What did the two lamp grasses say?

The story of a miser.

1) Yan Jiansheng

The work mainly writes about three things about Yan Jiansheng: one is to resolve the lawsuit on behalf of the evil brother Yan Gongsheng and waste money; the other is to support the concubine as a The first one is to mourn the death of his wife; the third one is to stretch out "two fingers" when he is dying.

Yan Jiansheng, whose name is Yan Dayu and whose courtesy name is Zhihe, is a timid and wealthy man. Although timid, he is not a kind person. His wife was ill in bed and dying. The side wife Zhao pretended to be attentive and deceived his wife Wang into agreeing to support her as his wife. As soon as Wang said something, Yan Jiansheng couldn't hear it and said three times: 'In that case , I will ask my two uncles to discuss this matter tomorrow morning, so that we can have evidence. '" This incident alone revealed the nature of Yan Jiansheng's character, which is soft on the outside and treacherous on the inside. Looking at the whole story, Yan Jiansheng paid off his brother's money, bribed Wang De and Wang Ren, married the Zhao family, held the funeral for the Wang family, etc. In one year, he really spent a lot of money, four or five dollars for a single funeral. A thousand taels of silver, but this does not mean that he is generous. On the contrary, Yan Jiansheng is a typical stingy man. He spends all his money out of necessity. There are two details that allow readers to understand the harshness and greed deep in Yan Jiansheng's character: first, after Wang's death, When Mr. Zhao mentioned that he wanted to give his two uncles money to rush for the exam, Yan Jiansheng listened without saying a word, "A cat under the table got on his lap, and Yan Jiansheng kicked it away with the toe of his boot." This sudden and secretly cruel action was exactly the expression of his pity for money and hatred for his two uncles at this moment. Secondly, when Yan Jiansheng was dying, he held out two fingers and refused to die. The eldest nephew, second nephew, wet nurse and others all came forward to try and give advice, but none of them got it right. Finally, Mrs. Zhao stepped forward and said: " Master, I am the only one who knows what you are thinking. You are lighting two lamp grasses in that lamp. Don't worry, you may have wasted oil." It wasn't until Zhao picked out one lamp grass that he nodded and breathed his last. This detail has become a very famous example in the history of Chinese literature. It exposes and satirizes those stingy country squires, and it also adds a very vivid touch to the character creation of Yan Jiansheng. Of course, we should also recognize the complexity of Yan Jiansheng's character. His character has a stingy side, a humble and pitiful side, and a humane side. He used money as a talisman to ward off disasters and stay safe. After his wife Wang became ill, he invited famous doctors to decoct ginseng and take it without any ambiguity. After Wang's death, he mourned deeply and "cried again on the coffin bed." These were not "acting" tears. Just like the comment of the old man Xianzhai: "This is the true love between Mr. and Mrs. Chai Mi who share the joys and sorrows." . "Here is his humane side. Since he had no family advantage and was afraid of Boss Yan until his death, he lived a humble life and died a useless person. As for the accumulation of property, there are two main methods: one is to possess it through exploitation; the other is to rely on poor management, careful budgeting, and even self-abuse in lifestyle to reduce expenses. He loves money and accumulates it, but he is sometimes generous. This is inseparable from his situation of having no family advantage and no fame and status. But he was not willing to submit to others. This mentality was fully revealed in the sad last words he left to his brother-in-law before his death. He said: "After I die, your two uncles will take care of your nephew when he grows up and teach him to read." , Earn money and go to school, so as not to be like me and be annoyed by the big house all day long. "In his mind, in addition to money, he must have fame and power. Only in this way can he live a majestic life. What he said before his death can be said to be a summary of his life experience. In short, he is a figure who is teased by others in the ruling class. He has a stingy and heartless side, but he is also humane. The multi-faceted exploration of the abnormal soul of Yan Jiansheng is helpful to fully understand the author's profound intentions and tactful writing skills.

(2) Yan Gongsheng

Yan Gongsheng is a typical character who bullies the people, disowns his relatives, and is violent and greedy. When the author describes his character, he mainly exposes his dirty, despicable and shameless soul through his own words and actions.

