Even the chickens and dogs we keep at home
cannot find peace.(雞犬不寧)
During the Tang dynasty in China, there was
a famous writer named Liu Zongyuan who wrote a story depicting some of the
social conditions he had observed.
The second half of his story goes as
follows:
A middle-aged man surnamed Jiang told me
his family's story.
'My family has lived here for 60 years. As
our area is undeveloped, there is very little arable land, and the villagers
are very poor.
Although our land yields very little, the
taxes we have to pay each year are substantial. After working hard all year,
the villagers can only obtain a small amount of rice, but most of it has to be
handed over to the government.
Local government officials, especially the
tax collectors, are very violent. When they come to collect taxes, they shout
at and bully the villagers.
We all hate them because, when they come,
not only are the villagers disturbed, but the chickens and dogs in our homes
can't get any peace either.
I have lived in this village since
childhood. I have personally witnessed many villagers getting up early every
morning and working until late every night. They worked in sweltering summers
and freezing winters. Due to the extreme intensity of the labour, villagers
often died from overwork before reaching middle age.
From childhood to adulthood, I have
attended countless funerals in this village. In my grandfather's time, many
people lived in our village, but now there are only about one-tenth of them.
Most of the people my age who I knew either
died of illness or moved to other villages. Now, I have hardly any friends left
in this village who are my age.
Although catching venomous snakes is
dangerous, my life is very good compared to that of my fellow villagers.
The middle-aged man surnamed Jiang paused
for a moment and then continued.
I've caught two venomous snakes this year,
which I keep in a specially made earthenware jar. I feel very peaceful about
them. I just need to pay the relevant taxes at the appropriate time and give
them to the government. Then I can get through the year peacefully and safely.
Compared to my fellow villagers, I have
such an easy and free life. I'm middle-aged now, and almost all my peers in
this village have died. Compared to them, I've lived several years longer.
Looking at my situation, do you still think
I should change jobs? That's why I said that becoming a venomous snake catcher
is the best choice I can make.
After hearing the story of the middle-aged
man surnamed Jiang, Liu Zongyuan was filled with sorrow. He witnessed the helplessness
and suffering that this man experienced at the hands of high taxes. He wrote
the story in the hope that future rulers could learn from it.
This idiom translates as: Even the chickens
and dogs we keep at home cannot find peace.
It is used to describe a very noisy or
chaotic situation caused by severe harassment.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts did you gain from this story?
What is your country's tax system like? Have you ever faced choices in your life that made you feel helpless?
I hope
this story will give you some new insights.
雞犬不寧(Even the chickens and dogs we keep at
home cannot find peace.)
中國的唐朝時代有一位著名的名字叫做(柳宗元)的文學家，他寫過一個故事，他在這個故事中描繪他所看到的一些社會現況。
他寫過一個故事，這個故事的下半段的內容如下。
有一個姓蔣的中年男子，他向我訴說他的家族故事。
我的家族住在這的地方已經60年了，我們這個地方由於尚未開發，所以可以耕種的土地面積非常少，住在我們這個村莊中的村民們都非常的貧困。
雖然我們這邊的土地的出產非常的少，但是我們每年要繳交的稅金卻沒有比較少。住在這個村莊中的村民們每年經過辛苦的耕作之後，只能獲得非常少的稻米，但這些稻米中的大部分都要繳交給政府。
這個地方的政府官員們都非常的兇暴，尤其是負責收稅的那些官吏們，當他們到我們這座村莊中收稅時，他們會到處叫囂，他們還會到處欺負村民們。
我們都非常的討厭他們，因為當他們來的時候，不只村民們受到騷擾，連我們每個人家中養的雞與狗都無法得到安寧。
我從小就住在這村莊中，我親眼看到許多村民每天一大早就起來工作，每天晚上很晚才休息，他們在酷熱的夏天工作，他們在極寒的冬天也要工作。由於勞動的強度太大，這座村莊中的村民們往往在中年前就會因為過勞而死。
我從小到大，我在這座村莊中參加過無數次的葬禮，在我祖父時代，住在我們這座村莊的百姓們還很多，現在的村民數量跟那時候相比，大約只剩下十分之一了。
我認識的大部分的跟我同年代的村民不是病死就是搬遷到其他的村莊中，現在這座村莊中，我幾乎沒有年紀跟我差不多的朋友了。
捕抓毒蛇這個行業雖然很危險，但是我的生活跟我的那些村民朋友們比較起來，我過得非常的好。
那個姓蔣的中年人停頓了一下接著繼續說。
我今年已經捕到了兩隻毒蛇，那兩隻毒蛇我養在我特製的一個瓦罐中，我的心中感到非常的安寧，我只要等到要繳交稅金的那個季節把這兩條蛇當作稅金繳交給政府，我今年就可以平靜安全的度過。
跟我的村民朋友比較起來，我的生活是如此的輕鬆與自由，我已經活到中年，這座村莊中，跟我同年的朋友們幾乎都已經死了，跟他們相比，我已經多活了好幾年了。
你看我的這個情況，你還認為我應該要換工作嗎?所以我才會說，選擇捕抓毒蛇這個危險的職業是我能作的最好的選擇。
柳宗元聽完這個姓蔣的中年人的故事後，他的心中感到非常的難過與悲傷，他從這個中年人的人生中看到生活的無奈，也看到高稅賦帶給人民的痛苦，他寫下這個故事，希望後代的統治者可以從這故事中得到一點教訓。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是連我們家中養的雞與狗都無法得到安寧。
這句成語被用來形容一受到嚴重騷擾所感受到的一種非常吵雜或混亂的情況。
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。
你的國家的稅賦制度如何嗎?你的人生中有沒有那些令你覺得無奈的選擇呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為柳宗元-捕蛇者說
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%8D%95%E8%9B%87%E8%80%85%E8%AA%AA