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A Legend Related to the Origin of the Cold Food Day

与“寒食节”起源相关的一个故事

According to the legend, during the Spring and Autumn Period, a person named Jie Zhitui followed his master Chong'er，the prince of Jin, and stayed with him during all the 19 years when the prince was in exile. Jie Zhitui was so loyal to his master that once when the prince was starved to death,Jie cut one piece of flesh from his leg to feed his master so as to save his life.

据传说，在春秋时，一个叫介之推的人跟着他的师傅重耳，金的王子，并一直陪伴着他19年，直到王子流放。介之推是如此忠诚于他的主人，一次当王子快要被活活饿死时，介之推从他的腿上切一块肉喂他的师傅，以挽救他的生命。

However, when the prince ascended¹ the throne and became king of the Jin state, he forgot about Jie Zhitui completely. He awarded all his other followers² except Jie. Jie, on his part, left his master with his old mother without even one word of complaint. The local people were very indignant about this and they compiled a rhyme to satirize³ the king. The king learned about this and in order not to ruin his reputation, he ordered his men to go to Jie's home to bring him back,yet they failed to find Jie. The king then learned that Jie had hidden in the Mian Mountain,so he ordered his men to search the mountain, again,they failed to find Jie. The king knew that Jie was a filial son,so he thought if he set the mountain on fire,Jie,for his mothers sake,would definitely come out.

然而，当王子登基，成为金王时，他完全忘了介之推。他嘉奖所有其他的追随者，除了介之推。介之推离开了他的主人和他的老母亲一起生活毫无怨言。当地的人都很气愤这一点，他们编制押韵诗来讽刺国王。国王得知这个情况后，为了不破坏他的声誉，他命令手下去介之推的家中把他带回来，但他们没能找到介之推。国王随后了解到，介之推藏于绵山，所以他命令手下搜山，再次，他们没有找他。国王知道介之推是个孝顺的儿子，所以他认为，如果他放火烧山，为了他的母亲他肯定会出来。

Based on this thought,he ordered his men to set the mountain on fire. The fire lasted three whole days and nights,yet to the king's disappointment,Jie never came out. In the end, Jie and his mother's burned bodies were found beside a tree. That was the 103th day after the Winter Solstice. The local people admired Jie Zhitui for his moral integrity. To commemorate⁴ him,they ate cold food and restrained from making fire on that day and the following two days. This is how han- shi，the Cold Food Day,came into being.

基于这个想法，他命令手下放火烧山。大火持续了整整三天两夜，但国王很失望，介之推没有出来。最后，介之推和他的母亲的烧焦的尸体被发现在一颗树旁。这就是冬至后的103th天。当地人崇拜介之推的