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The 24 Filial Exemplars (12)

Wáng Xiáng 王祥

12. HE LAY ON ICE IN SEARCH OF CARP

Wáng Xiáng of the Jìn dynasty lost his mother early. His stepmother, named Zhū, was unloving toward him and unceasingly spoke ill of him before his father. Because of this he lost the love of his father also. His stepmother often liked to eat fresh fish, but one winter the cold froze [the river] to ice. Xiáng loosened his clothes and lay on the ice to [melt it so he could] procure them. Suddenly the ice opened of itself and a pair of carp leapt out. He took them and returned to serve them to his stepmother. A verse speaks of this:
We have seen stepmothers before,

But never a Wáng Xiáng,

Until today upon the river, when

He left us a model by lying on the ice.
十二、卧冰求鲤
晋。王祥母丧。继母朱氏。不慈。父前数谮之。由是失爱于父母欲食鲜鱼。时天寒地冻。祥解衣。卧冰求之。冰忽自解。双鲤跃出。持归供母。有诗为颂。 诗曰
继母人间有。王祥天下无。至今河上水。留得卧冰模。


12. Wò Bīng Qiú Lǐ
Jìn Wáng Xiáng zǎo sàng mǔ. Jìmǔ Zhū shì. Bù cí. Fù qián shuò zèn zhī. Yóu shì shī ài yú fù. Mǔ cháng yù shí xiān yú. Shí tiān hán bīng dòng. Xiáng jiě yī. Wò bīng qiú zhī. Bīng hū zì jiě. Shuāng lǐ juè chū. Chí guī gòng mǔ. Yǒu shī wéi sòng.
Shī yuē:
Jìmǔ rén jiān yǒu. Wáng Xiáng tiānxià wú. Zhì jīn héshuǐ shàng. Liú dé wò bīng mú.


十二、臥冰求鯉
晉。王祥母喪。繼母朱氏。不慈。父前數譖之。由是失愛於父母欲食鮮魚。時天寒地凍。祥解衣。臥冰求之。冰忽自解。雙鯉躍出。持歸供母。有詩為頌。 詩曰
繼母人間有。王祥天下無。至今河上水。留得臥冰模。
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