He clearly seized someone's pig, but not only did he not return it, but when someone came to beg for the pig, he "took the door bolt and the noodle stick" and broke someone's leg; he clearly didn't lend anyone money, but he He insisted on paying back the interest, but the middleman refused to beg for mercy, and insisted on taking away his "donkey and rice bag"; he obviously wanted not to give him the boat money, but deliberately used a few pieces of cloud to Gao set a trap and pretended that the boatman was taking his precious medicine, which was worth "a few hundred taels of silver." He was angry and wanted to send the boatman to Mr. Tang's Yamen for questioning, but he took the boat money and left. He clearly wanted to embezzle the family property of his brothers, but he refused to acknowledge the fact that the Zhao family had been rehabilitated. He drove the Zhao family to live in a wing and still treated her as a concubine. of". Through the description of the above typical facts, Yan Gongsheng's despicable nature of fraud, arrogance, and greed is revealed, and the ugly face of this evil gentry is presented to the readers. It expresses the author's strong satirical intention and exposes the social roots of evil.

__________

Related comments

1. Yan Jiansheng’s image as a miser is compared with Grandet and Abagong in world literary masterpieces. The character is more unique. First of all, his stinginess is no longer a sexual allegorical characteristic, but a living personality formed from the character's specific life experiences and social relationships. Yan Jiansheng guarded his ancestral business, settling accounts until three o'clock every night, exploiting farmers and deducting family income, penny by penny, and actually pocketed more than 100,000 silver. This extremely backward and feudal way of exploitation has fostered a kind of cowardice and stinginess. He was reluctant to give up money to make friends with the government. In a small county town, one hundred thousand wealth made him a "hairy man" to be taken advantage of. His brother Yan Gongsheng watched his property with eager eyes, and his nephews were "like wolves." However, Yan Jiansheng only had a son from Concubine Zhao, and he was too young, so he had to straighten Concubine Zhao up so that his son could inherit the property. For this reason, he had to give a lot of money to his wife Wang's brothers, but the two uncles were experts at blackmail. As a result, the miser was trapped in a situation where he was attacked from both sides, and his stinginess became more and more worried. However, Yan Jiansheng is not the embodiment of the concept of "stinginess". He is different from Abagong in "The Miser"...the naked money relationship is so direct and pure, without any interference from the love between father and son. Yan Jiansheng's "stinginess" is different. It is blended with other emotions. Although he is stingy and greedy by nature, he still has "properties" and "modesty" and does not lose his humanity. He must safeguard his own interests everywhere and protect his face at all times. Therefore, when his brother Yan Gongsheng was accused, he was able to spend more than ten taels of silver to settle the lawsuit; when his wife Wang passed away, he spent 5,000 taels of silver on fasting, practicing Qi, holding funerals, and funerals. He often sheds tears when he misses Mr. Wang. Being greedy and squandering money like dirt, greed and human love, this is how the characteristics and richness of the character's character are both contradictory and unified.

(Excerpted from "History of Chinese Satirical Novels" by Qi Yu and Chen Huiqin)

2. Although the spearhead of Wu Jingzi's satire always falls directly on a certain person, it is reflected in the person Evil is ultimately a product of society. Lu Xun said it well: "If you don't tend to satirize society, you will fall into the traditional 'joking' and 'asking for benefits.'" For example, when Yan Jiansheng was about to die, he stretched out his fingers because he lit an extra lamp grass. Reluctant to close his eyes for a long time. This is not only Yan Jiansheng's personal special character, but also reflects the extremely stingy nature of the landlord class and is universal.

The Scholars also has an artistic feature, which is that it is good at selecting typical plots to express characters among complex life phenomena, and these plots occur daily and are common. For example, Yan Gongsheng boasted that he was "outspoken and never took advantage of anyone in the countryside." As he was saying this, a "little guy with unkempt hair and bare feet came in and said to him: 'In the morning That man came to beg for the pig that was locked up. He was making a noise at home. "Yan Gongsheng said, "He wants the pig, so bring the money!" The boy said, "He said the pig belongs to him."

