譯文:我家鄉(xiāng)的一位婦女和一位老媽媽關(guān)系很好,婦女在家中被懷疑偷了肉,她的婆婆趕走了她。婦女心中怨恨,告訴了和他關(guān)系好的老媽媽。老媽媽說:“你先慢慢地走,我讓你婆婆去追你。”于是(老媽媽)拿著一束柴禾到了婦女家里,說:“我家的狗因爭肉互相咬死了,借你家的火烹煮了它們?!眿D女的婆婆于是趕緊讓人把婦女追了回來。
《古代寓言·聰明的老媽媽》
臣里母相善婦,見疑盜肉,其姑去之。恨而告于里母。
里母曰:“安行?今令姑呼汝!”
即束蘊(yùn)請火去婦之家曰:“吾犬爭肉相殺,請火治之?!?br />姑乃直使人逐去婦還之。
——故里母非談?wù)f之士;束蘊(yùn)請火,非還婦之道也;然物有所感,事有可適。
——《韓詩外傳》
The Clever Old Woman
An old woman was friendly with a young wife, whose mother-in-law suspected her of stealing some meat and wanted to drive her away. In despair she went to complain to the old woman.
"Where can you go?" demanded her old neighbor. "I shall get your mother-in-law to call you back."
Then she took a bundle of straw to the house where the young woman lived.
"My dogs are fighting over some stolen meat," she said. "So I want to light a fire to give them a beating."
As soon as the mother-in-law heard that, she sent to recall her daughter-in-law.
This old woman was not gifted with eloquence, and taking a bundle of straw to ask for a light is not the usual means of effecting a reconciliation; but when you do the right thing you achieve results.
Hang Ying's Commentary on the Book of Songs