They promised to protect each other until
their hair turned completely white.(白頭相守)
During the late Ming dynasty in China,
there was a renowned author named Feng Menglong who wrote a series 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's
surname was Yan, and we will refer to her as Ms Yan in the following story.
Both Xu Yan and Xu Zhao believed that Ms.
Yan and her children would be a financial burden in the future, so they wanted
to get rid of them as soon as possible. Without consulting Ms Yan, they
forcibly divided all the family property into three parts and distributed them
among the three households.
The terms of the property division
agreement drafted by Xu Yan and Xu Zhao were unfair to Ms Yan. They kept the
oxen and horses that could help with ploughing and transportation for
themselves and gave the elderly Aji to Ms Yan.
After being forced to accept this unfair
division of the family property, Ms Yan returned to her room.
Sitting in her bedroom, feeling uncertain
about her future, Ms Yan burst into tears again, muttering to herself as she
cried:
My dearest husband, what should I do? Our
love was so strong, and we promised to stay together until our hair turned
completely white. How could you bear to leave your beloved family for another
world?
When you left, I thought your two brothers
could help me to look after your five children. But I never expected them to
suddenly demand a division of the inheritance today.
Your two brothers have conspired against
me. They gave me the less desirable land while keeping the valuable cattle and
horses for themselves. They even gave me Aji and his family of three. Aji won't
be much help; in fact, I think the number of people we need to feed each day
will increase from six to nine with Aji and his family assigned to me. I
think our family finances will be under strain sooner than expected.
As Ms Yan was saying this, Aji happened to
be outside her door. After hearing her monologue, he knocked on her door.
The idiom literally translates as
"protecting each other until both sets of hair turn completely
white".
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Who would you like to walk through life
with? Have you experienced any deep-seated pain in your life that you still
can't overcome?
I hope this story offers you some new
insights.
白頭相守(They promised to protect each other
until their hair turned completely white.)
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且在七天內病逝，徐哲的妻子姓顏，接下來的故事中，我們稱呼她為顏女士。
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，他們兩個人在沒有跟顏女士商量的情況下就強行把所有的財產拆分成為三份並且分配給三個家庭。
徐言與徐召擬定的這份拆分財產的文件中的條件對顏女士並不公平，他們把可以幫忙耕地與運輸的牛與馬分配給自己，他們把年紀老邁的阿寄分配給顏女士。
顏女士在大廳中被迫接受這個不公平的拆分家中財產的協議後，她回到自已的房間內。
顏夫人坐在她的臥室內，她想到自己的未來如此茫然，她再度流下了眼淚，她邊哭邊自言自語。
我最親愛的丈夫啊，我該怎麼辦呢?
我們兩個人的感情那麼的好，我們原本已經約定好要一起相互守護到兩個人的頭都變成全白的年紀，你怎麼忍心拋下你所愛的家人去到另外一個世界呢?
在你離開我們之後，我原本以為你的兩個哥哥可以幫忙我來照顧你的五個小孩，我沒料到他們今天竟然突然提出了拆分財產的請求，
你的兩個哥哥聯合起來欺負我，他們把比較不好的田地分給我，他們把具有高價值的牛與馬分給他們自己，他們把阿寄一家三個人分給我，阿寄對我而言沒有大幫助，相反的，我認為阿寄與他的家人被分配給我之後，我們家中每天要吃飯的人從5個增加到8個，我認為我們家的經濟會因為要養活的人太多而提早陷入困境。
顏女士說這些話的時候，阿寄剛好走到顏女士的房門外，阿寄聽到顏女士的這段獨白後，他主動敲了敲顏女士的房門。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思一起相互守護到兩個人的頭都變成全白的年紀
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。
你想跟誰一起走過人生呢?你的生命中曾經發生過那些你至今無法走出的傷痛嗎?
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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