Canonical Classics ← 第十三回
第十三回
xiànxuéjīnxīngjiěè
shuāngchālǐngqīnliúsēng

Trapped in the Tiger's Den, the Gold Star Dispels the Peril · At Twin-Fork Ridge, Liu Boqin Takes In the Monk

太保還家
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

太保還家 Home to the Guardian's House

qīndàoleménshǒujiāngzhìxiàjiào:「xiǎodemenzài?」zhǐjiànzǒuchūsānjiātóngdōushìguàixíngèxiàngzhīlèishàngqiántuōtuōzhīkángjiāngjìnqīnfēnjiàogǎnzǎoleānpáijiāngláidàihuítóuyíngjiēsānzàngjìnnèixiāngjiànsānzàngyòubàixièqīnhòuēnliánmǐnjiùmìngqīndào:「tóngxiāngzhīrénláozhìxiè。」zuòdìngcháyǒulǎolǐngzheduìsānzàngjìnqīndào:「shìjiāxiǎo。」sānzàngdào:「qǐnglìngtángshàngzuòpínsēngfèngbài。」lǎodào:「zhǎnglǎoyuǎnqǐngzhēnláobài。」qīndào:「qīnashìtángwángjiàxiàchāiwǎng西tiānjiànqiújīngzhěshìjiānzàilǐngtóushàngzháoháierháierniànguózhīrénqǐngláijiāxiēmíngsòngshàng。」lǎowényánshífēnhuāndào:「hǎohǎohǎojiùshìqǐngzhèbānqiàhǎomíngqīnzhōujiùměizhǎnglǎozuòxiēhǎoshìniànjuànjīngwéndàohòusòng。」zhèliúqīnsuīshìshāshǒuzhènshāndetàibǎoquèyǒuxiēxiàoshùnzhīxīnwéndeyánjiùyàoānpáixiāngzhǐliúzhùsānzàngqīndàoleménshǒujiāngzhìxiàjiào:「xiǎodemenzài?」zhǐjiànzǒuchūsānjiātóngdōushìguàixíngèxiàngzhīlèishàngqiántuōtuōzhīkángjiāngjìnqīnfēnjiàogǎnzǎoleānpáijiāngláidàihuítóuyíngjiēsānzàngjìnnèixiāngjiànsānzàngyòubàixièqīnhòuēnliánmǐnjiùmìngqīndào:「tóngxiāngzhīrénláozhìxiè。」zuòdìngcháyǒulǎolǐngzheduìsānzàngjìnqīndào:「shìjiāxiǎo。」sānzàngdào:「qǐnglìngtángshàngzuòpínsēngfèngbài。」lǎodào:「zhǎnglǎoyuǎnqǐngzhēnláobài。」qīndào:「qīnashìtángwángjiàxiàchāiwǎng西tiānjiànqiújīngzhěshìjiānzàilǐngtóushàngzháoháierháierniànguózhīrénqǐngláijiāxiēmíngsòngshàng。」lǎowényánshífēnhuāndào:「hǎohǎohǎojiùshìqǐngzhèbānqiàhǎomíngqīnzhōujiùměizhǎnglǎozuòxiēhǎoshìniànjuànjīngwéndàohòusòng。」zhèliúqīnsuīshìshāshǒuzhènshāndetàibǎoquèyǒuxiēxiàoshùnzhīxīnwéndeyánjiùyàoānpáixiāngzhǐliúzhùsānzàng


逐句解 Line by line

qīndàoleménshǒujiāngzhìxiàjiào:「xiǎodemenzài?」zhǐjiànzǒuchūsānjiātóngdōushìguàixíngèxiàngzhīlèishàngqiántuōtuōzhīkángjiāngjìnqīnfēnjiàogǎnzǎoleānpáijiāngláidàihuítóuyíngjiēsānzàngjìnnèixiāngjiànsānzàngyòubàixièqīnhòuēnliánmǐnjiùmìngqīndào:「tóngxiāngzhīrénláozhìxiè。」zuòdìngcháyǒulǎolǐngzheduìsānzàngjìn qīndàoleménshǒujiāngzhìxiàjiào:「xiǎodemenzài?」zhǐjiànzǒuchūsānjiātóngdōushìguàixíngèxiàngzhīlèishàngqiántuōtuōzhīkángjiāngjìnqīnfēnjiàogǎnzǎoleānpáijiāngláidàihuítóuyíngjiēsānzàngjìnnèixiāngjiànsānzàngyòubàixièqīnhòuēnliánmǐnjiùmìngqīndào:「tóngxiāngzhīrénláozhìxiè。」zuòdìngcháyǒulǎolǐngzheduìsānzàngjìn

When Boqin reached his gate, he flung down the dead tiger and called out: “Where are you lads?” Out came three or four house-servants, all of them of grotesque form and evil aspect, who came forward, hauling and tugging, and carried the tiger off inside. Boqin gave orders that it be skinned early and made ready to serve to the guest. Then he turned back to usher Sanzang within, and when they had greeted one another, Sanzang once again bowed his thanks for Boqin's great kindness and mercy in saving his life. Boqin said: “We are men of the same district — what need is there of thanks?” When they had sat down and taken tea, an old woman appeared, leading a young wife, and they made their salutations to Sanzang. Boqin said: “This is my mother, and my humble wife.”

