The soul leaves the body and dissipates
into the air.(魂飛魄散)
During the Ming dynasty in China, a famous
writer named Ling Mengchu wrote a collection of short stories. Most of the
stories in this book are based on earlier works, and readers can experience the
social realities and atmosphere of the time through his reinterpretation.
The beginning of one of the stories in this
book goes as follows:
In Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, there
lived a young man named Wang. His parents 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, his aunt said to him,
'Your father was a merchant. He often
traded along the Yangtze River. You are very clever and skilful. I think you
could follow in his footsteps and learn to become a merchant.'
'I haven't touched the inheritance your
father left behind. Now, I'm giving it to you. You can buy Suzhou specialities
and sell them in other cities. What do you think of my suggestion?"
Mr Wang said happily.
'That's wonderful! I've always wanted to be
a businessman. How do you think I should start?"
Mr Wang's aunt asked him.
'Nanjing is the most important and
prosperous city along the Yangtze River. You could buy some specialities from
Suzhou and sell them there."
Mr Wang agreed wholeheartedly. Over the
next few days, he used the money to buy lots of goods. Then, on what he
considered an auspicious day, he set sail for Nanjing with his goods, about 200
kilometres upstream on the Yangtze River, having rented part of a large boat.
On the second day of the voyage, the
weather on the river turned terrible. The wind and waves were extremely high.
The boat was blown off course by the strong winds and entered unfamiliar waters
filled with reeds.
The captain and his crew frantically tried
to find their bearings and get back on course. Suddenly, several small boats
emerged from the reeds. Each boat carried about seven or eight burly men with
fierce faces who were armed with various weapons.
The boats quickly surrounded the ship that
Mr Wang had chartered. The men on board swiftly overpowered everyone. Then, a
man who seemed to be the leader shouted, 'This ship is now under our control!
Hand over all your money. As long as you don't resist, I won't harm you.'
Mr Wang and some of the other passengers
were extremely frightened by this sudden turn of events. They were too
terrified to speak, feeling as if their souls were leaving their bodies and
dissipating into the air.
In a very short time, the thieves had
stolen all the cargo from the large ship and all the money from everyone on
board.
About ten minutes after the thieves had
looted the ship and left, the passengers gradually calmed down. They held a
meeting and reached a consensus: since all the goods and money had been stolen,
there was no reason for them to continue to Nanjing. The captain immediately
turned the ship around and sailed back to Suzhou.
This idiom literally means that one's soul
is leaving the body and dissipating into the air.
It is used to describe a person who, due to
extreme fear, feels as if their soul has left their body; they are in a state
of complete mental and physical paralysis.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts have
you gained from this story?
What has been the most terrifying thing in
your life? If you had been on that ship, would you have resisted or submitted?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
魂飛魄散(The soul leaves the body and
dissipates into the air.)
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起頭的大意如下。
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，他的嬸嬸對他說。
你的父親生前是一個商人，他經常沿著長江沿岸的城市做買賣的生意，你很聰明又很靈巧，我認為你可以效法你的父親，你可以學習如何成為一個商人。
你父親死後留下來的遺產我都沒有動用，現在我把這些遺產交給你，你可以買一些蘇州市的特色產品到其他城市去銷售，你覺得我的提議好嗎?
王先生很開心的說。
這太好了，我本來就想要當一個商人。你認為我應該怎樣開始我的經商之路呢?
王先生的嬸嬸對他說。
南京市是長江沿岸最重要也最繁華的城市，我認為你可以從蘇州市買些蘇州市的特色產品去南京市銷售。
王先生相當認同這個看法，接下來幾天他就拿了這些錢去買了許多貨品，接著他租用了一條大船的部分空間，在一個他認為吉祥的日子，他帶著這些貨品前往長江上游距離約200多公里的南京市。
這艘船航行的第二天，河面上的天氣情況非常的差，風浪都非常的大，他所租的這艘船被巨大的風吹得偏離主要的航道，這艘船進入一片充滿的蘆葦的陌生的水域。
船長與水手們焦急地想要分辨方向回到正確的航道，突然間，從蘆葦叢中駛出很多條體積比較小的小艇，每艘小艇上各自站著大約七到八個身材很魁武的男子，這些男子的面容兇惡而且手中還拿著各種不同的武器。
這幾艘小艇迅速地包圍了王先生租的這艘船，小艇上的幾個男子迅速的用武力制伏船上所有的人，接著有一個像是領袖的人喊叫著說。
現在這艘船已經被我們所控制，你們都要把身上的錢都交出來給我們。只要你們不反抗，我就不會傷害你們。
王先生和其他的一些乘客因為這個突然發生的意外受到嚴重的驚嚇，所有的乘客都驚嚇到無法說話，那種驚嚇的感覺就像一個人感覺到自己的靈魂正在飛離身體並且散失在空氣中。
這群盜賊在很短暫的時間內就把這艘大船的所有貨品和所有人身上的錢全部搶走。
那群盜賊搶劫完所有的物品並離開完王先生所搭乘的大船的大約10分鐘後，船上的乘客們開始陸續的慢慢恢復平靜，這些乘客便開始開會，開會後取得了一個共識，這個共識就是既然所有的貨品與錢都被搶走了，那麼他們就沒有理由要繼續前往南京市，船長立刻將這艘船掉頭並航行返回蘇州市。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是自己的靈魂正在飛離身體並且散失在空氣中。
這句成語被用來形容一個人因為極度恐懼而感覺自己的靈魂仿佛離開身體並消散、這個人處於一種完全喪失思考與行動能力的狀態。
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。
你這輩子感到最令你覺得驚嚇的事情為何呢?你如果是船上的其中一個人，你認為你會反抗還是屈服呢?
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