第十六回 · 對袈裟痛哭 Weeping over the Cassock — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

對袈裟痛哭 Weeping over the Cassock

卻què說shuō那nà和hé尚shàng把bǎ袈jiā裟shā騙piàn到dào手shǒu，拿ná在zài後hòu房fáng燈dēng下xià，對duì袈jiā裟shā號háo咷táo痛tòng哭kū。慌huāng得de那nà本běn寺sì僧sēng不bù敢gǎn先xiān睡shuì。小xiǎo幸xìng童tóng也yě不bù知zhī為wèi何hé，卻què去qù報bào與yǔ眾zhòng僧sēng道dào：「公gōng公gōng哭kū到dào二èr更gēng時shí候hòu，還hái不bù歇xiē聲shēng。」有yǒu兩liǎng個gè徒tú孫sūn是shì他tā心xīn愛ài之zhī人rén，上shàng前qián問wèn道dào：「師shī公gōng，你nǐ哭kū怎zěn的de？」老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「我wǒ哭kū無wú緣yuán，看kàn不bù得dé唐táng僧sēng寶bǎo貝bèi。」小xiǎo和hé尚shàng道dào：「公gōng公gōng年nián紀jì高gāo大dà，發fā過guò了le。他tā的de袈jiā裟shā放fàng在zài你nǐ面miàn前qián，你nǐ只zhǐ消xiāo解jiě開kāi看kàn便biàn罷bà了le，何hé須xū痛tòng哭kū？」老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「看kàn的de不bù長cháng久jiǔ。我wǒ今jīn年nián二èr百bǎi七qī十shí歲suì，空kōng掙zhèng了le幾jǐ百bǎi件jiàn袈jiā裟shā。怎zěn麼me得dé有yǒu他tā這zhè一yí件jiàn？怎zěn麼me得dé做zuò個gè唐táng僧sēng？」却què说shuō那nà和hé尚shàng把bǎ袈jiā裟shā骗piàn到dào手shǒu，拿ná在zài后hòu房fáng灯dēng下xià，对duì袈jiā裟shā号háo咷táo痛tòng哭kū。慌huāng得de那nà本běn寺sì僧sēng不bù敢gǎn先xiān睡shuì。小xiǎo幸xìng童tóng也yě不bù知zhī为wèi何hé，却què去qù报bào与yǔ众zhòng僧sēng道dào：「公gōng公gōng哭kū到dào二èr更gēng时shí候hòu，还hái不bù歇xiē声shēng。」有yǒu两liǎng个gè徒tú孙sūn是shì他tā心xīn爱ài之zhī人rén，上shàng前qián问wèn道dào：「师shī公gōng，你nǐ哭kū怎zěn的de？」老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「我wǒ哭kū无wú缘yuán，看kàn不bù得dé唐táng僧sēng宝bǎo贝bèi。」小xiǎo和hé尚shàng道dào：「公gōng公gōng年nián纪jì高gāo大dà，发fā过guò了le。他tā的de袈jiā裟shā放fàng在zài你nǐ面miàn前qián，你nǐ只zhǐ消xiāo解jiě开kāi看kàn便biàn罢bà了le，何hé须xū痛tòng哭kū？」老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「看kàn的de不bù长cháng久jiǔ。我wǒ今jīn年nián二èr百bǎi七qī十shí岁suì，空kōng挣zhèng了le几jǐ百bǎi件jiàn袈jiā裟shā。怎zěn么me得dé有yǒu他tā这zhè一yí件jiàn？怎zěn么me得dé做zuò个gè唐táng僧sēng？」

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà和hé尚shàng把bǎ袈jiā裟shā騙piàn到dào手shǒu，拿ná在zài後hòu房fáng燈dēng下xià，對duì袈jiā裟shā號háo咷táo痛tòng哭kū。却què说shuō那nà和hé尚shàng把bǎ袈jiā裟shā骗piàn到dào手shǒu，拿ná在zài后hòu房fáng灯dēng下xià，对duì袈jiā裟shā号háo咷táo痛tòng哭kū。

Now, the monk, having got the cassock into his hands by a trick, carried it to the back chamber, set it beneath the lamp, and wailed over it, weeping bitterly.

騙到手 — the narrator says flatly what the scene has been too courteous to say: it was got by a fraud. 號咷 (háotáo) is unrestrained wailing, and 號 is háo, "to cry aloud," not hào.

慌huāng得de那nà本běn寺sì僧sēng不bù敢gǎn先xiān睡shuì。慌huāng得de那nà本běn寺sì僧sēng不bù敢gǎn先xiān睡shuì。

So alarmed were the monks of the house that none dared go to bed before him.

慌得 takes the neutral de. The whole monastery lies awake because an old man is crying; and not one of two hundred and thirty men asks whether the thing he is crying over is his.

小xiǎo幸xìng童tóng也yě不bù知zhī為wèi何hé，卻què去qù報bào與yǔ眾zhòng僧sēng道dào：「公gōng公gōng哭kū到dào二èr更gēng時shí候hòu，還hái不bù歇xiē聲shēng。」小xiǎo幸xìng童tóng也yě不bù知zhī为wèi何hé，却què去qù报bào与yǔ众zhòng僧sēng道dào：「公gōng公gōng哭kū到dào二èr更gēng时shí候hòu，还hái不bù歇xiē声shēng。」

The little page, not knowing what it was about, went off to report to the assembly: "Grandfather has wept into the second watch and has still not left off."

