Education of Filial Piety

By Zheng Yuanjie

In the 1980s, when China's economy was less prosperous, Chinese tourists would enjoy two quotas after they returned from a foreign trip.One allowed you to buy such “big items” as a fridge and a color TV； the other for such “small items” as a microwave.

After I came back from my visit to Philippines in 1986, I was offered both quotas.As the office for returned travelers in Beijing was located in Hepingli Street, north of the Dongcheng District, I rented a private car from a friend of mine and drove all the way up to the office with Zheng Yaqi, my three-yearold son.

There I bought a TV, which I found amazing.I had only seen round-cornered TVs before, but this one had four square corners, which was called a flatscreen TV—more advanced than traditional ones at that time.

I even made a fool of myself on the spot.The moment the package of the TV was opened I announced, “I won't take it.”

The office clerk was astonished.

I complained that the TV was broken.He wondered, “What's wrong with it? You didn't even give it a try!”

“You see, a part of the TV has fallen out,” I said.

“A part? What is it?” He asked.

I pulled out a black bar-shaped stuff from the box, showing to him, “Isn't it a broken part off the TV?”

He replied with a wry smile, “Oh, man, this is a remote control.”

I only knew that an ordinary TV required the viewer to control it by hand, but a TV with remote control was indeed a new thing for me.

20世紀(jì)80年代，我們中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)還不是特別富裕。那時(shí)候出國(guó)會(huì)有兩個(gè)指標(biāo)獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)給你，一個(gè)叫大件指標(biāo)，一個(gè)叫小件指標(biāo)。大件指標(biāo)能買冰箱、彩電。小件指標(biāo)指電子琴、微波爐這些東西。

我1986年去菲律賓回來(lái)后獲得兩個(gè)指標(biāo)。當(dāng)時(shí)北京的出國(guó)人員服務(wù)部在和平里。那時(shí)還沒(méi)有私家車，我借了朋友的車，帶著三歲的兒子鄭亞旗去服務(wù)部。

我買了一臺(tái)電視。那個(gè)電視我當(dāng)時(shí)看了感覺(jué)很神奇。在這之前我見(jiàn)過(guò)的電視，屏幕的角都是圓的，可那臺(tái)電視是直的，叫直角平面電視，在當(dāng)時(shí)是很先進(jìn)的。

我買這臺(tái)電視的時(shí)候，還鬧了個(gè)笑話。包裝箱一打開，我就說(shuō)：“這臺(tái)電視我不要。”

出國(guó)人員服務(wù)部的工作人員問(wèn)：“為什么？”

我說(shuō)質(zhì)量不好。他問(wèn)：“怎么不好，你還沒(méi)有開機(jī)呀？”

我說(shuō)：“你看電視的零件都掉出來(lái)了”。他問(wèn)：“哪個(gè)零件掉出來(lái)了？”

我拿出一個(gè)長(zhǎng)方形的黑色東西，說(shuō)：“這個(gè)零件都掉出來(lái)了?！蹦俏还ぷ魅藛T無(wú)奈地說(shuō)：“同志，這叫遙控器。”在那之前我們看電視，想轉(zhuǎn)換頻道要站起來(lái)，走到電視機(jī)前去撥電視機(jī)上頻道轉(zhuǎn)換鈕。有遙控器的電視機(jī)我從來(lái)沒(méi)見(jiàn)過(guò)。

Away we drove from the office, with the TV set on the car.As we moved, Zheng Yaqi realized we were on a different direction.“Where are we going to?” he asked.

“Your grandparents' home,” I said.

He wanted to know why we should visit them.“To present this wonderful TV to them,” I explained.

“Isn't it for us?” he asked.

“we will presumably outlive your grandparents, right?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“(Since rear projection or fullflat screen televisions didn't exist then, I put my words in a childish way for his easier understanding.) In the future, we will watch TVs with a super gun, let alone those with square corners and a flat screen,” I continued to reason with him.“So we should give this one to your grandparents.”

“Okay, you're great, Dad!” he cheered.So, we drove the television to my parents' home.

A few days later, my family had dinner together.As a rule, Chinese parents would always leave the best food for their children.In the neighborhood of the East Gate of the Temple of Heaven in Beijing was located a Hongqiao market where I got several fat prawns.When my son finished one, he found my share was left untouched.“Dad, why not eat it?” he asked.

“It's for you,” I said, “For whatever reasons, I have now developed an allergy for prawns.”

When educating children, all adults should know that kids are so perceptive that they have a smart mind for what adults say.I remember my son replying to me in this way, “Dad, please take it because I will have the chance to eat a prawn with a super gun.”

His response indicated that my education of filial piety for him had quickly yielded fruits.

(FromZheng Yuanjie's Family Education Courses, Tianjin People's Publishing House.Translation: Wang Wen)

我們拉著這臺(tái)電視機(jī)離開服務(wù)部。汽車走著走著，鄭亞旗發(fā)現(xiàn)路線不對(duì)，他問(wèn)：“咱們這是去哪兒??？”我說(shuō)：“去你爺爺奶奶家啊。”他問(wèn)：“為什么現(xiàn)在去爺爺奶奶家呢？”我說(shuō)：“把這臺(tái)電視給你爺爺奶奶送去。”

兒子問(wèn)：“這個(gè)電視咱們自己不看嗎？”我告訴他：“從理論上講，咱們會(huì)比你爺爺奶奶活得長(zhǎng)吧？”他說(shuō)：“對(duì)?！蔽艺f(shuō)：“咱們將來(lái)別說(shuō)看直角平面電視——因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)我說(shuō)不出來(lái)背投啦、純平啦什么的，所以就說(shuō)了一句能夠讓我的兒子一下就理解的話——咱們將來(lái)看原子彈電視的機(jī)會(huì)都會(huì)有，所以這臺(tái)電視應(yīng)該先給你爺爺奶奶看?！彼f(shuō)：“知道了?！边@樣，我們就開著車，把電視給我爸爸媽媽送去了。

過(guò)了幾天，我們?nèi)胰艘黄鸪燥?。從那時(shí)到現(xiàn)在，爸爸媽媽都是有了好的先給孩子吃。當(dāng)時(shí)我們北京有一個(gè)紅橋市場(chǎng)，在天壇東門附近。我去紅橋市場(chǎng)買了幾只特別大的對(duì)蝦。兒子吃完了一只后，看到我那只沒(méi)吃，問(wèn)：“爸你怎么不吃呢？”我說(shuō)：“不知道為什么，我現(xiàn)在對(duì)蝦過(guò)敏，你吃吧?！?/p>

所有大人跟孩子相處的時(shí)候，都要清楚這一點(diǎn)：孩子是洞察一切的，大人說(shuō)的所有話孩子是非常清楚的。當(dāng)時(shí)我的兒子說(shuō)了這么一句話，他說(shuō)：“爸爸，這只對(duì)蝦你就吃了吧，將來(lái)我吃原子彈蝦的機(jī)會(huì)都有?！?/p>

這件事說(shuō)明我對(duì)兒子的孝順教育成功了。

（摘自《鄭淵潔家庭教育課》天津人民出版社）