原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
金箍生根
The Fillet Takes Root
伸手去頭上摸摸，似一條金線兒模樣，緊緊的勒在上面，取不下，揪不斷，已此生了根了。他就耳裡取出針兒來，插入箍裡，往外亂捎。三藏又恐怕他捎斷了，口中又念起來。他依舊生痛，痛得豎蜻蜓，翻觔斗，耳紅面赤，眼脹身麻。那師父見他這等，又不忍不捨，復住了口。他的頭又不痛了。行者道：「我這頭，原來是師父咒我的？」三藏道：「我念得是緊箍經，何曾咒你？」行者道：「你再念念看。」三藏真個又念。行者真個又痛，只教：「莫念，莫念。念動我就痛了。這是怎麼說？」三藏道：「你今番可聽我教誨了？」行者道：「聽教了。」「你再可無禮了？」行者道：「不敢了。」伸手去头上摸摸，似一条金线儿模样，紧紧的勒在上面，取不下，揪不断，已此生了根了。他就耳里取出针儿来，插入箍里，往外乱捎。三藏又恐怕他捎断了，口中又念起来。他依旧生痛，痛得竖蜻蜓，翻觔斗，耳红面赤，眼胀身麻。那师父见他这等，又不忍不舍，复住了口。他的头又不痛了。行者道：「我这头，原来是师父咒我的？」三藏道：「我念得是紧箍经，何曾咒你？」行者道：「你再念念看。」三藏真个又念。行者真个又痛，只教：「莫念，莫念。念动我就痛了。这是怎么说？」三藏道：「你今番可听我教诲了？」行者道：「听教了。」「你再可无礼了？」行者道：「不敢了。」
逐句解 Line by line
伸手去頭上摸摸，似一條金線兒模樣，緊緊的勒在上面，取不下，揪不斷，已此生了根了。
伸手去头上摸摸，似一条金线儿模样，紧紧的勒在上面，取不下，揪不断，已此生了根了。
He reached up and felt about his head: it was like a thread of gold, bound fast about him, that could not be taken off nor snapped — it had already taken root there.
He discovers the fillet has fused to his skull — no removing it, no breaking it. 似一條 ("like a thread") reads 似 as sì.
他就耳裡取出針兒來，插入箍裡，往外亂捎。
他就耳里取出针儿来，插入箍里，往外乱捎。
So he drew the needle out of his ear, thrust it inside the fillet, and pried wildly outward.
His first recourse is force: the needle-cudgel wedged under the band.
三藏又恐怕他捎斷了，口中又念起來。
三藏又恐怕他捎断了，口中又念起来。
Sanzang, fearing he would pry it apart, began reciting again.
The master's counter is instant — reciting to stop the tampering.
他依舊生痛，痛得豎蜻蜓，翻觔斗，耳紅面赤，眼脹身麻。
他依旧生痛，痛得竖蜻蜓，翻觔斗，耳红面赤，眼胀身麻。
The pain came as before: he ached so that he stood on his hands, turned somersaults, his ears red and his face crimson, his eyes bulging and his body gone numb.
The second agony is grotesque and total: handstands, somersaults, bulging eyes, numbed body.
那師父見他這等，又不忍不捨，復住了口。他的頭又不痛了。
那师父见他这等，又不忍不舍，复住了口。他的头又不痛了。
When the master saw him like this, again he could not bear it, and once more stopped his mouth; and again the Pilgrim's head did not ache.
Sanzang's pity again stays his mouth — the softness that will make the spell an instrument of guidance, not mere torture. 那師父 reads 那 as nà.
行者道：「我這頭，原來是師父咒我的？」
行者道：「我这头，原来是师父咒我的？」
The Pilgrim said, "This head of mine — so it was Master who put a spell on me?"
Wukong's dawning realisation — the pain is his master's doing. 行者 reads 行 as xíng.
三藏道：「我念得是緊箍經，何曾咒你？」
三藏道：「我念得是紧箍经，何曾咒你？」
Sanzang said, "What I recited was the Tight-Fillet sutra. When did I ever spell you?"
Sanzang's evasive denial — it is a "sutra," not a curse. 三藏 reads 藏 as zàng; 念得是 takes 得 as structural de.
行者道：「你再念念看。」
行者道：「你再念念看。」
The Pilgrim said, "Recite it again and let me see."
The monkey demands a test — empirical to the last. 行者 reads 行 as xíng.
三藏真個又念。
三藏真个又念。
Sanzang did indeed recite it again.
Sanzang obliges. 三藏 reads 藏 as zàng.
行者真個又痛，只教：「莫念，莫念。念動我就痛了。這是怎麼說？」
行者真个又痛，只教：「莫念，莫念。念动我就痛了。这是怎么说？」
The Pilgrim did indeed ache again, and could only plead, "Stop, stop! The moment you recite it I ache. What is the meaning of this?"
The test confirms it, and Wukong capitulates to the plain fact of the pain. 行者 reads 行 as xíng; 只教 reads 教 as jiào.
三藏道：「你今番可聽我教誨了？」
三藏道：「你今番可听我教诲了？」
Sanzang said, "Will you heed my instruction now?" The Pilgrim said, "I will heed it."
The first term of submission: he will heed instruction. 三藏 reads 藏 as zàng; 教誨 reads 教 as jiào.
行者道：「聽教了。」「你再可無禮了？」行者道：「不敢了。」
行者道：「听教了。」「你再可无礼了？」行者道：「不敢了。」
"And will you be unruly again?" The Pilgrim said, "I dare not."
The second term: he will not be unruly. 行者 reads 行 as xíng (twice); 聽教 reads 教 as jiào.
總評 Commentary
Wukong's response to the fillet is entirely in character: first he tries brute force, wedging his needle-cudgel under the band to pry it off, and then, when that only brings fresh agony, he demands an experiment — recite it again, so I can see. His empiricism is undimmed even in torment; he submits not to authority as such but to the demonstrated, repeatable fact of the pain. This is submission arrived at through evidence, which is a very different thing from broken will.
Sanzang's part is equally revealing. Twice his pity stops the recitation the instant the monkey suffers; he cannot bear the sight. This tender-heartedness is essential to how the fillet will function through the rest of the novel — it is not a whip for cruelty but a last resort, wielded by a master who would rather not use it. The spell's power is real, but it is held in restraint by the monk's compassion (and, as later chapters show, sometimes to his cost, when Wukong's fierce judgement was right and the merciful master wrong).
The passage ends with the formula of submission: Wukong will heed instruction, and will not be unruly. Yet the reader should note how conditional and outward this is — extracted by pain, agreed to under duress. The very next passage will show the resentment still simmering beneath it, and the monkey making one last murderous attempt before the submission becomes, if not heartfelt, at least settled. The taming of the mind-monkey is a process, not a single act.