原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
含詞賦 With rhapsody
陷虎穴
The Fall into the Tiger's Den
及雞方鳴，隨喚從者，卻又驚動寺僧，整治茶湯齋供。齋罷，出離邊界。這長老心忙，太起早了。原來此時秋深時節，雞鳴得早，只好有四更天氣。一行三人，連馬四口，迎著清霜，看著明月，行有數十里遠近，見一山嶺，只得撥草尋路，說不盡崎嶇難走，又恐怕錯了路徑。正疑思之間，忽然失足，三人連馬都跌落坑坎之中。三藏心慌，從者膽戰。卻才悚懼，又聞得裡面哮吼高呼，叫：「拿將來！拿將來！」只見狂風滾滾，擁出五六十個妖邪，將三藏、從者揪了上去。這法師戰戰兢兢的偷眼觀看，上面坐的那魔王十分兇惡。真個是：及鸡方鸣，随唤从者，却又惊动寺僧，整治茶汤斋供。斋罢，出离边界。这长老心忙，太起早了。原来此时秋深时节，鸡鸣得早，只好有四更天气。一行三人，连马四口，迎著清霜，看著明月，行有数十里远近，见一山岭，只得拨草寻路，说不尽崎岖难走，又恐怕错了路径。正疑思之间，忽然失足，三人连马都跌落坑坎之中。三藏心慌，从者胆战。却才悚惧，又闻得里面哮吼高呼，叫：「拿将来！拿将来！」只见狂风滚滚，拥出五六十个妖邪，将三藏、从者揪了上去。这法师战战兢兢的偷眼观看，上面坐的那魔王十分凶恶。真个是：
雄威身凜凜，猛氣貌堂堂。雄威身凛凛，猛气貌堂堂。
電目飛光艷，雷聲振四方。电目飞光艳，雷声振四方。
鋸牙舒口外，鑿齒露腮旁。锯牙舒口外，凿齿露腮旁。
錦繡圍身體，文斑裹脊梁。锦绣围身体，文斑裹脊梁。
鋼鬍稀見肉，鉤爪利如霜。钢胡稀见肉，钩爪利如霜。
東海黃公懼，南山白額王。东海黄公惧，南山白额王。
逐句解 Line by line
及雞方鳴，隨喚從者，卻又驚動寺僧，整治茶湯齋供。齋罷，出離邊界。這長老心忙，太起早了。原來此時秋深時節，雞鳴得早，只好有四更天氣。一行三人，連馬四口，迎著清霜，看著明月，行有數十里遠近，見一山嶺，只得撥草尋路，說不盡崎嶇難走，又恐怕錯了路徑。正疑思之間，忽然失足，三人連馬都跌落坑坎之中。三藏心慌，從者膽戰。卻才悚懼，又聞得裡面哮吼高呼，叫：「拿將來！拿將來！」只見狂風滾滾，擁出五六十個妖邪，將三藏、從者揪了上去。這法師戰戰兢兢的偷眼觀看，上面坐的那魔王十分兇惡。真個是：
及鸡方鸣，随唤从者，却又惊动寺僧，整治茶汤斋供。斋罢，出离边界。这长老心忙，太起早了。原来此时秋深时节，鸡鸣得早，只好有四更天气。一行三人，连马四口，迎著清霜，看著明月，行有数十里远近，见一山岭，只得拨草寻路，说不尽崎岖难走，又恐怕错了路径。正疑思之间，忽然失足，三人连马都跌落坑坎之中。三藏心慌，从者胆战。却才悚惧，又闻得里面哮吼高呼，叫：「拿将来！拿将来！」只见狂风滚滚，拥出五六十个妖邪，将三藏、从者揪了上去。这法师战战兢兢的偷眼观看，上面坐的那魔王十分凶恶。真个是：
As soon as the cock had crowed he roused his attendants; but he startled the temple's monks as well, who set about preparing tea and the vegetarian fare. When the meal was done they left the border behind. This elder's heart was in haste, and he had set out far too early. It happened that the season was deep autumn, when the cocks crow early, and it was only about the fourth watch. The party of three, with the horse a fourth, went on facing the clear frost and watching the bright moon; they had gone some tens of lǐ when they came upon a mountain range, and had no choice but to part the grass and search out a path. The ruggedness of the going was more than words can tell, and they feared, besides, that they had missed the way. In the very midst of their misgiving they suddenly lost their footing, and all three, horse and all, tumbled into a pit. Sanzang's heart quailed, and his attendants trembled with fear. Scarcely had they recovered from their fright when they heard, from within, a roaring and a loud shouting: “Seize them! Bring them here!” Then a fierce wind came rolling out, and fifty or sixty fiends surged forth and hauled Sanzang and his attendants up. The trembling Master stole a glance, and saw that the Monster King seated above was ferocious beyond measure. This was the very sight of him:
