在我们小区2号楼西南角，有一块敬老石，上书：敬老
老吾老，以及人之老；
幼吾幼，以及人之幼。
这几个字，大家都认得，但是，好多朋友，不解其意。
昨天下午，我在敬老石对面一张排椅上拉二胡，有个老先生看见我用“北京大学”的水杯，身穿北京大学纪念衫，就来和我聊天。当得知我不是北大毕业，而是在清华园上过学，就向我请教敬老石上的含义。
我解释说，孟子曰：“老吾老，以及人之老；幼吾幼，以及人之幼。”
老吾老以及人之老：前一“老”（动词）：尊敬；第二个和第三个‘老’（名词）：老人、长辈。第二个是自己的长辈，第三个是别人家的老人；幼吾幼以及人之幼：第一个‘幼’字是动词“抚养……”的意思，第二个和第三个‘幼’字是名词‘子女’、‘小辈’的意思，第二个是自己家的孩子，第三个是别人家的孩子；两句中的‘及’都有推己及人的意思。
老先生说，我好像明白了，就是，尊敬我家里的长辈，从而推广到尊敬别人家里的长辈；爱护我家里的儿女，从而推广到爱护别人家里的儿女。
我说，老先生，你好聪明！
后来得知，老先生是中国海洋大学退休教授。我们是同龄人，并且都是恢复高考第一届大学生。
At the South West Point of Building 2 in our community, there is a stone of respect for the elderly
I am old, and the age of people;
I am young, and I am young.
These words are recognized by everyone, but many friends are puzzled by their meaning.
Yesterday afternoon, I was playing the erhu on a row chair opposite the Respecting Elderly Stone. An old gentleman saw me using a "Peking University" water cup and wearing a Peking University commemorative shirt, so he came to chat with me. When I learned that I did not graduate from Peking University, but went to school in Tsinghua Garden, I asked me to respect the meaning of Laoshi.
I explained that Mencius said, "I am old, and I am old; I am young, and I am young
I am old and the old age of people: the previous' old '(verb): respect; The second and third 'old' (nouns): elderly people, elders. The second is one's own elders, and the third is someone else's elderly; The first 'young' character means the verb 'raising...', the second and third 'young' characters mean the nouns' children 'and' younger generation ', the second is the child of one's own family, and the third is the child of someone else's family; The 'and' in both sentences mean pushing oneself and others.
The old gentleman said, 'I seem to understand, that is, to respect the elders in my family, and thus promote it to respect the elders in others' homes.'; Take care of our children and promote it to take care of others' children.
I said, old gentleman, how clever you are!
Later, I learned that the old man was a retired professor of Ocean University of China. We are of the same age and are all the first college students to resume the college entrance examination.
