原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
含詞賦 With rhapsody
行者自述平生
The Pilgrim Recites His Own History
自小神通手段高，隨風變化逞英豪。自小神通手段高，随风变化逞英豪。
養性修真熬日月，跳出輪迴把命逃。养性修真熬日月，跳出轮回把命逃。
一點誠心曾訪道，靈臺山上採藥苗。一点诚心曾访道，灵台山上采药苗。
那山有個老仙長，壽年十萬八千高。那山有个老仙长，寿年十万八千高。
老孫拜他為師父，指我長生路一條。老孙拜他为师父，指我长生路一条。
他說身內有丹藥，外邊採取枉徒勞。他说身内有丹药，外边采取枉徒劳。
得傳大品天仙訣，若無根本實難熬。得传大品天仙诀，若无根本实难熬。
回光內照寧心坐，身中日月坎離交。回光内照宁心坐，身中日月坎离交。
萬事不思全寡慾，六根清淨體堅牢。万事不思全寡欲，六根清净体坚牢。
返老還童容易得，超凡入聖路非遙。返老还童容易得，超凡入圣路非遥。
三年無漏成仙體，不同俗輩受煎熬。三年无漏成仙体，不同俗辈受煎熬。
十洲三島還遊戲，海角天涯轉一遭。十洲三岛还游戏，海角天涯转一遭。
活該三百多餘歲，不得飛昇上九霄。活该三百多余岁，不得飞升上九霄。
下海降龍真寶貝，才有金箍棒一條。下海降龙真宝贝，才有金箍棒一条。
花果山前為帥首，水簾洞裡聚群妖。花果山前为帅首，水帘洞里聚群妖。
玉皇大帝傳宣詔，封我齊天極品高。玉皇大帝传宣诏，封我齐天极品高。
幾番大鬧靈霄殿，數次曾偷王母桃。几番大闹灵霄殿，数次曾偷王母桃。
天兵十萬來降我，層層密密布槍刀。天兵十万来降我，层层密密布枪刀。
戰退天王歸上界，哪吒負痛領兵逃。战退天王归上界，哪咤负痛领兵逃。
顯聖真君能變化，老孫硬賭跌平交。显圣真君能变化，老孙硬赌跌平交。
道祖觀音同玉帝，南天門上看降妖。道祖观音同玉帝，南天门上看降妖。
卻被老君助一陣，二郎擒我到天曹。却被老君助一阵，二郎擒我到天曹。
將身綁在降妖柱，即命神兵把首梟。将身绑在降妖柱，即命神兵把首枭。
刀砍鎚敲不得壞，又教雷打火來燒。刀砍锤敲不得坏，又教雷打火来烧。
老孫其實有手段，全然不怕半分毫。老孙其实有手段，全然不怕半分毫。
送在老君爐裡煉，六丁神火慢煎熬。送在老君炉里炼，六丁神火慢煎熬。
日滿開爐我跳出，手持鐵棒遶天跑。日满开炉我跳出，手持铁棒遶天跑。
縱橫到處無遮擋，三十三天鬧一遭。纵横到处无遮挡，三十三天闹一遭。
我佛如來施法力，五行山壓老孫腰。我佛如来施法力，五行山压老孙腰。
整整壓該五百載，幸逢三藏出唐朝。整整压该五百载，幸逢三藏出唐朝。
吾今皈正西方去，轉上雷音見玉毫。吾今皈正西方去，转上雷音见玉毫。
你去乾坤四海問一問，我是歷代馳名第一妖。」你去干坤四海问一问，我是历代驰名第一妖。」
逐句解 Line by line
自小神通手段高，隨風變化逞英豪。
自小神通手段高，随风变化逞英豪。
From my youth my divine powers and my arts stood high; changing with the wind, I played the hero.
The poem is thirty-two couplets in the seven-graph line, rhyming throughout in -ao: 高 · 豪 · 逃 · 苗 and so to the end. It is the Pilgrim's whole biography, delivered as a boast to a bear.