家僮 (jiā tóng), the “house-servants,” are drawn as grotesque — a reminder that this is a hunter's rough household on the wild frontier, for all the courtesy of its master.

qīndào:「shìjiāxiǎo。」sānzàngdào:「qǐnglìngtángshàngzuòpínsēngfèngbài。」lǎodào:「zhǎnglǎoyuǎnqǐngzhēnláobài。」qīndào:「qīnashìtángwángjiàxiàchāiwǎng西tiānjiànqiújīngzhěshìjiānzàilǐngtóushàngzháoháierháierniànguózhīrénqǐngláijiāxiēmíngsòngshàng。」lǎowényánshífēnhuāndào:「hǎohǎohǎojiùshìqǐngzhèbānqiàhǎomíngqīnzhōujiùměizhǎnglǎozuòxiēhǎoshìniànjuànjīngwéndàohòusòng。」zhèliúqīnsuīshìshāshǒuzhènshāndetàibǎoquèyǒuxiēxiàoshùnzhīxīnwéndeyánjiùyàoānpáixiāngzhǐliúzhùsānzàng qīndào:「shìjiāxiǎo。」sānzàngdào:「qǐnglìngtángshàngzuòpínsēngfèngbài。」lǎodào:「zhǎnglǎoyuǎnqǐngzhēnláobài。」qīndào:「qīnashìtángwángjiàxiàchāiwǎng西tiānjiànqiújīngzhěshìjiānzàilǐngtóushàngzháoháierháierniànguózhīrénqǐngláijiāxiēmíngsòngshàng。」lǎowényánshífēnhuāndào:「hǎohǎohǎojiùshìqǐngzhèbānqiàhǎomíngqīnzhōujiùměizhǎnglǎozuòxiēhǎoshìniànjuànjīngwéndàohòusòng。」zhèliúqīnsuīshìshāshǒuzhènshāndetàibǎoquèyǒuxiēxiàoshùnzhīxīnwéndeyánjiùyàoānpáixiāngzhǐliúzhùsānzàng

Sanzang said: “Pray let your honoured mother take the high seat, and let this poor monk pay his respects.” The old woman said: “Elder, you are a traveller from afar; let each of us stand on no ceremony, and spare yourself the bow.” Boqin said: “Mother, he is a man sent under the Tang king to go to the Western Heaven to see the Buddha and seek scriptures. Just now, on the ridge-top, he met your son, and your son, mindful that we are men of one country, has asked him home to rest his horse, and tomorrow will see him on his way.” Hearing this, the old woman was filled with joy and said: “Good, good, good. Even had we sought for it, we could not have hit on so apt a time. Tomorrow is your father's death-anniversary; pray prevail on the elder to do some good works and read a scroll of scripture, and the day after, we can send him off.” Now this Liu Boqin, though a slayer of tigers and Guardian of the Mountain, had for all that something of a filial heart; and hearing his mother's words, he set about at once to prepare the incense and paper, and kept Sanzang there.

週忌 (zhōu jì) is the anniversary of a death; the mother's wish that Sanzang “read a scroll of scripture” (念卷經文, with as a measure of scripture, juàn) to make merit for the dead sets up the memorial service of the chapter's close. 香紙, “incense and paper,” are the offerings burned for the departed.


總評 Commentary

The homecoming brings the chapter fully into the human sphere and introduces Boqin's household — the grotesque servants, the old mother, the young wife — with a novelist's economy. The exchange of courtesies is finely observed: Sanzang's insistence on paying formal respects, the old woman's gracious demurral, Boqin's proud presentation of the pilgrim's imperial errand. And the scene turns on a happy coincidence that is also a plot-hinge: the very next day is the anniversary of Boqin's father's death, and the mother, delighted, asks the monk to perform a memorial service. Two of the chapter's threads are thus tied — the hospitality owed to a guest and the filial duty owed to the dead — and the bluff tiger-slayer is shown to have, besides his courage, “something of a filial heart,” a stroke that deepens him beyond the type of the rough hunter.