Thursday, May 19, 2011

Zeng Zi Butchers The Pig

One morning, Zeng Zi's wife was going to the market, and her little son cried himself red in the face, wailing to go with her.

As the market was far away from their house, the lady had no choice but to leave the little boy at home. To comfort him, she said: " Stay at home and be a good boy. When I come back, I will butcher the pig to make you a yummy dinner as reward.” Her son was happy with this alternative and let her go peacefully.

When she came back in the afternoon,she caught Zeng Zi preparing to butcher the pig that they kept to offer to the Ancestors at the end of year.

She hastily stopped her husband "Husband! what are you doing? I was not seriously going to kill the pig!"

Zeng Zi replied seriously: “ A child is not to be trifled with like that! A child does not know much and cannot judge for himself. He learns from his parents and listens to what they say. To lie to him is to teach him to lie to others. If a mother lies to her son, he will not trust her anymore. How is she then to educate him?”

Convinced by him, his wife helped Zeng Zi slaughter the pig and made a good meal for their son.

~ Han Fei Zi On the importance of keeping one's word ~

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

What about those tacos you promised me two months ago? :P

Chubby Chipster

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