養性修真熬日月，跳出輪迴把命逃。
养性修真熬日月，跳出轮回把命逃。
Nourishing nature and refining the true, I endured sun and moon; leaping clear of the Wheel, I fled away with my life.
養性修真 is inner-alchemical vocabulary, and the reader has just heard the same vocabulary in the mouths of the three fiends. 熬, áo, is to endure by boiling; the graph returns twice more in the poem, and the last time it is his own boiling.
一點誠心曾訪道，靈臺山上採藥苗。
一点诚心曾访道，灵台山上采药苗。
With one point of sincere heart I once went seeking the Way, and on Spirit Terrace Mountain gathered the sprouts of the drug.
靈臺, the Spirit Terrace, is both a mountain in the novel and the heart in the alchemical texts. 一點誠心: the sandhi of 一 before the third-tone 點 gives yì.
那山有個老仙長，壽年十萬八千高。
那山有个老仙长，寿年十万八千高。
On that mountain there dwelt an aged immortal elder, whose years stood high at a hundred and eight thousand.
仙長 takes 長 as zhǎng, an elder. Subhūti is never named in this poem, only located.
老孫拜他為師父，指我長生路一條。
老孙拜他为师父，指我长生路一条。
Old Sun bowed and took him for a master, and he pointed me out one road to long life.
為師父 takes the copular wéi; 長生 takes cháng. Two readings of two never-trust graphs inside fourteen.
他說身內有丹藥，外邊採取枉徒勞。
他说身内有丹药，外边采取枉徒劳。
He said the elixir lies within the body; to gather it outside is labour thrown away.
The doctrine is orthodox internal alchemy and stands as a rebuke to the outer arts — 摶砂煉汞 — that the three fiends were discussing when the Pilgrim first saw them.
得傳大品天仙訣，若無根本實難熬。
得传大品天仙诀，若无根本实难熬。
I got the transmission of the Great Grade of Heavenly Immortal; but lacking the root, the enduring is hard indeed.
得傳 takes the acquisitive dé. 大品天仙訣, the Great Grade formula of the heavenly immortal. 根本 is the root — natural capacity, without which the method is useless.
回光內照寧心坐，身中日月坎離交。
回光内照宁心坐，身中日月坎离交。
Turning the light to shine within, I sat and stilled the heart; within the body sun and moon, and Kan and Li conjoined.
回光內照, turning the light back to shine within. 坎離 are the trigrams of Water and Fire; their conjunction is the central operation of the inner elixir.
萬事不思全寡慾，六根清淨體堅牢。
万事不思全寡欲，六根清净体坚牢。
Thinking on nothing, wholly sparing of desire; the six roots made clean, the body firm and sound.
六根 are the six sense-faculties of Buddhist analysis. The couplet is Buddhist in vocabulary and Taoist in aim, and the poem does not notice the seam.
返老還童容易得，超凡入聖路非遙。
返老还童容易得，超凡入圣路非遥。
To turn back age and come again to childhood is easily got; to pass beyond the common and enter the holy — the road is not far.
返老還童 takes 還 as huán, to return; 容易得 takes 得 as dé. Both are the verbal readings.
三年無漏成仙體，不同俗輩受煎熬。
三年无漏成仙体，不同俗辈受煎熬。
Three years without leakage, and the immortal body was formed, unlike the vulgar sort who suffer the boiling and the seething.
無漏, without leakage, translates Sanskrit anāsrava, and is also the alchemical term for the sealed vessel. 煎熬 is the boiling the vulgar undergo — and the Pilgrim will undergo it too, at couplet twenty-six.
十洲三島還遊戲，海角天涯轉一遭。
十洲三岛还游戏，海角天涯转一遭。
The Ten Islets and the Three Isles I roamed besides, and made one circuit of the sea's corners and the sky's edge.
還 is here the adverb hái, "besides," not the huán of the couplet above. 十洲三島 are the isles of the immortals.
