Two hunters were chasing the same wild deer
and competing to see who would kill it.(鹿死誰手)
In late Ming Dynasty China, there was a
famous historian. His family were politically influential. He was wealthy and
had good taste. His name was Zhang Dai.
He had a good friend named Hu Jiwang. Hu
Jiwang grew and baked tea. He was an expert in tea-making.
Zhang Dai once wrote a letter to him.
The second half of the letter is as
follows:
'Tea making is a very profound art. The
best time to pick tea leaves is around noon on a sunny day.
Tea farmers only have a few hours to pick
the leaves. Each leaf must be selected and picked by hand. This is an extremely
labour-intensive job.
After picking, the leaves must be baked
immediately, which takes several hours.
After a busy day, tea farmers will
typically produce around 200 grams of dried tea leaves, which can be stored for
a long time.
Then, the tea growers taste the dried tea
leaves they have made. They will grade each batch of tea and put it in
different tin cans.
The highest grade of dried tea leaves
produced in the mountains near Shaoxing City has a special name: Ruixue.
You are an expert in making and drinking
tea. You once told me that you had planted lots of Jiannan and jasmine flowers
at home. You use these flowers to fumigate the porcelain bottles in which you
store the tea leaves, which you then use to hold the tea leaves.
This way, the tea leaves are stained with
the fragrance of the flowers.
I admire the method you invented very much.
I am looking forward to meeting you again.
Next time, I will bring some roasted tea leaves for us to drink and brew
together, and we can have another competition.
I think it will be very exciting! It will
be like the rivalry between Xiang Yu and Liu Bang in the late Qin dynasty in
China. We will experience fierce battles, but ultimately, only one of us can
emerge victorious.
(The fierce struggle between Liu Bang and
Xiang Yu gave rise to the idiom "Two hunters were chasing the same wild
deer and competing to see who would kill it.")
I am very excited and happy at the thought
of this, and I look forward to our next meeting.
This idiom literally means "Two
hunters were chasing the same wild deer and competing to see who would kill
it".
It is usually used to describe the person
who wins the final victory in a fierce competition.
Dear friends, what thoughts or inspiration
have you gained from this story?
Is there someone you are looking forward to
meeting? Do you admire any of your friends' talents or creativity?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
鹿死誰手(Two hunters were chasing the same
wild deer and competing to see who would kill it.)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的史學家，他的家族是政治世家，他很有錢也很有品味。他的名字叫做(張岱)。
他有一個名字叫做(胡季望)的好朋友，胡季望種茶也會烘培茶，胡季望是一個製茶的專家。
張岱曾經寫過一封信給胡季望。
這封信的下半段的大概內容如下。
製茶是一門很高深的學問，晴天的中午左右是摘取茶葉的最好的時間。
茶農們在必須在幾個小時摘取茶葉，每一片茶葉都要人工挑選並手摘，這是一項非常高強度的工作。
茶葉摘取下來之後就要立刻進行烘培，茶葉烘培又要花費好幾個小時的時間。
忙一整天後，茶農們通常只會得到大約200公克左右的可以長期保存的乾燥茶葉。
接著茶農們就會開始試喝他們製成的乾燥茶葉，茶農們會根據每一批茶葉的情況分級放在各種不同的錫罐內。
紹興市附近的山上所產的乾燥茶葉中，最高等級的乾燥茶葉有一個專有的名字，這個名字叫做(瑞雪)。
你是一個非常會製茶與喝茶的專家。你曾經告訴我，你在你的家中種了很多建南花與茉莉花。你會用這些花去薰蒸那些要放置乾燥茶葉的瓷瓶，然後你會用這些瓷瓶來裝這些乾燥茶葉。
你透過這種方式，讓你所珍藏的乾燥茶葉染上這些花的香氣。
你所發明的這個方式非常的巧妙，我非常的敬佩你。
我好期待跟你再次相見，下次見面時，我會帶著我自己烘培的茶葉去找你，我們兩個人再來一場有關於喝茶與泡茶的比賽吧。
我想我們的這場比賽一定會很精彩，我們會像是中國秦朝末年的項羽與劉邦一樣，我們會經歷激烈的爭鬥，但最後只有一個人能夠取得全面的勝利。
(劉邦與項羽中的激烈鬥爭衍生出了一句成語，這句成語直接翻譯的意思是兩個獵人追逐同一支野鹿，這兩個人比賽看這隻野鹿最後會死在那的獵人的手上。)
想到這裡我就覺得很興奮又很開心，期待我們兩個人早日相見。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是兩個獵人追逐同一支野鹿，這兩個人比賽看這隻野鹿最後會死在那的獵人的手上。
這句成語通常被用來可以用來形容一場激烈的比賽中最後取得勝利的那一個人。
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。
你是否有很期待相見的人嗎?你的朋友有沒有甚麼令你覺得很敬佩的才能或創意呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為明-張岱-與胡季望