The Value of Keeping a Promise
故事全文
One day, Zeng Shen’s wife wanted to go to the market to buy something. Their son cried and wanted to go too. So, his wife told her son, “You are an obedient son. If you agree to stay at home, I will slaughter the pig for you to eat after I come home. Is this okay? ”Hearing that there would be tasty pork to eat, her son agreed to wait at home for his mother’s return. After a while, Zeng Shen’s wife came home from the market and saw Zeng Shen and her son trying to catch the pig so that they could slaughter and eat it.
“What are you doing? ”she asked Zeng Shen anxiously, “The pig is still small, what a pity it would be to slaughter it now! ”
Zeng Shen looked at his wife as he tied up the pig and said to her, “Didn’t you promise our son that if he agreed to stay at home, you would slaughter the pig for him to eat? Our son has kept his promise. ”
“I merely wanted to coax him to stay at home, I wasn’t serious about laughtering the pig! ” she said.
Zeng Shen put down the rope in his hand and told his wife sternly, “We cannot make frivolous promises with our son. Because he has not yet the ability to think and judge, he must learn from his parents, and listen to what we say. If you lie to your son now, it will only teach him how to lie. If you lie to your son, he will stop believing what you say. This is surely not the right way to teach children. ”
In the end, Zeng Shen slaughtered the pig, and cooked it in a pot for his son to eat.
