the work:
Miscellanies of Xijing is a collection of ancient historical notes and novels. Liu Xin in the Han Dynasty and Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Among them, "Xijing" refers to Chang 'an, the capital of the Western Han Dynasty. It is a miscellaneous history of the Western Han Dynasty, with both history and many anecdotes of the Western Han Dynasty.
Among them, people like to listen to music and Taoism. It is said that "Zhao Jun went to the fortress", that is, the maid-in-waiting Wang Qiang refused to bribe the painter Zhiyuan to marry the Xiongnu; Many interesting stories, such as "Zhuo Wenjun eloped to Sima Xiangru", were first published in this book, and they are allusions of later generations. There is also an idiom, "Digging a wall to borrow a lamp", which is also spread from the story of Kuang Heng in the book.
This book was accused of being a fake book in past dynasties, but from the tone and content, it was copied from the lost history of Han, Wei and Six Dynasties. The story of the Western Han Dynasty is absurd and unreliable.
However, we can broaden our thinking, from Zhao Tuo's contribution to the Han Dynasty, from the story of the painter of the Han Palace before and after Zhaojun's departure from the fortress, to Liu Bang's welcoming the squire in a new style, from the failure of the birth of Han customs on May 5, to Deng Tong's success in casting copper in Shushan, from the wonders of the rich Yuan Guanghan manor in Maoling, from Sima Qian's accusation and his death in prison, to Ivanx Liu's writing Han Shu. The ancient novel series of Zhonghua Book Company is better.