Children Who Have Lost Their Fathers and
Women Who Have Lost Their Husbands(孤兒寡婦)
During the late Ming dynasty in China, a
famous writer named Feng Menglong wrote 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 lived together in three
separate households, sharing their property.
One day, the youngest brother, Xu Zhe,
suddenly contracted typhoid fever and died within seven days. His wife and
children were devastated by this sudden loss. With the help of Xu Yan and Xu
Zhao, she handled all the funeral arrangements.
About two months after the funeral, Xu Yan
and Xu Zhao privately discussed the matter and reached a consensus: they both
agreed that Xu Zhe's wife, son and daughter would be a long-term burden.
They decided to divide the property equally
into three parts, with each family receiving one.
The day after making this decision, they
invited several respected elders from the village to their home. Once the
elders had arrived, they invited Xu Zhe's widow, son and daughter to join them
in the main hall.
Once everyone was present, Xu Yan stood up
and addressed the group, saying, "The three brothers in our family have a
very good relationship, and our family property is jointly owned and
shared." However, something very unfortunate happened to our family: our
younger brother passed away a few days ago. To avoid financial disputes between
our three families, my brother and I have decided to divide our assets.
Following my brother's death, his son
became an orphan and his wife lost her husband. We believe they must be very
sad. We are not doing this for our own benefit, but for the sake of our
brother's widow and children.
We have divided all our assets fairly into
three equal parts. We have three houses, so each of us will have one. We have
also divided our cash into three equal parts. Other indivisible items, such as
our cow and horse, as well as our long-standing servant, Aji, have also been
distributed fairly.
Xu Yan finished speaking and pointed at Xu
Zhao.
As we both need a horse and an ox for work,
the ox belongs to me and the horse to my younger brother. Aji is very capable,
and we believe that he, his wife and children can be of great help to my third
brother's widow. Therefore, we are allocating Aji, his wife and his children to
my third brother's widow.
According to tradition, the division of a
family's property by brothers requires witnesses. Therefore, we have prepared a
table of delicious food and fine Chinese rice wine, and we would like to ask
you to be our witnesses. Once you have witnessed the division, we can all dine
together.
This idiom translates as "children who
have lost their father and women who have lost their husbands".
It can also be used to describe a family
that has lost its main breadwinner.
Dear friend,What insights or thoughts have
you gained from this story?
Do you think the method of distribution
used by Xu Yan and Xu Zhao is fair? Have you ever encountered someone who has
done something unfair and then pretended to be just?
I
hope this story gives you some new insights.
孤兒寡婦(Children Who Have Lost Their Fathers
and Women Who Have Lost Their Husbands)
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。徐哲的妻子與孩子們面對這個突然的打擊非常的悲傷，在徐言與徐召的協助下，徐哲的妻子辦理好徐哲的喪事相關的所有事情。
喪禮結束大約兩個月的某一天，徐言私底跟徐召討論之後，他們兩個兄弟取得了一個共識，他們倆個人都一致認為徐哲的妻子與兒子和女兒對他們而言是一種長期的沉重負擔。
他們倆個人決定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。
徐言與徐召做出這個決定的隔天，他們倆個人就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。
所有人都到齊後，徐言站起來對所有人說。
我們家中三個兄弟的感情很好，我們家中的財產共有且共享。
但是我們家發生了一件很不幸的事情，這件事情就是我們的弟弟在幾天前過世了。為了避免我們之後三個家庭中發生金錢糾紛，所以在我們兩個兄弟討論之後，我們想利用這個機會把我們的財產進行分拆。
我的弟弟死後，他的兒子變成孤兒，他的妻子失去丈夫。我們相信他們一定很難過。我們會想要分拆我們的財產的原因不是為了我們自己，而是站在我們的弟弟的遺孀與他的兒女們著想。
我們已經把我們家中的所有財產非常公平地分成了三等份，房屋有三棟所以一人一棟，現金我們也分成了三分，另外有些不能分割的例如我們家中的那一隻牛與一匹馬和長期被我們家雇傭的(阿寄)，我們也做了公平的分配。
徐言說完這段話後指著徐召說。
我們倆個人工作需要用到馬與牛，所以那隻牛歸我所有而那匹馬歸我弟弟所有，(阿寄)非常的能幹，加上(阿寄)的太太和小孩，我們認為他們可以對我三弟的遺孀有很大的幫助，所以我們把阿寄與他的太太和小孩分配給我的三弟的遺孀。
根據傳統的習慣，兄弟們分拆一個家庭的財產時需要有見證人，所以我們今天準備了一桌最美味的佳餚與最好的中國米酒，我們今天想請各位幫我們做見證，待會幫我們做完見證後我們大家可以一起用餐。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是失去父親的孩子和失去丈夫的婦女。
這句成語也可以被用來形容一個失去主要經濟支柱的家庭。
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。
你認為徐言與徐召這種分配方式公平嗎?你是否遇過會再做出不公道的事情但是卻表現出自己很公正的人呢?
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
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E9%86%92%E4%B8%96%E6%81%86%E8%A8%80/%E7%AC%AC35%E5%8D%B7