明代笑書《古今譚概》「蝦蟆給事」考——兼論官場謔稱的流傳

A Study of ''Toad Officer'' in Feng Meng Long’s Humorous Book

「蝦蟆給事」指明萬曆年間的言官胡汝寧。明末災荒頻繁，他因諫言禁殺蛤蟆以求天恩以解災荒而得此謔稱。不僅淪為明末官場中一大笑料，更在如《古今譚概》、《萬曆野獲編》、《國榷》、《陔餘叢考》等明清筆記雜談里不斷被提及。直至今日，這一謔稱仍有「生命力」，時而被運用、誤用，其人物與事蹟因年代愈久而模糊不清。本文即以「知語境、明語源」為出發點，補充這則典故的歷史背景，進而淺談官場謔稱的流傳。從萬曆官場混號「蝦蟆給事」為切入點，梳理文獻所記載的胡汝寧生平事跡，釐清他與當時的朝臣文士及政治風波之聯繫，還原以他為圓心的明末政壇環境。「謔稱」也可視為一種人物品鑒，它的流傳離不開眾多文人的不懈的傳播敘述。歷史有著荒誕行徑或言論的官宦不在少數，「蝦蟆給事」一則流傳至今，似可說明「官場謔稱」的影響力。

''Toad Officer'' refers to Hu Ru ning, a supervisor of the Late Ming. He once admonished to ban slaughter of toads in order to relieve the famine, as a result, the nickname was given. It not only became a widely accepted joke of officialdom at the time, but also be mentioned in novels and notes of Ming-Qing Dynasty repeatedly. This article supplements the historical background of this allusion, and furthermore, discuss the spread of official nicknames.