Someone who is intelligent, quick-witted
and perceptive.(聰明乖覺)
During the Yuan dynasty in China, there was
a very famous playwright named Guan Hanqing.
He wrote over 60 plays in his lifetime,
covering a wide range of creative themes. Through his works, he reflected the
various phenomena and realities of the social environment of the time.
One of his plays features a female
protagonist named Tan Ji'er and a male protagonist named Bai Shizhong. This
play also features a villain named Yang Yanei.
Bai Shizhong is a central government
official and the mayor of Tanzhou City. He is married to Tan Ji'er.
Yang Yanei is infatuated with Tan Ji'er. In
order to take Tan Ji'er away from Bai Shizhong, Yang Yanei slanders and defames
him before the king. He tells the king that Bai Shizhong is lustful, addicted
to drinking and careless in his handling of Tanzhou's municipal affairs,
causing the city's security to deteriorate day by day.
The king believes Yang Yanei and says to
him,
'I authorise you to secretly investigate
this incident in Tanzhou city. If Bai Shizhong is indeed a corrupt and
incompetent official, you may issue his death sentence on my behalf."
Yang Yanei happily travelled to Tanzhou
with two trusted subordinates.
He trusted and liked these two men very
much, believing them to be intelligent, quick-witted and perceptive.
They left the capital by boat and, a few
days later, their vessel successfully arrived in Tanzhou City.
The day they arrived happened to be the
Mid-Autumn Festival, an important Chinese festival.
On the Mid-Autumn Festival, the moon is at
its closest to being a full moon, which the Chinese believe symbolises
completeness and fulfilment in all things. On this day, therefore, Chinese
people gather with their closest family members to eat and drink Chinese rice
wine. Each family then goes to their own courtyard to admire the moon and chat.
'Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. We've
prepared some excellent Chinese rice wine and food. We can drink and admire the
moon together later,' said Yang Yanei's two henchmen.
However, Yang Yanei, a man who loved to
drink, angrily retorted, "We have a very important mission; we shouldn't
drink."
These two henchmen, whom Yang Yanei trusted
implicitly, had originally intended to curry favour with him. They hadn't
expected him to reprimand them so severely, so they quickly changed their tune.
'You're absolutely right,' they said. 'We
have an important mission to carry out, so we can't drink Chinese rice wine.'
Seeing his two henchmen standing
respectfully before him, Yang Yanei found it amusing, but he feigned
seriousness and asked, 'Did you two sneak a drink earlier?'
The two henchmen answered nervously. 'I
swear we didn't drink. If we did, we'd be doomed.'
Looking at the terrified expressions on his
two subordinates' faces, Yang Yanei smiled smugly.
'You're right not to drink. That way, it
won't interfere with our business.'
'But since you've prepared Chinese rice
wine and dishes, are you just going to throw them away if you don't eat or
drink them? To avoid waste, I'll drink three cups of Chinese rice wine.'
'After we've finished these three cups of
rice wine, let's turn in early.'
This idiom translates as 'a person who who
is intelligent, quick-witted and perceptive.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Do you think that flattery and fawning are
also a form of intelligence? Which do you think is more important: intelligence
or virtue?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
聰明乖覺(Someone who is intelligent,
quick-witted and perceptive.)
中國的元王朝有一個非常著名的劇作家，他的名字叫做關漢卿。
他創作的題材非常的廣泛，一生中寫出了超過60部的戲劇作品，他藉由他寫的作品反映出當時的社會環境的各種現象與當時的各種社會現實。
他寫的諸多作品中，有一部作品的女主角的名字叫做譚記兒，男主角的名字叫做白士中，這部戲中有一個反派人物，這個反派人物的名字叫做楊衙內。
白士中是一個中央政府的官員，他是(潭州)市的市長，他娶了(譚記兒)為妻。
楊衙內喜歡(譚記兒)，楊衙內為了要把譚記兒從白士中的身邊搶過來，所以他在國王面前毀謗與抹黑白士中，他對國王說白士中貪好女色又貪戀喝酒，白士中很草率地處理潭州的市政事務，在白士中的帶領下，潭州市的治安一天比一天更壞。
國王相信了楊衙內的話，所以對楊衙內說。
我授權你到(潭州)市去祕密地調查這個事件，如果白士中的確是一個行為不檢而且工作不力的官員，那麼你可以直接代表我下令判處白士中死刑。
楊衙內很開心的帶著自己兩個很信任的下屬一起前往(潭州)。
楊衙內很信任且很喜歡這兩個手下，他認為這兩個手下又聰明又機靈又會察言觀色。
楊衙內與這兩個手下搭著船離開首都，幾天後。他們搭的船順利抵達潭州市。
他們三個人到潭州市那一天剛好是中國的中秋節，這是一個中國人非常重要的節日。
中秋節的月亮是一年之中最接近正圓型的，中國人認為這象徵著人與事情都非常的圓滿，所以中國人在這一天中都會跟自己最親近的家人聚在一起吃飯與喝一些中國米酒，各個家庭還會各自到自己家中的院子內邊賞月邊聊天。
楊衙內的這兩個手下對楊衙內說。
今天正好是中秋節，我們已經準備了一些很棒的中國米酒與一些食物，我們待會可以一起喝酒同時一起賞月。
楊衙內是一個很愛喝酒的人，但是他在聽到他的兩個手下的提議後，他很生氣的對這兩個手下說。
我們有非常重要的任務在身上，我們不應該喝酒。
這兩個楊衙內非常信任的手下原本想藉著這件行為來巴結與討好楊衙內，他們沒有想到楊衙內會生氣地斥責他們，他們兩個人就趕緊轉換立場。
他們兩個人說。
你說得太正確了，我們有重要的任務要執行，所以我們不能喝中國米酒。
楊衙內看到這兩個恭敬地站在他前面的兩個手下，他的心中覺得好笑，但是他的表情裝作很嚴肅地對這兩個手下說。
你們跟才有沒有偷喝酒錒?
這兩個手下很緊張地回答。
我發誓我們的確沒有喝酒，如果我們有喝酒，我發誓我們會厄運臨頭。
楊衙內看著這兩個手下的惶恐表情，他很得意地笑著說。
你們沒有喝酒是對的?這樣才不會妨礙我們辦正事。
但是你們既然已準備好了中國米酒與菜，那如果不吃不喝就要直接丟掉嗎?為了避免浪費，我來喝三杯中國米酒吧。
喝完這三杯中國米酒我們就早點休息。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一個又聰明又機靈又會察言觀色的人。
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。
你認為巴結與奉承也算是一種聰明的表現嗎?你認為聰明與品德何者更重要呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為元-關漢卿-望江亭中秋切鱠-第二折
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