General Category > Common Forum
Chinese Stories
nusrat-diu:
A Loss May Turn Out to Be a Gain
( ÈûÎÌʧÂÃ)
Long ago, near the frontier lived an old man. One day he found his horse missing. It was said that the horse was seen running outside the border of the country. The neighbors came to comfort him for the unfortunate loss. But the old man was unexpectedly calm and said, "It doesn't matter; it may not be a bad event, on the contrary, I think it can be a good one."
One night the old man heard some noise of horses and got up to see. To his surprise, he saw another beautiful horse as well as his own. It was clear that his horse had brought a companion home. Hearing the news, the neighbors all came to say congratulation on his good luck. At the greetings, however, the old man was very calm and thoughtful. He added, "It is true that I got a new horse for nothing, but it is hard to say whether it is good or bad. It may be an unlucky thing."
What he said was testified right. The son of the old man was very fond of the horse brought home, and one day, when he was riding the horse, he fell down from the horseback and terribly hurt in his left leg. Since then he was never able to walk freely. "Nothing serious," the old man said, "perhaps it is going to be good."
A year later, many of the youth there were recruited to fight in a war and most of them died. The son of the old man was absolved from the obligation for his disability, so he escaped death.
The old story tells us that good and bad, disaster and happiness can be converting objects to each other sometimes.
nusrat-diu:
A Fond Dream of Nanke
(ÄÿÂÒ»ÃÎ)
In Tang Dynasty, there lived a person called Chun Yufen, who thought himself a wise man but was not recognized by people then. So he often felt sad and drank down to pass his time.
One day, he was drinking under an old pagoda tree, to the south of his house. he soon fell asleep and had a dream.
In his dream, Chun Yufen met with an atomy who introduced himself to Chun Yufen that he came to invite him to the great Kingdom of Pagoda. Chun Yufen gladly went there with him. He found himself into a fairy world with many red gates, magnificent palaces, luxuriant pavilions and beautiful gardens; in a word, it couldn't be found in the real world.
The king appreciated him very much so that he was named the head of Nanke. Soon after, he married the king's pretty daughter. Chun Yufen was so happy with the life there that he totally forgot his hometown and his family.
But it was not long before the kingdom was invaded by another country and Chun Yufen had to lead the troops to hold out the enemies. Unfortunately his troops were defeated and his wife died. Chun Yufen was badly hit and he felt very disappointed to himself, so he decided to leave the Kingdom of Pagoda. In the end, he was sent home by the atomy. As soon as he arrived home, he woke up to realize what had happened was just a dream, which only took him a short time to have. There lay the half glass of alcohol on the ground in front of him. And there was an ant creeping on one of his feet. Looking down from the little creature he found an ant nest in the old pagoda tree. "Oh, it must have been the ant nest that I entered and took for that kingdom in my dream." he murmured.
The story is often used to say that someone is very happy about something not based on reality. For an example, someone thought he won a lottery and was very happy about it, but actually he did not win anything.
nusrat-diu:
A Wily Hare Has Three Burrows
( ½ÆÃÃÈý¿ß)
In the Warring States Period, the Prime Minister, Meng Changjun, of the Qi State, supported and fed many people at his home. One of them was called Feng Xuan. One day, Feng Xuan was sent to collect what the tenant farmers owed to the landlord (Meng Changjun). When he got to the place, he declared self-assertively to the farmers that all the tenancy contracts would be demolished at once. Cheers burst out among the happy farmers; they owed great gratitude to Meng Changjun, their landlord.
When Feng Xuan returned to the host and told about what he did, Prime Minister, Meng Changjun was not very happy about it. "Why did you do that?" the minister asked. "Well, though I had not brought you some fortune by doing that, I really won the morale of your farmers. That is more important to you." The minister reluctantly accepted his explanation.
