The plum tree is like his wife and the
crane is like his child.(妻梅子鶴)
During the Northern Song dynasty in China,
a famous poet, calligrapher and painter lived in seclusion on an island called
Gushan in the middle of West Lake in present-day Hangzhou for a long time. His
name was Lin Bu, and historical records document some of his stories.
Lin Bu loved plum blossoms very much. One
day, while admiring them alone, he wrote a poem which later scholars considered
to be the greatest poem in Chinese history to describe plum blossoms.
The poem contains four characters that mean
'the shadows of sparse branches and the faint, fresh fragrance'. These four
characters have since been used by later generations to specifically describe
plum blossoms.
Lin Bu also kept two cranes. They usually
lived in a cage. When the cage door was opened, the cranes would fly off into
the sky. After flying around for a while, they would fly back into the cage of
their own accord.
On several occasions, Lin Bu's friends
arrived by boat to visit him on the island. If he was out, his servants would
invite the guests inside for tea first, and then release the cranes from their
cage to fly in the sky.
When Lin Bu saw his two pet cranes suddenly
appear in the sky above his home, he knew that friends had come to visit him on
the island. He would immediately finish his work and rush home to greet them.
Lin Bu was an extremely intelligent man. He
could play the guqin, a traditional Chinese stringed instrument, paint
traditional Chinese landscapes and write poetry — and he wrote very well. The
only thing he couldn't learn was Go, the board game, and this was his greatest
regret in life.
Lin Bu never married. In his heart, the
plum tree was his wife and the cranes were his children. He enjoyed a life that
was both solitary and fulfilling, simple yet rich.
The idiom literally translates as 'the plum
tree is like his wife and the crane is like his child'.
It is used specifically to refer to a
recluse.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts did you gain from this story?
Do you have any regrets in your life right now? If you could start your life over again, would you choose to get married?
I
hope this story gives you some new insights.
妻梅子鶴(The plum tree is like his wife and
the crane is like his child)
中國的北宋王朝有一個著名的詩人與書法家與畫家，他長期隱居在現在杭州的西湖中間的一座叫做孤山的島嶼上，他的名字叫做林逋，歷史書上記載了一些他的故事。
林逋非常喜歡梅花，有一天，他獨自一個人欣賞梅花開放時寫下了一首詩，這首詩被後代的一些學者認為是中國歷史上最好的一首描寫梅花的詩。
林逋寫的這首詩中有四個字，這四個字的意思是稀疏的樹枝的影子與淡淡的清新的香氣，這四個字在後代被人專門引用來形容梅花。
林逋還養了兩隻鶴，這兩隻鶴平常住在籠子裡，當籠子打開後這兩隻鶴會離開籠子並且飛到天上，這兩隻鶴在天空中盤旋飛翔一陣子後就會自己再飛回籠子內。
有好幾次，林逋的朋友搭著船到小島上找他，林逋剛好外出，林逋的僕人就會先招待那些客人進屋喝茶，然後僕人們就會打開籠子讓這兩隻鶴到天空中飛翔。
當林逋看到自己的家的那個方向的天空中，突然出現了他所養的那兩隻鶴之後，他就知道有朋友到那座他所住的島上了來找自已，林逋也就會立刻結束手邊的工作然後立刻回家接待自己的朋友。
林逋是一個非常聰明的人，他會彈中國古琴，他會畫中國的山水畫，他會寫詩而且他的詩寫得很好，他唯一學不會的就是下圍棋，這是他一生中最大的遺憾。
林逋一生都沒有結婚，在他的心目中，梅樹就像是他的妻子、鶴就像是他的孩子，他享受著一種又孤獨又充實又簡單又豐富的生活。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是梅樹就像是他的妻子、鶴就像是他的孩子
這句成語被用來專指一個隱居的人。
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
你現在的生活中有沒有那些令你覺得遺憾的事呢?你如果人生可以選擇或者重新再來，你會不會選擇走入婚姻呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為清-徐釚-詞苑叢談-卷3
出處為宋-沈括-夢溪筆談-卷10-人事2
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%A4%A2%E6%BA%AA%E7%AD%86%E8%AB%87/%E5%8D%B710
出處為歸田錄-卷2
https://zh.wikisource.org/zh-hant/%E6%AD%B8%E7%94%B0%E9%8C%84#%E5%8D%B7%E4%BA%8C