English Original
Zeng Zi was one of Confucius's disciples.
One day, Zeng Zi's wife was going to the market. Their son wanted to go with her and threw a tantrum, crying and fussing nonstop. Unable to calm him, his wife bent down and said to humor him: "Go home now, my dear. Mama will be back soon. When I return, I'll kill the pig to make you a meal."
Hearing this, the son went home happily.
Shortly after, the wife returned. Zeng Zi tied up their fat pig, took out a sharp knife, and prepared to slaughter it. Seeing this, his wife hurriedly grabbed his hand and said, "What are you doing? I was only trying to humor the child."
Zeng Zi replied seriously, "How can you deceive a child? A child is young and does not understand the world; he learns by following his parents' example. If you deceive him now, he will learn to deceive others. Furthermore, if a mother deceives her child, the child will lose trust in her. How then can you educate him properly?"
With that, Zeng Zi raised his knife and killed the pig.
中文翻译
曾子是孔子的学生。
一天，曾子的妻子要去集市。他们的儿子哭闹着非要跟去。妻子没办法，只好弯下腰哄他说：“乖，先回家去。妈妈很快就回来，回来就杀猪给你吃。”
儿子听了，高高兴兴地回家了。
不久，妻子从集市回来，看见曾子正捆住家里的肥猪，拿出明晃晃的尖刀准备宰杀。她急忙拉住曾子的手说：“你这是干什么？我不过是哄哄孩子罢了。”
曾子严肃地说：“怎么能欺骗孩子呢？孩子年纪小，不懂事，只会模仿父母的行为。你现在骗他，他将来就会学着去骗别人。况且，母亲欺骗儿子，儿子就不再信任母亲了。这样还怎么教育好孩子呢？”
说完，曾子便举刀宰了猪。