The book of filial duty

No. XI The Gushing Fountain and the Frisking Carp

In the Han dynasty lived Chiang Shih, who served his mother with perfect obedience; and his wife P‘ang also fulfilled her mother-in-law's commands without the least reluctance. The old lady loved to drink of the water from the river six or seven li away from her cottage, and P‘ang used to go to draw it and hand it to her.[[@Page:46]] She was also fond of carp, and when it was obtained, deeming herself unable to consume alone what her children with great toil and trouble continually prepared for her, usually invited some of the neighbours to feast with her. By the side of the cottage there suddenly gushed a fountain, the taste of whose waters was like that of the river, and it also produced two living fishes daily. These were taken out and prepared by Chiang Shih for his mother.

The fish from the river were fresh and delicious, and the water was sweet; the mother of Chiang Shih wished to taste of both daily. Her son went to purchase the fish and her daughter-in-law to bring the water; as constantly as the revolution of morning and evening did they exert themselves in this arduous labour. Having obtained the fish and water, her countenance brightened, and, laughing, she invited in one of the neighbours to rejoice and partake of them with her. Sitting opposite at the table, together they ate them, she foolishly not even regarding, but totally forgetting, her son and daughter, who with so much trouble had prepared them for her. Heaven took pity on these two filial children, and employed its divine power to assist them, sending a spirit to strike the earth with an axe which caused a perennial spring to bubble forth. The taste of the water from the fountain was like that from the river, and two fish continually sported[[@Page:47]] about in it, which henceforth Chiang Shih took out for their sustenance, nor was there any fear of the supply failing. To procure the fish now no money was needed, to obtain the water no long and weary walk was to be taken. It was as if the productions of this river and of the water were transferred into the midst of the cottage; and Chiang Shih could support his family with ease for many years.

No. XII He carved Wood and served his Parents

During the Han dynasty lived Ting Lan, whose parents both died when he was young, before he could obey and support them; and he reflected that for all the trouble and anxiety he had caused them, no recompense had yet been given. He then carved wooden images of his parents, and served them as if they had been alive. For a long time his wife would not reverence them; and one day, taking a bodkin, she pricked their fingers in derision. Blood flowed immediately from the wound; and seeing Ting coming, the images wept. He inquired into the circumstances, and forthwith divorced his wife.

He remembers his parents, but cannot see them; so he carves wood to represent their persons. He believes that their spirits are now the same as when they were alive, and his quietless[[@Page:48]]

heart trusts that their spirits have entered the carved images. He cannot rest until he has made their statues, so strong is his desire to nourish and reverence them. He now reveres them, although dead, as if they were alive; and hopes they will condescend to dwell in his ancestral hall.

No. XIII For his Mother's Sake he would bury his Child

In the days of the Han dynasty lived Kuo Chü, who was very poor. He had one child three years old; and such was his poverty that his mother usually divided her portion of food with this little one. Kuo says to his wife: "We are so poor that our mother cannot be supported, for the child divides with her the portion of food that belongs to her. Why not bury this child? Another child may be born to us, but a mother, once gone, will never return."His wife did not venture to object to the proposal, and Kuo immediately digs a hole about three cubits deep, when suddenly he lights upon a pot of gold, and on the metal reads the following inscription: "Heaven bestows this treasure upon Kuo Chü, the dutiful son; the magistrate may not seize it, nor shall the neighbours take it from him."

What a foolish action, that the sage Kuo should be willing to bury his own child! Fearing lest his mother should not have enough to eat, he is[[@Page:49]] willing to resign his child to death; but when it is dead, what relief will there be for the grief of its affectionate grandmother? When a number of cares come at some future time, who then will be able to disperse them if the child is dead? But at this time the reflection that his mother would be in want filled his breast with grief, and he had no time to think of the future when he would be childless. Heaven having given him a dutiful mind, caused him to take a light hoe for digging the earth. Together Kuo and his wife went, sorrowing and distressed, by the way, until they came to a very hilly place, where they stopped. Having dug into the ground, suddenly a gleam of light shot forth, and the pot of yellow gold which Heaven had deposited there was seen. Taking it up, they clasped their child with ecstasy in their arms and returned home; for now they had sufficient to support their whole family in plenty.

No. XIV He seized the Tiger and saved his Father

In the Han dynasty lived Yang Hsiang, a lad of fourteen, who was in the habit of following his father to the fields to cut grain. Once a tiger seized his father, and was slowly carrying him off, when Yang, anxious for his father and forgetting[[@Page:50]] himself, although he had no iron weapon in his hand, rushed forward and seized the tiger by the neck. The beast let the prey fall from his teeth, and fled, and Yang's father was thus saved from injury and death.

A tiger suddenly appears in the borders of the field, and seizes the man as lightly as he catches a sheep, and drags him off. Yang Hsiang, seeing the sudden peril of his father, was vexed that he had no weapon with an iron head; but being strongly excited and his feelings roused, he ran forward in the path, crying with a loud voice, and grasped the tiger by the neck. The frightened animal fled, nor stopped in its rapid course until it reached the high hills. Yang then, in a gentle manner, raised his father up and led him home, endeavouring to soothe his mind and dispel his fears, and also presented him the golden wine-cup. Among the great number of sages whose reputations are famous, how few of them have been devoted and filial at the hazard of their lives! But this lad, quite young and fair, as soon as he saw his father's danger, risked his own life; surely his fame will spread throughout the country. We have heard of the lady T‘i Ying, who saved her father from banishment, and of young Chu O, who lost her life in trying to rescue her father from drowning; and I think that Yang Hsiang will form a trio with them, and the three be celebrated in the same ode. [[@Page:51]]