A joy so powerful that it is almost
unbearable. (不勝之喜)
During the late Ming dynasty in China, a
famous writer named Ling Mengchu wrote a collection of short stories. Drawing
largely upon earlier works, his reinterpretations allow readers to experience
the social realities and atmosphere of the time.
The gist of the ending of one of the
stories in this book is as follows:
In Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, there
lived a young man named Wang. His parents had died when he was young.
His aunt took responsibility for caring for
him, taking him into her home and treating him like her own child.
When Wang turned 18, he decided to embark
on his business journey with his aunt's financial support.
Unfortunately, he was robbed twice by the
same group of bandits while travelling to trade. Encouraged by his aunt, he gathered
his courage and set out on a third business trip.
Three days after he left on his third
business trip, his worst fears were realised once again. His cargo ship was
surrounded by a group of robbers in small boats. Upon closer inspection, he
recognised them as the same group that had robbed him twice before.
At that moment, Mr Wang felt both anxious
and angry. He felt extremely wronged. He immediately approached the leader of
the robbers, stood ramrod straight and said loudly, "Kill me now! Kill me
before you rob my goods!'
The leader of the robbers was startled by
Mr Wang's unusual behaviour. He stared at Mr Wang with a knife in hand for
about 30 seconds before asking, 'Why do you want me to kill you? Why don't you
value your own life? We are principled robbers. We never kill anyone. We only
steal money and goods.'
Mr Wang said to the leader of the robbers.
'Do you remember me? You've robbed me three
times now, including today. I'm an orphan; my aunt raised me from childhood.
She spent all her savings supporting my business.'
'I'm feeling very depressed right now. I
don't know how I'm going to tell my aunt that I've been robbed again. Why don't
you just kill me? Then I won't have to go back and tell her that she'll spend
the rest of her life in poverty.'
The leader of the robbers listened to Mr
Wang and thought for a few minutes. Smiling, he said to Mr Wang, 'Since we're
robbers, we must have something to show for it; otherwise, we'll be in big
trouble.'
'I recognise you. You have indeed been robbed
three times. This is truly a rare coincidence.'
'Well, yesterday I robbed a batch of
low-value ramie. Although it isn't very valuable, there's a lot of it — over
two hundred bundles.'
'I'll give you that batch of ramie. Use it
to start a business.'
The bandit leader then ordered his men to
load the ramie onto Mr Wang's rented boat.
The day after the robbery, Mr Wang returned
to Suzhou by boat and told his aunt about his experience.
She comforted him, saying, 'Although you
were robbed again, the important thing is that you're safe and sound. Let's not
dwell on the past. Now we have this ramie, so let's find a way to sell it and
use the money to start a business again.'
Mr Wang and his aunt untied one of the
bundles of ramie, planning to break it down into smaller packages for sale.
After working for about ten minutes, they
suddenly noticed a small package in the centre of the bundle. Upon opening it,
they discovered a piece of gold inside.
This unexpected find caused them to gasp in
astonishment and overwhelming joy.
They untied each bundle of ramie one by one
and found a piece of gold in each of the two hundred-plus bundles.
They later speculated about why the gold
had been hidden in the ramie, and a plausible explanation occurred to them. The
ramie must have belonged to a wealthy merchant who wanted to take his profits
back to his hometown.
To avoid arousing the greed of unscrupulous
individuals by carrying too much gold, this shrewd merchant hid it among the
inexpensive ramie. However, the ramie was stolen by robbers.
Unaware of the secret, the robbers then
gave the ramie to Mr Wang.
Mr Wang later used the money to fund his
business ventures, achieving great success and becoming a renowned merchant.
Later, during private conversations with his
aunt, Mr Wang often mentioned the robber and expressed his gratitude. Through
this experience, he realised that unexpected changes can still occur, even in
dire straits.
This idiom translates as 'overwhelming
joy'.
It is used to describe extreme happiness.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Have you ever found yourself not knowing
how to face your loved ones? Have you ever experienced a sudden reversal of
fortune, going from a desperate situation to favourable circumstances?
I hope this story will provide you with
some new insights.
