HE BURIED HIS SON FOR HIS MOTHER

为母埋儿 HE BURIED HIS SON FOR HIS MOTHER



汉。郭巨家贫。有子三岁。母尝减食与之。巨谓妻曰。贫乏不能供母。子又分父母之食。盍埋此子。及掘坑三尺。得黄金一釜。上云官不得取。民不得夺。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the Hàn dynasty the family of Guō Jù was poor. He had a three-year-old son. His mother sometimes divided her food with the child. Jù said to his wife: "[Because we are] very poor, we cannot provide for Mother. Our son is sharing Mother's food. Why not bury this son?" He was digging the pit three feet deep when he struck a caldron of gold. On it [an inscription] read: "No official may take this nor may any other person seize it." A verse says of him:



郭巨思供亲。埋儿为母存。黄金天所赐。光彩照寒门。

Guō Jù wishes to serve his mother, and

Buries his son that his mother may survive;

Yellow gold is bestowed by heaven, and

Brilliant fortune brightens their poor threshold.