第十五回 · 鬥罷潛淵 The Dragon Retreats to the Deep — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

鬥罷潛淵 The Dragon Retreats to the Deep

來lái來lái往wǎng往wǎng，戰zhàn夠gòu多duō時shí，盤pán旋xuán良liáng久jiǔ，那nà條tiáo龍lóng力lì軟ruǎn筋jīn麻má，不bù能néng抵dǐ敵dí，打dǎ一yí個gè轉zhuǎn身shēn，又yòu攛cuān於yú水shuǐ內nèi，深shēn潛qián澗jiàn底dǐ，再zài不bù出chū頭tóu。被bèi猴hóu王wáng罵mà詈lì不bù絕jué，他tā也yě只zhǐ推tuī耳ěr聾lóng。来lái来lái往wǎng往wǎng，战zhàn够gòu多duō时shí，盘pán旋xuán良liáng久jiǔ，那nà条tiáo龙lóng力lì软ruǎn筋jīn麻má，不bù能néng抵dǐ敌dí，打dǎ一yí个gè转zhuǎn身shēn，又yòu撺cuān于yú水shuǐ内nèi，深shēn潜qián涧jiàn底dǐ，再zài不bù出chū头tóu。被bèi猴hóu王wáng骂mà詈lì不bù绝jué，他tā也yě只zhǐ推tuī耳ěr聋lóng。

逐句解 Line by line

來lái來lái往wǎng往wǎng，戰zhàn夠gòu多duō時shí，盤pán旋xuán良liáng久jiǔ，来lái来lái往wǎng往wǎng，战zhàn够gòu多duō时shí，盘pán旋xuán良liáng久jiǔ，

Back and forth they went, fighting a good long while, wheeling and circling a great space of time,

來來往往 ("back and forth") and 盤旋 ("to wheel and circle") keep the balanced motion of the rhapsody going after the verse itself has stopped. 戰夠多時 is, literally, to have fought one's fill of time.

那nà條tiáo龍lóng力lì軟ruǎn筋jīn麻má，不bù能néng抵dǐ敵dí，打dǎ一yí個gè轉zhuǎn身shēn，又yòu攛cuān於yú水shuǐ內nèi，深shēn潛qián澗jiàn底dǐ，再zài不bù出chū頭tóu。那nà条tiáo龙lóng力lì软ruǎn筋jīn麻má，不bù能néng抵dǐ敌dí，打dǎ一yí个gè转zhuǎn身shēn，又yòu撺cuān于yú水shuǐ内nèi，深shēn潜qián涧jiàn底dǐ，再zài不bù出chū头tóu。

until that dragon's strength went slack and its sinews numb, so that it could hold out no longer. It spun about, flung itself into the water once more, sank deep to the floor of the gorge, and would not put up its head again.

力軟筋麻, "strength gone soft, sinews gone numb", is a stock pairing for exhaustion. 抵敵 is to hold off an opponent. And 攛 cuān is the same verb that flung the dragon out of the water to take the horse, now running in reverse. 那條 is the pointing nà.

被bèi猴hóu王wáng罵mà詈lì不bù絕jué，他tā也yě只zhǐ推tuī耳ěr聾lóng。被bèi猴hóu王wáng骂mà詈lì不bù绝jué，他tā也yě只zhǐ推tuī耳ěr聋lóng。

Though the Monkey King railed at it without ceasing, it merely pleaded deafness.

罵詈 mà lì is to revile without let-up. 推 here is not "push" but "plead as an excuse", so 推耳聾 is to plead deafness. This, and not the fight, is what breaks Wukong. He can beat anything that will stand still. This creature has simply decided to be deaf.

總評 Commentary

The duel ends in withdrawal rather than defeat, and the difference is the whole point. The dragon is beaten — 力軟筋麻, strength gone soft, sinews gone numb — but it is not taken. It drops back into water too deep for a cudgel to reach. This is one of the novel's standing predicaments: Wukong's power is absolute in an open field and worth nothing against anything that declines to stand in one.

The last stroke of the passage is 推耳聾, "he pleaded deafness". As characterisation it is a small masterpiece — the dragon does not argue, does not threaten, simply refuses to have heard anything. As plot it is the hinge. Force holds Wukong up for a few minutes; silence defeats him outright. Everything that follows in this chapter — the churned water, the summoned local gods, the appeal to Guanyin — flows from a monster's decision to say nothing at all.