曾翁，昆陽故家也。翁初死未殮，兩眶中淚出如瀋，有子六，莫解所以。次子悌，字友于，邑名士，以為不祥，戒諸兄弟各自惕，勿貽痛於先人；而兄弟半迂笑之。先是，翁嫡配生長子成，至七八歲，母子為強寇擄去。娶繼室，生三子：曰孝，曰忠，曰信。妾生三子：曰悌，曰仁，曰義。孝以悌等出身賤，鄙不齒，因連結忠、信為黨。即與客飲，悌等過堂下，亦傲不為禮。仁、義皆忿，與友于謀，欲相仇。友于百詞寬譬，不從所謀；而仁、義年最少，因兄言，亦遂止。孝有女，適邑周氏，病死。糾悌等往撻其姑，悌不從。孝憤然，令忠、信合族中無賴子，往捉周妻，搒掠無算，拋粟毀器，盎盂無存。周告官。官怒，拘孝等囚繫之，將行申黜。友于懼，見宰自投。友于品行，素為宰重，諸兄弟以是得無苦。友于乃詣周所負荊，周亦器重友于，訟遂止。孝歸，終不德友于。無何，友于母張夫人卒，孝等不為服，宴飲如故。仁、義益忿。友于曰：「此彼之無禮，於我何損焉。」及葬，把持墓門，不使合厝。友于乃瘞母隧道中。未幾，孝妻亡，友于招仁、義同往奔喪。二人曰：「『期』且不論，『功』于何有！」再勸之，鬨然散去。友于乃自往，臨哭盡哀。隔牆聞仁、義鼓且吹，孝怒，糾諸弟往毆之。友于操杖先從。入其家，仁覺先逃。義方踰垣，友于自後擊仆之。孝等拳杖交加，毆不止。友于橫身障阻之。孝怒，讓友于。友于曰：「責之者，以其無禮也，然罪固不至死。我不怙弟惡，亦不助兄暴。如怒不解，身代之。」孝遂反杖撻友于，忠、信亦相助毆兄，聲震里黨，群集勸解，乃散去。友于即扶杖詣兄請罪。孝逐去之，不令居喪次。而義創甚，不復食飲。仁代具詞訟官，訴其不為庶母行服。官簽拘孝、忠、信，而令友于陳狀。友于以面目損傷，不能詣署，但作詞稟白，哀求寢息，宰遂銷案。義亦尋愈。由是仇怨益深。仁、義皆幼弱，輒被敲楚。怨友于曰：「人皆有兄弟，我獨無！」友于曰：「此兩語，我宜言之，兩弟何云！」因苦勸之，卒不聽。友于遂扃戶，攜妻子借寓他所，離家五十餘里，冀不相聞。友于在家，雖不助弟，而孝等尚稍有顧忌；既去，諸兄一不當，輒叫罵其門，辱侵母諱。仁、義度不能抗，惟杜門思乘間刺殺之，行則懷刃。一日，寇所掠長兄成，忽攜婦亡歸。諸兄弟以家久析，聚謀三日，竟無處可以置之。仁、義竊喜，招去共養之。往告友于。友于喜，歸，共出田宅居成。諸兄怒其市惠，登門窘辱。而成久在寇中，習於威猛，大怒曰：「我歸，更無人肯置一屋；幸三弟念手足，又罪責之。是欲逐我耶！」以石投孝，孝仆。仁、義各以杖出，捉忠、信，撻無數。成乃訟宰，宰又使人請教友于。友于詣宰，俛首不言，但有流涕。宰問之，曰：「惟求公斷。」宰乃判孝等各出田產歸成，使七分相準。自此仁、義與成倍加愛敬，談及葬母事，因並泣下。成恚曰：「如此不仁，真禽獸也！」遂欲啟壙，更為改葬。仁奔告友于，友于急歸諫止。成不聽，刻期發墓，作齋於塋。以刀削樹，謂諸弟曰：「所不衰麻相從者，有如此樹！」眾唯唯。於是一門皆哭臨，安厝盡禮。自此兄弟相安。而成性剛烈，輒批撻諸弟，於孝尤甚。惟重友于，雖盛怒，友于至，一言即解。孝有所行，成輒不平之，故孝無一日不至友于所，潛對友于詬詛。友于婉諫，卒不納。友于不堪其擾，又遷居三泊，去家益遠，音跡遂疏。又二年，諸弟皆畏成，久而相習。而孝年四十六，生五子：長繼業，三繼德，嫡出；次繼功，四繼績，庶出；又婢生繼祖。皆成立。效父舊行，各為黨，日相競，孝亦不能呵止。惟祖無兄弟，年又最幼，諸兄皆得而詬厲之。岳家近三泊，會詣岳，迂道詣叔。入門，見叔家兩兄一弟，絃誦怡怡，樂之，久居不言歸。叔促之，哀求寄居。叔曰：「汝父母皆不知，我豈惜甌飯瓢飲乎！」乃歸。過數月，夫妻往壽岳母。告父曰：「兒此行不歸矣。」父詰之，因吐微隱。父慮與叔有夙隙，計難久居。祖曰：「父慮過矣。二叔，聖賢也。」遂去，攜妻之三泊。友于除舍居之，以齒兒行，使執卷從長子繼善。祖最慧，寄籍三泊年餘，入雲南郡庠。與善閉戶研讀，祖又諷誦最苦。友于甚愛之。自祖居三泊，家中兄弟益不相能。一日，微反脣，業詬辱庶母。功怒，刺殺業。官收功，重械之，數日死獄中。業妻馮氏，猶日以罵代哭。功妻劉聞之，怒曰：「汝家男子死，誰家男子活耶！」操刀入，擊殺馮，自投井死。馮父大立，悼女死慘，率諸子弟，藏兵衣底，往捉孝妻，裸撻道上以辱之。成怒曰：「我家死人如麻，馮氏何得復爾！」吼奔而出。諸曾從之，諸馮盡靡。成首捉大立，割其兩耳。其子護救，繼、績以鐵杖橫擊，折其兩股。諸馮各被夷傷，鬨然盡散。惟馮子猶臥道周。成夾之以肘，置諸馮村而還。遂呼績詣官自首。馮狀亦至。於是諸曾被收。惟忠亡去，至三泊，徘徊門外。適友于率一子一姪鄉試歸，見忠，驚曰：「弟何來？」忠未語先淚，長跪道左。友于握手曳入，詰得其情，大驚曰：「似此奈何！然一門乖戾，逆知奇禍久矣；不然，我何以竄蹟至此。但我離家久，與大令無聲氣之通，今即蒲伏而往，徒取辱耳。但得馮父子傷重不死，吾三人中倖有捷者，則此禍或可少解。」乃留之，晝與同餐，夜與共寢。忠頗感愧。居十餘日，見其叔姪如父子，兄弟如同胞，悽然下淚曰：「今始知從前非人也。」友于喜其悔悟，相對酸惻。俄報友于父子同科，祖亦副榜。大喜。不赴鹿鳴，先歸展墓。明季科甲最重，諸馮皆為斂息。友于乃託親友賂以金粟，資其醫藥，訟乃息。舉家泣感友于，求其復歸。友于乃與兄弟焚香約誓，俾各滌慮自新，遂移家還。祖從叔不願歸其家。孝乃謂友于曰：「我不德，不應有亢宗之子；弟又善教，俾姑為汝子。有寸進時，可賜還也。」友于從之。又三年，祖果舉於鄉。使移家去，夫妻皆痛哭而去。不數日，祖有子方三歲，亡歸友于家，藏繼善室，不肯返；捉去輒逃。孝乃令祖異居，與友于鄰。祖開戶通叔家。兩間定省如一焉。時成漸老，家事皆取決於友于。從此門庭雍穆，稱孝友焉。
