Bitter Against Each Other 相煎何急

朱广春

“相煎何急”出自《世说新语·文学》，后用以比喻兄弟或内部之间自相迫害或残杀。

Cao Zhi was the son of Cao Cao， the first ruler of the State of Wei duringthe Three Kingdoms Period.

Cao Zhi was quick-witted when he was young， and Cao Cao loved himdearly and intended to name him his successor.

After the father died and the elder brother Cao Pi became the new ruler，he 1）mercilessly 2）persecuted his younger brother Cao Zhi， and determinedto put him to death.

One day， he summoned Cao Zhi to the court and accused him ofcommitting a capital crime， for which he would be executed. “However， sinceyou are my brother，” Cao Pi said， “as long as you can compose a poemwithin seven paces， I will spare your life.” Cao Zhi replied， “OK， Your Majesty.Please name a topic.” Cao Pi said， “The topic is ‘Brothers，however， not once can you use the word ‘brother in thepoem.”

Before taking seven paces， Cao Zhi 3）chantedaloud a poem to the effect， “Pods burned to cookpeas， peas weep in the pot， ‘Grow from same root，please， why boil us so hot？”

Hearing this poem， nearlye v e r y o n e p r e s e n t w a smoved to tears， and even the elder brother felt embarrassed.

Thanks to his talent， Cao Zhi escaped death that time.

1） mercilessly adv. 殘忍地

2） persecute v. 迫害；残害

3） chant v. 反复唱；反复呼喊

Fill in the blanks：

Before taking seven steps， Cao Zhi______________a poem to the effect.

曹植是三国时期魏国第一位统治者曹操的儿子。

曹植年少时才思敏捷，曹操对其宠爱有加，一度有传位于他的想法。

曹操死后，曹植的兄长曹丕继位，他开始无情地迫害曹植，非要置他于死地。

一天，他把曹植唤到朝堂，斥责其犯下死罪，将被处决。“不过，看在兄弟的情分上，”曹丕说，“只要你在七步之内作出一首诗，我就饶你不死。”

曹植回答道：“好的，请陛下出题。”“那就以‘兄弟为题作诗，”曹丕加了一个条件，“但诗中不能出现‘兄弟二字。”

然而七步未到，诗句已然作成，只听曹植高声吟道：“煮豆燃豆萁，豆在釜中泣。本是同根生，相煎何太急？”

几乎在场的每个人听后都热泪盈眶，曹丕也为自己的所作所为感到羞愧。

凭借自己的文学天赋，曹植逃过了一劫。

Know More

One of Cao Zhis elder brothers was Cao Pi. These three Caos， knownin the history of Chinese literature as the “Father Cao and Sons”， were allaccomplished writers. But， of the three， Cao Zhi was by far the most talented.

曹丕，是曹植的一位兄长，他们与父亲曹操一样，皆文采斐然，被史家合称为“三曹”。在“三曹”之中，又以曹植一枝独秀，远超二人。

参考答案：chanted aloud