原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
改雨犯條
The Dragon Breaks the Law of Heaven
至次日，點札風伯、雷公、雲童、電母，直至長安城九霄空上。他挨到那巳時方布雲，午時發雷，未時落雨，申時雨止，卻只得三尺零四十點。改了他一個時辰，剋了他三寸八點。雨後發放眾將班師。他又按落雲頭，還變作白衣秀士，到那西門裡大街上，撞入袁守誠卦舖，不容分說，就把他招牌、筆、硯等一齊捽碎。那先生坐在椅上，公然不動。這龍王又掄起門板便打，罵道：「這妄言禍福的妖人，擅惑眾心的潑漢！你卦又不靈，言又狂謬。說今日下雨的時辰、點數俱不相對。你還危然高坐，趁早去，饒你死罪！」至次日，点札风伯、雷公、云童、电母，直至长安城九霄空上。他挨到那巳时方布云，午时发雷，未时落雨，申时雨止，却只得三尺零四十点。改了他一个时辰，克了他三寸八点。雨后发放众将班师。他又按落云头，还变作白衣秀士，到那西门里大街上，撞入袁守诚卦舖，不容分说，就把他招牌、笔、砚等一齐捽碎。那先生坐在椅上，公然不动。这龙王又抡起门板便打，骂道：「这妄言祸福的妖人，擅惑众心的泼汉！你卦又不灵，言又狂谬。说今日下雨的时辰、点数俱不相对。你还危然高坐，趁早去，饶你死罪！」
逐句解 Line by line
至次日，點札風伯、雷公、雲童、電母，直至長安城九霄空上。
至次日，点札风伯、雷公、云童、电母，直至长安城九霄空上。
The next day, he mustered the Earl of Wind, the Duke of Thunder, the Cloud-Lad, and the Lightning-Mother, and went up to the ninth heaven above the city of Chang'an.
風伯、雷公、雲童、電母 are the personified spirits of wind, thunder, cloud, and lightning who attend the rain-making; 點札 is 'to muster by name-slip'; 長 in 長安 is cháng.
他挨到那巳時方布雲，午時發雷，未時落雨，申時雨止，卻只得三尺零四十點。改了他一個時辰，剋了他三寸八點。
他挨到那巳时方布云，午时发雷，未时落雨，申时雨止，却只得三尺零四十点。改了他一个时辰，克了他三寸八点。
He held off until the hour of si before spreading the clouds, made the thunder break at wu, the rain fall at wei, and the rain cease at shen — and let fall only three chǐ and forty drops. He had shifted the hour by one, and docked the amount by three cùn and eight drops.
挨 ('to hold off, drag out') is read ái; 那 is nà; 只得 ('only got') takes 得 as dé. The double-hour shen runs about 3–5 p.m.; against the decreed 'clouds at chen, complete at wei, three chǐ three cùn forty-eight drops,' the tampering is exact and deliberate — and it is the crime.
雨後發放眾將班師。他又按落雲頭，還變作白衣秀士，到那西門裡大街上，撞入袁守誠卦舖，不容分說，就把他招牌、筆、硯等一齊捽碎。
雨后发放众将班师。他又按落云头，还变作白衣秀士，到那西门里大街上，撞入袁守诚卦舖，不容分说，就把他招牌、笔、砚等一齐捽碎。
When the rain was done he dismissed his generals and sent them back. Then, pressing down his cloud-head, he changed once more into the white-robed scholar, went to the great street inside the West Gate, burst into Yuan Shoucheng's divining-shop, and, giving him no chance to speak, smashed his signboard, brushes, and inkstone all to pieces.
眾將 ('the generals') takes 將 as jiàng; 還 in 還變作 ('changed back') is hái; 那 is nà. 不容分說 is 'to allow no explanation'; 捽碎 (zuó suì) is 'to smash to bits.' The dragon comes in triumph, believing he has won.
那先生坐在椅上，公然不動。
那先生坐在椅上，公然不动。
The master sat in his chair, utterly unmoved.
公然不動 is 'openly, entirely unstirred'; 不 is bú before the falling tone of 動. The diviner's perfect calm is the first sign that the dragon has misjudged everything.
這龍王又掄起門板便打，罵道：「這妄言禍福的妖人，擅惑眾心的潑漢！你卦又不靈，言又狂謬。說今日下雨的時辰、點數俱不相對。你還危然高坐，趁早去，饒你死罪！」
这龙王又抡起门板便打，骂道：「这妄言祸福的妖人，擅惑众心的泼汉！你卦又不灵，言又狂谬。说今日下雨的时辰、点数俱不相对。你还危然高坐，趁早去，饶你死罪！」
The Dragon King then swung up a door-plank to strike him, cursing: 'You demon who prates of fortune and disaster, you rascal who deludes the crowd's mind! Your divination has no power, your words are wild nonsense. The hours and drops of today's rain you named do not match at all. Yet still you sit there so composed — be off at once, and I will spare your life!'
掄起 (lūn) is 'to swing up'; 妄言禍福 is 'to speak recklessly of fortune and misfortune,' 擅惑眾心 'to delude the public mind at will.' 俱不相對 ('all fail to correspond') has 相 as xiāng; 危然高坐 is 'to sit lofty and composed.'
總評 Commentary
The crime itself is dispatched in a few swift sentences: the dragon musters the spirits of wind, thunder, cloud, and lightning, and deliberately falsifies the decreed rain — clouds an hour late, the total short by three cùn and eight drops. The precision of the tampering mirrors the precision of the forecast; the dragon knows exactly what he is altering and by how much. It is the 犯天條, the violation of Heaven's ordinance, though he still thinks of it only as winning a bet.
He returns in disguise to claim his victory, smashing the diviner's shop and brandishing a door-plank, and his tirade is all confidence — 你卦又不靈，言又狂謬, 'your divination has no power, your words are wild nonsense.' But the scene turns on a single detail held in reserve: 那先生坐在椅上，公然不動, the master sits unmoved. The dragon reads the stillness as insolence; the reader already suspects it is knowledge. The bluster and the calm are set against each other, and the whole weight of the chapter is about to shift.