曾翁，昆阳故家也。翁初死未殓，两眶中泪出如沈，有子六，莫解所以。次子悌，字友于，邑名士，以为不祥，戒诸兄弟各自惕，勿贻痛于先人；而兄弟半迂笑之。先是，翁嫡配生长子成，至七八岁，母子为强寇掳去。娶继室，生三子：曰孝，曰忠，曰信。妾生三子：曰悌，曰仁，曰义。孝以悌等出身贱，鄙不齿，因连结忠、信为党。即与客饮，悌等过堂下，亦傲不为礼。仁、义皆忿，与友于谋，欲相仇。友于百词宽譬，不从所谋；而仁、义年最少，因兄言，亦遂止。孝有女，适邑周氏，病死。纠悌等往挞其姑，悌不从。孝愤然，令忠、信合族中无赖子，往捉周妻，搒掠无算，抛粟毁器，盎盂无存。周告官。官怒，拘孝等囚系之，将行申黜。友于惧，见宰自投。友于品行，素为宰重，诸兄弟以是得无苦。友于乃诣周所负荆，周亦器重友于，讼遂止。孝归，终不德友于。无何，友于母张夫人卒，孝等不为服，宴饮如故。仁、义益忿。友于曰：「此彼之无礼，于我何损焉。」及葬，把持墓门，不使合厝。友于乃瘗母隧道中。未几，孝妻亡，友于招仁、义同往奔丧。二人曰：「『期』且不论，『功』于何有！」再劝之，哄然散去。友于乃自往，临哭尽哀。隔墙闻仁、义鼓且吹，孝怒，纠诸弟往殴之。友于操杖先从。入其家，仁觉先逃。义方逾垣，友于自后击仆之。孝等拳杖交加，殴不止。友于横身障阻之。孝怒，让友于。友于曰：「责之者，以其无礼也，然罪固不至死。我不怙弟恶，亦不助兄暴。如怒不解，身代之。」孝遂反杖挞友于，忠、信亦相助殴兄，声震里党，群集劝解，乃散去。友于即扶杖诣兄请罪。孝逐去之，不令居丧次。而义创甚，不复食饮。仁代具词讼官，诉其不为庶母行服。官签拘孝、忠、信，而令友于陈状。友于以面目损伤，不能诣署，但作词禀白，哀求寝息，宰遂销案。义亦寻愈。由是仇怨益深。仁、义皆幼弱，辄被敲楚。怨友于曰：「人皆有兄弟，我独无！」友于曰：「此两语，我宜言之，两弟何云！」因苦劝之，卒不听。友于遂扃户，携妻子借寓他所，离家五十余里，冀不相闻。友于在家，虽不助弟，而孝等尚稍有顾忌；既去，诸兄一不当，辄叫骂其门，辱侵母讳。仁、义度不能抗，惟杜门思乘间刺杀之，行则怀刃。一日，寇所掠长兄成，忽携妇亡归。诸兄弟以家久析，聚谋三日，竟无处可以置之。仁、义窃喜，招去共养之。往告友于。友于喜，归，共出田宅居成。诸兄怒其市惠，登门窘辱。而成久在寇中，习于威猛，大怒曰：「我归，更无人肯置一屋；幸三弟念手足，又罪责之。是欲逐我耶！」以石投孝，孝仆。仁、义各以杖出，捉忠、信，挞无数。成乃讼宰，宰又使人请教友于。友于诣宰，俛首不言，但有流涕。宰问之，曰：「惟求公断。」宰乃判孝等各出田产归成，使七分相准。自此仁、义与成倍加爱敬，谈及葬母事，因并泣下。成恚曰：「如此不仁，真禽兽也！」遂欲启圹，更为改葬。仁奔告友于，友于急归谏止。成不听，刻期发墓，作斋于茔。以刀削树，谓诸弟曰：「所不衰麻相从者，有如此树！」众唯唯。于是一门皆哭临，安厝尽礼。自此兄弟相安。而成性刚烈，辄批挞诸弟，于孝尤甚。惟重友于，虽盛怒，友于至，一言即解。孝有所行，成辄不平之，故孝无一日不至友于所，潜对友于诟诅。友于婉谏，卒不纳。友于不堪其扰，又迁居三泊，去家益远，音迹遂疏。又二年，诸弟皆畏成，久而相习。而孝年四十六，生五子：长继业，三继德，嫡出；次继功，四继绩，庶出；又婢生继祖。皆成立。效父旧行，各为党，日相竞，孝亦不能呵止。惟祖无兄弟，年又最幼，诸兄皆得而诟厉之。岳家近三泊，会诣岳，迂道诣叔。入门，见叔家两兄一弟，弦诵怡怡，乐之，久居不言归。叔促之，哀求寄居。叔曰：「汝父母皆不知，我岂惜瓯饭瓢饮乎！」乃归。过数月，夫妻往寿岳母。告父曰：「儿此行不归矣。」父诘之，因吐微隐。父虑与叔有夙隙，计难久居。祖曰：「父虑过矣。二叔，圣贤也。」遂去，携妻之三泊。友于除舍居之，以齿儿行，使执卷从长子继善。祖最慧，寄籍三泊年余，入云南郡庠。与善闭户研读，祖又讽诵最苦。友于甚爱之。自祖居三泊，家中兄弟益不相能。一日，微反唇，业诟辱庶母。功怒，刺杀业。官收功，重械之，数日死狱中。业妻冯氏，犹日以骂代哭。功妻刘闻之，怒曰：「汝家男子死，谁家男子活耶！」操刀入，击杀冯，自投井死。冯父大立，悼女死惨，率诸子弟，藏兵衣底，往捉孝妻，裸挞道上以辱之。成怒曰：「我家死人如麻，冯氏何得复尔！」吼奔而出。诸曾从之，诸冯尽靡。成首捉大立，割其两耳。其子护救，继、绩以铁杖横击，折其两股。诸冯各被夷伤，哄然尽散。惟冯子犹卧道周。成夹之以肘，置诸冯村而还。遂呼绩诣官自首。冯状亦至。于是诸曾被收。惟忠亡去，至三泊，徘徊门外。适友于率一子一姪乡试归，见忠，惊曰：「弟何来？」忠未语先泪，长跪道左。友于握手曳入，诘得其情，大惊曰：「似此奈何！然一门乖戾，逆知奇祸久矣；不然，我何以窜迹至此。但我离家久，与大令无声气之通，今即蒲伏而往，徒取辱耳。但得冯父子伤重不死，吾三人中幸有捷者，则此祸或可少解。」乃留之，昼与同餐，夜与共寝。忠颇感愧。居十余日，见其叔姪如父子，兄弟如同胞，凄然下泪曰：「今始知从前非人也。」友于喜其悔悟，相对酸恻。俄报友于父子同科，祖亦副榜。大喜。不赴鹿鸣，先归展墓。明季科甲最重，诸冯皆为敛息。友于乃托亲友赂以金粟，资其医药，讼乃息。举家泣感友于，求其复归。友于乃与兄弟焚香约誓，俾各涤虑自新，遂移家还。祖从叔不愿归其家。孝乃谓友于曰：「我不德，不应有亢宗之子；弟又善教，俾姑为汝子。有寸进时，可赐还也。」友于从之。又三年，祖果举于乡。使移家去，夫妻皆痛哭而去。不数日，祖有子方三岁，亡归友于家，藏继善室，不肯返；捉去辄逃。孝乃令祖异居，与友于邻。祖开户通叔家。两间定省如一焉。时成渐老，家事皆取决于友于。从此门庭雍穆，称孝友焉。
Old Mr. Zeng came of an old family of Kunyang. When he had just died and was not yet laid in his coffin, tears ran like sap from both his eye sockets. He had six sons, and none of them could make out what it meant. The second son, Zeng Ti, styled Youyu, was a well-known scholar in the county. He took it for an ill omen and warned his brothers each to watch himself and not bring grief on their late father. Half the brothers laughed at him for a pedant. Long before this, the old man’s first wife had borne him his eldest son, Cheng. When the boy was seven or eight, mother and son were carried off by bandits. Mr. Zeng married again, and his second wife bore him three sons: Xiao, Zhong and Xin. A