| 河南乐羊子之妻者，不知何氏之女也。 |
河南郡乐羊子的妻子，不知道是姓什么人家的女儿。 |
Yue Yangzi of Henan Commandery was married, but his wife’s name was unknown. |
| 羊子尝行路，得遗金一饼，还以与妻。 |
乐羊子曾经在路上捡到一块人家遗失的金饼，回家交给妻子。 |
Yue Yangzi once found a piece of gold on his way home and gave it to his wife. |
| 妻曰：“妾闻志士不饮盗泉之水，廉者不受嗟来之食，况拾遗求利以污其行乎!” |
妻子说：“我听说有志气的人不喝名叫‘盗泉’的水，廉洁的人不接受带有侮辱性的食物，何况是捡别人的遗失之物以求利，从而玷污自己的品行呢！” |
His wife said, “I have heard that an ambitious man would not drink from Stealing Spring, and an upright man would not accept food given in contempt. How could you seek profit from another’s loss and stain your virtue?” |
| 羊子大惭，乃捐金于野，而远寻师学。 |
羊子非常惭愧，就把金子扔到野外，而远行寻求好的老师学习。 |
Yue Yangzi felt ashamed, threw the gold away in the fields, and set off to seek a worthy teacher for study. |
| 一年来归，妻跪问其故。 |
学了一年就回家了，妻子跪着问他回来的原因。 |
After a year he returned home, and his wife knelt and asked why he had come back. |
| 羊子曰：“久行怀思，无它异也。” |
羊子说：“只是长期在外想你了，没有别的特别的原因。” |
Yue Yangzi said, “I have been away so long and missed you deeply—there is no other reason.” |
| 妻乃引刀趋机而言曰：“此织生自蚕茧，成于机杼，一丝而累，以至于寸，累寸不许已，遂成丈匹。今若断斯织也，则捐失成功，稽废时月 夫子积学， 当日知其所亡，以就懿德。若中道而归，何异断斯织乎?”羊子感其言， 复还终业，遂七年不反。”” |
妻子就拿刀走到织机前说：“这些正在织的布最初产生于蚕茧，在织机上织成，一根丝一根丝的积累，才成寸起来，才达到一寸， 一寸一寸地不停积累，才成为丈匹。现在如果 割断这些正在织的布，那就抛弃了前面化下去的劳动，迟延荒废时光 您积累学问，就应该每天都学到新知识，用来成就美德；如果中途 就回家，跟剪断这丝织品又有什么两样呢?”羊子对此很有感触，再 回到老师那里修完学业，于是七年没有回家 |
Then his wife took a knife and walked to the loom, saying, “These cloths are born from silkworm cocoons and woven on the loom—thread by thread they accumulate to form an inch piece of cloth is made inch by inch.If I cut these pieces of cloth in progress from the loom,I waste the effort and time I have spent,and lessen my chance in success.The way to accumulate knowledge is to learn new things every day,and to use that new knowledge to assist you in cultivating virtue.If you return home mid-way,your study effort makes no more difference than a cut-off strip of cloth.Is it not so?"Yangzi was touched by her words.He went back to his master and finished his studies. He stayed away for seven years.” |
| 妻常躬勤养姑，又远馈羊子。 |
妻子常亲自劳作奉养婆婆，又寄物给远方的乐羊子。 |
Yue Yangzi’s wife personally worked hard to care for her mother-in-law and often sent goods to Yue Yangzi, who was far away. |
| 尝有它舍鸡谬入园中，姑盗杀而食之，妻对鸡不餐而泣。 |
曾有别人家的鸡误入乐家的园子中，婆婆偷了鸡把它杀了准备吃，乐羊子妻对着鸡肉不吃而哭泣。 |
Once, another family’s chicken mistakenly entered their yard; her mother-in-law stole it, killed it, and was about to eat it, but Yue Yangzi’s wife refused to eat and wept. |
| 姑怪问其故，妻曰：“自伤居贫，使食有它肉。” |
婆婆觉得奇怪就问她原因，乐羊子妻说：“是我自己感伤家里穷，使食物里有不是自家的肉。” |
The mother-in-law wondered and asked why. Yue Yangzi’s wife replied, “I grieve that our family is so poor that our meal contains meat not our own.” |
| 姑竟弃之。 |
婆婆最终把鸡肉扔掉了。 |
Her mother-in-law finally threw the chicken away. |
| 后盗欲有犯妻者，乃先劫其姑。 |
后来有盗贼想非礼乐羊子妻，于是就先劫持她的婆婆。 |
Later, a bandit wanted to violate Yue Yangzi’s wife, so he first seized her mother-in-law. |
| 妻闻，操刀而出。 |
乐羊子妻知道了，拿着刀出去。 |
When Yue Yangzi’s wife heard of it, she took up a knife and went out. |
| 盗人曰：“释汝刀，从我者可全，不从我者，则杀汝姑。” |
盗贼说：“放下你的刀依了我，就可以保全你婆婆，不依我的话，就杀了你的婆婆。” |
The bandit said, “Put down your knife and submit to me, and your mother-in-law will live; if not, I’ll kill her.” |
| 妻仰天而叹，举刀刎颈而死。 |
乐羊子妻仰天而叹，举刀割颈而死。 |
Yue Yangzi’s wife looked up to Heaven, sighed, and cut her own throat to death. |
| 盗亦不杀其姑。 |
盗贼也没有杀她婆婆。 |
The bandit then spared her mother-in-law’s life. |
| 太守闻之，即捕杀贼盗，而赐妻缣帛，以礼葬之，号曰“贞义”。 |
太守听说了这件事，即刻捕杀贼盗，而赐给乐羊子妻缣帛助丧，按礼仪安葬了她，称之为“贞义”。 |
When the governor heard of it, he executed the bandit, granted fine silk for her funeral, buried her with proper rites, and honored her with the title “Chastity and Righteousness.” |