Head resembles a deer's and eyes resemble a
mouse's(獐頭鼠目)
During the Tang dynasty in China, there was
a renowned minister named Li Kui, whose story is chronicled in history books.
Many of his relatives held important
positions in the Tang Dynasty's central government. He was a very intelligent
and handsome man, which made him rather arrogant.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, an
incident occurred.
A minister named Miao Jinqing privately
said to Li Kui:
'There is a young official in the central
government named Yuan Zai. His family background is ordinary and he is in a
lowly position, but I believe he is very talented. I suggest you give him a
more important position.'
Li Kui listened to Miao Jinqing and nodded
with a smile.
Several weeks later, Miao Jinqing
approached Li Kui again.
'A few weeks ago, I recommended a young
official to you named Yuan Zai. I thought he was very capable, so I suggested
you transfer him to a more important position. Why haven't you transferred him
yet?'
Li Kui replied coldly.
All central government departments are now fully staffed.
As far as I know, there are currently many young officials from good families who write well and have elegant manners..
"Even these exceptional young
officials cannot be transferred to more important positions. How could I
possibly arrange for the young man you recommended — whose head resembles a
deer's and whose eyes resemble a mouse's — to be transferred?"
After Miao Jinqing relayed Li Kui's words
to Yuan Zai, he was furious. He told Miao Jinqing, "Li Kui is the prime
minister. If he doesn't think I'm capable enough, he has the right not to
promote me." However, I felt he shouldn't have made a personal attack on
me. Everyone's appearance is innate, and he shouldn't have mocked my looks.
Years later, thanks to his excellent
performance, Yuan Zai gradually rose to a very important position with the
power to arrange personnel. He used this position to appoint Yi Kui to a
prestigious but unpaid role with no real decision-making power.
In the following years, Yuan Zai repeatedly
used his position to frequently transfer Li Kui. Because of his malicious
comments about Yuan Zai years earlier, Li Kui was forced to move frequently for
approximately 15 years.
This idiom literally translates as ' Head
resembles a deer's and eyes resemble a mouse's'.
It is used to describe someone with an ugly appearance.
Dear friend, what insights did this story
offer you?
Have you ever been maliciously criticised?
Have you ever held a grudge because of someone else's comments about you?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
獐頭鼠目(Head resembles a deer's and eyes resemble a
mouse's)
中國的唐王朝有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做李揆，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他的家族中有許多人都在唐王朝的中央政府擔任重要的職位，他是一個很聰明而且長得很帥的人，他的個性也因此變得比較驕傲。
在他擔任唐王朝的首相的期間發生過一件事情。
有一個名字叫做(苗晉卿)的大臣在一個私底下的場合對(李揆)說。
中央政府內有一個名字叫做(元載)的年輕官員，他的家庭背景很普通，他目前的職位很低，但是我認為他是一個很有才能的人，我建議你可以讓他擔任更重要的職務。
李揆聽完(苗晉卿)的話後微笑著點點頭。
這件事情過去了幾個禮拜後，有一天，苗晉卿又再度對(李揆)說。
幾個禮拜前，我向你推薦過一個名字叫做(元載)的年輕官員，我認為他的工作能力很強所以我建議你幫他調動到更重要的職位，到為何到現在為止你都還沒調動(元載)的職務呢?
李揆很冷淡地的回答。
現在中央政府內的各個部門都滿員了。
就我所知，目前有許許多多家世很好的年輕官員，他們的文章寫得很好，他們的儀態非常高雅。
連這些非常優秀的年輕官員都還無法調動到一些更重要的職位，我怎麼可能安排你所推薦的這個頭形長得像是獐子，眼睛長得像是老鼠的年輕人調動職位呢。
苗晉卿把李揆對自己說的這些話轉述給(元載)聽後，元載的心中感到非常的憤怒，元載對苗晉卿說。
李揆是宰相，他如果認為我的能力不夠，他有這個權力不調動我的職務。
可是我認為他不應該對我進行人身攻擊，每個人的外貌都是天生的，他不應該嘲笑我的外表。
幾年後，元載因為工作表現與工作績效都很好，所以他慢慢地晉陞到了一個相當重要的有權力安排人事的職位，元載就利用自已的職務的權力，將李揆安排到一個擁有頭銜很好聽但是沒有薪水且無法實際掌握到決策權的職位上。
接下來的幾年，元載又多次利用自己的職務頻繁地調動李揆的職位，李揆因為自己幾年前的對元載的惡意評論，後來被迫頻繁的搬家長達大約15年的時間。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是像龍一樣的好文章與像鳳一樣的好儀態。
這句成語被用來形容一個人的文筆與儀容超越眾人。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有什麼樣的或有什麼樣的啟發
你曾經被惡意的批評過嗎?你是否曾經因為別人對你的評論而造成心中一直無法消除的憤怒呢?
我期待這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為舊唐書-卷126-李揆
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E8%88%8A%E5%94%90%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7126