A person can be enslaved by two things at
once.(一身兩役)
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties
period in China, four dynasties rose and fell in the south within a very short
time.
During this period, there was a very famous
and important minister named Zhang Xu, whose story is recorded in history
books.
His family was prominent in politics at the
time. His father was a minister in the Liu Song dynasty and, upon reaching
adulthood, Zhang Xu followed in his father's footsteps, entering the central
government of the Liu Song dynasty as an official.
He often stayed in the capital due to his
work, while his wife, sons and many other members of the Zhang family remained
in what is now Suzhou, China.
In his fifties, an event occurred that
affected one of his sons, Zhang Chong.
That autumn, Zhang Xu took temporary leave
due to an unexpected event and returned to his hometown. He travelled by boat
to Suzhou and entered the city through the west gate.
Suddenly, he saw a group of wealthy young
men hunting by the river, one of whom was Zhang Chong.
Zhang Chong had a falcon perched on his
right arm and a hunting dog on a leash in his left hand; he was riding a tall
horse.
Zhang Xu immediately ordered the boatman to
moor the boat at the riverbank. He stood on the boat and watched Zhang Chong
and his friends hunt.
About fifteen minutes later, Zhang Chong's
group noticed a boat moored on the riverbank.
They saw a middle-aged man standing on it.
Zhang Chong was surprised to realise that
the man was his father. Seeing Zhang Xu standing on the boat and smiling at
him, Zhang Chong felt a pang of panic. He immediately put down the hunting dog
and falcon and respectfully walked over to the boat that Zhang Xu was on.
Seeing Zhang Chong approach, Zhang Xu
smiled and said,
'I just watched you hunt. I noticed that
you were able to control both a falcon and a hunting dog at the same time. You
can be enslaved by two things at once. I think you're really great.'
Zhang Chong lowered his head and said to
Zhang Xu,
'I should be studying right now, but I ran
off to play and you found out. I feel very ashamed now.' You once told us that
men should set themselves life goals and draw up a clear career plan before
they turn 30. I'm 29 this year and will be 30 next year.
I know I shouldn't keep seeking pleasure; I
should do everything I can to correct my mistakes.
Please give me a year to change. I promise
you that, over the next year, I will stop having fun and start focusing on my
studies.
When we meet next year, I promise you that
I will have determined my life goals and changed all my bad habits.
Zhang Xu patted Zhang Chong on the shoulder
and said.
'You know you've made the mistake of
wasting your life, and you're willing to start changing immediately. I'm proud
of you. I believe you when you say you'll do it, and I look forward to seeing
you become a respected adult soon.
This idiom translates as 'A person can be
enslaved by two things at once.'
Dear friend, what insights or inspiration
did you gain from this story?
Have you ever felt ashamed of your actions?
Do you have the courage to confront your bad habits?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
一身兩役(A person can be enslaved by two
things at once.)
中國的南北王朝時代，中國的南方在很短的時間內就更迭了四個王朝。
當時有一個非常著名的重要的大臣，他的名字叫做(張緒)，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他的家族是當時著名的政治世家，他的父親是劉宋王朝的一個大臣，他成年後跟隨著他的父親的腳步進入了劉宋王朝的中央政府內擔任官員。
他因為工作的關係長期待在首都，他的幾個兒子則與他的妻子還有張氏家族的許多成員都留在現在的中國的蘇州市。
在他50幾歲的時候，發生了一件事，這件事情影響了他的一個名字叫做(張充)
的兒子。
那一年的秋天，張緒因為一個突發事件所以臨時請事假回到自己的家鄉，他搭著船到了蘇州，這船進入蘇州城的西城門。
他突然看到河邊有一群衣服華麗的青年人正在打獵，其中有一個人就是(張充)。
張充的右手臂上停著一隻獵鷹，他的左手牽著一隻獵犬，他騎在一匹高大的馬上。
張緒立刻吩咐船主把船停泊在河岸邊，他站在船上看著張充與他的朋友們狩獵。
大約十五分鐘後，張充這一群人突然注意到有一艘船停泊在河岸邊。
他們又看到船上站個一個中年人。
張充驚訝地發覺那個中年人就是自己的父親，他看到張緒站在船上微笑著看著自己，張充的心中感到很恐慌，他立刻放下手中的獵犬與獵鷹，他很恭敬地走到張緒所搭乘的那一艘船邊
看到張充走進自己之後，張緒微笑著對張充說。
你剛才看到你打獵的過程，我發現你能夠同時管理一隻獵鷹與一隻獵犬，你能夠同時被兩件事情所役使，而且在過程中你沒有出錯，我認為你真的很棒。
張充低著頭說對張緒說。
這個時段是我應該念書的時候，但我跑出來玩而且被你發現，我現在感到很羞愧。
你曾經對我們說，一個男人應該在30歲來到之前就確定自己的人生目標與寫出清晰的生涯規劃，我今年已經29歲了，明年就30歲了。
我知道我不應該繼續沉溺於玩樂，我應該要全力改正我的錯誤。
請給我一年的時間去改變，我跟你約定好，在接下來的這一年內。我會停止玩樂並且開始專心唸書。
我跟你保證，當明年我們見面時，我會確定好我自己的人生目標並且改掉我所有的壞習慣。
張緒拍了拍張充的肩膀後對他說。
你知道自己犯下了浪費人生的錯誤而且你願意立刻就開始改變，我為你感到榮耀。我相信你的承諾，我期待你能夠早日成為一個受到尊敬的成年人。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是一個人同時被兩件事情所役使。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有什麼樣的或有什麼樣的啟發呢。
你是否曾經因為自己的那些行為感到羞愧呢?你是否有勇氣直接面對自己的那些不好的習慣呢?
我希望這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為南史-卷31-張充傳
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8D%97%E5%8F%B2/%E5%8D%B731