為何 takes wèi. 二更 (èr gēng) is the second night-watch, roughly nine to eleven o'clock; 更 is gēng. 公公, "grandfather," is what this house calls its patriarch — a family word, in a community of celibates.

有yǒu兩liǎng個gè徒tú孫sūn是shì他tā心xīn愛ài之zhī人rén，上shàng前qián問wèn道dào：「師shī公gōng，你nǐ哭kū怎zěn的de？」有yǒu两liǎng个gè徒tú孙sūn是shì他tā心xīn爱ài之zhī人rén，上shàng前qián问wèn道dào：「师shī公gōng，你nǐ哭kū怎zěn的de？」

Two disciples' disciples, being dear to his heart, came forward and asked, "Master's master, what are you weeping for?"

徒孫, "disciple-grandsons." The whole vocabulary of this monastery is a vocabulary of descent: 師祖, 師公, 徒孫, 公公. None of it concerns the Way; all of it concerns inheritance — and 傳家之寶, "the treasure handed down in a family," is the phrase on which the plot will turn.

老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「我wǒ哭kū無wú緣yuán，看kàn不bù得dé唐táng僧sēng寶bǎo貝bèi。」老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「我wǒ哭kū无wú缘yuán，看kàn不bù得dé唐táng僧sēng宝bǎo贝bèi。」

The old monk said, "I weep that I have no bond, and cannot look my fill at the Tang monk's treasure."

看不得 is the negative potential, 得 read dé: "cannot manage to look at it." He says this with the cassock in his hands, beneath a lamp he has had lit for the purpose.

小xiǎo和hé尚shàng道dào：「公gōng公gōng年nián紀jì高gāo大dà，發fā過guò了le。小xiǎo和hé尚shàng道dào：「公gōng公gōng年nián纪jì高gāo大dà，发fā过guò了le。

A young monk said, "Grandfather, you are far advanced in years; you have carried it too far.

發過了, "you have overdone it," said of a fit of feeling. The young are practical here; and being practical, they will shortly propose murder.

他tā的de袈jiā裟shā放fàng在zài你nǐ面miàn前qián，你nǐ只zhǐ消xiāo解jiě開kāi看kàn便biàn罷bà了le，何hé須xū痛tòng哭kū？」他tā的de袈jiā裟shā放fàng在zài你nǐ面miàn前qián，你nǐ只zhǐ消xiāo解jiě开kāi看kàn便biàn罢bà了le，何hé须xū痛tòng哭kū？」

"His cassock lies there before you. You need only untie it and look, and there is an end. What need of all this weeping?"

只消, "you need only." The boy states the entire rational case, and it is no comfort at all — because what the old man wants is not to look at the cassock.

老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「看kàn的de不bù長cháng久jiǔ。我wǒ今jīn年nián二èr百bǎi七qī十shí歲suì，空kōng掙zhèng了le幾jǐ百bǎi件jiàn袈jiā裟shā。老lǎo僧sēng道dào：「看kàn的de不bù长cháng久jiǔ。我wǒ今jīn年nián二èr百bǎi七qī十shí岁suì，空kōng挣zhèng了le几jǐ百bǎi件jiàn袈jiā裟shā。

The old monk said, "The looking does not last. I am two hundred and seventy years old this year, and to no purpose have I amassed some hundreds of cassocks.

不長久: 長 is cháng. 空掙 ("earned to no purpose"); 掙 is zhèng, to gain by labour. The hundreds of robes that an hour ago were the proof of his eminence have become, in the dark, the measure of his poverty.

怎zěn麼me得dé有yǒu他tā這zhè一yí件jiàn？怎zěn麼me得dé做zuò個gè唐táng僧sēng？」怎zěn么me得dé有yǒu他tā这zhè一yí件jiàn？怎zěn么me得dé做zuò个gè唐táng僧sēng？」

"How am I to come by this one of his? How am I to become a Tang monk?"

Both instances of 得 are dé, the potential: "how am I to get." The second question is the more terrible of the two, and he does not appear to hear himself ask it. He does not wish to be holy. He wishes to own what holiness owns.

總評 Commentary

An old man sits alone under a lamp with a beautiful thing in his lap and weeps until the whole house is afraid to sleep. It is, on the face of it, a grotesque scene, and Wú Chéng'ēn plays it with almost no comedy at all. The young monk's advice is entirely sensible — untie it, look at it, and be done — and it is useless, because looking is not what the old man wants and he knows it. 看的不長久: the looking does not last. Behind the greed lies something more desolate than greed, which is the discovery, at two hundred and seventy, that nothing he has gathered will stay.

The passage turns on two questions, and the second is the abyss. 怎麼得有他這一件？ — how am I to get this one of his? — is avarice, and answerable: one might steal it. 怎麼得做個唐僧？ — how am I to become a Tang monk? — is not answerable at all, and the old man asks it in the same breath, in the same grammar, as though it were the same kind of question. He has confused a state of being with a possession. That confusion is the whole disease of this monastery, and the cassock — a robe that only a 真僧 dare wear — is the one object in the world exactly shaped to expose it. He wants the garment because he cannot have the sanctity; and he will die because he cannot tell the difference.