He can see other people's innermost
thoughts(察見淵魚)
During the Spring and Autumn Period in
China, there was a famous minister in the Qi Kingdom, his name was Xi Simi.
There is a story about him recorded in the
history books.
His immediate superior was the Prime
Minister of the Qi Kingdom.
One day he went to the house of the Prime
Minister of the Qi Kingdom for a meeting.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister of
the Qi Kingdom told him, "I have recently built a new three-storey house
that is ten metres high.
Let's go to this house to see the scenery
of the capital of Qi Kingdom.
The two of them went up to the third floor
of the house. They looked to the east, west and north without any obstructions
blocking their view.
But when they looked to the south, they saw
several tall trees not far away that blocked the view.
The Premier looked at the trees in silence
for several minutes.
The next morning (Xi Simi) found a group of
lumberjacks. He took them to the trees that were blocking the Prime Minister's
view. He ordered the lumberjacks to cut down the trees.
The lumberjacks began to do so.
But a few minutes after the lumberjacks
started to cut down the trees, he suddenly loudly ordered the lumberjacks to
stop cutting down the trees, he said to the lumberjacks.
Don't cut any more trees. Today's mission
is cancelled.
A subordinate who was very close to him
asked him doubtfully after seeing this unexpected situation.
Why did you suddenly order the cancellation
of this logging operation?
He replied seriously.
Because I suddenly remembered an old
saying.
It means that if you have the ability to
see fish deep under the water, you must remember that your ability can bring
disaster.
Yesterday I went to visit the Prime
Minister of the Kingdom of Qi. I found that the Prime Minister of Qi did not
like these trees because they blocked his view.
But if he ordered the trees to be cut down
himself, he would be accused of doing so for his own selfish interests and
against the public interest.
He must have felt very grateful to me in
his heart when I used the authority of my position to find a reason to order
the cutting down of these trees.
This subordinate said to him after
listening to this passage.
But why did you suddenly order the
lumberjacks to stop?
He replied seriously
Because I suddenly realised that the Prime
Minister is a very ambitious person. According to my observation, he is likely
to eliminate some people he does not like in order to consolidate his power in
the near future.
If I cut down these trees, the Prime
Minister will realise that I am a person who can understand his inner thoughts,
and then he may use his position and power to do things that are detrimental to
me.
I should have continued to work as if I had
no idea what he was thinking, so as not to bring disaster upon myself.
The direct translation of this sentence is
that he can see the fish hidden deep under the water.
It is used to describe a person who can see
the deepest thoughts of others.
Dear friend, what inspiration or thoughts
do you have after listening to this story?
Can you read the inner thoughts of others?
Have you ever seen someone bring disaster upon themselves because they were too
clever?
I hope this story brings something new to
you.
察見淵魚(He can see other people's innermost
thoughts)
中國的春秋時代，齊王國有一個著名的大臣，他的名字叫做(隰斯彌)。
歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
他的直屬長官是齊王國的宰相。
有一天，他到齊王國的宰相的家中去開會。
會議結束後，齊王國的宰相對他說，我最近蓋了一棟三層樓的新房子，這棟房子有十公尺高。
我們一起到這棟房子上面看看齊王國的首都的風景吧。
他們兩個人走上了這棟房子的三樓，他們向東方、西方與北方望去都沒有遮蔽物來阻礙他們的視野。
但是當他們從南方望出去時，他們看到不遠處有好幾顆很高大的樹，這幾棵樹擋住了景觀。
宰相沉默地看著這幾棵樹看了好幾分鐘。
隔天早上，(隰斯彌)找來一組伐木工，他帶這這些工人找到了擋住宰相的視野的那幾棵樹旁，他下令伐木工人把這些樹砍斷。
這幾個伐木工人便開始動作。
但是當這幾個伐木工人開始執行砍樹這項任務的幾分鐘後，他突然大聲的命令這些伐木工人停止砍樹，他對這些伐木工人說。
你們不要繼續砍樹了，今天的任務取消。
有一個他很親近的下屬看到這個突發狀況後，很疑惑地問他。
你為何突然下令取消這項伐木的工作呢?
他很嚴肅的回答。
因為我突然想到一句古老的諺語。
這句話的意思是當你具備能夠看見水底深處的魚的能力時，你要記得，你這項能力可能會為哪帶災禍。
我在昨天拜訪齊王國的宰相的過程中。我發現齊國的宰相不喜歡這幾棵樹，因為這幾棵樹擋住了他的視野。
但是如果他自己下令砍掉這幾棵樹，他會被質疑是為了自己私利所以做出這項違反公共利益的事情。
我利用我的職位的權限然後找一個理由下令砍掉這幾棵樹後，他的內心一定會對我感到非常感謝。
這一個屬下聽完這一段話後對他說。
但是為何你會突然下令要伐木工人們停止這項任務呢?
他很嚴肅的回答
因為我突然想到，宰相是一個很有野心的人，根據我的觀察，他在近期很有可能會為了鞏固自己的權利而做剷除一些他不喜歡的人。
如果我把這些樹砍掉，那麼宰相就會發覺到我是一個可以掌握到他的內心的想法的人，那麼他就有可能會利用自己的職位與權力作出對我不利的事情。
我應該裝作我完全不知道他的想法地繼續工作，這才不會為我自己帶來災禍。
這句話直接翻譯的意思是他能看到藏在水底深處的魚。
這句成語被用來形容一個人可以看出別人內心深處的想法。
親愛的朋友，聽到這個故事後，您有什麼樣的靈感或想法?
你是否能夠看出別人內心的想法呢?你是否曾經看過有人因為太聰明而給自己帶來災禍呢?
我希望這故事能讓你帶來一些新的收穫。
出處為列子-卷8-說符
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%88%97%E5%AD%90
出處為韓非子-說林上