concubine bore him three more: Ti, Ren and Yi. Because Youyu and his brothers were of low birth, Xiao despised them and would not count them as equals, and he joined with Zhong and Xin in a faction. Even when he was drinking with guests and Youyu and the others passed below the hall, he would not deign to greet them. Ren and Yi were both indignant. They went to Youyu with a plan to pay them back. Youyu used every argument he could to calm them and would have no part in it. Ren and Yi were the youngest, and at their brother’s word they too let it go. Xiao had a daughter who married into a Zhou family of the county and died of an illness. Xiao rounded up Youyu and the others to go and beat her mother-in-law. Youyu would not go. Xiao, in a rage, had Zhong and Xin gather the ne’er-do-wells of the clan. They went and seized Zhou’s wife and beat her past counting. They scattered the grain and smashed the household things until not a pot or bowl was left. Zhou went to the magistrate. The magistrate was angry. He had Xiao and the others arrested and locked up, and was going to have them stripped of their degrees. Youyu was alarmed. He went and presented himself before the magistrate. The magistrate had always thought highly of Youyu’s character, and because of this his brothers got off without suffering. Then Youyu went to Zhou to make a humble apology. Zhou too thought highly of Youyu, and the suit was dropped. Xiao came home, but he never felt grateful to Youyu. Before long Youyu’s mother, Lady Zhang, died. Xiao and his brothers would not put on mourning for her, and feasted and drank as before. Ren and Yi grew angrier still. Youyu said, “The discourtesy is theirs. What harm does it do me?” When it came to the burial, they held the gate of the family tomb and would not let her be buried with their father. So Youyu buried his mother in the tomb passage. Soon after, Xiao’s wife died. Youyu asked Ren and Yi to go with him to the funeral. “They kept no year’s mourning for ours,” the two said. “What lesser mourning do we owe them?” He urged them again, and they went off in an uproar. So Youyu went alone and wept at the coffin with all due grief. From the other side of the wall came the sound of Ren and Yi beating drums and blowing pipes. Xiao, in a rage, rounded up his brothers to go and beat them. Youyu took up a stick and went along at the front. When they got into the house, Ren saw them and ran off first. Yi was just climbing over the wall when Youyu struck him from behind and knocked him down. Xiao and the others rained fists and sticks on him and would not stop. Youyu threw himself across him to shield him. Xiao turned on Youyu