10．月部 moon
月moon下under老old人man
This story took place in the Tang Dynasty唐. One day, a man named Weigu韦固 got up very early in the morning. As he stepped out the door to his house, he saw that the moon was still in the sky. He also saw an old man sitting on the stairway that lead up to his house reading a book. When he asked the old man what he was reading the old man replied that it was a book from the immortal realm. Shocked, Weigu asked what kind of job the old man held in the immortal world. The old man replied that he was in charge of human beings’ marriages. Weigu was happy to hear this because he was very poor and had thus far been unable to find a beautiful girl to marry him. So Weigu asked the old man where he could find a girl to marry. The old man took him to market and pointed to a three year old girl in a shabby dress in the distance, “She will be your future bride.” Weigu was very disappointed and doubted the old man’s words.
But 14 years later, Weigu had become a government official and married a beautiful young girl. Curious, he made inquiries and discovered that his bride was indeed the three-year old girl he saw in the market 14 years ago. As Weigu’s story spread, people began to believe that there was a supernatural matchmaker 月下老人who arranged everyone’s marriages.
【拼音】yuè xià lǎo rén
【含义】原指主管婚姻的神仙，后泛指媒人。
【出处】唐·李复言《续玄怪录·定婚店》记载：杜陵韦固，元和二年旅次宋城，遇一老人倚布囊，坐于阶上，向月捡书。 固问所寻何书，答曰：‘此幽冥之书。’固曰：‘然则君何主？’曰：“天下之婚姻耳。”又问囊中何物，答曰：“赤绳子耳。以系夫妻之足，及其生，则潜用相系，虽雠敌之家，贵贱悬隔，天涯从宦， 吴楚异乡，此绳一系，终不可逭。”
