HE AMUSED HIS PARENTS WITH PLAY AND GLAD CLOTHES

戏彩娱亲 HE AMUSED HIS PARENTS WITH PLAY AND GLAD CLOTHES



周。老莱子至性孝。奉养二亲。备极甘脆。行年七十。言不称老。常着五彩斑斓之衣。为婴儿戏于亲侧。又常取水上堂。诈跌卧地。作婴儿啼以娱亲。有诗为颂。诗曰

Old man Lái of the Zhōu dynasty was noted for his filial nature. He respectfully cared for his two parents, preparing them sweet and crispy foods. He was over seventy, but he never mentioned the word "old." He wore five-colored patterned clothes and played like a child before his parents; often he carried water into the room and would slip and fall, and then he would cry like a baby to amuse his parents. A verse says of him:



戏舞学骄痴。春风动彩衣。双亲开口笑。喜气满庭帏。

He plays and dances and pretends delicate nonsense;

The spring wind blows his colorful clothes;

His two parents throw open their mouths in laughter,

And their joy fills the hall.

HE TASTED DUNG WITH AN ANXIOUS HEART

尝粪忧心 HE TASTED DUNG WITH AN ANXIOUS HEART


南齐。庾黔娄为孱陵令。到县未旬日。忽心惊流汗。及弃官归。时父疾始二日。医曰。欲知愈剧。但尝粪。苦则佳。黔娄尝之。甜。心甚忧之。至夕。稽颡北辰。求以身代父死。有诗为颂。诗曰

Yŭ Qiánlóu of the southern Qí dynasty was sent as a magistrate to Chánlíng [south of Gōng'ān in Húbĕi province]. He had been in the district less than ten days when suddenly his heart was alarmed and he perspired. Immediately he gave up his office and returned, [to find] his father had been sick for two days. The doctor said: "To know whether a sickness is improving or very serious, one must taste the [patient's] dung. If it is bitter, then there is hope." Qiánlóu tasted it, and it was sweet. His heart was very anxious. When night came, he kowtowed to the North Star [of longevity], beseeching it to let him die in his father's place. Verses praise him saying:



到县未旬日。桩庭遘疾深。愿将身代死。北望起忧心。

He was in his post less than ten days, when

His father suddenly met with serious illness;

He wants to substitute himself in death for his father;

Facing north, he is weighted down in worry.

HE ABANDONED A MANDARINATE TO SEEK HIS MOTHER

弃官寻母 HE ABANDONED A MANDARINATE TO SEEK HIS MOTHER


宋。朱寿昌七岁。生母刘氏。为嫡母所妒。复出嫁。母子不相见者五十年。神宗朝弃官入秦。与家人诀。谓不寻见母。誓不复还。后行次同州得之。时母年已七十有余。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Zhū Shòuchāng of the Sòng dynasty was seven years old, his mother, [a concubine] named Liú, because of the envy of the first wife, was married out again [to another family]. For fifty years the mother and son did not see each other. In the reign called Shén Zōng [1068-1085] he gave up his office and went to Qín [in Shaănxī], to find his mother, vowing not to return until he did so. He journeyed to Tóngzhōu [ in Shānxī] and reached her. At that time his mother was already seventy. A verse praises him thus:



七岁离生母。参商五十年。一朝相见后。喜气动皇天。

At seven he was separated from his mother,

And fifty years have passed;

One morning they meet again,

And the joy of it moves Heaven.

HE STRANGLED A TIGER TO SAVE HIS FATHER

搤虎救父 HE STRANGLED A TIGER TO SAVE HIS FATHER



晋。杨香年十四。常随父丰往田间获粟。父为虎曳去。时杨香手无寸铁。惟知有父而不知有身。踊跃向前。搤持虎颈。虎亦靡然而逝。父方得免于害。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Yáng Xiāng* of the Jìn dynasty was fourteen, he often followed his father Fēng into the fields to reap grain. His father [on one occasion] was dragged away by a tiger. Although at the time Yáng Xiāng had no weapon at hand, he thought only of his father and not of himself as he leapt quickly forward and grabbed tightly at the tiger's neck. The tiger left in defeat, and his father was able to escape injury. A verse praises him saying:



深山逢白额。努力搏腥风。父子俱无恙。脱身馋口中。

In the deep mountains a white forehead** reared, and

When it moved the wind was filled with the smell [of its dead prey];

The father and child have suffered no injury, [for he]

Has rescued his [father's] body from the greedy mouth.



*-Because the name Xiāng would today be a female one, some writers interpret Yáng Xiāng as female; others, as male. It is more likely that a son than a daughter would accompany a man to work in the fields, so I have considered the name male. Huáng Xiāng, the protagonist of tale 19, has the same Xiāng as a name, but is known from other sources to be male.



**-Some folktales maintain that a tiger who has eaten a hundred humans develops a white forehead.

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.

HE LAY ON ICE IN SEARCH OF CARP

卧冰求鲤 HE LAY ON ICE IN SEARCH OF CARP


晋。王祥母丧。继母朱氏。不慈。父前数谮之。由是失爱于父母欲食鲜鱼。时天寒地冻。祥解衣。卧冰求之。冰忽自解。双鲤跃出。持归供母。有诗为颂。诗曰

Wáng Xiáng of the Jìn dynasty lost his mother early. His stepmother, named Zhū, was unloving toward him and unceasingly spoke ill of him before his father. Because of this he lost the love of his father also. His stepmother often liked to eat fresh fish, but one winter the cold froze [the river] to ice. Xiáng loosened his clothes and lay on the ice to [melt it so he could] procure them. Suddenly the ice opened of itself and a pair of carp leapt out. He took them and returned to serve them to his stepmother. A verse speaks of this:



继母人间有。王祥天下无。至今河上水。留得卧冰模。

We have seen stepmothers before,

But never a Wáng Xiáng,

Until today upon the river, when

He left us a model by lying on the ice.

HE LET MOSQUITOES CONSUME HIS BLOOD

恣蚊饱血 HE LET MOSQUITOES CONSUME HIS BLOOD


晋。吴猛。年八岁。事亲至孝。家贫。榻无帷帐。每夏夜。蚊多潜肤。恣取膏。虽多不驱之。恐其去以而噬亲也。爱亲之心至矣。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Wú Mĕng of the Jìn dynasty was eight years old, he was very filial towards his parents. The family was poor, and the bed had no mosquito net. Every night in summer mosquitoes in droves nibbled at their skin and sucked their blood without restraint. Although there were many, Mĕng did not drive them away, lest in leaving him they bite his parents. So great was his love of his parents! A poem praises him:



夏夜无帷帐。蚊多不敢挥。恣取膏血饱。免使入亲帏。

On summer nights without a mosquito net,

When mosquitoes are many he dares not wave them off;

They gorge themselves on his flesh and blood,

And thus he avoids their bothering his parents.