Sound Sleep

By Yue Rugou

Some people seem to be heavily laden with anxiety and have difficulty going to sleep.Such people should learn how the ancient people used to repose.There were recorded a few people who were particularly good at sleeping in theAncient and Modern Random Chitchatby Feng Menglong (1574-1646) in the late Ming Dynasty.

It was rumored that Xiahou Yin,an ancient man could sleep while walking,and more interestingly,would be snoring,no matter if he was ascending a mountain or crossing a river.However,he walked steadily and would never miss a step.He would instantly wake up when he arrived at his destination.Thus,he was facetiously dubbed the “Sleeping God.”

Legend has it that Mr.Wen Wufeng was also an unbelievable sleeper.Once he was strolling along in the market when a feeling of drowsiness suddenly hit him,he put his hand on a friend’s shoulder and said:“Lead the way and walk slowly.” In this way,he paced forward,while snoring like thunder.It wouldn’t be bad if modern people could make use of every bit of spare time for a catnap during commutes like Mr.Wen.

Too much sleep can hinder business,though.One day,according to legend,an assistant to the magistrate of Huating County,somewhat ranked like the deputy head of the county today,went to pay a visit to a local landlord.Before the host made his appearance,the assistant fell asleep in his seat.After a while,the landlord came out.Seeing that the guest was sound asleep,he was reluctant to disturb him,so he took an opposite seat and imprudently slipped into his dream.After a while,the assistant woke up and saw his host asleep.He closed his eyes and went to sleep again.When the host woke up,he saw that the guest was still sleeping so he went on to sleep.By the time the assistant woke up again,it was already night,but the host had not woken up yet,so he left quietly.When the host woke up,he saw that his guest had left and he went back to his room and continued sleeping.

Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo(1031-1101) was of a bold and unrestrained character.He often lamented,“Drifting away the rest of my life in a small boat,I would rather idle away from the earthly bustle.” That year he was exiled to Huangzhou City,and after making a lot of trouble there,the whole city was out for him while he was lying stretched on a bed in a sound sleep and snoring loudly as usual.He was further banished to Huizhou City in his later years.He wrote in a poem:“Aware that the master valued his spring sleep,the Taoist priest gently tolled the morning bell.” When his political opponent Zhang Dun,the then prime minister,heard of his story,he laughed:“Master Su should be so happy even in his exile.Well then,banish him to Danzhou in Hainan Province to ‘enjoy his happiness.’”

Regardless of his relegation to the end of the land or the corners of the sea,Su could always enjoy a deep slumber.Even on his way to Hainan in banishment,he once again boasted about his sweet sleep:“Three cups of drink will bring me a merry and lively repose.”

That is unquestionably a sound sleeper.

(FromShenzhen Economic Daily,July 13,2020.Translation:Luo Dongyuan)

有些人心事重，總是睡不好，這樣的人應該看看古人是怎么睡的。馮夢龍在《古今譚概》里，記錄了幾個特別能睡覺的人。

相傳古人夏侯隱，無論登山渡水，總能在行走中睡覺，還會打鼾，但他行走穩健，不會被絆倒，到目的地會立即醒來，人稱“睡仙”。

相傳文五峰先生也是這樣。逛著街市，睡意上頭，他就用手扶著童子的肩頭說：“好好扶著，走慢些?！庇谑牵p腳不停，鼾聲如雷。我們現代人工作勞累，如果能在上班途中、旅游車上見縫插針，像文先生一樣睡一覺，挺好。

華亭縣丞，就算是副縣長吧，有天去拜訪一位鄉紳，主人還沒出來，縣丞就在座位上睡著了。不一會兒，主人來到，見客人正在睡覺，不忍驚動，坐在對面的座位上也不小心睡著了。一會兒縣丞醒來，見主人熟睡，就閉上眼睛又睡了。主人醒來，見客人還在睡，也接著睡了。等到縣丞再醒的時候，天已經黑了，主人竟然還沒有睡醒，縣丞悄悄走了。主人醒后，一看客人不見了，回房繼續睡。

蘇東坡是豪放人，“小舟從此逝，江海寄余生”。那年，他被貶黃州，大鬧黃州城之后，大家都滿城找他，哪知他卻“鼻酣如雷”，高臥未起。晚年貶謫惠州，東坡詩云：“報道先生春睡美，道人輕打五更鐘。”他的政敵、宰相章惇聞之，笑道：“蘇子瞻竟然如此快活！”好吧，再貶到海南儋州去快活吧。

不管貶謫到天涯還是海角，蘇軾總能美美鼾睡，在貶謫海南路上，東坡再次夸耀自個兒的美睡：“三杯軟飽后，一枕黑甜余?！?/p>

這才是真的好睡。

（摘自《深圳商報》2020年7月13日）