原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
背陰山
The Mountain of the Shaded North
徑行數里,忽見一座高山,陰雲垂地,黑霧迷空。太宗道:「崔先生,那廂是甚麼山?」判官道:「乃幽冥背陰山。」太宗悚懼道:「朕如何去得?」判官道:「陛下寬心,有臣等引領。」太宗戰戰兢兢,相隨二人,上得山岩,擡頭觀看,只見:径行数里,忽见一座高山,阴云垂地,黑雾迷空。太宗道:「崔先生,那厢是甚么山?」判官道:「乃幽冥背阴山。」太宗悚惧道:「朕如何去得?」判官道:「陛下宽心,有臣等引领。」太宗战战兢兢,相随二人,上得山岩,擡头观看,只见:
逐句解 Line by line
徑行數里,忽見一座高山,陰雲垂地,黑霧迷空。
径行数里,忽见一座高山,阴云垂地,黑雾迷空。
Going straight on for several li, they saw all at once a high mountain, where dark clouds hung to the ground and black mist blotted out the sky.
陰雲垂地,黑霧迷空, the standard atmospherics of the infernal landscape.
太宗道:「崔先生,那廂是甚麼山?」判官道:「乃幽冥背陰山。」
太宗道:「崔先生,那厢是甚么山?」判官道:「乃幽冥背阴山。」
Taizong said, 'Master Cui, what mountain is that yonder?' The magistrate replied, 'It is the Mountain of the Shaded North, in the realm of shadowy gloom.'
那廂 'over there.' 甚麼 shénme, 'what.' 背陰山 (bèi-yīn shān) 'the mountain that turns its back to the sun,' the sunless peak of the underworld.
太宗悚懼道:「朕如何去得?」判官道:「陛下寬心,有臣等引領。」
太宗悚惧道:「朕如何去得?」判官道:「陛下宽心,有臣等引领。」
In dread Taizong said, 'How am I ever to cross it?' The magistrate said, 'Let Your Majesty be at ease — your servants are here to lead the way.'
悚懼 to be struck with fear. 去得 dé, 'able to go.'
太宗戰戰兢兢,相隨二人,上得山岩,擡頭觀看,只見:
太宗战战兢兢,相随二人,上得山岩,擡头观看,只见:
Trembling and fearful, Taizong followed the two of them, climbed up onto the crags, and, raising his head to look, beheld this:
戰戰兢兢 'trembling with dread.' The formula 只見 introduces the rhapsody of the mountain that follows.
總評 Commentary
The mountain-crossing is the threshold of the hell-tour proper. The tale keeps the emperor in a posture of visible terror — 悚懼, 戰戰兢兢 — wholly dependent on his infernal guides, a marked contrast to the sovereign he is in the world above. The prose sets him at the foot of the crag so that the ensuing rhapsody can unfold the sunless peak before his eyes and the reader's alike.