Filial (1) 孝感動天

Once, a long long time ago, there was a lad, named Sun. His mother died very early, and his father got remarried. His stepmother hated Sun, and always told his father bad things about him. His parents soon produced a baby, and called him Xiang. Him and his parents all hated Sun, so they always disrespected him, and made him the servant. However, Sun always loved them and cared for them, and everybody was surprised at his ways.
At the same time, the king was complaining about how he was so old, and he needed a new king to rule over the country.
One of his nobles told him that Sun was a kind and honest young man, and the perfect new king. The king wanted his citizens to be happy under the king’s rule, so he called for Sun to meet him in his palace. Sun came, and the king was impressed by Sun’s manners and behavior. So he let his two daughters marry him first, and he also gave him many riches. The princesses went home with Sun, and they helped him cook and clean. When Xiang saw that he came home with two beautiful wives and lots of money, he got so jealous that he wanted to kill his stepbrother. He shared his plan with his parents. Just then, one of Sun’s wives came and warned him that his parents and brother wanted to kill him. Sun just simply said, “I’ll be careful.”
So, his father asked him to go on the roof and fix the hole . Sun quickly climbed up, and got immediately to work. When Sun wasn’t looking, Xiang tried to burn down the house Sun was working on! He wanted to burn him to death! Sun smelled the smoke, looked around him, and, like magic, he grabbed two hats and used them like a parachute to land on the ground safely. When Xiang saw this, he got even more angrier, and told his father to make Sun dig a well, and then bury him alive.
His father agreed, and Sun started digging. Down and down he went, and soon he was so deep that they couldn’t see him anymore. So Xiang and his father got some shovels and started piling dirt in the well. Sun saw that they had proceeded with their scheme, so he headed toward his secret tunnel. He suspected that they were going to do this much much earlier, so while he dug a well, he dug a tunnel, and he climbed out to the surface, while his brother and his father still tried to bury him in the opening of the well. The king was impressed by this, and made him the new king. All the citizens loved it under his rule, and they all lived happily ever after.

 舜,傳说中的遠古帝王,五帝之一,姓姚,名重华,号有虞氏,史称虞舜。相傳他的父亲瞽叟及繼母、异母弟象,多次想害死他:讓舜修補谷仓仓頂時,從谷仓下縱火,舜手持两个斗笠跳下逃脱;讓舜掘井时,瞽叟与象却下土填井,舜掘地道逃脱。事后舜毫不嫉恨,仍对父亲恭顺,对弟弟慈爱。他的孝行感动了天帝。舜在历山耕种,大象替他耕地,鳥代他鋤草。帝尧听说舜非常孝顺,有處理政事的才干,把两个女儿娥皇和女英嫁给他;經過多年觀察和考驗,選定舜做他的繼承人。舜登天子位后,去看望父亲,仍然恭恭敬敬,并封象为诸侯。 后人有诗赞曰:队队春耕象,纷纷耘草禽。嗣尧登宝位,孝感動天心。

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