'" It is common for pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks to enter other people's houses. Yan Gongsheng imprisoned other people's pigs and extorted money from them, which is a typical example of the greedy and domineering character of the landlord class. Regarding Yan Gongsheng's failure to pay the ship's money The description of "The Scholars" is also an equally wonderful example. It can be seen that Wu Jingzi is good at using realistic techniques to describe things in a satirical way. Although exaggeration is also used in "The Scholars", the things described by the author are more descriptive. It is always "common, and no one is surprised at ordinary times", but once pointed out, it is "ridiculous, despicable, and even hateful"

(Excerpted from "History of Chinese Literature" by the Institute of Literature, Academy of Social Sciences. )

3. The language of "The Scholars" is characterized by accuracy, conciseness and vividness. The author can often use a few words to make the characters "exhaustible"...sometimes because of the use of one word. It is very appropriate, making the character's true feelings come to light. For example, Yan Jiansheng's concubine Zhao served the royal family with decoction and medicine very diligently. When Wang was seriously ill, she even prayed to the Bodhisattva to die for her. Before she died, she said to Mrs. Zhao, "Why don't you explain it to your master? If I die, I will straighten you up and fill your house." The author then wrote, "Ms. Zhao hurriedly asked the master to come in and told grandma what she said. ". This word "busy" fully exposed Zhao's hypocrisy. (ibid.)

4. Literature is the art of language. The author of "The Scholars" used accurate and accurate language. Distinctive and personalized language is used to express the characters' thoughts, feelings, mental outlook, and personality traits, and has achieved outstanding achievements in this regard. For example, Yan Gongsheng's words are cunning and vicious: "Yan Gongsheng said angrily: ... After scolding." , Yang stepped onto the bridge, followed by the luggage and the boy, and went away in a hurry. "Here, Yan Gongsheng insisted on describing the cloud cake as a precious medicine worth hundreds of taels of silver, followed by "Mr. Zhang" from the province, "Mr. Zhou" from Sichuan, and "Mr. Tang" from the county, one after another. ", "beat" one after another, Hu Laizhong followed closely with threats, and focused on threats, because this lie was too bizarre to be able to blackmail others. The image of a cunning, fierce, despicable, and shameless villain appeared on the page. The words of the porters who boarded the boat to persuade him were also very interesting. On the surface, they were blaming the boatman for his misdeeds, but underneath they were exposing Yan Gongsheng's rogue behavior, like a sharp steel knife, thrusting straight into the boat. His despicable heart even made the stern Yan Gongsheng have to "turn around" and sneak away after hearing this. Here, the oppressed people's sharp eyes, righteous actions, witty fighting art and hostility and contempt for Yan Gongsheng and the government were revealed. The mood is reflected in the spoken words

(Excerpted from Wang Junnian's "Wu Jingzi and the Scholars")

5. The other two ugly typical images of feudal literati are Yan. Jiansheng's two uncles, Wang De and Wang Ren, are different from Yan Gongsheng in his evil ways and Yan Jiansheng's stinginess in other ways.

The work exposes these two ugly people quietly and quietly. Wang De is a canteen at a government school and Wang Ren is a canteen at a county school. They both receive meals from the government on a monthly basis. , and "they are all doing very prosperous restaurants and are well-known." According to common sense, this is already a high status and reputation, but we don't see any "moral articles", but what we can see is "literati have no conduct."

Because his brother Yan Gongsheng fled the lawsuit, Yan Jiansheng had to come forward to settle the lawsuit and invited his two uncles, Wang De and Wang Ren, to discuss the matter. After the incident, Yan Jiansheng held a banquet to entertain the two. People, they first "pretended to be the best" and refused to come; after they came, they had to follow the "No. 1 Scholar Order" when eating wine. After winning the "No. 1 Scholar" once and having a glass of wine, they won the "No. 1 Scholar" several times, but they "After eating dozens of cups," when Yan Jiansheng failed to win even once, "the two of them clapped their hands and laughed," and finally "went to the end of the meal and stumbled back, looking like gluttons and greedy drinkers." There is no trace of gentleness at all.

