_温良恭俭让_

该好好学习，这明明很好玩嘛，可他们就是不喜欢。”说完孔子噘起了小嘴。

那人冷笑一声，大声说道：“什么文王，全是骗人的鬼话；小孩子鸟事不懂，在这里装模作样，实在可恶！”这时，正逢孔子母亲走过，只听母亲说道：“这位先生贵姓？为何当街作此等模样，吓唬小孩子？”这时那人对孔子母亲行了个礼，说：“夫人您好！这位应该是令郎吧？我看他虽是儿童，在玩耍时却有一种雍容的气度，所以多说了几句。请问夫人，令郎玩的游戏是您教他的吗？”孔子的母亲微微一笑，说：“正是我教的。”那人说道：“小子姓李名耳，又名老聃，刚才出言

冒犯，请夫人原谅。小子虽然不才，对周礼却略知一二，愿意为令郎做指引；夫人虽是大贤，恐怕对周礼还不如小子知道的多。”孔子的母亲禁不住露出了笑容，说：“那就有劳李先生了。”

7天之后，孔子因为有老师指点，学得很快，整天乐呵呵很兴奋的样子。孔子的母亲看了很高兴，李耳也对他赞不绝口，原本丑陋阴沉的脸也渐渐有了光彩。

后来人们也知道，李耳即是中国古代伟大的哲学家和思想家、道家学派创始人老子。

老子在孔子家呆了6个月，一直教孔子学“礼”。最后，老子留书信一封，告别了孔子母子二人：“孔夫人：令郎孔子，师从本人李耳，时逾半载，其艺已成；近日李耳有事在身，不敢请辞，请夫人见谅。”然后有礼而去。I n Book Ⅰ of The Analects, Zi Qin said

to Zigong, “When our Master arrives in

a fresh country he always manages to

find out about its policy. Does he do this

by asking questions, or do people tell him

of their own accord?” Zigong said, “Our

Master gets things by being cordial, frank,

c o u r t e o u s,t e m p e r a t e,

d

e

f e r e n t i a l.T h a t

is our Master’s way of enquiring—a very

different style, certainly, from the way in

which enquiries are generally made.”

Legend has it that when he was six years

old, Confucius played the “rite” game with

a neighboring child. Confucius played the

role of Prime Minister and the other child

played the role of King. At that time, a man

in shabby clothes with a peculiar face came

u p t o t h e m a n d a s k e d:“K i d s,w h a t a r e

your names?” Confucius replied: “My name

is Kong Qiu. I’m six years old.” That man

asked: “What are you playing?” Confucius

said with a smile: “Rites. My mom taught

me. It’s great fun.”

Confucius’ mother happened to pass by.

S h e a s k e d t h e m a n:“W h a t’s y o u r n a m e,

sir?” The man saluted her and said: “Hello,

madam! Is this your son? Although he is

a child, he displays an elegant attitude in

the game. So I asked him some questions.

Did you teach him the game?” Confucius’

mother smiled gently and said: “Yes, I did.”

The man said: “I am Li Er, also named Lao

Dan. I am sorry to disturb you. Though I

am not talented, I know something about

rites of the Zhou Dynasty. So I would like to

instruct your son. Despite your being very

knowledgeable, madam, I am afraid you do

not know as much about the rites of Zhou

Dynasty as I do.

A t t h a t t i m e,C o n f u c i u s’ m o t h e r w a s

worrying about how to find a good teacher

for Confucius. So he was very pleased at

the offer from Li Er and said in great joy:

“Thank you, Mr. Li.”

T h a n k s t o t h e i n s t r u c t i o n f r o m h i s

t e a c h e r,C o n f u c i u s m a d e r a p i d p r o g r e s s

in one week. Seeing him happy every day,

his mother was also very happy. Li Er also

praised Confucius very much. Li Er, in fact,

was Lao Zi, a great ancient philosopher and

thinker and founder of Taoism in China.

Lao Zi stayed at Confucius’ home for six

months to teach him the rites. Cordial, Frank, Courteous, Temperate, Deferential

图/田跃民论语情景雕塑 A sculpture of the scene of The Analects