In
ancient China, there lived an educated man named Zhou Yu. One day, his
friend brought him some fresh eels, a delicacy that Zhou Yu liked very
much. Having little to do that day, Zhou Yu wanted to try his culinary
skills, which he had long left unused, and prepared to make a batch
of unseasoned eel stew.
He
placed the eels in a pot, and when the stew began to boil, Zhou Yu lifted
the lid and saw an extraordinary phenomenon. One of the eels had pushed
its abdomen upward in an arch, leaving its head and tail in the soup.
With great curiosity, Zhou Yu immediately spooned the eel out of the
soup and cut open its abdomen. To his amazement, he saw countless eggs
inside. In order to protect its spawn, the mother eel had struggled
to prevent hot water from hurting its abdomen by pushing its body into
an arch.
The
sight left Zhou Yu dumbfounded, and he could not contain his tears.
Even an eel knew how to protect its eggs, he thought, yet he, the highest
of all creatures, had not been filial to his mother. Deeply moved, Zhou
Yu vowed never to eat eel again. And he loved and respected his mother
evermore.