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十九、我有餘，你有虧
那
年，王善人二十六歲，正在周姑丈家扛活（工作）時，有一天，和打頭的（領工）王老四一起剷地，王善人對他說：「撥小苗哪，最好是留大的，離得遠近差些兒，這是不要緊的。可是要注意把那小苗兒和莠子（狗尾草）給分清，不然的話，等到秋天莠子結了籽落地的時候，那麼來年就得要長草，或者就會變成荒地啦！最重要的是，那剷地一定要深，接上溼土後，就得把剷下來的草都給埋起來，不要讓草再復活了。」王老四他不聽。
最有趣的是，一段時間之後，王善人所剷過的地，苗兒長得又黑又壯，然而王老四剷的地呢？苗兒又黃又細，青苗還在地裡頭呢，一壟高一壟低的。所以，到秋天一打糧啊，那就可差得更多了。
有一天，大夥們剷地休息時，王老四對王善人說：「你太老實了！你做的活（工作），所使的力，都比我多得多，可是呢？你一年只掙七十吊，才我的一半，這你太吃虧了！我看你啊，就馬馬虎虎算了，哪管他草多草少、糧多糧少，反正嘛，我們為的是多掙幾吊錢，這才是真的。」王善人就對他說了：「喔！那你可錯啦！其實呢？我才是真掙著了，你賠得那可多的呢？」王老四覺得這個話可奇怪了，所以，王善人就指著前面所剷的地問他：「我所剷的地，和你所作的活比較呢，有沒有什麼分別？」王老四答說：「沒有不同啦！」
王善人又繼續說了：「既然沒有什麼分別，可是，你掙的錢，卻是我的一倍，而我做的活多，你做的活少，這個就是『我有餘，而你有虧啊！』再說，我們東家也是很不容易的，要有糞土、糧地、種籽、牲口，還要有夥計（長工）來種地，哦！也還得靠老天爺的陽光、所颳的風、下的雨水，春天下種，到秋天才有糧收。若是哪！因為我們工夫不到，而少打了糧，那麼我們就有虧了良心，對東家就是不忠，對老天爺就是虧了天理。若是不盡心幹活，沒使什麼工夫，那可虧了許多道，這個我可不幹啊！」當時王老四並不了解這個道理，因此置之不答。所以，王善人知道王老四以後會很苦的。
哪知三十年後，王善人在東三省（今東北九省）正提倡許多義務學校時，安東徐瑞麟和張雅軒在朝陽縣創辦鳳儀女子師範學校，請王善人去參加開幕典禮。王善人到朝陽縣一下火車，戴縣長和許多人都在車站歡迎他，打頭的王老四也在人群裡湊熱鬧。王老四一看，是王善人，就擠出人群，對王善人說：「啊！你不是王老二嗎？」王善人回答：「是啊，老打頭的你好嗎？」他說：「好什麼！現在連扛活都沒有人用了，還打什麼頭！我天天就做零工度命。唉！你可真好了！」
王善人對他說：「我不是現在好的，我們倆一起剷地時，我就好了。以前我和你講的話，你還記得嗎？」王老四非常慚愧地說：「唉！當時是我存心不良，所以今天我挨餓受凍，非常地苦。那我今後得怎麼樣做人，才能好呢？」
王善人很誠懇地說：「從今天開始，你要得天天去撿糞，把撿來的糞，就隨便倒在別人的地裡。你要立志，要拿出為自己的心，去為別人服務，那你就會好了！」王老四很認真地依照王善人的話，努力實行。不多久，有一家財主看見自己的田地裡，有一大堆糞，不知是誰堆的？一查之後，才知道是王老四送來的。這財主看王老四還能撿糞，所以就收留王老四住在家中，供給他食宿，每天隨便就檢點糞在地裡；終於王老四真有了安身的地方。
從這樁事證明出來，人用好心，做好事，就能得好結果。所以，我們人不可以把利益看得很重，而不盡義務，那是不可以的。
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19. I Have Gained Much, but You Have Lost a Lot
T
hat year, Good Man Wang was twenty-six years old, and he was working as a laborer for his Uncle Zhou. One day, he was hoeing the field with the work leader, Wang the Fourth. Good Man Wang said to him, “When we set the new shoots apart, we should keep the bigger ones. It doesn’t matter if the spacing is off a little bit. But we must be careful to separate the young shoots from the weeds. Otherwise, when fall comes the seeds of the weeds will ripen and fall to the ground, and next year the field will be filled with weeds, to the point that it becomes uncultivated land. Most importantly, when we hoe the soil, we must go deep enough to touch the wet soil; then we must bury the weeds that we dig up and not give them any chance to grow again.” Wang the Fourth would not listen.
