After hearing that sixteen women committed suicide when her son, Gongpu Wenbo, who was a high official in the state of Lu had died, the mother did not shed a single drop of tear.

　　She said, "My son was not a good man. when Confucius was dispelled1 from Lu, he did not follow him to seek truth. Now he is dead, and there were sixteen women who committed suicide for him. So it is obvious that he treated elder people harshly while he was very lenient2 to women. So I would not consider him to be my son at all."

　　Coming out of the mouth of a mother, these words can show the virtue3 of the mother. If a wife said this, she would be considered to be a jealous wife. The same words uttered from different people can have different effect.

　　公甫文伯的母親得知在魯國做官的兒子病逝后有十六個婦人為他自殺，沒流下一滴眼淚。

　　她說：“我的這個兒子不是個好東西。當(dāng)年孔子被魯國趕走，他沒有跟隨孔子追求真理；如今死了，卻有十六個女人為他自殺?？梢娝麑﹂L輩非?？瘫?，而對婦人卻非常寬厚。這樣的兒子就當(dāng)他不存在好了。”

　　這些話出自母親之口，足以證明母親的賢惠；倘若出自妻子之口，則必定會被人認為是妒婦。同樣的話從不同人的口中說去來，產(chǎn)生的效果則完全不同。