HE CONCEALED ORANGES TO PRESENT TO HIS MOTHER

怀橘遗亲 HE CONCEALED ORANGES TO PRESENT TO HIS MOTHER


后汉陆绩。字公纪。年六岁。至九江见袁术。术出橘待之。绩怀橘二枚。及跪拜辞堕地。术曰。陆郎作宾客而怀橘乎。绩跪答曰。吾母性之所爱。欲归以遗母。术大奇之。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the later Hàn dynasty there lived a certain Lù Jī, also called Gōngjì. When he was six, he went to Jiùjiāng (=Nine Rivers) [in Jiāngxī province], where he met [General] Yuán Shù. Shù brought out some oranges and presented them to him [as a guest]. Jī concealed two oranges in his sleeves. But when he thanked [the general] upon leaving, they fell out on the ground. Shù said: "Master Lù, you are my guest, and yet you conceal oranges?" Jī knelt and answered: "My mother has a fondness for them, and I wanted to present them to her when I returned." Shù was greatly amazed. A poem praises him in these words:



孝悌皆天性。人间六岁儿。袖中怀橘实。遗母报深慈。

Filial duty is an inborn quality, thus

Among men a six-year-old child

Conceals oranges in his sleeve to

Present them to his mother and repay her deep benevolence.