This and that(如此這般)
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.
This story, written by Feng Menglong, is
set in the mid-Ming Dynasty, a time of national strength and peace.
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 assigned the elderly A-Ji to Ms Yan.
Upon learning of his assignment, A-Ji told
Ms Yan that he wanted to start a business, believing that this was the only way
he could improve the financial situation of Ms Yan and her family. He asked Ms
Yan to raise some capital for him.
Ms Yan thought A-Ji's suggestion was very
reasonable. Having known him for several years, she trusted his character and
integrity, and so decided to support his proposal.
A-Ji was a very resourceful person. Within
a few weeks, he had completed three successful transactions and his capital had
grown from 12 taels of silver to over 60 taels.
However, A-Ji was not blinded by joy. He
began to consider his next steps.
He decided to go home first. He wanted to
share the details of his business dealings and the final results with his
family and Ms Yan.
On the day Aji returned home, he saw his
children playing with Ms Yan's children in the garden. His son ran over and
hugged him as soon as he saw him. Ms Yan's children rushed into the house,
excitedly telling her that Aji was home.
Ms Yan felt a pang of emotion when she
heard her children tell her that Aji was home. She felt as if she had been
punched in the heart; she couldn't help but feel tense and anxious.
Why did Ms Yan react this way?
It was because, during Aji's absence, Xu
Yan and Xu Zhao had mocked him, saying he would lose all his money.
She was very worried that what they said
would come true.
When she entered the hall, she saw that
Aji, his wife and their child were already there. Seeing Aji's smiling face
made her feel slightly less uneasy. She composed herself, took a deep breath
and asked,
'How did your business trip go? Did you
make a small profit?'
Aji stood ramrod straight with a serious
expression and replied to Ms Yan.
'Thank God for His blessing. Perhaps it's
because you're a lucky person that I've also benefited from your good fortune.
I did this kind of business trip and that kind of business trip. The process
was like this and that.
After this trip, I decided to start a
business selling high-quality lacquer. The business trip was very successful,
and our capital grew from 12 taels of silver to over 60 taels.'
Ms Yan was very happy to hear Aji's answer.
She asked,
'So you have over 60 taels of silver on
you, right?'
Aji replied.
'I didn't bring back the 60-odd taels of
silver. I gave them to my trusted lacquer wholesaler, who is using them to buy
lacquer from farmers on my behalf.
My main reasons for returning home this
time were twofold: first, to let you know that I'm safe and sound, and second,
to share the good news that I've made money in business.
This time, I bought lacquer worth 60 taels
of silver, and I think it will take me a while to sell it all.
I think the timing is excellent and I want
to take this opportunity. I'll only be back for one night, as I'll be out doing
business again early tomorrow morning.
That evening, Ms Yan's family and A-Ji's
family enjoyed a happy dinner together.
This idiom translates literally as 'this
and that'.
It often appears in novels and is used to
describe a simplified version of a situation or state that the reader is
already familiar with.
It is also used to describe the entire
course of an event.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Who would you like to share your successes
with? Is there someone you haven't seen in a long time who you miss dearly?
I
hope this story gives you some new insights.
如此這般(This and that)
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。
阿寄得知自己被分配給顏女士後，他就跟顏女士說他想要出去做生意，他認為只有做生意才可以改善顏女士與他自己家庭的經濟情況，他請求顏女士籌措一些本錢給他。
覺得阿寄的建議很有道理，她已經認識阿寄好幾年了，她很信任阿寄的人格與品德，所以決定支持阿寄的提議。
阿寄是一個很會動腦筋的人，幾周後，阿寄連續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，他開始思考下一步應該如何進行。
阿寄決定先回家一趟，他想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。
阿寄回家的那一天，他在他家外面看到自己的小孩與顏女士的幾個小孩正在院子裏面玩遊戲，他的兒子一看到他就開心地過來抱住他。顏女士的小孩則是衝到房屋內開心的對顏女士說阿寄回家了的這個消息。
顏女士正在房屋內紡織，當她聽到她的小孩對她說阿寄回家的消息之後，她感覺到心臟好像被一個人用拳頭槌了一拳一樣，她不由自主地開始緊張與焦慮。
為何顏女士會有這種反應呢?
原因是因為徐言與徐召在阿寄不在家的這段期間內一直用嘲諷的語氣說阿寄會把所有的錢都賠光。
顏女士很擔心徐言與徐召說的話成真。
顏女士走到大廳中時，她看到阿寄跟他的妻子與小孩已經在大廳中，她看到阿寄笑容滿面，她的心中的不安稍微減少了一點，她調整一下心情然後深呼吸了一口氣後問。
你這次出門做生意的過程順利嗎?你有賺到一些微薄的利潤了嗎?
阿寄站的筆直，表情很慎重地對顏女士說。
感謝老天的看顧，可能是因為妳是一個幸運的人所以讓我也沾染到妳的好運氣。我這次出門後進行了這樣與那樣的生意，我做生意的過程是這樣與那樣。
我這次出門後，我決定做販售高品質的漆的生意。這次出門做生意的結果非常好，我們的本錢已經從12兩銀子膨脹到60幾兩銀子了。
顏女士聽到阿寄的回答後感到非常的開心，她問阿寄。
所以你身上帶著60幾兩的銀子對嗎?
阿寄回答。
這60幾兩銀子我並沒有帶回來，我把這60幾兩銀子交給我信任的批發漆的代理人，他用這些錢正在幫我到處跟漆農們購漆。
我這次回家的主要目的有兩個，第一是讓妳們知道我很平安，第二是讓妳們知道我做生意賺錢的好消息。
我這次進貨價值高達60兩銀子的漆，我認為我要忙好一陣子才能夠把這些漆都順利銷售完畢。
我認為現在的時機很好，我要把握這個好時機，我這次回來只會待一個晚上，明天一大早我就會再出門做生意，
當天晚上，顏女士一家與阿寄一家一起度過一個開心地的晚餐時光。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是這樣與那樣。
這句成語通常出現在小說中，被用來形容簡化形容一件讀者已經知道的事情或狀態的具體情況。
這句成語通常被用來形容一件事情發生的全部經過。
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
你在順利的時候會想要跟誰分享呢?你有沒有很久不見的你很掛念的人呢?
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
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E9%86%92%E4%B8%96%E6%81%86%E8%A8%80/%E7%AC%AC35%E5%8D%B7