His empty mouth uttered baseless words.(空口說白話)
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, 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, written by Feng Menglong, is set
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 older 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.
Following discussions, Aji and Ms Yan
reached a consensus: Ms Yan would provide the start-up capital, which Aji would
use to start a business.
Aji was a very resourceful person. After
several weeks, he had completed three successful transactions and his initial
capital had grown from 12 taels of silver to over 60 taels.
However, Aji was not blinded by joy. He
decided to go home first to share the details and results of his business
dealings with his family and Ms Yan, in order to put their minds at ease.
When Ms Yan and Aji's family heard that
their initial investment had increased fivefold, they were overjoyed.
Aji returned home, but only stayed for one
night. The next morning, he went out to do business again.
About two hours after Aji left, Xu Yan and
Xu Zhao arrived at Ms Yan's house. They asked her, 'We heard that Aji is back.
Is he here now?"
Ms Yan replied with a smile, 'Aji only
stayed one night. He left again this morning to do business."
Somewhat surprised, Xu Yan and Xu Zhao
asked, "Did Aji report to you about his business? Did he make or lose
money this time?"
Ms Yan answered happily, 'Aji told us that
he had made a lot of money. I gave him twelve taels of silver to get started,
and now he has over sixty taels."
Xu Yan and Xu Zhao asked, somewhat
surprised. 'Incredible! A-Ji has made so much money in just a few weeks of
doing business! At this rate, you'll soon be super rich!"
'By the way, he said your start-up capital
has exceeded 60 taels of silver. Has he given you that money?"
Ms Yan hesitated slightly before answering
softly.
'A-Ji hasn't given me a single tael. He
told me that he gave those 60-odd taels to a lacquer wholesaler and asked him
to use them to buy goods.'
Xu Yan and Xu Zhao wore mocking smiles as
they spoke to Ms Yan.
'This is really strange. If we were A-Ji,
we would definitely keep all the money we earned. We wouldn't easily give so
much money to an agent.
"If we were A-Ji, we would first take
the capital back and give it to you. We wouldn't use the capital and profits to
buy goods. Judging by the situation, we believe that Aji is dishonest and a
liar. His empty mouth speaks baseless words.
Although he claims to earn a lot of money,
we suspect that he has spent all of the 12 taels of silver you gave him on
drinking and entertainment. We doubt that we will ever see that money again.
After hearing what Xu Yan and Xu Zhao said,
Ms Yan's smile vanished, replaced by a look of melancholy and worry.
This idiom translates as "His empty
mouth uttered baseless words.".
It is usually used to describe someone who
boasts or says things that are not true.
This idiom is usually used to describe
someone who boasts or makes unfounded claims.
Dear friend, what insights or thoughts did
you gain from this story? Have you ever been deceived by someone's empty words?
Do you think a person's words or actions are more important?
I
hope this story gives you some new insights.
空口說白話(His empty mouth uttered baseless
words.)
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。
阿寄與顏女士經過討論之後，他們兩個人取得了一個共識，這個共識就是由顏女士提供創業資金，然後由阿寄拿著這筆創業資金去做生意。
阿寄是一個很會動腦筋的人，在阿寄拿著這筆創業資金去做了幾周的生意之後，阿寄就完成了三次成功的買賣銷售，他身上的本錢已經從原本的12兩銀子膨脹到60幾兩銀子了。
阿寄沒有因此被喜悅沖昏了理智，阿寄決定先回家一趟，他認為必須要先跟他的家人與顏女士分享這幾周來的一些經商的細節與最終的結果，這樣他的家人語言女士才會感覺安心。
當顏女士與阿寄的家人聽到阿寄說他們的創業本金已經膨脹五倍之後，顏女士與阿寄的家人都感到非常的開心。
阿寄回到家中只待了一個晚上，隔天清晨，他就再度出門去做生意。
當阿寄離開家中大約兩個小時後，(徐言)與(徐召)走進顏女士的家，他們兩個人對顏女士說。
聽說阿寄回來了，他現在在家嗎?
顏女士微笑著回答。
阿寄只待了一個晚上，今天早上又出門去做生意了。
(徐言)與(徐召)表情有點驚訝的問。
阿寄有跟你報告他作生意的情況嗎?他這次出門做生意賺錢還是賠錢呢?
顏女士開心地回答。
阿寄跟我們說，他做生意賺了很多錢，我給他12兩銀子當作創業資金，這筆創業資金已經膨脹到超過60兩銀子了。
(徐言)與(徐召)表情有點驚訝的問。
太不可思議了，阿寄出門做生意才幾個禮拜就賺了那麼多錢，照這種賺錢的速度，你很快就會變成一個超級大財主了。
對了，他說你們的創業資金已經超過60兩銀子了，那麼他有把這些銀子交給你了嗎?
顏女士的表情有點遲疑，她低聲回答。
阿寄連一兩銀子都沒有交給我，他對我說他將那60幾兩銀子交給一個負責批發漆的代理人了，他請那個代理人用這60幾兩銀子幫他進貨。
(徐言)與(徐召)的臉上此時露出了嘲諷的笑容，他們對顏女士說。
這種情況真的太奇怪了。如果我們是阿寄，我們一定會把賺的這些錢留在自己身邊，我們不可能輕易地把那麼多錢交給一個代理人。
如果我們是阿寄，我們會把本錢先拿回來交給你，我們不會把本錢連同賺到的錢全部拿去進貨。
照這種情形看起來，我們認為阿寄他是一個不誠實的人，他是個騙子。他那張空洞的嘴巴說著沒有根據的話。
他雖然對你說他賺很多錢，但我們認為真實的情況是他把那些你給他的錢都拿去喝酒玩樂了，你給他的那12兩銀子我們認為拿不回來了。
聽完(徐言)與(徐召)說的這些話後，顏女士臉上的笑容消失，取代的是憂鬱與擔心的表情。
這句成語直接翻譯的空洞的嘴巴說著沒有根據的話。
這句成語通常被形容一個人說大話，這個人說了一些沒有根據的話。
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
你是否曾經被別人的空虛的話欺騙過的經驗呢?你認為一個人的言語與行動何者更重要呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些一些新的收穫。
出處為馮夢龍-醒世恆言-卷35-徐老僕義憤成家
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