活該三百多餘歲，不得飛昇上九霄。
活该三百多余岁，不得飞升上九霄。
Three hundred years and more were allotted me to live, yet I could not rise in flight to the ninth empyrean.
活該 is here "was allotted to live," not the modern "serves him right." The couplet is the poem's first admission of a limit.
下海降龍真寶貝，才有金箍棒一條。
下海降龙真宝贝，才有金箍棒一条。
I went down into the sea and subdued the dragon for a true treasure: only then did I come by the one golden-hooped rod.
降龍 takes 降 as xiáng, to subdue — the reading it keeps at every one of its five appearances in this poem where a fiend or a dragon is the object.
花果山前為帥首，水簾洞裡聚群妖。
花果山前为帅首，水帘洞里聚群妖。
Before Flower-Fruit Mountain I was chief and captain; within the Water-Curtain Cave I gathered a throng of fiends.
為帥首, copular wéi. The narrative of the first seven chapters is being compressed at the rate of a chapter to a couplet.
玉皇大帝傳宣詔，封我齊天極品高。
玉皇大帝传宣诏，封我齐天极品高。
The Jade Emperor sent down a summoning edict and enfeoffed me Equal to Heaven, of the highest grade.
齊天, Equal to Heaven. The title was a bribe, and the poem does not say so.
幾番大鬧靈霄殿，數次曾偷王母桃。
几番大闹灵霄殿，数次曾偷王母桃。
Many a time I made great havoc in the Hall of Divine Mists; more than once I stole the peaches of the Queen Mother.
靈霄殿, the Hall of Divine Mists, the Jade Emperor's throne-hall. 數次 reads shù.
天兵十萬來降我，層層密密布槍刀。
天兵十万来降我，层层密密布枪刀。
A hundred thousand heavenly soldiers came to subdue me, ranged rank on rank, thick with spear and blade.
降我: again xiáng. 層層密密 — the reduplication does the work of the ranks it describes.
戰退天王歸上界，哪吒負痛領兵逃。
战退天王归上界，哪咤负痛领兵逃。
I beat the Heavenly King back to the upper realm, and Nezha, nursing his hurt, led off his troops and fled.
哪吒 is read né zhā. 負痛, carrying his wound.
顯聖真君能變化，老孫硬賭跌平交。
显圣真君能变化，老孙硬赌跌平交。
The Illustrious Sage, that True Lord, was a master of transformations; old Sun staked all and fought him to a fall and a draw.
顯聖真君 is Erlang. 跌平交, a fall that is a level exchange — a draw. The Pilgrim concedes it, which is the poem's second admission.
道祖觀音同玉帝，南天門上看降妖。
道祖观音同玉帝，南天门上看降妖。
The Patriarch of the Way, Guanyin, and the Jade Emperor together looked down from the Southern Gate of Heaven at the subduing of the fiend.
看降妖: xiáng. Note who is watching from the gate — 觀音, the Bodhisattva who will end this chapter by subduing a fiend herself, and who watched the Pilgrim subdued by exactly such a method.
卻被老君助一陣，二郎擒我到天曹。
却被老君助一阵，二郎擒我到天曹。
But Lord Lao lent his aid for one bout, and Erlang took me captive to the Courts of Heaven.
助一陣: 一 before the fourth-tone 陣 gives yí. Lord Lao's diamond snare, unmentioned, is the thing that actually took him.
將身綁在降妖柱，即命神兵把首梟。
将身绑在降妖柱，即命神兵把首枭。
They bound my body to the fiend-subduing pillar and straightway bade the divine soldiers strike the head from it.
降妖柱: xiáng. 將身 — 將 is the verbal jiāng, taking the body as object. 梟, xiāo, is to hang up a severed head.
刀砍鎚敲不得壞，又教雷打火來燒。
刀砍锤敲不得坏，又教雷打火来烧。
Sword hacked and hammer beat, and I could not be marred; then they had the thunder smite me, and fire come to burn.
