Chapter 0ne: REVEALING THE PRINCIPLE AND EXPLAINING THE MEANING

弟子规，圣人训。首孝悌，次谨信。
泛爱众，而亲仁。有余力，则学文。

首先要孝顺父母、尊敬兄长，其次要言行谨慎而有信用。在《论语》中说的是 “入则孝，出则弟”，这个 “入”是说在家里，“出”是指出门在外。“弟”呢，是 “悌”的古字。本来讲的是做人家的弟弟，要友爱、恭敬哥哥；引申出来，就是要尊敬长辈。父母生养我们是十分辛劳的，中国的《诗经》里就有一首诗歌说：

“父兮生我，母兮鞠我，拊我畜我、长我育我、顾我复我、出入腹我，欲报之德，昊天罔极。”

First of all, we should be filial to our parents and respectful to our brothers, sisters, and elders; secondly, we should be cautious in our speech and behavior and be trustworthy. In the Confucian Analects it says: "At home one should be filial, and abroad, respectful to one’s elders." The character ru入"enter" means at home, chu 出 "go out" means going out, away from home. The character ti 弟"fraternity" was used in ancient times for the modern character ti 悌. Originally, it referred to the affection and respect that a younger brother should have for his older brother; the meaning is extended to include being respectful to elders. Our parents suffer great hardship in bearing us and bringing us up. A poem in theBook of Odes of China says：

My father gave me life; my mother nourished me,soothed me, raised me, helped me grow up, taught me, took care of me, looked after me constantly, and took me in her arms wherever she went. I wish to repay their kindness but it is as high as the heavens.

父亲赋予了我们生命，母亲鞠养我们长大。这个“鞠”，有弯曲、捧持的意思，就像捧在手心上，寒了怕冻着，暖了怕化掉。把我们当心肝宝贝地护持着。“拊”是轻轻拍打抚摸的意思。小宝宝爱哭，妈妈就轻轻拍着他的背哄着他；小宝宝爱撒娇，妈妈就轻轻摸着他的头怜惜他，可真是极尽爱护之能事了！“畜”是喂养。

Our fathers gave us life, and our mothers nourished us and brought us up. The word for "to nourish" has the meaning of bending over and picking up with both hands, like when our parents hold us in their arms, fearing that we will freeze in the cold or melt in the heat. They protect and cherish us as their dearest treasures, and soothe us with gentle caresses. When a baby cries, his mother gently pats him on back and coaxes him into a good mood. When he’s cranky, his mother tenderly strokes his head and pities him. How our parents love us and do their best to take care of us! They raise us by feeding and rearing us.

说到喂小宝宝，相信每位妈妈都有一本难言的苦经；但再苦，只要宝宝吃得健康，妈妈也都忘了！“长”是念做长大的长，就是拉拔长大；“育”是教育：这样子辛苦地养得大了，还要教育他们做人处世的道理。“顾”是回头看；“复”是再三再四地：这一句是描述父母关心爱护之情，是永不疲倦松懈的。“腹”，就是抱在怀里；出出入入，就把个小不点揽在身上，也不怕行动不方便。啊！就这么样把个小小生命带到大了！

Every mother goes through unbelievable suffering in feeding her baby, yet when she sees that baby is nourished, she forgets all about the suffering! After undergoing much hardship to bring up their child, the parents must still educate him in the principles of being a person and handling matters in the world. "Took care of me, looked after me constantly" describe how tenderly parents care for and protect their children without ever becoming weary or lax. The mother takes her child in her arms wherever she goes, not minding the inconvenience. Ah！ That is how parents bring up their children!

这么多的心血，做子女的想要报答父母恩，就好比仰望着无垠无际的虚空，哪里有报答得完的时候呢？报答不完，还是要尽力报，所以说“首”，首要的，像头之于人身那么要紧。而“悌”是孝道的延伸；父母生我们，每个子女对父母而言，都是像十根手指头一样；虽然指头有长有短，子女也有贤与不肖，却都是不可分割离弃的。因此友爱兄弟姊妹，才能安慰父母的心。

The energy and kindness that our parents have devoted to us is as boundless as empty space. When could we ever finish repaying it? We could never finish, but we must still try our best. Thus the verse says that of all rules, Filial piety is the first (literally "head"), which means the most important, just as the head is the most important part of the body. Fraternity is an extension of filial piety. Our parents gave birth to us, and so we are related to our parents as the ten fingers are related to the hands. Although some fingers are long and others are short, just as some children are good and others are not, they cannot separate from or abandon each another. Thus, only by loving and caring for our brothers and sisters can we set our parents’ hearts at ease.

而长辈呢，有的是长养我们的法身慧命的老师 ，有的是父母的亲友，所以我们恭敬师长，就等于恭敬父母一样。不但自身可以受到教益而成就，以荣显父母，更不致让人以为我们的父母不懂教养子女而遗羞父母 。所以这两种美德都是最基本，最要紧的。

Our elders include our teachers, who nurture our Dharma-body and wisdom-life, as well as our relatives. Respecting our teachers and elders is equivalent to respecting our own parents. By doing so, not only do we gain benefit ourselves and bring honor to our parents, we won’t disgrace our parents by giving others cause to say that our parents don’t know how to teach their children. Therefore, filial piety and fraternity are the most basic and important virtues.

其次呢，除了孝悌外，接下来要有的美德是：“谨慎 ”和“信实”。因为一个人纵使对父母师长，有足够的孝心和恭敬心，假使做事莽莽撞撞，又不讲信用，不但做不好，还经常会惹出麻烦和祸端来，这也是不孝顺，不恭敬的。这是紧接着要具备的美德。

After filial piety and fraternity, the next virtues we should have are cautiousness and trustworthiness. Even if a person is sufficiently filial to his parents and respectful to his elders, if he does things in a reckless manner and fails to be trustworthy, not only will things go wrong for him, but he will bring trouble and disaster upon himself. That would also be considered unfilial and disrespectful. Therefore, cautiousness and trustworthiness are the next virtues we should possess.