Chapter Two： FILIAL PIETY

父母呼，应勿缓，父母命，行勿懒。
父母教，须敬听，父母责，须顺承。
冬则温，夏则凊，晨则省，昏则定。
出必告，反必面，居有常，业无变。
事虽小，勿擅为，苟擅为，子道亏。
物虽小，勿私藏，苟私藏，亲心伤。
亲所好，力为具，亲所恶，谨为去。
身有伤，贻亲忧，德有伤，贻亲羞。
亲爱我，孝何难，亲憎我，孝方贤。
亲有过，谏使更，怡吾色，柔吾声。
谏不入，悦复谏，号泣随，挞无怨。
亲有疾，药先尝，昼夜侍，不离床。
丧三年，常悲咽，居处变，酒肉绝。
丧尽礼，祭尽诚，事死者，如事生。

温，在这里是个动词，令人感觉温暖的意思；或者是给铺上厚厚的被褥啊；或者烧点热开水，泡杯热茶的；又或者生个火，在现代来说，调节暖气。总而言之，在寒冷的冬天，做各种能让父母感觉温暖或保持温暖的事，这样父母就不会受冻；身子暖和，心也暖和了！

Some ways in which we can make our parents warm in the winter are: giving them thick blankets to cover themselves with making hot tea for them to drink, and turning on the heater. We should do our best to keep our parents warm in the cold winter, so that they won’t freeze or catch cold. That way, not only their bodies, but their hearts will also be warm!

凊，也是个动词，读如 “静”。这个字必须特别地注意，它的偏旁是两点水，冰冻的意思，不是三点水的意思。这两个点在古中国字是写成 “”，像冰块的裂痕，所以有冰冻的意思。凊就是叫人感觉凉爽，好像吃了冰似的。若写成三点水的“清”，就不对了。清是干净，当然是用水来洗才干净的。

We should pay special attention to the word "cool" jing in Chinese. It has a radical with two drops of water, which means the water is frozen into ice. The ancient form of this radical was . resembling cracks on the surface of an ice cube, so it means chilly or icy. So the word “jing” means to make people feel as cool and refreshed as if they were eating ice. If we write three drops of water as its radical, it becomes the character “qing 清”which means clean, to make things clean with water.

那么方才说好像吃冰似的，指的是在夏天；若冬天就不可以吃冰了！夏天太阳大，屋外是晒得汗流浃背，屋内坐着又燥热气闷，那么父母年纪大一些就会受不了。所以给父母扇扇风，或者开个电风扇、冷气的，或者打开窗，保持空气流通，或者倒杯冷开水，切片冰凉的西瓜，这都会让父母感到清凉又安慰。我们现在是太空时代，科学发达，什么都很进步，要冬温夏凊，好像不是太难；若在古代，那可不容易了！也正因为不容易，才显出孝子的可贵。

In the summer we should make people feel as cool as if they were eating ice, but in the winter it would be too cold to eat ice. During the summer, we sweat under the blazing sun outside, and we feel hot and stuffy inside the house. Our aging parents may not be able to bear such heat. We can make our parents feel cool and comfortable by turning on the fan or the air conditioner, or opening the windows to let the air circulate, or serving them ice water or cold watermelon. With modern space age technology, it’s quite easy to keep our parents warm in the winter and cool in the summer. However, it wasn’t so easy in the old days. And precisely because it wasn’t easy, the virtue of filial piety could be revealed through doing it.

中国历史上有名的二十四孝中，就有个这样的例子，汉朝的黄香才九岁时，就已经懂得怎样孝顺父亲了！那时他母亲已去世，所以就由小小年纪的黄香来照顾父亲。夏天天热，到晚上室内的余温仍很高，房间像个火炉似的，黄香就先拿扇子把床上的枕席扇凉了，才请父亲上床睡觉。冬天天气很冷，床被就像冰块似的，黄香就先钻进被窝躺到床也温了，被子也暖了，再请父亲去睡觉。想想看，偶尔做一次都已是不容易了，黄香却在九岁的幼年，就已能天天这么做，让父亲可以舒舒服服地睡觉，那是多么可佩啊！

Here is an example from the Twenty-four Filial Sons of Chinese history. In the Han dynasty, there was a boy named Huang Xiang whose mother died when he was only nine years old. Yet he proved that he knew how to be filial and take care of his father at such a young age. On sweltering summer nights when their house was as hot as an oven, Huang Xiang would fan the bed before asking his father to sleep. On cold winter nights, the boy would warm the freezing blankets with his own body before asking his father to go to bed. To do such things even occasionally would not have been easy, yet at his young age Huang Xiang did them night after night so that his father could sleep comfortably. What an admirable child!

