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Chinese Text Project
Translation setting:[None] [English]
-> -> -> -> Zhu Yai Eryi

《珠崖二義 - Zhu Yai Eryi 》

English translation: AI and Chinese Text Project users [?] Library Resources
1 珠崖二義:
二義者,珠崖令之後妻,及前妻之女也。女名初,年十三,珠崖多珠,繼母連大珠以為繫臂。及令死,當送喪。法,內珠入於關者死。繼母棄其繫臂珠。其子男年九歲,好而取之,置之母鏡奩中,皆莫之知。
Eryi was the second wife of Zhu Yai Ling and the daughter of his first wife. The girl's name was Chu, and she was thirteen years old. Zhu Yai had many pearls; her stepmother tied a large pearl to her as an arm ornament. When the magistracy died, they should send off the funeral procession. According to law, anyone who brings pearls into the pass shall be executed. The stepmother discarded the pearl that was tied to her arm. Her son, a boy nine years old, liked it and took it, placing it in his mother's mirror casket; no one knew about it.

2 珠崖二義:
遂奉喪歸,至海關,關候士吏搜索,得珠十枚於繼母鏡奩中,吏曰:「嘻!此值法無可柰何,誰當坐者?」初在左右顧,心恐母去置鏡奩中,乃曰:「初當坐之。」吏曰:「其狀何如?」對曰:「君不幸,夫人解繫臂棄之。初心惜之,取而置夫人鏡奩中,夫人不知也。」繼母聞之,遽疾行問初,初曰:「夫人所棄珠,初復取之,置夫人奩中,初當坐之。」母意亦以初為實,然憐之,乃因謂吏曰:「願且待,幸無劾兒,兒誠不知也。此珠妾之繫臂也,君不幸,妾解去之,而置奩中。迫奉喪,道遠,與弱小俱,忽然忘之,妾當坐之。」初固曰:「實初取之。」繼母又曰:「兒但讓耳,實妾取之。」因涕泣不能自禁。女亦曰:「夫人哀初之孤,欲強活初耳,夫人實不知也。」又因哭泣,泣下交頸,送葬者盡哭,哀動傍人,莫不為酸鼻揮涕。關吏執筆書劾,不能就一字,關候垂泣,終日不能忍決,乃曰:「母子有義如此,吾寧坐之?不忍加文,且又相讓,安知孰是?」遂棄珠而遣之,既去,後乃知男獨取之也。君子謂二義慈孝。《論語》曰:「父為子隱,子為父隱,直在其中矣。」若繼母與假女推讓爭死,哀感傍人,可謂直耳。
They then accompanied the funeral and returned home, arriving at the seaport customs. The customs officers searched them and found ten pearls in the stepmother's mirror casket. The official said, "Ah!" "This case falls under the law; there is no way around it. Who should be held responsible?" Chu looked around and, fearing that her mother had placed the pearls in the mirror casket, said, "I should be held responsible." The official asked, "What is your situation like?" She replied, "My husband was unfortunate; the lady untied and discarded it from her arm. Chu cherished it at first, took it, and placed it in the lady's mirror casket; the lady did not know about it." The stepmother heard this and hurriedly ran to ask Chu, who said, "The pearl the lady discarded, I took back and placed it in your casket; I should be held responsible." The mother also believed that Chu was the one who had done it, but she pitied her and thus said to the official, "I hope you will wait a while; I beg you not to accuse my daughter. She truly did not know." "These pearls were tied on my arm. My husband was unfortunate, and I removed them and placed them in the casket." "Because of the urgency to send off the funeral, the journey was long, and I traveled with a child too young. Suddenly I forgot about them; it is I who should be held responsible." Chu insisted, "It was truly me who took them." The stepmother then said again, "My daughter is just being modest; it was actually I who took them." She wept bitterly and could not control herself. The girl also said, "Madam feels pity for Chu's orphaned condition and wants to spare her life; Madam truly did not know." They wept together, their tears falling on each other's necks. Those who accompanied the funeral all cried; their sorrow moved those nearby, and no one could help but feel heartbroken and shed tears. The customs official held the brush to write up the accusation, but could not bring himself to write a single character. The customs officer wept bitterly and all day long could not bear to make a decision. He finally said, "A mother and daughter show such righteousness like this; how can I possibly hold them responsible?" "I cannot bring myself to impose punishment on either of them. Moreover, they keep yielding to each other; how could I know who is truly at fault?" Thus he abandoned the pearls and let them go. After they had left, it was later discovered that only the boy had taken them. The gentlemen said that Eryi demonstrated kindness and filial piety. The Analects says: "A father conceals for his son, a son conceals for his father; uprightness is to be found in this." If the stepmother and her adopted daughter vied with each other for death, their sorrow moved those around them; they can truly be called upright.

3 珠崖二義:
頌曰:珠崖夫人,甚有母恩,假繼相讓,維女亦賢,納珠於關,各自伏愆,二義如此,為世所傳。
Ode: The lady of Zhu Yai, was most full of maternal kindness. Adopted mother and daughter vied in yielding; even the girl proved virtuous. When pearls were brought into the customs post, each took blame upon herself. With such righteousness as these two women showed, their story became passed down through the ages.

《文選樓叢書》本《新刊古列女傳》
《文選樓叢書》本《新刊古列女傳》
URN: ctp:lie-nv-zhuan/zhu-ya-er-yi