angrily. “We punish him because he was disrespectful,” said Youyu, “but his offence does not deserve death. I will not stand by a younger brother in his wrongdoing, nor help an elder brother in his violence. If your anger is not spent, take it out on me.” So Xiao turned his stick on Youyu and beat him, and Zhong and Xin joined in beating their brother. The noise shook the neighbourhood. People crowded round to make peace, and at last they broke off. Youyu at once went, leaning on a stick, to beg his brother’s pardon. Xiao drove him away and would not let him take his place among the mourners. Yi was badly hurt and would neither eat nor drink. Ren drew up a complaint on his behalf and took it to the magistrate, accusing them of not wearing mourning for their father’s concubine. The magistrate issued a warrant for Xiao, Zhong and Xin, and ordered Youyu to give evidence. Youyu’s face was too battered for him to go to the yamen. He only sent in a written statement, begging that the matter be dropped, and the magistrate closed the case. Yi soon recovered too. After that the feud grew deeper. Ren and Yi were young and weak, and were forever being beaten. They complained to Youyu, “Everyone else has brothers. We alone have none!” “Those are words I should be saying,” said Youyu. “What cause have you two to say them?” He pleaded with them earnestly, but in the end they would not listen. So Youyu locked up his house and took his wife and children to live elsewhere, more than fifty li from home, hoping to hear no more of it. While Youyu was at home, though he did not take his younger brothers’ side, Xiao and the others still held back a little. Once he was gone, the moment anything displeased the elder brothers they would stand at the younger ones’ gate yelling abuse, insulting them even by their mother’s name. Ren and Yi knew they could not fight back. They kept their gate shut and thought only of finding a chance to stab them to death, and carried knives wherever they went. One day Cheng, the eldest brother whom the bandits had carried off, suddenly escaped and came home with a wife. Since the family property had long been divided, the brothers met and talked it over for three days, and found no place at all to put him. Ren and Yi were secretly pleased and took him in to provide for him together. They went to tell Youyu. Youyu was glad. He came home and joined them in giving Cheng land and a house to live in. The elder brothers were angry that they were buying favour, and came to the door to bully and insult them. But Cheng had lived long among the bandits and was used to violence. “When I came back,” he roared, “not one of you would give me so