Except for some details, the dirty greed and despicable appearance of these two scholars are more concentrated in the process of "righting up" the concubine for their brother-in-law. /p>

Yan Jiansheng's wife Wang was critically ill, and her concubine Zhao pretended to be attentive and actually forced Wang to agree to "right up" her and take her place as the wife after Wang's death.

Yan Jiansheng was eager for this and hurriedly invited his two uncles to discuss it. After hearing this, the two Wang brothers "looked sad and didn't say a word"; when Yan Jiansheng called the boy to fetch some money and gave them each a piece of silver. One hundred taels, "Take it with both hands," he immediately changed his face and moved his buttocks to the other side, leaving the whole sister aside for the sake of Yan Jiansheng. Wang De said: "You don't know, your wife is related to the three generations of your family." It seems that he knows more than Yan Jiansheng the importance of helping a concubine to be a good person; but Wang Ren simply slapped the table and shouted: "We students, Working entirely on the principles, even writing articles and speaking for Confucius, is nothing more than this principle. "In his opinion, ignoring his sister's critical illness and helping his brother-in-law to fill the house for his concubine is the supreme "principle" of Confucian scholars. Confucius is nothing more than that. Later, Wang Ren said again: "If you don't comply, we won't come to the door!" The effectiveness of this small amount of money was so great that the two uncles changed their attitudes and personally organized a house-filling ceremony for their brother-in-law's concubine.

The day when the Zhao family "strengthened the body" was the day when the Wang family "returned to heaven". This is a true farce. Logically speaking, the Wang brothers should take care of their sisters, but they didn't. Instead, they supported Yan Jiansheng, claiming that with the two of them here, "Who dares to fart again!" They were all acting as accomplices! Sure enough, at that time, they were each their own. Got fifty taels of silver, cash transaction. Wang Ren personally "wrote a very sincere letter to the ancestors" for Yan Jiansheng. Nothing could be more humble than this. When Mrs. Wang died, Mrs. Zhao wanted to wear sackcloth and wear mourning, but "the two uncles refused" and said: "If the name is not correct, the words will not be correct." Under the influence of money, these two "well-known" scholars were shameless in asking for money, and asked for money instead of sisters. They were clearly low-life philistines, with no trace of "elegantness" at all?

It is surprising. The two astonished scholars "sow" must have a "harvest", first of all, "Zhao was grateful to the two uncles. They harvested new rice in the fields, each family received two stones; pickled winter vegetables, each family also two stones; ham, each family Four; chickens, ducks, and side dishes are all included." After that, we paid two hundred taels of silver per person to pay for the dishes and rush to the exam.

The character creation of the characters in this episode is the most successful, and the plot is also very concentrated. The four shameless scholars not only have a vulgar and vulgar nature, but also have their own unique personalities, including evil, stingy, greed, and baseness, each with its own mood. In all "The Scholars", these images are extremely typical. In addition, the author's writing here is also very meticulous, and even the names of the characters are designed with great ingenuity. For example, among the Yan brothers, the eldest brother’s name is “Dawei” with the Chinese character “Zhizhong”, and the second child’s name is “Dayu” with the Chinese character “Zhihe”. Together they are exactly the four characters “Zhonghe Weiyu” on the plaque of the Dacheng Hall of the Confucius Temple in Qufu. It is the core slogan of Confucianism. "Neutralization" is the goal, impartiality, harmony and moderation; "position education" is the means, each should keep its place and adapt to the situation. These four words alone have a very deep philosophical connotation that cannot be explained clearly in just one or two sentences, but it is good that it is a very serious Confucian slogan. But let's look at the two Confucian scholars who used these words as their names - isn't the novelist's profound and sharp irony also here? In addition, the names of the Wang brothers are also taken from the Confucian classic "The Analects" "According to virtue, In the sentence "Yu Yi", one name is "De" with the word "Yu Zhi", and the other name is "Ren" with the word "Yu Yi". But let's look at their faces, are they worthy of these words?