He is smiling(莞爾一笑)
Take not a musket to kill a butterfly(殺雞焉用牛刀)
The famous book (The Analects of Confucius)
records a story about Confucius and his students.
There is a story in this book as follows.
He had a student named (Ziyou), who was
appointed as the magistrate of Wucheng County in the Kingdom of Lu.
A few months later, he took several
students from the capital of the Kingdom of Lu to Wucheng County to visit him.
Ziyou was very happy to see the teachers
and classmates whom he had not seen for a long time.
He accompanied them to visit some
attractions in the city.
During lunch, Confucius said to all the
students with a smile.
I discovered an interesting thing this
morning.
All the students looked at Confucius
curiously.
Confucius said.
In my class, I taught a lot of knowledge
about etiquette and related music and songs. Only the nobles were qualified to
learn these specialized knowledge before, but I teach you this knowledge.
This morning, I overheard many times, in
some houses by the roadside, someone playing these music about etiquette.
Why do these people know the music related
to etiquette?
I guess this is because Ziyou taught this
knowledge to the common people here during the few months he was the county
magistrate of Wucheng County.
I give an example to describe how I feel
now, Ziyou killed a small rooster with a large knife specially used for
slaughtering cattle.
Ziyou replied with a smile.
I remember you said it in class. The things
you teach us can help us get along better with everyone around us.
If an aristocrat or government official
learns this knowledge, then he can manage all the people in a reasonable way.
If ordinary people learn, then these people
will be polite and easy to communicate with those in power.
I'm just taking what you taught us and
actually applying it to my work.
Confucius listened to his answer. Confucius
was very happy.
He said to all his students present.
Ziyou's ideas and practices are great, and
you should follow him as an example.
By the way, I just said that he used a
large knife specially designed for slaughtering cattle to slaughter a small
rooster. This sentence is a joke.
I agree with what he did, and I am proud of
him.
The first idiom means to describe the way a
person smiles.
The direct translation of the second idiom
is that you take a big knife specially used for slaughtering cattle to kill a
small rooster.
Dear friends, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Will you apply what you have learned in
your life? Is there a teacher who has had an important influence on you in your
life?
I hope this story will give you something
new to gain.
莞爾一笑(He is smiling)
殺雞焉用牛刀(Take not a musket to kill a
butterfly)
著名的(孔夫子論語)這一本書中，記載了一個有關於孔子與他的學生們的故事。
這本書中有一個故事如下。
他有一個名字叫做(子游)的學生，這個學生被派任為魯王國的武城縣的縣長。
幾個月後，他帶著幾個學生從魯王國的首都到武城縣拜訪他。
子游看見許久不見的老師與同學們，他很開心。
他便陪著他們參觀市區中的一些景點。
中午吃飯時，孔子微笑地對所有學生們說。
今天上午我發現一件很有趣的事。
所有學生都很好奇地看著孔子。
孔子說。
我在課堂上，教授了很多有關禮儀的知識與相關的音樂與歌曲，這些專門的知識以前只有貴族才有資格學習，但我把這些知識教給你們。
今天上午，我多次無意間聽到、路旁的一些房屋中，有人在演奏這些有關禮儀的音樂。
為何這些人會懂得這些與禮儀相關的音樂呢?
我猜這是因為子游在擔任武城縣的縣長的這幾個月內，他把這些知識教給了這裡的老百姓。
我舉例形容我現在的感想，子游用了一把專門用來宰牛的大刀來宰殺一隻小小的公雞。
子游微笑著回答。
我記得你在課堂上曾說過。你教我們的這些知識可以讓我們與周圍的所有人相處得更融洽。
如果一個貴族或是政府官員學習了這些知識，那他就可以用合理的方式去管理所有的百姓。
如果一般民眾學習之後，那麼這些百姓就會有禮貌且容易與執政者溝通。
我只是把你教給我們的東西實際運用在我的工作上。
孔子聽了他的回答。孔子很開心。
他對在場的所有他的學生說。
子游的想法與作法很棒，你們要以他為榜樣。
對了，我剛才說他用了一把專門用來宰牛的大刀來宰殺一隻小小的公雞。這句話是一句玩笑話。
我很認同他的做法，我為他感到驕傲。
第一句成語的意思是形容一個人微笑的樣子。
第二句成語的直接翻譯就是你拿了一把專門用來宰牛的大刀來宰殺一隻小小的公雞。
這句成語的意思類似一句英文的諺語，不要拿步槍殺死蝴蝶。
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。
你會把你學習到的知識運用在你的生活當中嗎?你這一生中，是否有那一位老師對你產生過重要的影響呢?
我期待這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為論語-陽貨篇-4條
