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Why
Tseng Shen killed the Pig
One day, when Tseng
Shen's wife was going to the market, their son cried and wanted to go with her.
" Go back now !
" she wheedled him, " When I get home we'll kill the pig
for you. "
Upon her return, she
found Tseng Shen about to kill the pig. She hastily stopped him.
" I didn't really
mean it, " she protested. " I just said that to keep the
boy quiet. "
" How can you
deceive a child like that ?" asked Tseng Shen. Children know nothing to begin with, but they copy their parents
and learn from them. When you cheat the boy, you are teaching him
to lie. If a mother deceives her child, he will not trust her, and
that is no way to bring him up.
So he killed the pig
after all.
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wheedled
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If you say that someone wheedles, you
mean they try to persuade someone to do or give them what they
want, for example by saying nice things that they do not
mean; used showing disapproval. |
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