此地無銀三百兩
cǐ dì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng
“this place not-have silver three hundred tael”
(兩 liǎng / tael: Chinese ounce)
Zhāng Sān had made a lot of money: 300 taels. He decided to bury it at the back of his house for safe-keeping. To be on the safe side, he wrote 此地無銀三百兩 on a board and placed it by the spot.
His neighbour Wáng Èr saw the sign, and of course dug up the silver. Then, just in case Zhāng Sān should suspect him, Wáng Èr wrote up the following declaration on a board, and placed it next to Zhāng Sān’s original message:
隔壁王二未曾偷
gé bì Wáng Èr wèi céng tōu
“separate wall Wang Two not had steal”
*隔壁 gé bì / “separate wall" = to be separated by a wall, i.e., next door neighbour(s)
The version I’d read as a child was: two thieves had stolen 300 taels of silver and were lugging it back to their place. On the way, Thief.1 had to go and answer nature’s call, so he asked Thief.2 to stand by the money. While Thief.1 was away, Thief.2 also needed to go and answer nature’s call, so he dug a hole and buried the silver. To make it absolutely clear, he wrote down “此地無銀三百兩” on a piece of paper, and left it by the buried silver.
No comments:
Post a Comment