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Today is my birthday; In honor of my mother, who is seventy-six years old this year, I would like to dedicate this article to her. She has taught me many things in life , mostly through proverbs and life stories and experiences. I want to share with you some of the things she taught me when I was a child growing up in Vietnam; I remember my mother's words of wisdom as if they were spoken yesterday.
(before you eat you need to watch the pot to see how much food is left in the pot , when you sit down you need to see if where you sit is appropriate). My mother always cautioned us about eating habits, she used to teach us : " Mie^'ng a(n la` mie^ng to^`i ta`ng Ma^'t a(n mo^.t mie^’ng , lo^.n gan le^n dda^`u”" ; ( A piece of foods is pitiful and can debase a person, For the loss of a portion of foods , some people can lose all sense of judgement and act as if their brain is made up of liver! "). So, she taught us to always wait and look around to make sure we are not the first to jump on the foods; we need to eat slowly and correctly, to display appropriate behavior when eating etc.. I always thought that was a great advice, as it taught me to always make sure everyone else has enough food in his or her bowl of rice before I even consider to start eating mine. I also remember how I was taught the value of sharing even if I have only little to offer: " “Mie^’ng khi ddo’i ba(`ng go’i khi no”" ( When people are hungry, if you share with them only a tiny part of food; it is worth the same as a very large quantity when they are full); I also remember the neat proverb describing the behavior of some people she judged inappropriate: "“ chuo^.t sa hu? ga.o “ “ ( the mouse which falls into the pot of rice”) ; as people who, either lucky enough or through trickeries, found themselves associated with, or married to someone who has enough money so they can live off “ the poor sucker” comfortably, without having to work too hard. Go To Page: 1 2 |
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