..續本文上一頁right pearl. It is the most precious jewel in the world. We cherish jewels and protect them as carefully as our very lives, because we are afraid of damaging them. Yet we fail to protect our filial piety, the bright pearl within us; instead, we carelessly spoil it. Our priorities are truly confused!.
接下來四句，則就收受物品而言，也不要以爲那只是個小物件，沒關系的，父母不會知道；就知道了也不要緊，反正父母不會要的。這可真大大地傷了父母的慈心了！天底下哪有漠視人而人家不會傷心落淚，更何況是對自己有生養之恩的父母！
The previous section discussed how we should handle matters. The next two lines discuss receiving things. We shouldn”t casually take even a very small object, thinking our parents won”t know about it or won”t care. Such behavior would actually cause them a lot of grief. Anyone feels hurt when he is ignored, how much the more so our own parents.
孝順父母，首要的是存恭敬心；如果光養而不知敬，那和養貓養狗又有何區別？無論如何，恭敬父母，事無巨細，物無大小，都能禀明父母，總是不會錯的。不要因爲怕麻煩或存私心，錯了又不改，還給自己當辯護律師，說：我只是不想因爲這些小事、小物來麻煩父母罷了!或者說：我是在訓練自己果斷和獨立的能力呢！結果把天地間至寶的孝道虧損了，把人世間至愛的父母心傷了！
Filial piety begins with respect. If we feed our parents but don”t respect them, how is this different from raising cats or dogs
We should show our respect by letting our parents know about everything we do. We shouldn”t think, "Oh, I don”t want to bother them with these small matters," or "I”m just trying to be more independent." Such thoughts would only undermine the precious virtue of filial piety and hurt our dear parents.
曾子在孔子學生中以孝聞名，當他的父親曾點(孔子的早期學生)還在世時，曾子以酒肉奉養父親，如有剩余，一定恭敬地請示要給誰吃？當父親進飲食時，若問還有沒有多余的？曾子一定回答有，好教父親安心食用。
Confucius” disciple Zeng Zi was renowned for his filial piety. When his father Zeng Dian (one of Confucius” earliest disciples) was still alive, Zeng Zi would serve him his food and then respectfully ask him who should eat the leftovers, should there be any. While eating, his father would sometimes ask if there was any more food. Zeng Zi would always say "yes," so his father could eat without worrying whether there was any food left.
後來曾子的兒子曾元侍奉曾子吃飯，吃完就把酒肉收了，也不問問父親如何安排；曾子若問還有沒有多余的？曾元就說“沒有了！”意思是希望下餐再拿出來給父親吃。因此孟子就評論這件事，認爲曾子善于奉養承順父母的心意，而曾元只能奉養父母的口體罷了！試想：這樣的小事、小物，曾子都不敢自專，也不擅自私藏，難怪人家尊稱爲“大孝曾參”，也難怪孔子把 《孝經》傳授于他了！
Later, when Zeng Zi”s son Zeng Yuan served Zeng Zi, after Zeng Zi finished eating, Zeng Yuan would put away the food without asking about how to deal with the leftover food. When Zeng Zi asked his son if there was any food left over, his son would say "no." Zeng Yuan did this because he wanted to save the food and serve it to his father at the next meal. Mencius” judgment of the situation was that while Zeng Zi knew well how to serve his parents and comply with their wishes, Zeng Yuan only knew how to feed his parents. Think it over: Even in such a small matter --such a minor detail--Zeng Zi dared not do as he pleased; he dared not keep anything for himself. No wonder people praised Zeng Zi as the "greatly filial Zeng Shen" and Confucius had no second thoughts about teaching the "Classic of Filial Piety" to him.
《弟子規淺釋 Standards for Students 第二章：孝 Chapter Two： FILIAL PIETY - 3》全文閱讀結束。