HE FED HIS PARENTS DEER'S MILK

鹿乳奉亲 HE FED HIS PARENTS DEER'S MILK



周。郯子。性至孝。父母年老。俱患双目。思食鹿乳。郯子乃衣鹿皮。往深山群鹿之中。取鹿乳供亲。猎者见而欲射之。郯子俱以情告。乃免。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the Zhōu dynasty lived a man named Tán whose nature was very filial. His parents were old, and both suffered from a malady of the eyes [for the cure of which] they desired to drink deer's milk. Tán therefore [disguised himself in] a deerskin and went to a herd of deer deep in the mountains to obtain deer's milk to give his parents. Some hunters saw him and were about to shoot him, when Tán revealed himself to them to avoid [being shot]. There is a poem which praises him, saying:



亲老思鹿乳。身穿褐毛衣。若不高声语。山中带箭归。

His elderly parents want deer's milk,

So he wears a coarse fur garment;

If he had not spoken out loud,

He would have borne back arrows.