Buying things(買東買西)
During the late Ming dynasty in China,
there was a famous writer named Feng Menglong who compiled a collection of
short stories.
One of these stories is about a loyal old
servant named Aji. The story is set in the mid-Ming Dynasty, a peaceful era of
national strength.
Aji lived in a small village in Zhejiang
Province and was over fifty years old.
He had worked as a servant for a family
named Xu all his life. Every day, he rose early and went to bed late,
diligently helping the Xu family cultivate the land.
The Xu family had three sons, named from
eldest to youngest: Xu Yan, Xu Zhao and Xu Zhe. Xu Yan made all decisions
within the family, big and small. The three brothers formed three separate
households and lived together, sharing all their property.
One day, the youngest brother, Xu Zhe,
suddenly contracted typhoid fever and died within seven days. Following his
death, Xu Yan and Xu Zhao believed that his wife and children would be a
financial burden in the future, so they wanted to get rid of them as soon as
possible.
Without informing Xu Zhe's wife, Xu Yan and
Xu Zhao divided their shared property into three equal parts, intending for
each family to receive one share.
They invited several respected elders from
the village to their home. After the elders arrived, they called Xu Zhe's
widow, son and daughter to the main hall.
Xu Yan publicly announced that they would
divide their property into three equal parts and that each family would be
financially independent of the others.
Xu Zhe's wife's surname was Yan, and we
will refer to her as Ms Yan in the following story.
Ms Yan was shocked by Xu Yan's words. She
told him that she had to support five children and that she had no stable
income. She hoped to wait until her two sons had reached adulthood before
dividing the inheritance.
Xu Yan and Xu Zhao refused Ms Yan's request
to delay the division of the inheritance.
Several respected village elders, who had
been invited to witness the proceedings, carefully examined the inheritance
division document. They realised that the terms were unfair to Ms Yan.
The better land and houses had been
allocated to Xu Zhao and Xu Yan, while Ms Yan had been given the less desirable
land and houses. Oxen and horses were vital labour tools at the time and were
highly valuable. These were allocated to Xu Zhao and Xu Yan. Aji was already in
his fifties and no longer strong enough for long hours of work. Like Ms Yan,
his wife was unable to earn a living, and his son, who was just over ten years
old, was unable to help in the fields.
This distribution of property was not only
unfair, but, strictly speaking, malicious. Ms Yan's family had six people to
feed and, with Aji's family, there were nine in total — a considerable
financial burden.
Several elders recognised the unfairness of
the property division, but after considering the two brothers, Xu Yan and Xu
Zhao, and Ms Yan, they came to this conclusion.
Given the current situation, it seemed best
for me to agree with Xu Yan and Xu Zhao. Objecting out of a sense of justice
would offend them, and offending two young, strong men would not be
advantageous for us.
After the few elders who lacked a sense of
justice signed the certificate for the division of the family property, the
remaining elders, who had been hesitant, followed suit and signed it one after
another.
Seeing that no one present spoke up for her
family, Ms. Yan felt utterly desperate. She tightly hugged her children and
wept uncontrollably in the hall.
Xu Yan and Xu Zhao knew that Aji was a very
righteous person. To prevent him from interfering with the property division
ceremony, they gave him lots of shopping tasks to do early in the morning. Aji
spent the entire morning busy buying various items at the market.
