There was a famous scholar called Gongsun Long from the State of Zhao during the Warring States Period (475-221BC). Keeping a circle of skilled people around him, he often said, "A wise man will welcome anyone with a specialty."
One day, a man dressed in tattered and dirty clothes came to visit him and recommended himself: "I have a special skill." Gongsun Long asked, "What is it?" The man answered, "I have a very loud voice and I'm good at shouting." Then Gongsun Long turned to his followers and asked, "Is there anyone who is good at shouting?" But none of them answered yes. So the scholar took the man in.
Some days later, Gongsun Long and his followers went on a trip. They came to a wide river and found the ferryboat was on the other side of the river. All of them had no idea about what to do. It suddenly came to Gongsun Long's mind that the man he just took in was good at shouting, so he turned to the man and asked, "Can you shout loudly at the ferryman so that he may get us?" The man realized it was the chance to show his skill. He shouted to the ferryman as loudly as he could, "Hey, ferryman, come here! We want to cross the river." As his voice ended, the ferryman rowed the boat towards them. Gongsun Long was very satisfied with his new follower.
Later, people use the phrase, "yī jì zhī cháng" to describe anyone who has a special professional skill.
yī jì zhī cháng
一技之長(zhǎng)
?????? 戰(zhàn)國(guó)時(shí)期，趙國(guó)有位名士叫公孫龍。他手下聚集了許多有自己特長(zhǎng)的門(mén)客。他常說(shuō)：“一個(gè)聰明人應(yīng)該善于接納每一個(gè)有自己特長(zhǎng)的人?！?/p>
?????? 一天，有個(gè)穿著很破爛的人來(lái)見(jiàn)他，并向他推薦自己：“我有一項(xiàng)特別的本領(lǐng)?！惫珜O龍就問(wèn)道：“什么本領(lǐng)？”那個(gè)人回答道：“我聲音特別大，很善于叫喊?！惫珜O龍聽(tīng)了，就轉(zhuǎn)身問(wèn)他旁邊的門(mén)客：“你們有誰(shuí)善于叫喊？”結(jié)果沒(méi)有一個(gè)人回答“是”。于是，他就收下了這個(gè)很善于叫喊的人作他的隨從。
?????? 沒(méi)過(guò)多久，公孫龍和他的門(mén)客一起出外游玩。他們來(lái)到一條很寬的河邊，發(fā)現(xiàn)渡船在河的另一頭，所有人都不知怎么辦好。突然，公孫龍想起他最近收的那個(gè)人的本領(lǐng)是善于叫喊，于是，他就轉(zhuǎn)過(guò)頭去對(duì)那人說(shuō)：“你大聲叫對(duì)面的船夫，看能不能把他叫過(guò)來(lái)?！蹦侨擞X(jué)得展示他技能的時(shí)候到了，就盡力大聲向?qū)γ婧埃骸拔?，船夫，過(guò)來(lái)，我們要過(guò)河?！碑?dāng)他叫聲剛完，那對(duì)面的船夫就搖著船過(guò)來(lái)了。公孫龍對(duì)這個(gè)新收的門(mén)客非常滿意。
?????? 后來(lái)，“一技之長(zhǎng)”就用來(lái)形容一個(gè)人有一項(xiàng)特殊的本領(lǐng)。
chuí tóu sàng qì
垂頭喪氣
crestfallen; dejected; downcast