much as a room. Luckily my three brothers remembered we are brothers — and now you blame them for it! You want to drive me out, do you?” He threw a stone at Xiao and knocked him down. Ren and Yi each came out with a stick, seized Zhong and Xin, and gave them a beating past counting. Then Cheng took them to court. Again the magistrate sent to ask Youyu’s advice. Youyu went before the magistrate, bowed his head and said nothing, only wept. When the magistrate questioned him, he said, “I ask only for Your Honour’s judgement.” So the magistrate ruled that Xiao and the others must each give up land to Cheng, so that all seven shares were equal. From then on Ren and Yi loved and respected Cheng twice over. When they spoke of their mother’s burial, they all wept together. “To be so heartless!” said Cheng in a fury. “They are beasts indeed!” He decided to open the grave and bury her again. Ren ran to tell Youyu, and Youyu hurried home to talk him out of it. Cheng would not listen. He fixed a day to open the grave and held a service at the burial ground. Slashing a tree with his knife, he said to his brothers, “Whoever does not follow in sackcloth will end like this tree!” They all said yes, yes. So the whole family came and wailed, and she was laid to rest with full rites. From then on the brothers lived in peace. But Cheng was hard and fierce by nature and was always cuffing and beating his brothers, Xiao worst of all. Only Youyu did he respect: however great his rage, when Youyu came, one word from him would end it. Whatever Xiao did, Cheng would take exception to it, so not a day passed without Xiao coming to Youyu’s house to curse and rail in private. Youyu gently remonstrated, but Xiao never took his advice. Unable to bear the pestering, Youyu moved again, to Sanbo, still farther from home, and they seldom heard from each other. Two more years passed. The brothers all feared Cheng, and in time grew used to it. Xiao, now forty-six, had five sons. Jiye, the eldest, and Jide, the third, were his wife’s; Jigong, the second, and Jiji, the fourth, were a concubine’s; and a maid had borne him Jizu. All were grown. They followed their father’s old ways, each forming a faction, and quarrelled every day; Xiao could not scold them into stopping. Only Jizu had no full brothers, and he was the youngest too, so all his elder brothers could abuse him. His wife’s family lived near Sanbo. Once, going to visit his in-laws, he went out of his way to call on his uncle. When he came in, he saw his uncle’s two elder sons and one younger son at their books and strings together in happy harmony. He was so delighted that he stayed a long time and said nothing