This idiom translates directly as 'buying
things'.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
If you were one of the elders, would you dare
voice a different, righteous opinion? Have you ever felt utterly hopeless?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
買東買西(Buying things)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(馮夢龍)，他寫過一本短篇小說集。
他的這本小說集中有一個有關於一個忠誠的老僕人的故事，這個老僕人的名字叫做(阿寄)，馮夢龍說的這個故事發生在明王朝的中葉，那是一個國力強盛的和平時代。
(阿寄)住在浙江省的一個小村莊內，他的年紀已經50幾歲了。
他在一戶性徐的家庭擔任一個終身雇傭的僕人，他每天都早起然後很晚睡，他很勤勞地幫忙徐家耕作農地。
徐家有三個兄弟，這三個兄弟的名字從大到小分別是(徐言)、(徐召)和(徐哲)。(徐言)掌握了家中所有的大事與小事的決定權，他們三個兄弟所組成的三個家庭住在一起，他們家中的財產共有共享。
有一天，三兄弟中的老么徐哲忽然患上了傷寒，徐哲生病後經過短短七天就病逝了。徐哲病逝後，徐言與徐召兩個人都認為徐哲的妻子與兒女對自己的未來會造成極大的經濟負擔，所以他們要盡快擺脫徐哲的妻子與兒女。
在沒有告知徐哲的妻子的情況下，徐言與徐召兩個人商議好要把他們現在共有的財產平分成為三等份然後每個家庭各自拿一份。
徐言與徐召倆個人邀請了住在村莊中的有名望的幾位長者來到他家，等這些長者都來到他家之後，他們倆個人就叫徐哲的遺孀和兒子與女兒也一起到大廳中。
徐言公開宣公開宣布我們要把我們的財產分拆成三等份，之後每個家庭的經濟獨立且毫無相關。
徐哲的妻子姓顏，接下來的故事中，我們稱呼她為顏女士。
顏女士聽到徐言的話後，她感到非常的震驚，她對徐言說她要扶養五個小孩，她沒有固定的經濟來源，她希望等到她的兩個兒子成年之後再分拆家產。
徐言與徐召不肯答應顏女士的請求，他們兩個人堅持要立刻分拆家產。
被邀情到這裡參加見證的那幾個村中中有名望的長者看到這個情況後，他們仔細的看了這份分拆家產的文件的細項，這幾個有名望的長者看出這份文件中的條件對顏女士並不公平。
那些比較好的田地與房產分配給徐召與徐言，那些比較不好的田地與房產分配給顏女士。牛與馬是當時非常重要的可以協助勞動的工具，牛與馬非常的有價值，牛與馬被分配給徐召與徐言，阿寄的年紀已經50幾歲了，他的體力已經無法支撐長時間的勞動，阿寄的妻子跟顏女士依樣沒有謀生能力，阿寄的兒子的年紀也才剛過十歲所以沒有辦法到農田中幫忙耕作。
這種分配財產的方式不但不公平，嚴格來說是相當惡意的。顏女士一家有6個人要吃飯，加上阿寄一家個人，總共加起來有9個人，這人數已經形成一個相當沉重的經濟負擔。
這些長者中有幾位看出這份分拆家產的文件中的條件相當不公平，但是這幾個長者看看徐言與徐召兩個兄弟之後又看看顏女士，這些長者的心中產生了這種想法。
依照現在的情勢看起來，我最好附合徐言與徐召的意見，我如果因為正義感而提出反對的意見那麼我們就會得罪徐言與徐召，得罪兩個年輕的壯漢這對我們並不是一件有利的事。
當這幾個沒有正義感的長者在這份分拆家產的見証書上簽名之後，其餘本來還在猶疑不定的那些長者也順著這個情勢，陸續在這份分拆家產的見証書上簽了名。
顏女士看到在場的所有人竟然沒有人為她的家庭發出正義之聲後，她感到相當的絕望，她緊緊的抱著她的小孩們，她在大廳中不停地哭泣。
當這些事情發生的時候，阿寄在哪裡呢?阿寄正在市場上買東西。
徐言與徐召知道阿寄很有正義感，他們為了避免阿寄在家中會影響這件分拆家產見證會的進行，他們兩個人一大早指派了阿寄很多採買的任務，所以阿寄整個早上都在市場中忙碌的採買各種物品。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是買東西
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。
你如果是那些長者，你敢發出跟大家不同的正義之聲嗎?你的人生中曾經感到非常絕望的感受嗎?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為馮夢龍-醒世恆言-卷35-徐老僕義憤成家
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