He lifts his head and laughs at the sky(仰天大笑)
In the late Ming Dynasty of China, there
was a famous writer named (Feng Menglong).
He wrote a collection of short stories.
There is a story in this book that is set
in the Tang Dynasty.
The protagonist of this story is called (Ma
Zhou).
This story describes his legendary life,
his journey from a poor commoner to a prominent official.
Ma Zhou is a man of rich knowledge and high
ideals.
At the age of 30, having achieved nothing,
he fell into depression and self-doubt, and developed a habit of drinking.
He met a friend whose name was (Da Xi).
(Da Xi) was the governor of a place called
Bozhou at that time. Da Xi knew that (Ma Zhou) was a very talented person, so
he hired Ma Zhou as a mid-level official in Bozhou.
Ma Zhou was very happy. On his first day in
office, some of his friends threw a banquet for him.
He drank so much at the party that the next
day, his second day in office, he was too drunk to get out of bed and missed a
day's work.
When (Da Xi) found out that (Ma Zhou) had
missed work, he was very angry.
(Ma Zhou) After he sobered up, he regretted
missing work because of his drinking.
Ma Zhou went to (Da Xi) to admit his
mistake, and (Da Xi) severely reprimanded (Ma Zhou) and warned (Ma Zhou) not to
delay his work because of drinking.
(Ma Zhou) knew in his heart that he had
made a mistake, and he also wanted to get rid of his drinking habit, but he was
not determined enough.
A few days after he stopped drinking, he
started drinking again because he couldn't help his addiction.
Within a few weeks, he was back to his
daily drinking habit.
One day, (Ma Zhou) went out for a drink
after work and got drunk again. On his way home, he ran into (Da Xi).
(Da Xi) saw that he was drunk again, so Da
Xi was very angry, and Da Xi scolded him severely.
Ma Zhou had been drinking to the point of
losing his mind, so he quarrelled with (Da Xi) on the spot.
The day after (Ma Zhou) and (Da Xi)
quarrelled, Ma Zhou sobered up and regretted his behaviour. He felt ashamed of
his alcoholism, so he submitted his resignation to (Da Xi).
Da Xi accepted his resignation.
On the day he left his office, he consoled
himself.
I lost my job because of my alcoholism.
The job pays so little that I don't have to
feel bad about it.
He lifted his head and laughed at the sky
for dozens of seconds, saying to himself.
Although I have lost my job, I am confident
about my future and I will definitely achieve something.
The literal translation of this saying is
that he raised his head and laughed at the sky.
This idiom is used to describe a very
conceited person. This person is very sure of himself, so he laughs.
Dear friend, how do you feel or what do you
think after listening to this story?
Have you ever wanted to get rid of your bad
habits? Have you ever succeeded in getting rid of your bad habits?
I hope this story can give you some new
insights.
仰天大笑(He lifts his head and laughs at the sky)
中國的明王朝末年，有一個著名的文學家，他的名字叫做(馮夢龍)。
他寫過一本短篇小說集。
這本書中有一個故事，故事的背景在唐王朝。
這個故事主角是名字叫做(馬周)。
這個故事寫他傳奇的一生，他從一個貧窮的平民最後成為一個顯赫的官員的過程。
馬周是一個知識很豐富的人，他有很崇高的理想。
他到了30歲還沒有任何的成就，所以他陷入的憂鬱與自我懷疑，他養成了酗酒的習慣。
他認識了一個朋友，這個朋友的名字叫做(達奚)。
(達奚)是當時擔任一個叫做博州的地方的州長。達奚知道(馬周)是一個很有才能的人，所以他聘用馬周擔任博州裡面的一個中階官員。
馬周很開心，他就職的第一天，他的一些朋友們為他舉辦了一場慶祝宴會。
他在這場宴會中喝了非常多的酒，隔天，也就是他就職的第二天，他就因為喝醉所以起不了床，所以他曠班一天。
(達奚)發現(馬周)曠班的消息後，他非常的生氣。
(馬周)酒醒後，他很後悔自己因為酗酒所以曠班。
馬周就去找(達奚)認錯，(達奚)很嚴厲的斥責(馬周)，並且警告(馬周)不可以因為喝酒而耽誤了自己的工作。
(馬周)的心中知道自己犯錯，他也很想改掉自己酗酒的習慣，可是他的決心不夠。
他戒酒幾天後，他又因為忍不住酒癮，他又開始喝酒。
沒幾個禮拜後，他又恢復了之前的每天酗酒的狀態。
有一天，(馬周)在下班後喝酒，他又喝醉了。他在回家的路上，他遇見了(達奚)。
(達奚)看到他又喝醉了，所以達奚非常的生氣，達奚嚴厲的斥責他。
馬周已經喝酒喝到失去理智，所以他就當場與(達奚)對罵。
(馬周)與(達奚)對罵後的第二天，馬周酒醒了之後，他很後悔自己的行為，他為自己沉迷酗酒的行為感到可恥，他就向(達奚)提出辭呈。
達奚批准了他的辭呈。
他離開他的辦公室的當天，他對自己自我安慰。
我因為酗酒的關係，所以失去了這個工作。
這個工作的薪水那麼少，所以我根本不用因此覺得難過。
他抬起頭來對著天空大笑了好幾十秒，他對自己說。
我現在雖然失去了這個工作，但我對我的未來有信心，我一定可以有所成就。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是他抬起頭來對著天空大笑。
這句成語被用來形容一個很自負的人，這個人對自己非常有信心所以這個人大笑。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有怎樣的感受或有怎樣的想法呢。
你曾經想要改掉自己的那些不好的習慣嗎?你後來有成功的改掉自己的壞習慣的嗎?
我希望這故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為明-馮夢龍-喻世明言-第五卷-窮馬周遭際賣䭔媼
https://zh.m.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%96%BB%E4%B8%96%E6%98%8E%E8%A8%80/%E7%AC%AC05%E5%8D%B7
