Qianlou lived during the Period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, in the state of Qi. He rose to office and served as the governor of Jianling for only ten days, when for no apparent reason, as he worked in the capital, he broke out in a cold sweat, and his heart palpitated, and would not stop.

庾黔娄，南齐高士，任孱陵县令。赴任不满十天，忽觉心惊流汗，预感家中有事，当即辞官返乡。

"Do you suppose there is a problem at home?" he wondered.

“你确定你家有事？”

Being devoted¹ son, the duties at home always sat foremost on his mind. Immediately he resigned his office and hurried home.

作为孝子，心事烦扰。他决定辞官返乡。

After arriving he discovered that as he had feared, his father had suddenly been stricken with a strange illness that the doctors could not diagnose.

回到家中，知父亲已病重两日，是因为很奇怪的病，医生也没法。

"If you want to know your father's prognosis and chances of recovering, you must test his stool. If it is sweet-tasting, then the malady² is serious, and chronic³. If it tastes bitter, then the problem is acute, and short-term," said the doctor.

医生嘱咐说：“要知道病情吉凶，只要尝一尝病人粪便的味道，味苦就好。”

Lacking any sophisticated testing procedure, the physician advised Yu Qianlou that he would have to taste the old man's excrement⁴ to determine whether he could quickly recover from the disease.

毫不犹豫，庾黔娄照着医生的嘱咐，决定从父亲粪便来决定他是否能迅速从这种疾病中康复过来。

Qianlou promptly⁵ sampled the stool and to his dismay, found it sweet-tasting.

黔娄于是就去尝父亲的粪便，发现味甜

That night, in desperation, he lit a stick of incense⁶ and knelt before the family alter, and prayed to Polaris, the Pole Star.

那天晚上,在绝望中,他点燃一根香，跪在祖宗的灵牌面前，跪拜北斗星

"If my father an recover his health, I will offer up my life in exchange for his. Take me and let him live," he vowed⁷.

乞求以身代父去死。

After news of Yu Qianlou's courageous⁸ oath got around, the family and neighbors all praised him as a truly extraordinary, filial child.

庾黔娄的小心在邻居中传遍开来，都称他为孝子。