of going home. When his uncle urged him to go, he begged to be allowed to stay. “Your father and mother know nothing of this,” said his uncle. “It isn’t that I grudge you a bowl of rice and a dipper of water!” So he went home. Some months later, he and his wife went to wish his mother-in-law a long life on her birthday. He told his father, “This time I won’t be coming back.” His father questioned him, and he let out what he had in mind. His father feared that, with the old grudge against the uncle, he could not stay there long. “Father, you worry too much,” said Jizu. “Second Uncle is a sage.” And he went, taking his wife to Sanbo. Youyu cleared rooms for them to live in, ranked him among his own sons by age, and had him study with his eldest son, Jishan. Jizu was the cleverest of them. After he had been registered in Sanbo for a year or so, he entered the prefectural school of Yunnan. He and Jishan shut themselves in to study, and Jizu worked hardest of all at his recitation. Youyu was very fond of him. After Jizu went to live in Sanbo, the brothers at home got on worse than ever. One day, after a few sharp words, Jiye heaped abuse on their father’s concubine. Jigong, enraged, stabbed Jiye to death. The magistrate arrested Jigong and put him in heavy fetters, and in a few days he died in prison. Jiye’s wife, Mrs. Feng, still cursed every day instead of weeping. When Jigong’s wife, Mrs. Liu, heard it, she said in a fury, “Your man is dead — and whose man is alive?” She went in with a knife and killed Mrs. Feng, then threw herself down a well and died. Mrs. Feng’s father, Feng Dali, grieved over his daughter’s cruel death. He led his sons and nephews, weapons hidden under their clothes, to seize Xiao’s wife, and stripped her and beat her in the street to shame her. “Our family’s dead lie thick as hemp,” said Cheng in a fury, “and now the Fengs dare do this!” He rushed out roaring. The Zengs followed him, and the Fengs were routed. Cheng seized Feng Dali first and cut off both his ears. His son came to his rescue; Jide and Jiji swung iron staves at him and broke both his legs. Every one of the Fengs was wounded, and they scattered in an uproar. Only Feng’s son still lay by the roadside. Cheng tucked him under his arm, dropped him in the Feng village and came back. Then he called Jiji and had him go and give himself up to the magistrate. The Fengs’ complaint arrived too. So the Zengs were all arrested. Only Zhong escaped. He went to Sanbo and hung about outside the gate. Just then Youyu came home from the provincial examination with a son and a nephew. Seeing Zhong, he said in surprise, “What brings you here, brother?” Zhong wept