His eyes widened and his mouth remained
tightly shut; he was unable to speak.(目瞪口噤)
During the late Tang dynasty in China,
there was an official named Huangfu Mei. He wrote a book in which he recorded
incredible things that he had encountered or heard throughout China. One story
in the book is as follows:
In 873 AD, Huangfu Mei was appointed chief
secretary to the magistrate of Lushan County, now part of Henan Province in
China. His role was to assist the magistrate with various administrative tasks.
Upon arriving at his post, his first task
was to familiarise himself with the local history, culture and geography.
He discovered a small village about 30
kilometres west of Lushan County, nestled at the foot of a mountain. In this
village stood a very peculiar temple. The statue enshrined within it depicted a
beautiful woman with her head bowed and her brows furrowed, conveying a sense
of melancholy and sorrow.
After asking some elderly locals about the
temple's origins, he learned that it was very important in the area.
In 874 AD, he held a solemn sacrificial
ceremony at this temple due to his official duties. Accompanying him was an
official named Xiahou Zhen.
Xiahou Zhen was a young, unmarried man.
After the ceremony, he saw a beautiful female statue with bowed head and
furrowed brow enshrined in the temple, and said some frivolous things to it.
That night, after returning home, Xiahou
Zhen became mentally unstable. He was unable to sleep, his eyes wide open and
his mouth tightly shut.
The next morning, Huangfu Mei, having heard
about Xiahou Zhen's strange state, went to visit him. He said, "I believe
your current state is related to the words you spoke yesterday during the
sacrificial ceremony. Do you agree?"
Upon hearing Huangfu Mei's words, Xiahou
Zhen nodded slightly.
Huangfu Mei immediately led his men to a
temple in a small village about 30 kilometres west of Lushan County, where he
performed another sincere sacrifice.
During the ceremony, he prayed:
'You govern this land, O wise goddess. You
bless this land with abundant harvests and grant peace to its people.
Yesterday, after the ceremony, my colleague
spoke frivolously to you.
We know it's because he blasphemed against
you, and you made him fall suddenly ill with a strange ailment as a result. I
want to find out what caused his illness.
Are you trying to punish him? If so, I
don't believe his offence merits the death penalty. He knows he was wrong and
will never be disrespectful to you again.
Or is it because you found his words
amusing that you want him to die quickly so that his soul can join you? If
that's your thinking, though, I believe there are many people in this world who
are better looking than my colleague — he doesn't deserve you. Do you agree
with me?
After Huangfu Mei had finished the
sacrificial ceremony, he went straight to Xiahou Zhen's house in Lushan County.
He was pleasantly surprised to find that Xiahou Zhen's body had returned to
normal.
This idiom translates directly as: His eyes
widened and his mouth was tightly shut, unable to speak.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts did you gain from this story?
Have you ever been retaliated against for offending someone? How do you react if someone insults you?
I hope this story
gives you some new insights.
目瞪口噤(His eyes widened and his mouth
remained tightly shut; he was unable to speak.)
中國的唐王朝的末年有一個官員，他的名字叫做(皇甫枚)，他曾經寫過一本書，他在這本書中紀錄了他在中國各地遇到或聽到的一些很不可思議的事情，這本書中有一個故事如下。
西元873年，他被派任到現在中國的河南省的魯山縣擔任縣長的主要秘書，他負責協助縣長處理很多瑣碎的事務性的工作。
他到任之後的第一件事情，就是先深入地了解這個地方的人文歷史與地理環境。
他發現魯山縣的西邊大約30公里的地方有一座小村莊，這個小村莊位於山腳下，這個小村莊中有一間很特別的寺廟，這座寺廟中所供奉的塑像是一位容貌很美麗但是低著頭且皺著眉頭的女子，看到這個塑像後會讓人感覺到這個女子感覺很憂鬱且哀怨。
他問了當地的一些年紀很大的老人有關這座寺廟的來由後，他知道這是一個當地很重要的寺廟。
西元874年，因為職務的關係，他在這間寺廟中舉辦了一場很慎重的祭祀儀式，跟他一起去的人還有一個名叫(夏侯禎)的官員。
(夏侯禎)是一個尚未結婚的年輕人，在這場祭祀的儀式結束後，他看到這座寺廟中的供奉的那個容貌很美麗但是低著頭且皺著眉頭的女子塑像，他對這個女子塑像說了幾句很輕佻的話。
當天晚上，夏侯禎回家後，他的精神變得很恍惚，他整夜無法入睡，他雙目瞪大同時他的嘴巴緊閉無法說話。
隔天早上，(皇甫枚)聽到(夏侯禎)的異樣的情況之後，他就去探視(夏侯禎)，他對(夏侯禎)說。
你現在身體的情況我認為跟你昨天在祭祀儀式後的那些輕佻的言語相關，你認為我的看法是否正確?
(夏侯禎)聽到(皇甫枚)的話後他輕輕地點了點頭。
(皇甫枚)就立刻又帶著他的部屬到了魯山縣西邊大約30公里的那個小村莊的那間寺廟中，他又舉辦了一次很真誠的祭祀儀式。
他舉辦祭祀儀式的時候，他如此祈禱，
妳是負責掌管這塊土地的女神，妳是一個明理的人。妳祝福這塊土地有著豐富的收成，妳讓住在這塊土地上的人民平安的生活。
昨天我的同事在祭祀儀式之後，他竟然對妳說了輕佻的話。
我們知道是因為妳認為他褻瀆了妳，所以妳讓他突然生了很奇怪的病，我想搞清楚他生這場病的原因。
妳是因為想懲罰我的同事嗎?如果是因為妳想懲罰他，我認為他犯的罪過不至於死，他現在已經知道自己做錯事了，他下次絕對不會在對妳作出不恭敬的事。
還是因為妳認為我的同事說的話讓妳覺得很開心呢?所以妳想要讓他快點死掉，讓他的靈魂可以到妳的身邊，但我認為如果這是妳的想法，那麼我認為這個世界上比我的同事長得更好看的人很多，他配不上妳，妳是否認同我的看法呢?
(皇甫枚)舉辦完這祭祀儀式後，他回到魯山縣的縣城後，他就先到了(夏侯禎)的家，他很驚喜的發現(夏侯禎)的身體已經恢復正常。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是他雙目瞪大然後他的嘴巴緊閉無法說話。
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
你是否曾經因為得罪的別人而遭受到別人的報復呢?如果別人說話侮辱了你，你最有怎樣的反應呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為唐-皇甫枚-三水小牘
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E4%B8%89%E6%B0%B4%E5%B0%8F%E7%89%98