Meng Changjun was dismissed from office the next year, so he decided to go back to his home town. When he arrived to his demesne, he was surprised of seeing the farmers were on both sides of the road welcoming him warmly. At the sight, Meng Changjun felt very puzzled as well as greatly moved, and he asked Feng Xuan for the reason. "That is out of question. This is the reward for your charities." Meng Changjun took a tumble at the words since he already forgot the matter happened last year. Feng Xuan continued, "A wily hare which has three burrows can keep itself safe. But now you have only one. So you must struggle to get the other two. You should pay a visit to the State of Wei and canvass for your ideas to the king there. When the king want to retain you for his minister's position, refuse him. This would get the attention of the king of the Qi State. And he would think more about you." As expected, the king of the Qi State felt very worried when he heard that his former Prime Minister could take a position in the hostile Wei State. So he acted quickly to reappoint Meng Changjun as the prime minister of the state.
In order to express his honesty, the king of Qi promised him some advantages. All were refused according to Feng Xuan, except for being the heres of a sacrificial utensil from the royal ancestor and the permission of building another temple in his demesne, which was considered the safe guard for the people there.
When the temple completed, Feng Xuan said to Meng Changjun, his master, "Now, all the three burrows have been built, and you should be safe now!" It was said Meng Changjun to have held the post for the rest of his life and his tenants were all living in peace.
nusrat-diu:
The Fall of a State
(Çã¹úÇã³Ç)
The powerful emperor, Liu Che, of Han Dynasty was a successful sovereign, who was not only a politician but also a talent poet. He started the famous official conservatory for collecting and composing folk songs and ballads.
A bandmaster in the conservatory called Liyannian was very good at songs and ballads and also did well in composition. One day, he showed the emperor a new piece: "In the north is a beauty, unique among her contemporaries. One look from her will cause the fall of a city; another, the fall of the state. Who knows to what degree her charm can reach? And she is the best." The emperor was very fond of the song. The song brought him not only great aesthetic feeling but also a bit affliction. The emperor sighed with regret, "How terrific it would be if there was a beauty like her in the world?"
A careless word may be important information to an attentive listener. The emperor's sister decided to search for such a girl from the country for the emperor as the empress. In the end they found that the sister of the bandmaster was just the one they were looking for. She was well educated, uniquely charming, and perfectly gorgeous. She danced before the emperor delicately and charmingly, which made the emperor completely excited. He watched the dance attentively and finally said, "Well, my sweet beauty, the country has certainly fallen by you!"
Since then, the expression, THE FALL OF A STATE, has been used to describe the most beautiful and charming woman.
nusrat-diu:
The Gentleman on the Beam
( úÉþý×Ó)
In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 AD), there lived a man called Chen Shi, who had been the head of a county. He was admired and respected by people for his fine morality and good reputation. He was ready to be promoted, instead he retired for some political reasons and lived in his hometown since then.
One year, turmoil and war took place because of a terrible famine. Robberies and thieves were rampant in that area.
One night a thief got into the house of Chen Shi through one of the windows. The thief was about start his deal when Chen Shi got up to relieve himself. So the thief hid himself on the beam immediately. Chen Shi had noticed the thief but he pretended to know nothing about him. After he tied the belt around his waist, instead of calling the thief down, he called his sons up and then spoke out to them, "Listen!" the father declared, "As a man, one should act straightly and firmly. He should do good deeds all his life. And I don't think those who serve the devils have an instinct for evil." The address made by the father in the middle of the night puzzled the sons. They didn't know what on earth had happened. And then the father raised his voice and continued, "You must remember that one can be short of property, however, he must stand on his dignity." The father hinted for his sons what he said was all aimed to the man on the beam.
The thief felt very sorry and shamed for what he did. So he began to weep on the beam. Later, he climbed down and knelt before Chen Shi, "I'm terribly sorry, but that is all because of the famine and the war." At last Chen Shi forgave him, gave him some cloth, and let him go.
Though the thief in the story was a little commiserated with, yet he was regarded as a thief admittedly. Since then such a person has got another name, that is, THE GENTLEMAN ON THE BEAM.
M
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version