省，本义是看；就是早上起来，先去看看父母。为什么？看看父母夜来睡得安稳否？有什么吩咐或需要否？定，是安定、安顿，是个动祠。怎么安定父母呢？到了晚上，去向父母说晚安，替他们把寝具安顿好，这样父母就可安安心心又舒舒服服地睡了！

When we get up in the morning, we should go to see if our parents slept well, if there is something they need, or if they have any instructions for us. How can we make sure our parents get a good night’s rest? In the evening, we can bid them "good night" and pull down the bed covers for them so that they can sleep comfortably and well.

告，是报告，出门一定要先报告父母，讲明了去什么地方，大约什么时候可以回来，绝不可以不先请示可否外出，就溜走了。去的地方如果有电话，最好留下电话号码；若是无法按时回家，也要打电话回来说一声。倘若回来了呢，也不可以自顾自就溜回房，一定要去面见父母，好让父母安心。否则你若回来老半天，已呼呼大睡了，父母不知道，恐怕还守着灯在等你，内心忧虑得很呀！

When we go out, we should let our parents know where we are going and when we will be back. We should never slip away without informing them. We can leave the phone number of the place we are going if there is one, and call our parents if we cannot come home on time. Once we get home, we should report to our parents immediately, and not just slip back to our own room without giving notice, for our parents might stay up and wait for us, worrying about our safety.

现代的人好像很喜欢搬家，换工作，新鲜嘛！可是变动太多，总令人感觉不是你心情不稳定，就是生活不稳定；这都会令父母为你操心的。若父母是和你同住，岂不更要生烦恼？老人家是最怕变动的了！所以可能的话，尽量避免常常搬家，换工作；不得已的时候，也要马上禀告父母你的新住处和职业，一来安父母的心，二来也方便保持联系，否则父母若有要紧事，从哪去找到你呢？

Nowadays, many people like to move from place to place and change jobs just for the sake of finding something new. However, we should know that frequent moving and changing of jobs tends to make our moods unstable and our lives insecure. It also causes our parents to worry about us. If our parents live with us and have to move as well, they may become afflicted, because the elderly don’t like to experience changes. Therefore, we should try to avoid moving and changing jobs too frequently. If we are forced by the circumstances to do so, we should inform our parents immediately so that they will not worry and will know where to find us in an emergency.

有一位布朗老太太，自己住在洛杉矶市中心的一栋公寓，唯一的儿子虽然不算太坏，就总是无法安定住一个住所或工作单位上，一年间，就不知要换上几次；有时他想起来告诉老妈妈，老妈妈的住址簿上登记的，却往往是他前两、三个通讯处。布朗老太太提起儿子，总是无可奈何地叹气，不但操心他有没有钱生活，还往往不知现在他人在哪里。一天布朗老太太脑中风死了，邻居几天不见她出来晒太阳，觉得不对，撞门而入，尸体都开始发臭了！翻了住址簿，辗转几天才联络到那个刚失业，又换过两次住所的儿子。这是多么可悲呀！

Once there was a Mrs. Brown who lived in an apartment in Los Angeles. Although her son was not a bad person, he had never had a stable residence or job. He moved several times each year. Sometimes he remembered to call his mother to inform her of his new address and phone number, but usually she only had two or three of his old addresses in her address book. Mrs. Brown always sighed sorrowfully whenever she spoke of her son. She always worried about whether he could support himself and wondered where he was living. One day Mrs. Brown died of a brain stroke. After several days of not seeing her, her neighbors suspected that something was wrong and broke into her house, where they found her body, already beginning to stink. After several days of searching, they finally reached her son, who had just lost his job and moved twice. What a sad plight!