四更 (sì gēng) is the fourth of the five night-watches, roughly one to three in the morning — the pilgrim has indeed set out far too soon. The unit 里 (lǐ) is left untranslated. 拿將來, “bring [them] here”: the 將 (jiāng) is here a directional-verbal particle rather than a full verb. The scene turns on the fatal consequence of the too-early start that the last chapter's closing charge had set up.
雄威身凜凜，猛氣貌堂堂。
雄威身凛凛，猛气貌堂堂。
In martial might his frame is awesome; in savage temper his mien is grand.
The rhapsody (賦) that follows portrays the Monster King — revealed in the next scene to be 寅將軍, the Tiger General.
電目飛光艷，雷聲振四方。
电目飞光艳，雷声振四方。
His lightning eyes flash a darting brilliance; his thunder-voice shakes all four quarters.
The hyperbole of eyes like lightning and a voice like thunder is stock diction for a fearsome supernatural being.
鋸牙舒口外，鑿齒露腮旁。
锯牙舒口外，凿齿露腮旁。
Saw-like teeth thrust out past his lips; chisel-fangs show beside his jaws.
鋸牙 (jù yá), “saw-teeth,” and 鑿齒 (záo chǐ), “chisel-fangs” — the bestial mouth begins to give the kingly figure away.
錦繡圍身體，文斑裹脊梁。
锦绣围身体，文斑裹脊梁。
Brocade wraps about his body; patterned stripes enfold his spine.
文斑 (wén bān), the “patterned stripes,” all but name the tiger beneath the royal guise.
鋼鬍稀見肉，鉤爪利如霜。
钢胡稀见肉，钩爪利如霜。
Steel whiskers, with scarce a glimpse of flesh; hooked claws as keen as frost.
鉤爪 (gōu zhǎo), “hooked claws,” likened to frost for their cold, cutting edge.
東海黃公懼，南山白額王。
东海黄公惧，南山白额王。
The Yellow Duke of the Eastern Sea would quail before him — the white-browed king of the Southern Mountains.
東海黃公 (Dōnghǎi Huáng Gōng), the “Yellow Duke of the Eastern Sea,” is a figure of old lore who could once charm tigers but lost his power and was devoured by one; 白額 (bái é), the “white brow,” and 南山, the Southern Mountains, are stock epithets for a great tiger. The couplet all but names the beast.
總評 Commentary
The chapter's first calamity is set in motion by a single human error, underlined with quiet irony: the elder, “in haste,” has heeded too well the charge to travel before dawn and blunders into the tiger's country at the fourth watch. The prose is swift and concrete — frost, moon, the parted grass, the sudden fall — and rises to the appearance of the Monster King, whom a formal rhapsody then portrays. The verse withholds the plain word “tiger” while heaping up its signs: saw-teeth and chisel-fangs, patterned stripes, hooked claws, and at last the “white-browed king of the Southern Mountains” and the cautionary figure of the Yellow Duke, who tamed tigers until one killed him. The technique is characteristic of the novel's monster-portraits — description as riddle, the creature's nature disclosed by convention and allusion rather than stated outright.