Many people drink tea every day. But more than three hundred years ago, most of the people in Europe didn't know anything about tea.

Here is a story about an English sailor (水手). He went to India and China where tea was popular. One day, he came home for Christmas holiday. He gave his mother some tea as a present. She told her friends about the present and asked them to come to a "tea party". When her friends came, the old woman took out some tea leaves and asked them to eat. Of course, they didn't like the tea leaves. Just at that time, the sailor came in. He looked at the table and asked, "Mother, what did you do with the tea?"

"I boiled (煮沸) it as you said. "

"And what did you do with the water?"

"I poured (倒) it away, of course," answered the mother.

"Now you may throw away the leaves, too," said the sailor.