Interestingly enough, after a period of time, the shoots had grown up dark and strong in the field hoed by Good Man Wang, while the ones in Wang the Fourth’s area were still scrawny and yellowish. The green shoots were still in the dirt, and the dirt mounds were uneven in height. When it came time to reap the fall harvest, the difference was even greater.
One day, when they took a break from hoeing the fields, Wang the Fourth said to Good Man Wang, “You are too honest! You are doing a lot more work and expending a lot more energy than I am, but you only earn seventy dollars, which is equivalent to half my wages. Ah! You’re taking a big loss! Why don’t you just take it easy? Who cares whether there are weeds or not, or if the harvest is more or less? In any case, we only come here to make a few more dollars. That’s what counts.”
Good Man Wang said to him, “Oh! You’re the one who’s making a mistake! Actually, I have truly earned something. You have lost a lot!” Wang the Fourth found these words quite strange. Good Man Wang pointed to the newly-hoed field in front of them and asked him, “Is there any difference between the work you and the work I did?” Wang the Fourth said, “No difference.”
Good Man Wang continued, “There is no difference, yet your wages are the double of mine, and I do more work than you do. That is to say, ‘I have an excess while you come up short.’ “Besides, it is not easy for our boss. He must have manure, rice fields, seeds, animals, and laborers to plant the field. Oh! He also depends on the Heavenly Lord to make the sun shine, let the wind blow, and send down the rain. The seeds are sown in the spring, but the harvest cannot be reaped until autumn. Suppose that, due to our lack of skill and efficiency, the harvest is less than what it should be. Then we will have failed our conscience, been unfaithful to our boss, and fallen short of the heavenly principle. If we do not do our best, we will lose in many ways. I would not do it.” Wang the Fourth did not understand this principle at that time. So, he just kept silent and did not reply. Good Man Wang thus knew that Wang the Fourth would not have a smooth life in the future.
Thirty years later, when Good Man Wang was promoting free education in Manchuria, Xu Ruilin and Zhang Yaxuan of An Tong were in the process of establishing Feng Yi Normal College for Women in Zhao Yang County, and they invited Good Man Wang to attend the opening ceremony. When Good Man Wang arrived in Zhao Yang, the County Supervisor Dai and many others were waiting at the train station to welcome him. Among the welcoming crowd, the leader Wang the Fourth was also there to join the excitement. When Wang the Fourth found out that it was Good Man Wang, he pushed through the crowd and said to Good Man Wang, “Well! Are you not Wang the Second?” Good Man Wang replied, “Yes. Are you well, old leader?” He said, “Well my foot. Now I cannot even find people to hire me as a laborer, let alone as a leader! I live on doing odd jobs. But, you are really doing well!”
Good Man Wang said to him, “It is not just now that I have begun to do well. I was already doing well when we were hoeing the fields together. Remember what I said to you then?” Wang the Fourth felt very ashamed and said, “Well, I was not being good-hearted then. That’s why I am suffering hunger and cold now. It is very bitter. How should I conduct myself so that I can be better off?”
Good Man Wang very sincerely said to him, “Starting from today, you should gather manure and place it in other people’s fields. You have to be determined to serve other people as if serving yourself. Then your situation will improve.” Wang the Fourth earnestly did as he was told, striving to carry out those instructions. Not long after, a wealthy landowner found a pile of manure in his field and wondered who had left it there. After making an inquiry, he learned that it was Wang the Fourth who had sent the manure to him. Seeing that Wang the Fourth was able to gather manure, the wealthy landowner hired him and gave him room and board. All Wang the Fourth had to do was gather some manure every day and place it in the field. He finally had a place to stay.
This story shows that if one does good deeds with good intention, one will reap good results. Therefore, we should not focus on benefits and fail to fulfill our duties.
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