Translation: A woman in my hometown had a good relationship with an old lady. The woman was suspected of stealing meat at home, and her mother-in-law drove her away. The woman felt resentful and told the old lady who was on good terms with her. The old lady said, “You walk slowly first, I’ll let your mother-in-law catch you.” So (the old lady) took a bunch of firewood to the woman’s house and said, “My dogs bit each other to death because of fighting over meat, so I borrowed your fire to cook them.” The woman’s mother-in-law then quickly asked someone to chase the woman back.
译文：我家乡的一位妇女和一位老妈妈关系很好，妇女在家中被怀疑偷了肉，她的婆婆赶走了她。妇女心中怨恨，告诉了和他关系好的老妈妈。老妈妈说：“你先慢慢地走，我让你婆婆去追你。”于是(老妈妈)拿着一束柴禾到了妇女家里，说：“我家的狗因争肉互相咬死了，借你家的火烹煮了它们。”妇女的婆婆于是赶紧让人把妇女追了回来。
《古代寓言·聪明的老妈妈》
臣里母相善妇，见疑盗肉，其姑去之。恨而告于里母。
里母曰：“安行？今令姑呼汝！”
即束蕴请火去妇之家曰：“吾犬争肉相杀，请火治之。”
姑乃直使人逐去妇还之。
——故里母非谈说之士；束蕴请火，非还妇之道也；然物有所感，事有可适。
——《韩诗外传》
The Clever Old Woman
An old woman was friendly with a young wife, whose mother-in-law suspected her of stealing some meat and wanted to drive her away. In despair she went to complain to the old woman.
“Where can you go?” demanded her old neighbor. “I shall get your mother-in-law to call you back.”
Then she took a bundle of straw to the house where the young woman lived.
“My dogs are fighting over some stolen meat,” she said. “So I want to light a fire to give them a beating.”
As soon as the mother-in-law heard that, she sent to recall her daughter-in-law.
This old woman was not gifted with eloquence, and taking a bundle of straw to ask for a light is not the usual means of effecting a reconciliation; but when you do the right thing you achieve results.
Hang Ying’s Commentary on the Book of Songs
