眼紅頸赤
Eyes and neck turning red. (眼紅頸赤)
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, who worked for a woman named Ms Yan.
Through his intelligence and prudence, Aji
changed the fate of Ms Yan and their two families, transforming them from
modestly well-off to extremely wealthy.
The story takes place in the mid-Ming
Dynasty, a peaceful era of national strength.
Aji lived in a small village in Zhejiang
Province. He was over fifty years old and had worked for the Xu family for many
years. Ms Yan's husband was Xu Zhe, who had two older brothers, Xu Yan and Xu
Zhao.
Xu Zhe died of illness before reaching the
age of 30. Following his death, his two elder brothers demanded the division of
the family property. The terms of the property division document, which was
drafted by Xu Yan and Xu Zhao, were unfair to Ms Yan. They allocated the oxen
and horses that could be used for ploughing and transportation to themselves
and gave Ms Yan the elderly Aji.
With Ms Yan's support, Aji used the 12
taels of silver she provided as start-up capital to start a business.
Aji was a very shrewd person. After about
six months, he had earned over 2,000 taels of silver.
Aji and Ms Yan agreed on how to use this
money. They later used 1,500 taels to buy 1,000 mu of land and a house from a
wealthy man named Yan Shibao.
Over the next ten years, Aji helped Ms Yan
earn a lot of money each year thanks to his caution, prudence and keen business
acumen, and her assets and land holdings increased year by year.
After consulting Ms Yan, Aji hired tutors
to educate the children from both families. The children grew up to be morally
upright and honest, and they all successfully married and started their own
families.
One day, when Aji was in his sixties, Ms
Yan and his wife said to him,
'You're getting old. Our family has more
than enough money to live comfortably. You've been travelling around town doing
business every day for the past few years. You should retire. From today
onwards, stop going out and stay home to enjoy your retirement.'
Aji initially disagreed, but Ms Yan and his
wife insisted so much that he finally decided to stop.
After retiring, Aji lived a very simple
life. His clothes and food were simple, and he lived frugally.
He didn't become proud or arrogant because
of the money he had earned over the years; on the contrary, he remained humble
and modest.
Although he remained Lady Yan's servant,
his good behaviour and character earned him the deep respect and admiration of
the villagers, both young and old.
As Lady Yan and Aji's reputation in the
village grew, Xu Yan and Xu Zhao's feelings shifted from inferiority to anger.
Whenever Lady Yan and Aji were mentioned, their
eyes and neck would turn red. and say,
"Lady Yan and Aji are just rich; they're not really that great. I really
don't understand why everyone likes and respects them.'
This idiom literally translates as 'eyes
and neck turning red'.
It is often used to describe the physical
state a person exhibits when they are feeling envious or jealous, or when they
are arguing with others.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts did you gain from this story?
Have you ever observed the various behaviours and physical manifestations of an angry person? Have you ever been jealous of anyone?
I hope this story gives you some new insights.
眼紅頸赤(Eyes and neck turning red)
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)，他的女主人是顏女士。
(阿寄)經由自己的聰明與謹慎而改變了顏女士與自己的兩個家庭的命運，他透過他的智慧與運氣讓顏女士的家庭從小康變成大富戶。
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，他長期在徐家工作。顏女士的先生的名字叫做(徐哲)，徐哲有兩個哥哥，這兩個哥哥的名字是(徐言)與(徐召)。
徐哲因為生病所以不到30歲就病逝，徐哲病逝後，徐哲的兩個哥哥提出了分拆家族財產的要求，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。
在顏女士的支持之下，阿寄拿著顏女士所提供的12兩銀子作為創業資金去做生意。
阿寄是一個很會動腦筋的人，經過大約半年後，他賺到了超過2000兩的銀子。
阿寄與顏女士兩個人針對這筆錢的使用方式取得了一個共識，他們後來用其中的1500兩銀子跟一個名字叫做晏世保的富戶買了1000畝土地與一間房屋。
在接下來的十多年內，阿寄憑藉著他的小心與謹慎還有敏銳的商業頭腦，每年都幫顏女士賺了很多錢，顏女士所擁有的資產與土地也一年比一年增加。
阿寄在經過與顏女士商量後，聘請了老師來教導兩個家庭中的孩子們讀書，幾個孩子成年後都養成有道德感與很正直的個性，這幾個孩子也都順利的結婚成家。
阿寄六十幾歲的某一天，顏女士與阿寄的妻子一起對阿寄說。
你的年紀已經很老了，我們家中的錢已經非常足夠我們好好的生活了。這幾年來，你每天都在這個城鎮間到處奔波到處做生意，你應該要退休了，從今天起，你就停止出門做生意了吧，你住在家中好好享受你的退休的生活。
阿寄聽到這些話後原本不答應，但是由於顏女士與阿寄的妻子非常的堅持，所以阿寄最終決定停止出門做生意。
阿寄退休後，他過著非常樸素的生活，他穿的衣服與吃的東西都很簡單，她過著樸素的生活。
他沒有因為自己這些年來賺了那麼多錢而感到驕傲與自大，相反的，他的態度謙卑與低調。
阿寄的身分雖然仍然是顏女士的僕人，但是由於他的好行為與好品行，村莊中的不論老少的村民們都非常的尊敬與重視他。
隨著顏女士與阿寄在這座村莊中的名望愈來愈高，(徐言)與(徐召)的心情開始從感到自卑且轉變成憤怒。
只要提到顏女士與阿寄，(徐言)與(徐召)的眼睛與脖子就會發紅，他們會又生氣又忌妒的說。
顏女士與阿寄只是有錢，他們其實並沒有那麼偉大，真搞不懂為何大家都喜歡並尊敬他們。
這句成語直接翻譯是眼睛與脖子都發紅。
這句成語通常用來形容一個人因為羡慕別人、妒忌別人或與別人爭吵時，這個人表現出來的一種生理狀態。
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
你有觀察過生氣的人的各種行為與身體上的表現嗎?你是否曾經忌妒過誰呢?
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