Sima Guang was a famous statesman of the Song Dynasty. He once said,“There is nothing remarkable about me. But in my entire life, I have never done anything too ashamed to admit!”

How did Sima Guang learn the value of honesty? It all began when he was still a young boy…“Guang, catch!”“Sister, I caught it!”In the garden, Sima Guang and his sister were playing a game of catch with a green walnut. They took turns tossing the walnut to each other, and were having a good time.

After a while, Sima Guang and his sister got tired and sat down to rest. Sima Guang asked,“Sister, I don’t know what the inside of a walnut looks like, do you?”His sister replied, “I don’t know either. Let’s peel off the skin to find out.”His sister tried her best to peel off the skin, but she could not get the skin off and hurt her hand instead.“Ouch!” cried his sister.“Guang, you hold the walnut. I’m going to ask mum to apply some medicine for me.”

After his sister left, Sima Guang tried to peel off the walnut skin. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not get the skin off. Just then, a maid happened to pass by. She saw Sima Guang trying to remove the walnut skin, so she brought some hot water, and soaked the walnut in it. After a while, the skin came off easily.

“Thank you! You are the best!”said Sima Guang excitedly.“You are welcome, young master. I shall be off to help out in the kitchen”said the maid before leaving.

When Sima Guang’s sister returned, she was surprised to see that the walnut’s skin had been peeled off. So, she asked Sima Guang, “Who helped you?”Sima Guang looked at the walnut, and back at his sister. Then, he started to boast,“Sister, I peeled the skin off by myself! Don’t you think I am awesome?”

Suddenly, Sima Guang’s father appeared out of nowhere and said angrily,“Is that true? I saw everything clearly just now. Someone helped you peel it. I see you already know how to lie!”Sima Guang felt sorry for lying. He told his sister the truth, and apologized to his father for lying. He never lied from that day onwards.

After growing up, Sima Guang became a high-ranking official. Whenever someone asked him how he attained such success, he would reply, “By being an honest man!”

　　司馬光是宋朝有名的政治家，他曾經說過：「我沒有什麼了不起的長處，但是這一生所作所為，沒有一件事是不能告訴別人的！」
　　司馬光是如何養成誠實的美德呢？那要從他小時候說起……「小光，接著！」「姊姊，我接到了！」花園裡，司馬光正在和姊姊玩著一顆青胡桃，兩個人你丟我接，玩得非常高興。
　　過了一會兒，司馬光和姊姊玩累了，就坐下來休息。
　　司馬光問：「姊姊，胡桃裡面是什麼樣子？你知道嗎？」姊姊說：「我也不知道呢，我來剝剝看。」姊姊費了很大的力氣，不但剝不了胡桃皮，手還弄傷了。姊姊痛得直掉眼淚：「好痛！小光，我去找娘擦藥，胡桃你先拿著。」
　　姊姊走開後，司馬光繼續剝胡桃皮，可是無論怎麼剝，皮都沒有辦法剝下來。就在這個時候，剛好有個婢女經過，看到他正試著剝胡桃皮，就拿了一壺熱開水來，把胡桃放在熱水裡泡了一下，很容易地就把皮剝下來了。
　　「謝謝！你好厲害！」司馬光高興得不得了。「少爺，您慢慢玩兒，我先去廚房幫忙了。」
　　婢女說完，就提著水壺走了。
　　姊姊擦完藥後回到花園，看見胡桃皮已經剝掉了，十分訝異。就問司馬光：「是誰幫你剝的？」司馬光看看手裡的胡桃，又看看姊姊，忍不住吹牛說：「姊姊，是我自己剝的，很厲害吧！」
　　父親不知道從哪邊忽然出現，很生氣地說：「是真的嗎？我在旁邊看得一清二楚，明明是有人幫你剝的皮，小孩子怎麼可以說謊？」司馬光知道自己錯了，就向姊姊說明了一切，也向父親認錯，從此以後，他再也不敢說謊了。
　　長大後，司馬光做了大官，有人請教他做人的道理，他說：「從不說謊開始！」