鸡凫行
鸡与凫，皆鷇育。凫爱水游鸡爱陆。凫昔未辨雌与雄，母不顾之鸡为伏。
鸡渴不饮饥不啄，以腹抱凫谁敢触。凫脱鷇，鸡鼓翼。
日日庭中求黍稷，啄啄呼凫使之食。凫羽日䙰褷，一朝下水不顾鸡。
鸡在岸，凫在水，赋性本殊徒尔耳。鸡知为母不知凫，恨不随波共生死。
这首诗描述的是一只鸡和一只水鸟的故事，其中的情景与主题都被艺术化地展现。翻译成英文如下：
The chicken and the duck are both young birds newly hatched, yet the chicken loves to wander on land while the duck loves to swim in the water. When the duck was still unable to distinguish its male from female, the chicken mother took care of it and covered it with her body.
The chicken, despite its thirst and hunger, would not drink water or peck food, because it was protecting the little duck. No one dared to touch the chicken, who was protecting the ducklet with its belly. As soon as the duck grew enough to be free from the eggshell, the chicken stretched out its wings to support it.
Everyday in the courtyard, it would seek grains and call out for the duck to eat with it. The duck's feathers were growing day by day, and one day, when it was in the water, it did not look back at the chicken on the shore.
The chicken stayed on the shore while the duck was in the water, for their nature and behavior were just different from each other. The chicken knew its mother, but not the duck; it lamented that it could not follow the duck to live or die in the water together.
《鸡凫行》这首诗，以细腻的笔触描绘了一幅自然界中鸡与凫（野鸭）之间非同寻常的互动画面，寓言般地展现了生物习性与母性本能之间的碰撞与和谐，读来既温馨又引人深思。
开篇“鸡与凫，皆鷇育”，简洁明了地交代了故事的背景：鸡和凫的幼雏一同被抚育，为后文的情感纠葛埋下了伏笔。紧接着，“凫爱水游鸡爱陆”，寥寥几字，勾勒出两者截然不同的生活习性，预示着它们未来道路的分岔。
随后，情节转向一个温馨而又略带哀愁的场景：“凫昔未辨雌与雄，母不顾之鸡为伏。”这里，当凫雏尚无法分辨性别，其亲生母亲或许因误解或本能缺失而未能给予足够的照顾时，是鸡站了出来，扮演起了“代理母亲”的角色，“鸡渴不饮饥不啄，以腹抱凫谁敢触”，鸡母的无私与坚韧，通过这一连串的行动被生动地刻画出来，令人动容。它牺牲了自己的需求，全心全意地呵护着这个非亲生的孩子，展现了超越物种界限的母爱。
然而，随着“凫脱鷇，鸡鼓翼”，凫雏逐渐长大，终于有一天离开了鸡的怀抱，展翅欲飞。这一幕，既是成长的标志，也是对鸡母的一种告别。鸡母并未因此放弃，反而“日日庭中求黍稷，啄啄呼凫使之食”，继续在陆地上辛勤寻觅食物，呼唤水中的凫雏前来分享，其深情厚谊，跃然纸上。
但自然界的法则不可逆转，“凫羽日䙰褷，一朝下水不顾鸡”，凫的羽毛日渐丰满，终于有一天，它毫不犹豫地跳入水中，开始了属于自己的生活，再也不复往日的依恋。此时，“鸡在岸，凫在水”，两者界限分明，各自遵循着天性，这不仅仅是对物理空间的分隔，更是对两种截然不同生活方式的深刻体现。
诗的结尾，带着一丝淡淡的哀愁：“鸡知为母不知凫，恨不随波共生死。”鸡母深知自己对凫雏的母爱，却无法理解凫为何能如此决绝地离开。这里的“恨”，并非真正的怨恨，而是一种深情的无奈与不舍，是对生命本性与母性光辉之间矛盾冲突的深刻反思。鸡母的愿望虽美好，却违背了自然规律，让人感受到一种超越物种界限的情感纠葛与生命哲理。
整首诗通过对鸡与凫之间微妙关系的描绘，不仅展现了自然界中生命的多样性与复杂性，更深层次地探讨了母爱的伟大与局限，以及个体成长与天性释放之间的微妙平衡。它以一种温柔而深邃的方式，触动了读者心中最柔软的部分，引人共鸣，令人回味无穷。