A bird's diet is predetermined.(一飲一啄莫非前定)
During the late Ming dynasty in China, a
famous writer named Feng Menglong wrote a collection of short stories.
During the Tang Dynasty, there was a prime
minister named Wang Ya. Feng Menglong wrote a short story featuring Wang Ya as
the protagonist with a moral message.
The general meaning of the second half of
the story is as follows:
Wang Ya was the Tang Dynasty's prime
minister. He held great power and had more than a thousand servants in his
employ. His family spent tens of thousands on food alone every day. His life
was extremely glorious, prosperous, wealthy and noble.
The house he lived in was enormous. One
side of his kitchen was adjacent to a temple. A stream flowing down from the
mountain first passed through his house and then through the temple. After
leaving the temple, the stream flowed into a large river.
Wang Ya's family had to prepare a lot of
food and cook a lot of rice every day. However, these servants were not careful
enough when washing rice in the stream, and a lot of good white rice would flow
away with it.
An old monk from the temple noticed this,
so he tried to sift some rice back out of the stream.
As there was a large quantity of rice, the
monk took it out to give to poor people, and this went on for several years.
When Prime Minister Wang Ya grew old, he
was caught up in a huge political storm. He originally thought that he could
maintain this luxurious lifestyle forever, but he lost everything very quickly.
After he lost power, his financial
situation quickly deteriorated. He could no longer afford servants, and they
left one by one. His family members were unable to earn a living and cried at
home every day.
They went from eating luxurious dishes
every day to having no food at all, to the point where they were struggling to
survive.
The old monk in the temple saw this and
took out the recycled rice to cook for Wang Ya and his family. After Wang Ya
and his family finished eating the rice, they were very grateful.
'We are very grateful for your help,' said
Wang Ya to the old monk.
'We are very grateful for your kindness,
but I am curious: how could you use such expensive white rice to cook for us?'
The old monk carefully explained to Wang Ya
how he had obtained the rice. After he had finished, the old monk said,
'I initially wanted to save food, so I
tried to sift the rice from the stream.' Over the years, I have also used this
rice to help many poor people. I am using this rice to help you today, which
reminds me of an old proverb.
It means that what a bird drinks and eats
every day is predetermined.
After hearing the old monk's words, Wang Ya
said with great emotion:
'How wasteful I was before! I regret it
very much, and I am ashamed of my previous behaviour.
I am failing now; I think it is because I
did not cherish or use carefully everything I had when I was rich.
I am declining; I think God is punishing
me.
After writing this story, Feng Menglong
shared some of his thoughts on it.
Let's look at the people around us. A poor
person will try anything to become rich, but if they do not manage their money
carefully after becoming rich, they will eventually encounter disaster.
Everyone who hears this story should take
it as a warning.
This idiom literally means 'what a bird
eats and drinks every day'.
This idiom has been extended to apply to
humans. It suggests that our daily diet is predetermined.
Dear friends, what thoughts or inspiration
do you have after hearing this story?
Do you think that you or fate determine
your diet and life? Have you seen examples of people who have fallen victim to
disasters because of their wealth?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
一飲一啄莫非前定(A bird's diet is predetermined.)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(馮夢龍)，他寫過一本短篇小說集。
中國的唐王朝有一個宰相的名字叫做王涯。馮夢龍以王涯為主角編造了一個具有警世意味的短篇故事。
這個故事的下半段的大意如下。
王涯是唐王朝的宰相，他掌握的巨大的權力，他家中的僕人就超過一千個人。他家中每天光是吃飯的錢就要好幾萬，他的生活及其光榮、繁盛、富有與尊貴。
他住的房子非常的大，他家中的廚房的那一側跟另外一間寺廟相鄰，有一條小溪從山上流下後，會先流經他家然後流經過這間寺廟，這條小溪出了這間寺廟後會進入一條大河流中。
王涯家中每天都要準備很多食物，僕人們每天都要煮很多飯，這些僕人們在溪水中洗米時的態度不夠謹慎，因此很多上好的白米就隨著溪水流走。
寺廟中的一個老和尚發現的這個情況，所以這個老和尚就想辦法從溪水中把些白米篩出。
由於白米的數量非常多，老和尚就拿這些白米出來救助一些窮苦的百姓，這個情況持續了好幾年。
王涯丞相老年的時候，他遭遇了巨大的政治風暴，王涯原本認為自己可以一直維持這種奢華的生活方式，他沒有想到自己會在極短的時間內失去所有的一切，
王涯失去了權力之後，他的經濟情況快速地陷入困境，他請不起僕人，他家的僕人一個一個地離開。他的家人們沒有謀生能力，他的家人們每天在家中哭泣。
他們從原本每天吃豪華料理的生活轉變成每天沒有飯可以吃的狀態，他們連活下去都變成了問題。
寺廟中的那個老和尚看到這個情況，就拿出這些他回收的白米煮飯給王涯與他的家人吃，王涯與他的家人們吃完這些白米飯後，他與他的家人們都非常的感激。
王涯對老和尚說。
我們非常感謝你對我們的救濟，但我覺得很好奇，你怎麼有辦法用那麼昂貴的白米煮飯給我們吃呢?
老和尚就很仔細地把得到這些白米的經過告訴王涯，老和尚在說完得到這些白米的過程後，老和尚說。
我起初是為了珍惜食物，所以想辦法把這些白米從溪水中篩出，這些年來我也用這些白米幫助了很多窮苦的人，我今天拿這些白米來救助你，這讓我想到一句古老的諺語。
這句古老的諺語的意思是一隻鳥每天喝什麼與吃什麼都是預先命定的
王涯聽完這個老和尚的話後，他很感嘆地說。
我以前是多麼的浪費啊?我非常的後悔，我為我之前的行為感到羞愧。
我現在會失敗，我認為是因為我在有錢的時候沒有珍惜自己所擁有的一切，我沒有謹慎的使用我所得到的一切。
我現在會衰敗，我認為這是上天在懲罰我啊。
馮夢龍寫完這個故事後，他針對這個故事發表了一些他的看法。
我們看看我們周圍的人們，一個貧窮的人會用盡各種辦法讓自己變得有錢，但這個人變得有錢之後如果沒有謹慎小心的使用這些金錢，那麼這個人最終會遭遇到因為有錢帶來的災禍。
所有聽到這個故事的人，都應該用這個故事來自我警惕。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一隻鳥每天吃甚麼與喝什麼
這句成語被引申用來使用在人類身上。意思是我們每個人每天喝什麼與吃什麼都是預先命定的。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的啟發或有怎樣的想法呢。
你認為你的飲食與生活是自己決定還是命定的呢?你看過那些因為有錢而帶來禍害的例子嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為警世通言-卷17-鈍秀才一朝交泰
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