孔子神算

文/裴传永



孔子神算

文/裴传永

孔子办学，有教无类。在他门下，聚集了来自鲁国和周边许多国家的贫贱子弟，子夏便是其中一位。

子夏家境之贫寒，从《荀子·大略》所谓“子夏家贫，衣若悬鹑”的记载中就可见一斑。何为“衣若悬鹑”？意思是说身上穿的衣服就像是鹌鹑的尾巴。鹌鹑的尾巴，众所周知，那可是少皮无毛的。用鹌鹑的尾巴比喻子夏身上的衣服，可见那该是何等的破烂不堪！不过，老天爷是最公平的。它虽然没有给予子夏优越的家境，但却赋予了他过人的才智。子夏的头脑，那可不是一般的聪明，即便是“至圣先师”的孔子，也每每为身边有这么一位伶俐的弟子而倍感欣慰。孔子教他学习《诗经》，他很快便领会了微言大义，并能够举一反三；教他学习《周易》，无论是义理还是占卜之术他都能融会贯通。至于《尚书》、《仪礼》、《乐经》、《春秋》，他也无不下功夫学习，并且都做到了全面掌握、深刻领会。正因如此，孔子对这位比自己小了近30岁的弟子充满了喜爱之情。子夏也是其门下最杰出的十大弟子之一。

深得老师喜爱的子夏，在婚姻生活方面也十分顺利——才貌双全的他娶了一位如花似玉的姑娘，两人情投意合、相敬如宾，惹得不少年轻后生羡慕和嫉妒。子夏的妈妈看在眼里、乐在心里，巴望着儿媳妇早日有喜，给自己生个大胖孙子。可是，春夏秋冬走过了多少个轮回，子夏媳妇的肚子却一直是外甥打灯笼——照旧（找舅）。子夏妈妈心里甭提有多着急了。子夏媳妇又何尝不是如此？她怀疑是自己的身子有毛病，多次央求子夏休了自己，只是子夏主意坚决，才这么日复一日地把日子过了下来。

有一天，子夏的妈妈悄悄来到孔子府上，把自己的苦衷倾诉了一番。孔子听罢，微笑着说道：“难道你那位聪明儿子没有给你说过什么？这小子也真够绝的。你就把心放到肚子里吧。我早就占算过了，别看这对小夫妻眼下没有个一男半女，待到你儿子40岁的时候，就会成为5个儿子的父亲，也就是说，在你儿子年满40岁时，你将会拥有5个孙子。”子夏妈妈且惊且喜、将信将疑地告辞回了家。

不久之后，子夏媳妇终于怀上了孩子，一家人高兴得谢天又谢地，当然也不会忘了向神机妙算的孔圣人报喜道谢。第一个孩子生下来之后，子夏媳妇又接连生了4个，而且果如孔子所占，这5个是清一色的男丁。

孔子神算的故事于是传遍了四面八方，并被载入书册。

ConfuCius the MagiCal ProPhet

C onfucius made no social distinctions in his teaching. Thus, many pupils from humble beginnings came to regard Confucius as their mentor. Zixia was among them.

Zixia had an exceptionally smart mind. Confucius was invariably satisfied with this brilliant pupil.

Zixia also had a perfect family, for he married a lady as pretty as a flower. However, his wife was still not pregnant after many years. Zixia’s mother was very worried about this situation and she asked Confucius for help. Confucius gave them a divination and said that Zixia would have five sons when he was 40. Indeed Zixia’s wife gave birth to five boys one after the other.

The story about Confucius and his magic soothsaying soon grew popular and it went down in history.