原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
河州衛界
To the Border Garrison at Hezhou
師徒們行了數日，到了鞏州城，早有鞏州合屬官吏人等迎接入城中。安歇一夜，次早出城前去。一路饑餐渴飲，夜住曉行，兩三日，又至河州衛。此乃是大唐的山河邊界。早有鎮邊的總兵與本處僧道，聞得是欽差御弟法師上西方見佛，無不恭敬。接至裡面供給了，著僧綱請往福原寺安歇。本寺僧人，一一參見，安排晚齋。齋畢，吩咐二從者飽喂馬匹，天不明就行。师徒们行了数日，到了巩州城，早有巩州合属官吏人等迎接入城中。安歇一夜，次早出城前去。一路饥餐渴饮，夜住晓行，两三日，又至河州卫。此乃是大唐的山河边界。早有镇边的总兵与本处僧道，闻得是钦差御弟法师上西方见佛，无不恭敬。接至里面供给了，著僧纲请往福原寺安歇。本寺僧人，一一参见，安排晚斋。斋毕，吩咐二从者饱喂马匹，天不明就行。
逐句解 Line by line
師徒們行了數日，到了鞏州城，早有鞏州合屬官吏人等迎接入城中。安歇一夜，次早出城前去。一路饑餐渴飲，夜住曉行，兩三日，又至河州衛。此乃是大唐的山河邊界。早有鎮邊的總兵與本處僧道，聞得是欽差御弟法師上西方見佛，無不恭敬。接至裡面供給了，著僧綱請往福原寺安歇。本寺僧人，一一參見，安排晚齋。齋畢，吩咐二從者飽喂馬匹，天不明就行。
师徒们行了数日，到了巩州城，早有巩州合属官吏人等迎接入城中。安歇一夜，次早出城前去。一路饥餐渴饮，夜住晓行，两三日，又至河州卫。此乃是大唐的山河边界。早有镇边的总兵与本处僧道，闻得是钦差御弟法师上西方见佛，无不恭敬。接至里面供给了，著僧纲请往福原寺安歇。本寺僧人，一一参见，安排晚斋。斋毕，吩咐二从者饱喂马匹，天不明就行。
Master and disciples travelled several days and came to the city of Gongzhou, where the assembled officials and functionaries of Gongzhou came out to meet them and bring them into the city. They rested a night, and set out again from the city early the next day. All along the way they ate when hungry and drank when thirsty, lodging by night and travelling by dawn; and after two or three days they came once more to the garrison of Hezhou. This was the very border of the mountains and rivers of the Great Tang. The garrison-commander of the marches, together with the monks and Daoists of the place, having heard that it was the imperially commissioned Imperial Younger Brother, the Master of the Law, going to the Western Region to behold the Buddha, were reverent one and all. They received him within and provided for him, and had the monk-registrar invite him to lodge at the Fuyuan Temple. The monks of the temple came, one and all, to pay their respects, and set out the evening meal. When the meal was done, the Master charged his two attendants to feed the horse well, that they might set off before daybreak.
御弟 (yù dì), “Imperial Younger Brother,” is the honorific by which the Tang emperor addressed Xuanzang, having sworn brotherhood with him; 法師 (fǎ shī), “Master of the Law,” is the standard title for an eminent monk. 僧綱 (sēng gāng) is a monk-registrar, an official charged with oversight of the local clergy. Gongzhou and Hezhou mark stages westward toward the true frontier of Tang territory.
總評 Commentary
A brisk itinerary passage, and a hinge in the chapter's design. Where the preceding sections have lingered — in lyric night, in doctrinal exchange, in autumnal rhapsody — this one hurries the pilgrim across real geography (Gongzhou, Hezhou) to the very edge of the Tang world, “the border of the mountains and rivers of the Great Tang.” The plain, forward-driving prose, without verse, quickens the pace deliberately: it carries Sanzang from the safe, honouring world of temples and officials to the threshold beyond which lie the tiger-dens and demon-lords of the chapter to come. The courteous reception at each stage underscores, for the last time, the ordered human world he is about to leave; the charge to feed the horse and set off “before daybreak” points ahead, with quiet dramatic irony, to the disaster that the too-early start will bring.