卜雨立賭 The Divination and the Wager
此人是誰？原來是當朝欽天監臺正先生袁天罡的叔父，袁守誠是也。那先生果然相貌稀奇，儀容秀麗；名揚大國，術冠長安。龍王入門來，與先生相見。禮畢，請龍上坐，童子獻茶。先生問曰：「公來問何事？」龍王曰：「請卜天上陰晴事如何。」先生即袖傳一課，斷曰：「雲迷山頂，霧罩林梢。若占雨澤，準在明朝。」龍王曰：「明日甚時下雨？雨有多少尺寸？」先生道：「明日辰時布雲，巳時發雷，午時下雨，未時雨足，共得水三尺三寸零四十八點。」龍王笑曰：「此言不可作戲。如是明日有雨，依你斷的時辰、數目，我送課金五十兩奉謝；若無雨，或不按時辰、數目，我與你實說：定要打壞你的門面，扯碎你的招牌，即時趕出長安，不許在此惑眾。」先生忻然而答：「這個一定任你。請了，請了。明朝雨後來會。」此人是谁？原来是当朝钦天监台正先生袁天罡的叔父，袁守诚是也。那先生果然相貌稀奇，仪容秀丽；名扬大国，术冠长安。龙王入门来，与先生相见。礼毕，请龙上坐，童子献茶。先生问曰：「公来问何事？」龙王曰：「请卜天上阴晴事如何。」先生即袖传一课，断曰：「云迷山顶，雾罩林梢。若占雨泽，准在明朝。」龙王曰：「明日甚时下雨？雨有多少尺寸？」先生道：「明日辰时布云，巳时发雷，午时下雨，未时雨足，共得水三尺三寸零四十八点。」龙王笑曰：「此言不可作戏。如是明日有雨，依你断的时辰、数目，我送课金五十两奉谢；若无雨，或不按时辰、数目，我与你实说：定要打坏你的门面，扯碎你的招牌，即时赶出长安，不许在此惑众。」先生忻然而答：「这个一定任你。请了，请了。明朝雨后来会。」
逐句解 Line by line
Who was this man? He was none other than the uncle of Yuan Tiangang, the reigning Director of the Astronomical Bureau — Yuan Shoucheng himself.
A small stroke of authentication. 袁天罡 (Yuán Tiāngāng) was a real and famous Tang astrologer, and the novel makes this street-corner diviner his uncle. 欽天監臺正 is the Director of the imperial Astronomical Bureau, the office that ran the calendar and watched the sky — so the man in the market stall turns out to have the establishment in the family. 當朝, 'of the present court,' takes 朝 as cháo.
The master was indeed of striking appearance and elegant bearing; his fame spread through the great realm, his art the foremost in Chang'an.
相 in 相貌, 'countenance,' is xiàng; 冠 in 術冠長安, 'his art crowns Chang'an,' is guàn, 'to top, to come first'; and 長 in 長安 is cháng.
The Dragon King came in at the door and greeted the master. When the courtesies were done, he invited the dragon to the seat of honor, and a serving-boy presented tea.
Courtesies, the seat of honor, tea brought by a serving-boy: the dragon is received as an honored guest, which will make what he does to this shop tomorrow the uglier. 相 in 相見, 'to meet each other,' is xiāng, and 童子, 'serving-boy,' takes 子 as zǐ.
The master asked: 'On what matter has the gentleman come to inquire?'
公 is a polite 'sir,' the way you address a gentleman whose rank you do not know. The consultation begins.
The Dragon King said: 'I would have you divine how the skies will run — overcast or clear.'
Of every question in the world, the dragon asks the one whose answer is supposed to be his own to give. 陰晴, 'cloud and clear,' is the weather; 卜, 'to divine,' is bǔ.
The master straightaway passed a hexagram from his sleeve and pronounced: 'Cloud shrouds the mountain-tops, mist wraps the treetops. If you would divine the rain, it will surely fall tomorrow.'
袖傳一課 is passing a divination out of the sleeve. The oracle arrives in four-character phrases, as oracles do, and says something perfectly plain: it will rain tomorrow. 占 in 若占, 'if you divine,' is zhàn, and 明朝, 'tomorrow morning,' takes 朝 as zhāo.
The Dragon King said: 'At what hour tomorrow will the rain come? And how many chǐ and cùn will it measure?'
The dragon presses for numbers, which are the detail he means to falsify. 尺 and 寸 are kept as chǐ and cùn — the chi about a third of a meter, the cun a tenth of that. 甚 in 甚時, 'what time,' is shén.
The master said: 'Tomorrow at the hour of chen the clouds will spread, at si the thunder will break, at wu the rain will fall, and at wei it will be complete — in all, three chǐ, three cùn, and forty-eight drops of water.'
And he gets them, in almost absurd detail. The double-hours 辰, 巳, 午 and 未 run from roughly seven in the morning to three in the afternoon, and the total comes down to forty-eight 點, individual drops. No hedging, no margin of error — which is exactly what makes this forecast impossible to fudge, and the trap perfect. 得 in 共得, 'in all obtain,' is dé.
The Dragon King said with a laugh: 'These words must be no jest. If tomorrow it truly rains, and rains by the hours and the amounts you have set, I will send you fifty taels of divination-silver in thanks. But if there is no rain, or if it does not keep to your hours and amounts, then I tell you plainly: I will smash your shop-front, tear your signboard to shreds, and drive you out of Chang'an on the spot, and you shall not delude the crowds here any longer.'
The bet: fifty taels of silver against the man's livelihood. 課金 is the diviner's fee, 五十兩 is fifty taels of silver (兩, liǎng), and 惑眾, 'to delude the multitude,' is the standard charge brought against unlicensed prophets. Note what winning would take: precisely the display of unlawful rain over Chang'an that his own ministers warned him against. (長 in 長安 is cháng.)
The master answered cheerfully: 'That is entirely as you please. Farewell, then, farewell — we shall meet again tomorrow, after the rain.'
忻然 is 'gladly, with an easy air.' The diviner does not argue and does not hedge; he simply says he will see him after the rain, in the tone of a man who has already read the timetable. 明朝, 'tomorrow,' takes 朝 as zhāo, and 一 in 一定 is yí before the falling tone of 定.
The scene at the diviner's is the still center around which the chapter turns. The Dragon King, in disguise, asks Yuan Shoucheng to foretell the weather — the one thing a rain-dragon ought to command absolutely — and the diviner answers with a precision that amounts to provocation: rain tomorrow, spreading at the hour of chen, thundering at si, falling at wu, complete at wei, to a total of three chǐ, three cùn and forty-eight drops. The exactness is the hook. A vague forecast could never be disproved; this one is practically an invitation to try.
The dragon takes the bait with a laugh, staking fifty taels against the man's shopfront and signboard. What he cannot see is that the wager is a trap of his own construction: to win it he must alter the rain, and the reader has already heard, from the dragon's own ministers, that tampering with clouds and rain over Chang'an is an offense against Heaven. Yuan Shoucheng's cheerful, unruffled acceptance — we shall meet again tomorrow, after the rain — carries the ease of a man who knows the future is not his opponent's to change.