不勝之喜(A joy so powerful that it is almost
unbearable)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(凌濛初)，他寫過一本短篇小說集。他這本小說中的故事題材大多取自前代著述，經過他的再創作後，讀者可以從這些故事中感受到當時的社會現實和時代氣息。
這本書中的其中一個故事的最後結局的大意如下。
在中國的江蘇省的蘇州市，有一個姓王的年輕人，他的父親與母親在他還是幼童得時候就過世了。
王先生的嬸嬸承擔起照顧他的責任，他的嬸嬸把他接到自己的家中居住，他的嬸嬸把他成像是自己的孩子一樣關心與照顧。
王先生18歲的那一年，在他的嬸嬸的資助下，他決定開始他的經商之路。
王先生的運氣很不好，他接連兩次帶著貨品出門做生意時都遇到了同一批強盜的搶劫，在他的嬸嬸的鼓勵下，他鼓起勇氣第三次帶著貨品出門做生意。
在王先生第三次出門做生意後的第三天，王先生擔憂的事情再度發生，他所搭乘的貨船又被一批搭著小艇的強盜包圍，王先生仔細一看，這批強盜就是之前搶劫過自己兩次的那批強盜。
就在這個時候，王先生的心中感覺到又焦急又生氣，他感覺到非常的委屈，他立刻衝到那批強盜的領導前面，他站著筆直的大聲地對那批強盜的領導說。
你快點殺了我，你們強劫我的貨品之前，你們先殺了我吧。
王先生這個反常的舉動讓那批強盜的領導受到了驚嚇，這批強盜的領導拿著刀注視著王先生大約30秒後對王先生說。
你為何要我殺了你呢?你為何不珍惜自己的生命呢?我們是有原則的強盜，我們從來不殺害任何人，我們只搶奪金錢與貨品。
王先生對那批強盜的領導說。
你記得我嗎?加上今天這一次，我已經被你強劫了三次，我是一個孤兒，我的嬸嬸從小就扶養我長大，她為了資助我做生意，她已經花光了她所有的積蓄。
我現在的心情很沮喪，我不知道該如何回去告訴我的姑姑我又被搶劫了，你乾脆殺了我，這樣我就不用回去面對我的姑姑並且告訴我的姑姑他接下來的餘生都要在貧困中度過。
那個強盜的領導聽完王先生的話後思考了幾分鐘，他微笑地對王先生說。
我們既然是強盜，我們出來搶劫就一定要有所收穫，不然我們接下來就會變得很倒楣。
我認得你，你的確被我搶劫了三次，這真的是一個難得的緣分啊。
這樣好了，我昨天有強劫到一批價值不高的苧麻，這批苧麻雖然價值不高但是數量很多，有兩百多捆。
我把那批苧麻送給你，你就拿這一批苧麻去想辦法做生意。
那個強盜的領導就命令他的手下把那一大批苧麻搬到王先生租地船上。
王先生被搶劫後的第二天，他搭著船又回到蘇州市，他把這次出行發生的這些事情告訴了他的嬸嬸。
王先生的嬸嬸安慰他對他說。
你雖然又被搶劫了，但是人平安無事，這是最重要的。過去的事情我們不要在放在心上，現在我們有一批苧麻，我們想辦法把這些苧麻賣掉，然後利用這些資本再重新開始做生意吧。
王先生就與他的嬸嬸把其中一綑苧麻解開，他們計畫把這大綑苧麻分成少量的包裝拆開銷售。
他們工作了大約十分鐘後，他們突然看到這綑苧麻的最中心部分有一個小小的包裹，他們打開這個包裹後，發現裡面竟然是一塊黃金。
這個意外的驚喜讓他們兩個人發出驚呼，他們感覺到一種強大到令人無法承受的喜悅。
他們兩個人接著把所有的苧麻一綑一綑地解開，他們發現這兩百多綑苧麻中，每綑苧麻中都有一塊黃金。
他們兩個人後來就猜測為何這些黃金會藏在苧麻中，他們後來得到一個感覺很合理的答案。這批苧麻應該是有一個富有的商人想要把他經商所賺的錢帶回自己的家鄉。
這個聰明的大商人為了避免身上帶著太多黃金引發壞人的貪念，所以把這些黃金藏在這些價值低廉的苧麻中，但是沒有想到這批苧麻被強盜搶走了。
那些強盜沒有發現到這個秘密，所以才把這批苧麻轉送給王先生。
王先生後來就利用這筆資金繼續他的經商之路，王先生後來事業做得很成功，成了一個著名的大商人。
王先生後來跟他的嬸嬸在私底下的聊天時，他們兩個人常提起並且感謝那位強盜，王先生從這件事情體會到，即使在絕境中，仍然有可以發生令人意想不到的改變。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一種強大到令人無法承受的喜悅
這句成語被用來形容一個人極度快樂。
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。
你是否有過那種不知道如何面對你所親愛的人的經驗呢?你是否曾在遭遇絕境的時候突然發生逆轉成為順境的經驗呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為凌濛初-初刻拍案驚奇-卷8