24 Filial Exemplars Three

She Suckled Her Mother-In-Law (Ru Gu Bu Dai 乳姑不怠)

Cui Nanshan of the Tang dynasty had a great grandmother known as Madame Zhangsun (长孙夫人). She was very old and no longer had teeth. Each day his grandmother, Madame Tang, combed the old lady's hair, washed her face, and brought her into the main hall, where she fed her mother-in-law with her own milk. Although the old lady ate not a crumb, nevertheless she passed many years in good health. One day she fell sick, and young and old gathered about her as she announced: "There is no way that I can repay my daughter-in-law's favors. I want all the sons and grandsons and their wives to be as filial and respectful as this daughter-in-law has been."

She is praised in verse thus:
The filial daughter-in-law of the Cui family
Gives milk to her mother-in-law after combing her hair and washing her each morning;
This favor cannot be returned, but
It is wished that she receive the same treatment from her sons and grandsons.

乳姑不怠

唐，崔南山曾祖母长孙夫人，年高无齿，祖母唐夫人，每日栉洗升堂，乳其姑，奶不粒食，数年而康。一日病，长幼咸集，乃宣言曰，无以报新妇恩，愿子孙妇，如妇之孝敬足矣。有诗为颂。

诗曰:
孝敬崔家妇。
乳姑晨盥梳，
此恩无以报，
愿得子孙如。

He Let Mosquitoes Consume His Blood (Zi Wen Bao Xue 恣蚊饱血)

When Wu Meng (吴猛) of the Jin dynasty was eight years old, he was very filial towards his parents. The family was poor, and the bed had no mosquito net. Every night in summer mosquitoes in droves nibbled at their skin and sucked their blood without restraint. Although there were many, Meng did not drive them away, lest in leaving him they bite his parents. So great was his love of his parents!

A poem praises him:
On summer nights without a mosquito net,
When mosquitoes are many he dares not wave them off;
They gorge themselves on his flesh and blood,
And thus he avoids their bothering his parents.

恣蚊饱血

晋，吴猛，年八岁，事亲至孝。家贫，榻无帷帐。每夏夜，蚊多潜肤，恣取膏，虽多不驱之，恐其去以而噬亲也，爱亲之心至矣。有诗为颂。

诗曰:
夏夜无帷帐，
蚊多不敢挥。
恣取膏血饱，
免使入亲帏。

Wang Xiang Lay on Ice in Search of Carp (Wo Bing Qiu Li 臥冰求鲤)

Wang Xiang (王祥) of the Jin dynasty lost his mother early. His stepmother, named Zhu, was unloving toward him and unceasingly spoke ill of him before his father. Because of this he lost the love of his father also. His stepmother often liked to eat fresh fish, but one winter the cold froze the river to ice. Xiang loosened his clothes and lay on the ice to melt it so he could procure them. Suddenly the ice opened of itself and a pair of carp leapt out. He took them and returned to serve them to his stepmother.

A verse speaks of this:
We have seen stepmothers before,
But never a Wang Xiang,
Until today upon the river, when
He left us a model by lying on the ice.

卧冰求鲤

晋，王祥母丧，继母朱氏，不慈。父前数谮之，由是失爱于父母欲食鲜鱼，时天寒地冻，祥解衣，卧冰求之，冰忽自解，双鲤跃出。持归供母。有诗为颂。

诗曰:
继母人间有，
王祥天下无。
至今河上水，
留得卧冰模。

He Buried His Son for His Mother (Wei Mu Mai Er 为母埋儿)

In the Han dynasty the family of Guo Ju (郭巨) was poor. He had a three-year-old son. His mother sometimes divided her food with the child. Ju said to his wife: "Because we are very poor, we cannot provide for Mother. Our son is sharing Mother's food. Why not bury this son?" He was digging the pit three feet deep when he struck a caldron of gold. On it (an inscription) read: "No official may take this nor may any other person seize it."

A verse says of him: 
Guo Ju wishes to serve his mother, and
Buries his son that his mother may survive;
Yellow gold is bestowed by heaven, and
Brilliant fortune brightens their poor threshold.

为母埋儿

汉，郭巨家贫，有子三岁。母尝减食与之，巨谓妻曰，贫乏不能供母，子又分父母之食，盍埋此子。及掘坑三尺，得黄金一釜。上云官不得取。民不得夺。有诗为颂。

诗曰：
郭巨思供亲，
埋儿为母存。
黄金天所赐，
光彩照寒门。

He Strangled A Tiger To Save His Father (E Hu Jiu Fu 扼虎救父)

When Yang Xiang of the Jin dynasty was fourteen, he often followed his father Fēng into the fields to reap grain. His father [on one occasion] was dragged away by a tiger. Although at the time Yáng Xiāng had no weapon at hand, he thought only of his father and not of himself as he leapt quickly forward and grabbed tightly at the tiger's neck. The tiger left in defeat, and his father was able to escape injury.

A verse praises him saying:
In the deep mountains a white forehead reared, and
When it moved the wind was filled with the smell of its dead prey;
The father and child have suffered no injury,
Has rescued his father's body from the greedy mouth.

搤虎救父

晋，杨香年十四，常随父丰往田间获粟。父为虎曳去，时杨香手无寸铁，惟知有父而不知有身，踊跃向前，搤持虎颈。虎亦靡然而逝，父方得免于害。有诗为颂。
诗曰：
深山逢白额，
努力搏腥风。
父子俱无恙，
脱身馋口中。