Fu Chang was a young man who lived in China a long time ago. He wanted to work for the government so he took an exam to get the job. He was sure he`d pass the exam because he was very good at writing literature and poetry.
During the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD) it was very difficult to get a post in the government but if you passed the exam you could earn a lot of money and have a higher social status.
«I want to be an imperial official» thought Fu Chang. He thought that he would wear wonderful silk clothes and have servants to carry him around town. He went up the stairs which had sculptures of dragons on both sides and entered a room where a board of several men were waiting to tell him the results.The oldest man said: «We are very impresed by your work, young man. You use black ink to represent the money you have and red ink to express your debts. We think it is a very clever way of doing it and for that reason you deserve the post.»
Nowadays nobody remembers Fu Chang. However banks still use the expression »in the red» when they refer to negative numbers.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario