Idiom stories smell chicken dancing

Smell the chickens dancing

【Allusions】

Zu Di of the Jin Dynasty was an open-minded and ambitious man. But when he was a child, he was a naughty child who did not like to read. In his youth, he realized the poverty of his knowledge and felt that he could not serve the country without reading, so he began to read hard. He read books extensively and studied history seriously, so he began to read books with great enthusiasm. He read books extensively, studied history seriously, drew rich knowledge from them, and made great progress in his learning. He had been in and out of Luoyang several times, and people who had come into contact with him said that Zu Ti was a talent who could assist the emperor in governing the country. When Zu Di was 24 years old, someone recommended him to go to court, but he did not agree and still worked tirelessly to study.

Later, Zu Ti and his childhood friend Liu Kunyizhi served as the chief bookkeeper of Sizhou. He and Liu Kun have a deep affection, not only often sleeping in the same bed and sleeping with the same quilt, but also sharing a common lofty ideal: to make meritorious contributions, revive the Jin Dynasty, and become the pillars of the country.

Once, in the middle of the night, Zu Ti heard the rooster chirping in his sleep, and he kicked Liu Kun awake with one kick and said to him: "Others think that it is unlucky to hear chickens crying in the middle of the night, I don't think so, how about we just get up and practice our swords when we hear the chicken crying?" Liu Kun readily agreed. So every day after the chicken crowed, they got up to practice their swords, the sword light flew, and the sound of the sword was sonorous. Spring to winter, cold to summer, never stopping. After a long period of hard study and training, they have finally become all-rounders who can write and fight, not only can write a good article, but also lead the troops to win the battle. Zu Ti was made a general of Zhenxi, fulfilling his desire to serve the country; Liu Kun became the governor of the capital, concurrently managing the military affairs of the three prefectures of He, Ji, and You, and also giving full play to his literary talents and martial strategies.

【Interpretation】

The story is from the "Jin Shu Zu Di Biography". The idiom "smell the chicken dancing" describes the hard work and talent, and also compares the people with lofty ideals to cheer up in time.