不得壞: the sandhi of 不 runs on the base tone of 得 (dé, second tone) and gives bù. 教 is the causative jiào.
老孫其實有手段，全然不怕半分毫。
老孙其实有手段，全然不怕半分毫。
Old Sun has arts in very truth, and feared not the half of a hair of it.
半分毫: half a fen, half a hair. The boast is placed exactly where the poem has admitted most.
送在老君爐裡煉，六丁神火慢煎熬。
送在老君炉里炼，六丁神火慢煎熬。
They put me in Lord Lao's furnace to be smelted, and the divine fire of the Six Ding boiled me slowly.
六丁 are the six Ding spirits who tend the furnace. 煎熬 returns, and now it is his.
日滿開爐我跳出，手持鐵棒遶天跑。
日满开炉我跳出，手持铁棒遶天跑。
The days full, the furnace opened, and out I sprang; iron rod in hand, I ran my circuit round the sky.
遶 writes 繞 and reads rào. The Pilgrim comes out of the furnace running.
縱橫到處無遮擋，三十三天鬧一遭。
纵横到处无遮挡，三十三天闹一遭。
Ranging at will, nowhere barred, I made one uproar through the Thirty-three Heavens.
三十三天, the Trāyastriṃśa heavens. 一遭, one circuit, as at couplet twelve — the poem measures both his freedom and his ruin in circuits.
我佛如來施法力，五行山壓老孫腰。
我佛如来施法力，五行山压老孙腰。
My Buddha, the Tathagata, put forth the power of the Law, and the Mountain of Five Phases pressed down on old Sun's waist.
五行山 takes 行 as xíng: the Five Phases, not a rank or a row. 我佛如來, my Buddha the Tathāgata — the possessive is not yet quite earned.
整整壓該五百載，幸逢三藏出唐朝。
整整压该五百载，幸逢三藏出唐朝。
A full five hundred years I lay pressed beneath it, till by good fortune Sanzang came out of the court of Tang.
載 reads zǎi, a year. 幸逢, by good fortune met with: the poem's only unqualified gratitude, and it is given to Sanzang.
吾今皈正西方去，轉上雷音見玉毫。
吾今皈正西方去，转上雷音见玉毫。
Now I have turned to the right and go westward, to climb to Thunderclap and look upon the jade tuft.
玉毫 is the tuft of white hair between the brows of a Buddha, the ūrṇā. 皈正, to turn and take refuge in the right.
你去乾坤四海問一問，我是歷代馳名第一妖。」
你去干坤四海问一问，我是历代驰名第一妖。」
Go and ask through heaven and earth and the four seas: I am the first of fiends, famed through the generations."
The last line breaks the seven-graph measure — nine graphs and nine — and ends the whole recitation on the word 妖. Having narrated his conversion two couplets earlier, the Pilgrim signs himself fiend, and the fiend he is boasting to takes the point at once. 第一妖: the sandhi of 一 is computed mechanically on the first-tone 妖 and gives yì.
總評 Commentary
Four hundred and fifty-two graphs, thirty-two couplets, one rhyme: the longest single utterance the Pilgrim makes in these early chapters, and he makes it to a bear who asked a civil question. The poem compresses the first seven chapters of the novel into a boast, and its rhetoric is entirely victorious — until one reads what it actually concedes. He could not ascend. Erlang fought him to a draw. Lord Lao took him. Five hundred years under a mountain. The boast is built out of defeats, and the boaster does not appear to notice.
What he does notice, at the last line, is the word for what he is. 我是歷代馳名第一妖 — the first of fiends, famed through the ages — spoken two couplets after 吾今皈正西方去, I have turned to the right and go west. The line that breaks the metre is also the line that breaks the argument. Guanyin will spend the end of this chapter demonstrating that a fiend may be turned; the Pilgrim has just demonstrated that one who has been turned may still, given an audience, prefer the older title.