This was the first time I had left my
humble thatched hut.(初出茅廬)
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 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 and was over fifty years old.
Ms Yan's husband was called Xu Zhe and had
two older brothers, Xu Yan and Xu Zhao.
Xu Zhe died of illness before the age of
30. Following his death, his two older brothers demanded a division of the
family fortune. The terms of the division document 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 Aji to Ms Yan.
Upon learning of his assignment, A-Ji told
Ms Yan, "Given the circumstances, I believe that the only way to quickly
make money is to start a business. If you give me some funds, I can go out and
look for business opportunities tomorrow. If I use these funds carefully, I am
sure that we will make a substantial profit.'
After hearing A-Ji's suggestion, Ms Yan
agreed with his reasoning. She had known him for several years and trusted his
character and integrity, so she decided to support his proposal.
Although Aji had no business experience, he
was very resourceful.
He successfully purchased a batch of
high-quality lacquer and sold all of it. He then bought and sold a large
quantity of rice.
Having learned of the high demand for
high-quality lacquer in Hangzhou, Aji seized this opportunity, which had been
overlooked by other merchants. He quickly wholesaled another large batch of
lacquer to Hangzhou, selling it all in a very short time.
After three consecutive successes, his
capital had grown from 12 to over 60 taels of silver. However, Aji wasn't
blinded by joy; he began to consider his next move.
He said to himself, 'This is the first time
I've left my humble thatched hut. This is my first time doing business. Thank
God I've earned several times my initial investment.' My wife and Ms Yan must
be very worried about me. I should go home first to reassure them and tell them
the good news that I've made money.
Then he thought of something else. He had
developed a trusting relationship with the lacquer wholesaler through their
dealings. Each time he gave the agent money, it would take them several days to
procure high-quality lacquer from the farmers. So he invited the agent to
dinner and drinks and said,
'This time, I need to buy lacquer worth 60
taels of silver. This is a large quantity and will take several days to
procure. Please start preparing this shipment tomorrow. I have some business to
attend to in my hometown and will be back in three days. If you finish early, I
will pay you extra.'
The day after taking care of these matters,
Aji set off for home immediately.
As Aji had expected, Ms Yan and his family
were very worried about him.
As well as worrying about his safety, they
also suffered significant psychological pressure from Xu Yan and Xu Zhao.
As Aji had never run a business before,
when Xu Yan and Xu Zhao heard that he was going out to do business, they
assumed he would lose all his money. Every time they met Ms Yan, they would
deliberately ask her these questions:
Has Aji come back yet? Has he written back?
Is his business going well? Do you have any news about them?
When Xu Yan and Xu Zhao saw that Ms Yan
couldn't answer these questions, they would sarcastically say the following
unpleasant things to her:
'I think Aji must have lost all his money,
so he's too afraid to come back.' 'I think Aji probably spent the money on
entertainment and alcohol. It's absolutely impossible for Aji to make money and
come home.'
When they saw Ms Yan's embarrassment and
unease because of their words, they would laugh heartily.
The idiom literally translates as 'It was
the first time I left my humble thatched hut.'
It is often used to describe someone doing
something for the first time.
It is often used to describe a young person
entering society or the workplace who lacks work and social experience.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
did you gain from this story?
Do you remind yourself not to let joy cloud
your judgement when things are going well? Have you ever been maliciously
bullied with words?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights
初出茅廬(This was the first time I had left my
humble thatched hut.)
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。
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。
在現在這種情況之下，我認為只有做生意才能夠快速讓我們賺到錢，只要妳給我一些資金，我明天就可以出門去尋找商業機會。
我相信只要我小心謹慎的使用這些資金，那麼我們一定可以賺到豐厚的利潤。
顏女士聽完阿寄的話後，她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。
阿寄雖然沒有做過生意，但是他是一個很會動腦筋的人，他順利地採購了一批高質量的漆並且順利把這些漆全部銷售完畢後，他又利用機會順利做成了一筆銷售米的生意。
他又探聽到原來杭州市中對於高品質的漆的需求很高，所以他把握住這個別的商人忽略掉的商機、他在最快的時間內再次批發一批大量的漆到杭州市銷售，這次他又在很短的時間內把這些漆都全部售罄。
阿寄在連續取得三次成功之後，他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。
他對自己說。
這是我第一次離開自己那棟簡陋的茅草屋，這是我第一次做生意，感謝老天讓我我賺到了好幾倍的利潤。
我的妻子與顏女士的心中一定很掛念我，我應該先回家一趟，一方面讓家人與顏女士感到安心，另一方面可以告訴我的家人與顏女士我有賺到錢的這個好消息。
他接著又想到一件事，他現在已經跟那個批發漆的代理人之間經過這一陣子的往來已經取得了彼此信任的關係，他每次把錢交給這個代理人之後，這個代理人幫他從漆農那邊調度高品質的漆往往都要花上好幾天的時間，他就主動請這個代理人吃飯與喝酒並對這個代理人說。
我這次要買60兩銀子的漆，這批貨物的數量比較龐大，調度起來要花比較多天的時間，請你明天就開始幫我準備這批貨，我回故鄉辦點事，三天後就回來，如果你提早準備完成，我會額外多支付你一些費用。
阿寄處理完這些事情的隔天，他就立刻啟程回家。
就如同阿寄所想的一樣，他的家鄉中，顏女士與他的家人都很掛念他。
除了擔心阿寄是否平安，顏女士與阿寄的家人另外還遭受了很大的心理壓力，這個壓力來自於(徐言)與(徐召)。
由於阿寄從來沒有做過生意，所以當(徐言)與(徐召)聽到阿寄要出門經商的這個消息之後，他們兩個人就抱持著阿寄一定會把這些錢都賠光的心態去看待這件事情，他們兩個人每次遇到顏女士就會利用機會故意問顏女士這些問題。
阿寄回來了嗎?阿寄有寫信回來嗎?阿寄做生意是否順利呢?妳有阿寄的消息嗎?
當(徐言)與(徐召)看到顏女士回答不出自己的這些問題之後，他們就會用嘲諷的語氣對顏女士說以下這些令人聽了覺得不舒服的話。
我看阿寄應該是把錢賠光了所以他不敢回來了。我認為阿寄應該是把那些錢拿去玩樂喝酒了。我認為阿寄絕對不可能做生意賺錢回家。
當(徐言)與(徐召)看到顏女士因為自己說的這些話而感到窘迫與不安時，他們兩個人就會開心地大笑。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是第一次離開自己那棟簡陋的茅草屋。
這句成語通常被用來形容一個人第一次做一件自己從沒做過的事。
這句成語通常被用來形容一個年輕人剛踏入社會或職場，這個年輕人缺少工作與社會經驗。
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。
你在很順利的時候提醒自己不要被喜悅沖昏理智嗎?你是否曾經被別人惡意的用言語欺負呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些醫些新的收穫。
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