Canonical Classics ← 第十一回
第十一回
yóutàizōnghuánhún
jìnguāguǒliúquánpèi

Touring the Underworld, Taizong Returns to Life · Presenting Melons and Fruit, Liu Quan Renews the Marriage Bond

背陰山
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

背陰山 The Mountain of the Shaded North

jìngxíngshùjiànzuògāoshānyīnyúnchuíhēikōngtàizōngdào:「cuīxiānshēngxiāngshìshénmeshān?」pànguāndào:「nǎiyōumíngbèiyīnshān。」tàizōngsǒngdào:「zhèn?」pànguāndào:「xiàkuānxīnyǒuchénděngyǐnlǐng。」tàizōngzhànzhànjīngjīngxiāngsuíèrrénshàngshānyántáitóuguānkànzhǐjiànjìngxíngshùjiànzuògāoshānyīnyúnchuíhēikōngtàizōngdào:「cuīxiānshēngxiāngshìshénmeshān?」pànguāndào:「nǎiyōumíngbèiyīnshān。」tàizōngsǒngdào:「zhèn?」pànguāndào:「xiàkuānxīnyǒuchénděngyǐnlǐng。」tàizōngzhànzhànjīngjīngxiāngsuíèrrénshàngshānyántáitóuguānkànzhǐjiàn


逐句解 Line by line

jìngxíngshùjiànzuògāoshānyīnyúnchuíhēikōng jìngxíngshùjiànzuògāoshānyīnyúnchuíhēikōng

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.

tàizōngdào:「cuīxiānshēngxiāngshìshénmeshān?」pànguāndào:「nǎiyōumíngbèiyīnshān。」 tàizōngdào:「cuīxiānshēngxiāngshìshénmeshān?」pànguāndào:「nǎiyōumíngbèiyīnshān。」

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.

tàizōngsǒngdào:「zhèn?」pànguāndào:「xiàkuānxīnyǒuchénděngyǐnlǐng。」 tàizōngsǒngdào:「zhèn?」pànguāndào:「xiàkuānxīnyǒuchénděngyǐnlǐng。」

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 , 'able to go.'

tàizōngzhànzhànjīngjīngxiāngsuíèrrénshàngshānyántáitóuguānkànzhǐjiàn tàizōngzhànzhànjīngjīngxiāngsuíèrrénshàngshānyántáitóuguānkànzhǐjiàn

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.