首

孝

悌

，

次

謹

信

shou

xiao

ti

ci

jin

xin

首先

孝順父母

友愛兄弟姊妹

其次

謹慎

信實

first

to be filial to one's parents

fraternity; to love one's brothers and sisters

next

to be cautious

to be trustworthy

首先要孝順父母，尊敬兄長，其次要言行謹慎而有信用。
Of all rules, the first is respect, for your parents and all of your elders, learn to be careful and trustworthy.

首先要孝順父母、尊敬兄長，其次要言行謹慎而有信用。在《論語》中說的是 「入則孝，出則弟」，這個 「入」是說在家裡，「出」是指出門在外。「弟」呢，是 「悌」的古字。本來講的是做人家的弟弟，要友愛、恭敬哥哥；引申出來，就是要尊敬長輩。父母生養我們是十分辛勞的，中國的《詩經》裡就有一首詩歌說﹕

「父兮生我，母兮鞠我，拊我畜我、長我育我、顧我復我、出入腹我，欲報之德，昊天罔極。」

First of all, we should be filial to our parents and respectful to our brothers, sisters, and elders; secondly, we should be cautious in our speech and behavior and be trustworthy. In the Confucian Analects it says: "At home one should be filial, and abroad, respectful to one's elders." The character ru 入"enter" means at home, chu 出 "go out" means going out, away from home. The character ti 弟"fraternity" was used in ancient times for the modern character ti 悌. Originally, it referred to the affection and respect that a younger brother should have for his older brother; the meaning is extended to include being respectful to elders. Our parents suffer great hardship in bearing us and bringing us up. A poem in the Book of Odes of China says﹕

My father gave me life; my mother nourished me, soothed me, raised me, helped me grow up, taught me, took care of me, looked after me constantly, and took me in her arms wherever she went. I wish to repay their kindness but it is as high as the heavens.

父親賦予了我們生命，母親鞠養我們長大。這個「鞠」，有彎曲、捧持的意思，就像捧在手心上，寒了怕凍著，暖了怕化掉。把我們當心肝寶貝地護持著。「拊」是輕輕拍打撫摸的意思。小寶寶愛哭，媽媽就輕輕拍著他的背哄著他；小寶寶愛撒嬌，媽媽就輕輕摸著他的頭憐惜他，可真是極盡愛護之能事了！「畜」是餵養。

Our fathers gave us life, and our mothers nourished us and brought us up. The word for "to nourish" has the meaning of bending over and picking up with both hands, like when our parents hold us in their arms, fearing that we will freeze in the cold or melt in the heat. They protect and cherish us as their dearest treasures, and soothe us with gentle caresses. When a baby cries, his mother gently pats him on back and coaxes him into a good mood. When he's cranky, his mother tenderly strokes his head and pities him. How our parents love us and do their best to take care of us! They raise us by feeding and rearing us. 

說到餵小寶寶，相信每位媽媽都有一本難言的苦經；但再苦，只要寶寶吃得健康，媽媽也都忘了！「長」是唸做長大的長，就是拉拔長大；「育」是教育﹕這樣子辛苦地養得大了，還要教育他們做人處世的道理。「顧」是回頭看；「復」是再三再四地﹕這一句是描述父母關心愛護之情，是永不疲倦鬆懈的。「腹」，就是抱在懷裡；出出入入，就把個小不點攬在身上，也不怕行動不方便。啊！就這麼樣把個小小生命帶到大了！

Every mother goes through unbelievable suffering in feeding her baby, yet when she sees that baby is nourished, she forgets all about the suffering! After undergoing much hardship to bring up their child, the parents must still educate him in the principles of being a person and handling matters in the world. "Took care of me, looked after me constantly" describe how tenderly parents care for and protect their children without ever becoming weary or lax. The mother takes her child in her arms wherever she goes, not minding the inconvenience. Ah！ That is how parents bring up their children! 

這麼多的心血，做子女的想要報答父母恩，就好比仰望著無垠無際的虛空，哪裡有報答得完的時候呢？報答不完，還是要盡力報，所以說「首」，首要的，像頭之於人身那麼要緊。而「悌」是孝道的延伸；父母生我們，每個子女對父母而言，都是像十根手指頭一樣；雖然指頭有長有短，子女也有賢與不肖，卻都是不可分割離棄的。因此友愛兄弟姊妹，才能安慰父母的心。

The energy and kindness that our parents have devoted to us is as boundless as empty space. When could we ever finish repaying it? We could never finish, but we must still try our best. Thus the verse says that of all rules, Filial piety is the first (literally "head"), which means the most important, just as the head is the most important part of the body. Fraternity is an extension of filial piety. Our parents gave birth to us, and so we are related to our parents as the ten fingers are related to the hands. Although some fingers are long and others are short, just as some children are good and others are not, they cannot separate from or abandon each another. Thus, only by loving and caring for our brothers and sisters can we set our parents' hearts at ease. 

而長輩呢，有的是長養我們的法身慧命的老師 ，有的是父母的親友，所以我們恭敬師長，就等於恭敬父母一樣。不但自身可以受到教益而成就，以榮顯父母，更不致讓人以為我們的父母不懂教養子女而遺羞父母 。所以這兩種美德都是最基本，最要緊的。

Our elders include our teachers, who nurture our Dharma-body and wisdom-life, as well as our relatives. Respecting our teachers and elders is equivalent to respecting our own parents. By doing so, not only do we gain benefit ourselves and bring honor to our parents, we won't disgrace our parents by giving others cause to say that our parents don't know how to teach their children. Therefore, filial piety and fraternity are the most basic and important virtues.

其次呢，除了孝悌外，接下來要有的美德是﹕「謹慎 」和「信實」。因為一個人縱使對父母師長，有足夠的孝心和恭敬心，假使做事莽莽撞撞，又不講信用，不但做不好，還經常會惹出麻煩和禍端來，這也是不孝順，不恭敬的。這是緊接著要具備的美德。

After filial piety and fraternity, the next virtues we should have are cautiousness and trustworthiness. Even if a person is sufficiently filial to his parents and respectful to his elders, if he does things in a reckless manner and fails to be trustworthy, not only will things go wrong for him, but he will bring trouble and disaster upon himself. That would also be considered unfilial and disrespectful. Therefore, cautiousness and trustworthiness are the next virtues we should possess.