Mati, ki se je spremenila v želvo

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Mati, ki se je spremenila v želvo

During the Huangchu era of the Wei dynasty, the mother of Song Shizong of Qinghe went to bathe one summer day. She sent everyone in the household, young and old, outside and remained alone in the bathing room. After a long while, her family, unable to understand what she was doing, peered through a hole in the wall. They saw no human figure, only a large soft-shelled turtle in the basin of water. They opened the door and all crowded in, but she gave them no response. The silver hairpin she had put on earlier was still on her head. Together they kept watch over her, weeping helplessly. She seemed intent on leaving, and nothing could make her stay forever. As the days passed, their vigilance gradually slackened. She made her way out through the door on her own, moving so swiftly that they could not catch her, and entered the water. Several days later, she suddenly returned and made a round of the house just as she had always done, then left without a word. People at the time said that Shizong ought to observe the mourning rites and put on mourning clothes. But Shizong held that although his mother’s form had changed, her life endured, and in the end he did not hold mourning rites. This resembles the case of Mother Huang of Jiangxia.