..续本文上一页 and was very temperamental when she was drunk. If she got upset at her daughter, she would scold or beat her. One day the girl, who was twelve years old at the time, saw her mother beating her little sister, so she ran over to a neighbor”s house and called the Child Abuse Hotline for help. The court ruled that the mother was not fit to live with her children. The two sisters were separated and were sent to different foster homes. When the girl went to visit her mother, her mother ignored her. She felt sure that her mother hated her. Yet she found no genuine love or caring in her new foster home either. In reaction to criticism from the adults around her, she learned how to please and flatter them. Sometimes she let out her pent-up emotions and behaved violently toward other children.
上高中后，她比较懂事了，试图去了解她的生母，才发觉她的生母其实是活在悔恨里，再加上因思念孩子和孤独无助，变得更加自暴自弃，振作不起来。这女学生也很希望一家团圆，但是法律上已不许可了！
When she grew more mature in high school, she made an effort to understand her biological mother. It was only then that she realized how lonely and without support her mother had been, how much she had yearned for her children and been filled with regret. Her mother was even more helpless than before, unable to set her life straight. The daughter hoped to patch up her broken family now, but the law wouldn”t allow it!
话说回来，孩子在成长过程中，或多或少，或久或暂地，都有一段偶像塑造与崇拜的模仿期；谁是他们最早的模仿对象呢？当然是父母、年长的家庭成员了，其次才是师长，接着便是一些社会名人和历史英雄。既然父母是最早的偶像人选，在童稚的心中，自有其颠扑不破的地位，那么孩子又能有多少智慧，去判断父母是否犯下过错？万一他们发现了父母也有过错，他们又会怎样震惊和失望？孩子们的是非标准和概念，本来就有待大人的教导，而今不但要承担这种打击，还要负起规劝的责任，那又是多么不容易啊！
When children are growing up, there is a time when they are looking for models to follow and idols to worship. This time varies in length and intensity from person to person. Of course parents and elder family members are their earliest models, followed by teachers, famous people in society, and heroes in history. Since parents are the earliest models, they hold an indestructible place in a child”s heart. How much wisdom does a child have to judge whether or not his parents are at fault
When children discover that their parents can also make mistakes, imagine their shock and disappointment. Since children rely on adults to give them a standard for right and wrong, how difficult it must be when they not only have to overcome the shock of seeing their parents” errors, but they have to take on the responsibility of exhorting their parents to change.
但是，我们也不要低估了孩子的良知和良能。假使古代的中国孩子能勉力这样去做，那么现代的中国孩子也能；中国孩子能，那么各国的孩子也能。只不过现代的大人替小孩设想太多，保护太过，令孩子丧失了天赋的适应力，而变得自私自利或神经质罢了！所以从各方面来看，我们还是以实践这个古老的原则，按照这些方法去做，比较能理事圆融无碍。
Nevertheless, we should not underestimate children”s intelligence and capabilities. If the children of ancient China were able to do it, so can the Chinese children of today. If Chinese children can do it, so can those of other nationalities. It”s just that today”s adults are overly protective of children, causing children to lose their natural adaptive abilities and become selfish and neurotic in- stead. Therefore, from all perspectives, it seems that we should go back to the ancient principles; that seems to be the most perfect solution.
《弟子规浅释 Standards for Students 第二章：孝 Chapter Two： FILIAL PIETY - 8》全文阅读结束。