In ancient China, the State of Wu made an attack on the State of Yue. The king of Wu was badly hurt and soon died. His son Fu Chai became the new king. Fu was very sad and angry and he decided to fight back for his father’s death. He trained his army strictly until it was very strong. Three years later, he led his army against the State of Yue and caught its king Gou Jian, who was taken to the State of Wu.
Gou Jian was put into a small black stone house which was full of terrible smell and was made to raise(饲养) horses. Gou worked hard and tried to keep himself quiet, but he never forgot his pain. Many years later, he was set free. Gou secretly trained his army after he went back to his own state. In order to make himself strong-minded he slept on firewood and ate a gall bladder before having dinner and going to bed every night. After a few years, his country became strong once more. Then Gou took hold of a golden chance to fight against Wu and won the war in the end.
   If one voluntarily(自愿) works very hard and voluntarily stands up to pains and difficulties in order to succeed, we might call him a“Gou Jian”, and his story, a“Gou Jian’s story”.