第二十一回 · 大路傍走出一個老公公 An Old Man Comes Out on the Road — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

大路傍走出一個老公公 An Old Man Comes Out on the Road

正zhèng商shāng議yì處chù，只zhǐ見jiàn大dà路lù傍páng走zǒu出chū一yí個gè老lǎo公gōng公gōng來lái。你nǐ看kàn他tā怎zěn生shēng模mú樣yàng：正zhèng商shāng议yì处chù，只zhǐ见jiàn大dà路lù傍páng走zǒu出chū一yí个gè老lǎo公gōng公gōng来lái。你nǐ看kàn他tā怎zěn生shēng模mú样yàng：

身shēn健jiàn不bù扶fú拐guǎi杖zhàng，冰bīng髯rán雪xuě鬢bìn蓬péng蓬péng。身shēn健jiàn不bù扶fú拐guǎi杖zhàng，冰bīng髯rán雪xuě鬓bìn蓬péng蓬péng。

金jīn花huā耀yào眼yǎn意yì朦méng朧lóng，瘦shòu骨gǔ衰shuāi筋jīn強qiáng硬yìng。金jīn花huā耀yào眼yǎn意yì朦méng胧lóng，瘦shòu骨gǔ衰shuāi筋jīn强qiáng硬yìng。

屈qū背bèi低dī頭tóu緩huǎn步bù，龐páng眉méi赤chì臉liǎn如rú童tóng。屈qū背bèi低dī头tóu缓huǎn步bù，庞páng眉méi赤chì脸liǎn如rú童tóng。

看kàn他tā容róng貌mào是shì人rén稱chēng，卻què似sì壽shòu星xīng出chū洞dòng。看kàn他tā容róng貌mào是shì人rén称chēng，却què似sì寿shòu星xīng出chū洞dòng。

逐句解 Line by line

正zhèng商shāng議yì處chù，只zhǐ見jiàn大dà路lù傍páng走zǒu出chū一yí個gè老lǎo公gōng公gōng來lái。正zhèng商shāng议yì处chù，只zhǐ见jiàn大dà路lù傍páng走zǒu出chū一yí个gè老lǎo公gōng公gōng来lái。

Just as they were talking it over, they saw an old man come out onto the highroad.

正商議處: 處 is chù, nominalising — "at the point of discussing." 傍 reads páng (= 旁), the standing loan-graph fix. 老公公, a courteous word for an old man.

你nǐ看kàn他tā怎zěn生shēng模mú樣yàng：你nǐ看kàn他tā怎zěn生shēng模mú样yàng：

Look at him, and see what manner of figure he was:

怎生模樣: 模 reads mú. The lead-in to a descriptive verse, and it stays in the prose.

身shēn健jiàn不bù扶fú拐guǎi杖zhàng，冰bīng髯rán雪xuě鬢bìn蓬péng蓬péng。身shēn健jiàn不bù扶fú拐guǎi杖zhàng，冰bīng髯rán雪xuě鬓bìn蓬péng蓬péng。

Hale in body, he leaned on no staff; / his beard was ice, his temples snow, and both were wild.

冰髯雪鬢, beard of ice and temples of snow — the standard figure for extreme old age, and 蓬蓬, unkempt. The first line already contradicts itself: he is very old and needs no stick.

Golden flowers dazzled his eyes and his mind seemed clouded; / his bones were lean, his sinews withered, and yet he was strong and firm.

金花耀眼 — the golden specks that swim before an old man's eyes. 強硬 takes 強 as qiáng. Every couplet of this poem sets a sign of decay against a sign of vigour.

屈qū背bèi低dī頭tóu緩huǎn步bù，龐páng眉méi赤chì臉liǎn如rú童tóng。屈qū背bèi低dī头tóu缓huǎn步bù，庞páng眉méi赤chì脸liǎn如rú童tóng。

Bent-backed, head lowered, he went at a slow pace; / his brows were heavy and his face was red as a child's.

屈背: 背 is bèi, the noun. 龐眉赤臉如童 — heavy brows and a child's red face, which is the physiognomy of a Daoist immortal, not of a peasant.

Look at his countenance, such as men praise: / he was for all the world the Star of Longevity come out of his cave.

壽星 is the Star of Longevity, Canopus, always painted as a bald-domed ancient. The poem ends by naming a god and pretending to make a comparison. The old man is in fact Li Changgeng, the Planet Venus.

總評 Commentary

Seventy-four graphs, and the whole of it a portrait. The verse is built on a single figure repeated four times: an old man who is not decrepit. He needs no staff, his sinews are withered and firm, his back is bent and his face is a child's. Chinese physiognomy reads this combination in only one way, and the last line says so outright — he looks like the Star of Longevity.

He is not. He is Li Changgeng, the Planet Venus, who came down in chapter 3 to offer the Monkey King a post in heaven and in chapter 5 to warn him about the peach banquet. He has, in other words, been managing Sun Wukong's career from the beginning; and he arrives here, on a road on Yellow Wind Ridge, at the exact moment when the pilgrims have a name and no address. The novel does not say who he is until the verse on the paper slip, four passages from now.