HE OBEYED HIS MOTHER IN SIMPLE CLOTHES

单衣顺母 HE OBEYED HIS MOTHER IN SIMPLE CLOTHES


周。闵损。字子骞。早丧母。父娶后母。生二子。衣以棉絮。闵损。衣以芦花。一日。父令损御车。体寒失鞭。父察知其故。欲出后母。损曰。母在一子单。母去三子寒。后母闻之。卒悔改。系诗颂之。诗曰

Mĭn Sŭn of the Zhōu dynasty was called Zĭqiān (=the Master's Inferior). His mother died very early, and his father took another wife, who bore two sons, whom she dressed in raw silk lined with cotton wadding. She was jealous about Sŭn and dressed him in mere rushes. One day his father ordered Sŭn to harness the cart. Sŭn 's body was cold and he dropped the rope. His father looked into the reason, then resolved to divorce his second wife. Sŭn said: "If Mother stays, one child will be poorly dressed. If Mother leaves, three children will be cold." The stepmother heard this, and she repented and changed. Verses praise him, saying:



闵氏有贤郎。何曾怨后娘。车前留母在。三子免风霜。

The Mĭn family has a saintly son,

Who never resents his stepmother;

Before the cart he [has begged his father to] let his [step-] mother stay;

Three children are saved from wind and frost.