原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
含詞賦 With rhapsody
袈裟妙製
The Wonders and Making of the Cassock
菩薩道：菩萨道：
這袈裟，龍披一縷，免大鵬吞噬之災；这袈裟，龙披一缕，免大鹏吞噬之灾；
鶴掛一絲，得超凡入聖之妙。鹤挂一丝，得超凡入圣之妙。
但坐處，有萬神朝禮；但坐处，有万神朝礼；
凡舉動，有七佛隨身。凡举动，有七佛随身。
這袈裟，是冰蠶造練抽絲，巧匠翻騰為線，仙娥織就，神女機成，方方簇幅繡花縫。这袈裟，是冰蚕造练抽丝，巧匠翻腾为线，仙娥织就，神女机成，方方簇幅绣花缝。
片片相幫堆錦簆。片片相帮堆锦簆。
玲瓏散碎鬥妝花，色亮飄光噴寶豔。玲珑散碎斗妆花，色亮飘光喷宝艳。
穿上滿身紅霧遶，脫來一段彩雲飛。穿上满身红雾遶，脱来一段彩云飞。
三天門外透元光，五岳山前生寶氣。三天门外透元光，五岳山前生宝气。
重重嵌就西番蓮，灼灼懸珠星斗象。重重嵌就西番莲，灼灼悬珠星斗象。
四角上有夜明珠，攢頂間一顆祖母綠。四角上有夜明珠，攒顶间一颗祖母绿。
雖無全照原本體，也有生光八寶攢。虽无全照原本体，也有生光八宝攒。
逐句解 Line by line
菩薩道：
菩萨道：
The Bodhisattva said:
The speech-attribution 菩薩道 introduces the descriptive rhapsody of the cassock.
這袈裟，龍披一縷，免大鵬吞噬之災；
这袈裟，龙披一缕，免大鹏吞噬之灾；
This cassock — let a dragon drape but one thread of it, and it is spared the disaster of the roc's devouring;
鶴掛一絲，得超凡入聖之妙。
鹤挂一丝，得超凡入圣之妙。
let a crane hang but one strand, and it gains the marvel of passing beyond the mortal into the holy.
得 in 得超凡 ('gains [the marvel of] transcending the mortal') is dé ('to attain').
但坐處，有萬神朝禮；
但坐处，有万神朝礼；
Wherever its wearer but sits, ten thousand spirits pay court-homage;
朝 in 朝禮 ('to pay court-homage') is cháo.
凡舉動，有七佛隨身。
凡举动，有七佛随身。
in his every movement, the Seven Buddhas attend him.
七佛 are the Seven Buddhas of the past, of whom Sakyamuni is the last.
這袈裟，是冰蠶造練抽絲，巧匠翻騰為線，仙娥織就，神女機成，方方簇幅繡花縫。
这袈裟，是冰蚕造练抽丝，巧匠翻腾为线，仙娥织就，神女机成，方方簇幅绣花缝。
This cassock is spun from the silk of ice-silkworms, drawn into thread by cunning artisans, tossed and worked into yarn, woven by immortal maidens and finished on the loom by goddesses; square upon square, its panels gathered and sewn with embroidered flowers.
冰蠶 (the ice-silkworm) is a legendary silk-producing creature. 為 in 翻騰為線 ('worked into thread') is wéi ('to become, to make into').
片片相幫堆錦簆。
片片相帮堆锦簆。
Piece joined to piece, heaped upon the brocade reed.
相 in 相幫 ('joined to one another') is xiāng; 簆 (kòu) is the reed of a loom.
玲瓏散碎鬥妝花，色亮飄光噴寶豔。
玲珑散碎斗妆花，色亮飘光喷宝艳。
Exquisite scattered fragments vie in their flowered adornment; bright of hue, drifting light, spurting jeweled splendor.
散 in 散碎 ('scattered, in fragments') is sǎn.
穿上滿身紅霧遶，脫來一段彩雲飛。
穿上满身红雾遶，脱来一段彩云飞。
Put on, a red mist wreathes the whole body; taken off, a swath of colored cloud takes flight.
三天門外透元光，五岳山前生寶氣。
三天门外透元光，五岳山前生宝气。
Beyond the Three Heavens' gate it lets through a primal radiance; before the Five Sacred Peaks it breeds a jeweled vapor.
五岳 are the Five Sacred Peaks of China; 三天 the Daoist Three Heavens.
重重嵌就西番蓮，灼灼懸珠星斗象。
重重嵌就西番莲，灼灼悬珠星斗象。
Layer upon layer inlaid with Western lotus-blooms; glittering, hung with pearls in the images of the stars.
重重 ('layer upon layer') reads 重 as chóng; 斗 in 星斗 ('the stars') is dǒu. 西番蓮 is the passionflower or Western lotus motif.
四角上有夜明珠，攢頂間一顆祖母綠。
四角上有夜明珠，攒顶间一颗祖母绿。
At its four corners are night-shining pearls; gathered at its crown, a single emerald.
祖母綠 (zǔmǔlǜ) is the emerald.
雖無全照原本體，也有生光八寶攢。
虽无全照原本体，也有生光八宝攒。
Though it does not wholly reveal its original substance, yet it has the radiance of eight gathered treasures.
總評 Commentary
The rhapsody of the cassock opens the chapter's ornamental climax, and its first movement dwells on two things: the garment's protective power and its miraculous manufacture. A single thread of it wards off the roc and lifts its wearer beyond the mortal; wherever he sits or moves, spirits and Buddhas attend. Then the fu turns to craft, cataloguing in hyperbolic detail a making that is wholly celestial — silk from ice-silkworms, thread drawn by cunning artisans, cloth woven by immortal maidens and goddesses, panels sewn with embroidered flowers and inlaid with lotus and stars. The mode is pure ecphrasis, the pleasure lying in the sheer accumulation of marvels; but every wonder serves to establish the cassock as an object of more-than-earthly worth, the fit vesture of the destined pilgrim.