before he could speak, and knelt upright by the roadside. Youyu took his hand and drew him inside, and when he had got the whole story out of him he was aghast. “What can be done about this? Our whole house has been at odds; I have long known some terrible disaster was coming — otherwise why would I have hidden myself away here? But I have been away from home a long time and have no dealings with the magistrate. If I went crawling to him now, I would only be humiliated. If only the Fengs, father and son, though badly hurt, don’t die, and if by luck one of us three passes, this disaster may be eased a little.” So he kept Zhong with him: by day they ate together and by night they slept together. Zhong was moved and ashamed. When he had stayed some ten days and seen that uncle and nephew were like father and son, and the cousins like brothers of one womb, he said sadly, in tears, “Only now do I see that I have not been human.” Youyu was glad that he repented, and the two of them faced each other in sorrow. Soon news came that Youyu and his son had passed in the same examination, and that Jizu was on the supplementary list as well. They were overjoyed. They did not go to the Deer Cry banquet, but went home first to visit the family graves. In the last years of the Ming, examination degrees counted for more than anything, and the Fengs all held their breath. Through relatives and friends Youyu sent them money and grain and paid for their doctoring, and the suit was dropped. The whole family wept in gratitude to Youyu and begged him to come home. Youyu burned incense with his brothers, and they swore an oath that each would wash his heart clean and start afresh. Then he moved his household back. Jizu followed his uncle and was unwilling to go back to his own home. So Xiao said to Youyu, “I have no virtue and don’t deserve a son who will bring our house honour. And you are a good teacher. Let him be your son for now. When he gets on a little, you can give him back.” Youyu agreed. Three years later Jizu did indeed pass the provincial examination. He was told to move his household home, and he and his wife both wept bitterly as they went. Within a few days, Jizu’s son, who was just three, ran away back to Youyu’s house and hid in Jishan’s room and would not go home; whenever he was taken back he ran off again. So Xiao let Jizu live apart, next door to Youyu. Jizu opened a door through to his uncle’s house, and paid the morning and evening respects in both houses alike. By then Cheng was growing old, and all family matters were decided by Youyu. From that time the household lived in harmony, and was known for filial piety and brotherly love.