1.We often hear a boy or a man say，“He‘s a brick，”when speaking of a companion whom he likes.It is not perhaps a very correct way of speaking，but no one would be offended at being spoken of in this way.
2.If we go back to the time when the expression was first used，we shall find that it had a very good meaning indeed，and a boy could have no better aim in life than to deserve that he should be called a “brick.”
3.An old Greek writer tells us that，on one occasion，the famous city of Sparta was visited by an ambassadorfrom another kingdom in the north of Greece.Now the Spartans，as you may have heard，were the bravest of all the Greeks.
4.Every man was a soldier.They lived in a plain and simple fashion at home，as soldiers must do when they are in camp，and their city was without any of the fine buildings and statuesGreek towns.
5.Now this ambassador knew that the King of Spartawas really master of all Greece，so he had expected to find the towns surrounded by massivewalls and lofty ntowers of defence.But he was very much surprised to find nothing of the kind.
6.He spoke of this to the king.
“Sire，”he said，“I have visited most of the principaltowns of your kingdom，and I find no walls built for defence against an enemy.Why is this？”
7.“Indeed，Sir Ambassador，”replied the king，“you cannot have looked very carefully.Come with me to-morrow，and I will show you the walls of Sparta.”
8.Accordingly，on the following morning，the king led his guest out to the plain before the city，where the whole Spartan army was drawn up in battle array .
Then pointing proudly to his soldiers，he exclaimed，“Behold the walls of Sparta-ten thousand men，and every man a brick！”
9.You will find many stories about the Spar-tans and their heroic deeds，which show how well they deserved the name of “bricks.”One of the best is the story of how a small band of three hundred Spartans，and about five thousand other Greeks，stood for two days at the entrance of a narrow passand stopped the march of the King of Persia with a vast army，probably about three millions of men.
10.When the Persians came up，they found the Spartans engaged，some in games，and others in dressing their long hair.This was their usual custom before risking their lives in battle.
11.The Persian heralds commanded the Greeks to deliver up their arms to the great king.“Let him come and take them，”was the answer.The heraldssaidthat the number of Persians was so great that their arrows would darken the light of the sun.“So much the better；for then we shall fight in the shade，”replied the Spartans.
12.For two days they held the pass against the Persian host.And when at last they were surrounded，and there was no hope left，most of the other Greeks escaped over the mountains.The Spartans alone refused to flee，and fell fighting to the last on the ground they had held so nobly.You see in the picture the tombof their brave leader Leonidas.