Zeng Zi was one of Confucius¹' disciples².

 

One day, Zeng Zi's wife wanted to go to market. Their son wanted to go together with her. He made a row, crying and fussing³ without stop. His wife could do nothing but bend down to humour⁴ him, saying: "My darling, go home now. Mama will be back soon. When I'm back, I'll kill the pig to make a meal for you."

 

When the son heard this, he went home happily.

 

Not long after, the wife returned home from the market. Zeng Zi tied up their fat pig, took out a shining sharp knife and prepared to kill it. When his wife saw this, she hurriedly held Zeng Zi by the hand and said: "What's the matter with you? I was only trying to humour the child."

 

Zeng Zi said seriously: "How can you cheat a child? The child is still small and doesn't understand things. He only follows the example of his parents. Now you cheat him, then he will follow your example and cheat others. Furthermore⁵, when a mother cheats her child, the child will no longer trust his mother. Then, how can you educate the child well?"

 

Having said this, Zeng Zi raised his knife and killed the fat pig.

 

曾子是孔子的一个学生。

 

有一天，曾子的妻子要上街。儿子吵着要跟妈妈一起去，又哭又闹，吵个不停。妻子没有办法，只好弯腰哄他，说：“我的小宝贝，回家去吧！妈妈去了就回来，一回来就杀猪给你吃。”

 

儿子听了，高高兴兴地回家去了。

 

过了不久，妻子从街上回到了家。曾子就把家里的肥猪捆住，拿出雪亮的尖刀，准备杀猪。妻子看见了就急忙拉住曾子的手，说：“你这是怎么了？我只不过是哄哄小孩的。”

 

曾子严肃地说：“你怎么能够哄骗孩子呢？现在，孩子还小，不懂事，他只会照着父母的样子去做。你现在哄骗孩子，孩子就会学你的样子，去哄骗别人。做母亲的哄骗儿子，做儿子的就不会再信任母亲。这样，怎么能教育好孩子呢？”

 

曾子话一说完，就一刀宰了肥猪。

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