During the Ming dynasty in China, there was
a great navigator and eunuch named Zheng He. He led the largest fleet in
ancient China on seven long-distance sea voyages, with the largest number of
ships and crew. His story has been recorded by historians and has also
attracted the attention of writers.
In ancient China, sundials were used to
determine the time of day. They are instruments that measure time by the
changing position of the sun's shadow.
A sundial is a flat instrument with 100
divisions on its surface. In the centre of the instrument is a pointer. When
sunlight shines on the sundial, the pointer casts a shadow on its surface. As
the angle of the sun changes throughout the day, the shadow slowly moves from
west to east.
The shadow of a sundial was a popular
metaphor used by ancient Chinese writers and poets to describe time.
Luo Maodeng, an author, wrote a fantasy
novel blending fiction and reality based on the story of Zheng He. Chapter 11
of the novel contains the following passage:
Three young girls were strolling in a
spring garden. The first girl saw beautiful flowers blooming and recited a
poem. The general meaning of the poem is as follows:
'I walked into the garden and saw these
beautiful flowers and couldn't help but shed tears. Why did I cry? Because I
thought about how I had seen these flowers bloom every year for so many years,
and then wither. I didn't feel any regret when I saw the flowers fade because I
knew they would bloom again the following year.
But I'm already 18, and I'm growing older.
Unlike these flowers, I won't be able to bloom again every year. I can't go
back to the days of my youth that I cherish so much.
The second girl responded to the first girl
with another poem. The poem's general meaning is as follows:
My heart sighed. Ancient poets believed
that the shadow cast by a sundial was a tangible representation of time.
They said that each inch on the sundial's
scale represented a volume of time as valuable as gold. However, I disagree. I
believe the time represented by each inch is far more precious than an
equivalent amount of gold. Not even the most precious gold could buy the time
represented by each inch of the sundial's scale.
Why do I think this? It's because while we
can earn back expensive gold after spending it, we can never regain lost time.
The third girl also recited a poem in
response to the first two. The general meaning of her poem is as follows:
After listening to your poems, I also felt
deeply moved. I am now 18, and my worries have increased with age. I really
miss the carefree days of being 13. I'm still not married, and I'm worried that
I'll never meet the right person. In a few years, I'll be in my twenties, and
then I'll be heading towards thirty. If I'm not married by then, I'll be alone at
night, feeling lonely with no one to confide in.
This idiom means that not even the most
precious gold can buy the time represented by each inch of the sundial's scale.
It reminds us that time passes silently but
relentlessly, and its value far exceeds that of the most precious gold in the
world. "
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts have
you gained from this story?
If you could trade money for time, would
you? Do you remember the different worries you had at different ages?
I hope this story brings you new insights.
寸金難買寸光陰(Not even the most precious gold
can buy the time represented by each inch of a sundial.)
中國的明王朝有一個偉大的航海家與宦官，他的名字叫做鄭和。他曾經帶領帶領一支中國古代規模最大、船隻和海員最多的船隊進行了七次長時間的遠程海上航行。他的故事被歷史學家紀錄，也受到創作者的注意。
中國的古代使用日晷來確認每天的時間，日晷是一種利用日影位置的變化來測量時間的一種計算時間的工具
日晷是一個平面的儀器，這個儀器的表面被分割成100個刻度。這個平面的儀器中間有一個指針，當太陽光照在日晷上時，指針的影子投向日晷的表面，隨著太陽的角度變化，指標的影子從早上到下午會慢慢地由西向東移動。
中國古代的文學家與詩人們廣泛的使用日晷上的影子的這個比喻來形容時間。
有一個名字叫做(羅懋登)的創作者根據鄭和的故事寫了一本虛構與真實混雜的玄幻小說。這本小說的第11章中有一小段內容如下。
有三個少女在春天的花園中散步，第一個少女看到美麗的花朵綻放，她就念了一首詩，這首詩大概的意思如下。
我走進花園，我看到這些美麗的花但我卻忍不住眼下了眼淚。我為何流淚呢?因為我想到我這些年來每年的看到這些美麗的花綻放，然後我接著會看到這些花凋謝。我看到花凋謝時我並不會感到遺憾，因為我知道這些花明年依舊會綻放。
但我已經18歲了，我的年紀已經愈來愈大了，我不像這些花能夠每年重新綻放，我無法再度回到那個令我懷念的青春時光。
第二個少女念了另一首詩來回應第一的少女，這首詩大概的意思如下。。
我的心中感嘆。古代的詩人們認為在日晷上的影子就像是時間的具象呈現，
他們說日晷上的每一寸的刻度所代表的時間就等同於相同體積的黃金一樣的珍貴，但我不認同這些他們的看法，我認為日晷上的每一寸的刻度所代表的時間遠比相同體積的黃金更加的珍貴，最珍貴的黃金也無法買到相晷上的每一寸的刻度所代表的時間。
為何我會這樣認為?我的理由是因為昂貴的黃金我們花光了之後還有機會能夠在重新賺取，但我們永遠無法再重新得到我們那些已經逝去的時間。
第三個少女也念了一首詩來回應前面兩個少女，她也念了一首詩，這首詩大概的意思如下。
聽完你們的詩後，我也覺得內心有所感慨。我現在已經18歲了，我的煩惱隨著我的年紀愈來愈多，我真懷念我13歲時候無憂無慮的日子。我到了這個年紀還沒有認識到合適的結婚對象，我很擔心我這輩子都無法遇到那個適合我的男子。
我再過幾年就超過20歲了，接著我就會向30歲的年齡前進，假設到時候我還沒有結婚，我就會一個人在夜裡感覺寂寞而沒有人可以傾訴。
這句成語的意思是最珍貴的黃金也無法買到相日晷上的每一寸的刻度所代表的時間。
這句成語被用來提醒我們，時間就像日晷上的影子，靜默卻從不停歇地流逝，其價值遠勝過世間最貴重的黃金。”
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。
假如可以用錢換回你的時間，你願意這樣做嗎?你還記得你在不同年紀時的不同煩惱嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為明-羅懋登三寶太監西洋記-卷11
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E4%B8%89%E5%AF%B6%E5%A4%AA%E7%9B%A3%E8%A5%BF%E6%B4%8B%E8%A8%98/011