杨氏之子
A quick reply
Read, find evidence, and explain in your own words.
Read
梁国杨氏子九岁，甚聪惠。孔君平诣其父，父不在，乃呼儿出。为设果，果有杨梅。
In Liang, a nine-year-old boy of the Yang family was very clever. Kong Junping visited his father, who was out, so he called for the boy. The boy served fruit, including Chinese bayberries, called yangmei.
孔指以示儿曰：“此是君家果。”儿应声答曰：“未闻孔雀是夫子家禽。”
Kong pointed to the fruit and said, “This must be your family’s fruit.” The boy immediately replied, “I have not heard that peacocks are your family’s birds.”
Explore the text
选自《世说新语·言语》，本课采用聪惠的常见教材字形，惠通慧。诣是拜访，甚是很，未闻是没有听说。为设果省略了人物，可理解为孩子为客人摆出水果。
From A New Account of Tales of the World, Speech. This lesson uses the familiar textbook spelling cong hui, where hui represents wise. Yi means visit; shen means very; wei wen means have not heard. The omitted people in wei she guo are understood as the boy serving fruit for his guest.
杨梅的杨和孩子的姓相同，孔雀的孔和客人的姓相同。孩子沿用同一种联想，礼貌地回应玩笑。夫子家禽应理解为您家的鸟，不能把家禽直接译成现代的家养禽类。
Yang in yangmei matches the boy’s surname; Kong in kongque, peacock, matches the visitor’s. The boy mirrors the wordplay in a polite reply. Fu zi jia qin means the birds of your family here, not the modern compound meaning poultry.
Words to practise
杨氏果孔禽