第二十一回 · 閉眼亂摸，明杖何在 Groping in the Dark — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

閉眼亂摸，明杖何在 Groping in the Dark

八bā戒jiè解jiě包bāo袱fú，展zhǎn開kāi鋪pū蓋gài，請qǐng行xíng者zhě安ān置zhì。行xíng者zhě閉bì著zhe眼yǎn亂luàn摸mō。八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「先xiān生shēng，你nǐ的de明míng杖zhàng兒er呢ne？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ這zhè個gè饢náng糟zāo的de獃dāi子zi，你nǐ照zhào顧gù我wǒ做zuò瞎xiā子zi哩lī。」那nà獃dāi子zi啞yǎ啞yǎ的de暗àn笑xiào而ér睡shuì。行xíng者zhě坐zuò在zài鋪pù上shàng，轉zhuǎn運yùn神shén功gōng，直zhí到dào三sān更gēng後hòu方fāng才cái睡shuì下xià。八bā戒jiè解jiě包bāo袱fú，展zhǎn开kāi铺pū盖gài，请qǐng行xíng者zhě安ān置zhì。行xíng者zhě闭bì著zhe眼yǎn乱luàn摸mō。八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「先xiān生shēng，你nǐ的de明míng杖zhàng儿er呢ne？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ这zhè个gè馕náng糟zāo的de呆dāi子zi，你nǐ照zhào顾gù我wǒ做zuò瞎xiā子zi哩lī。」那nà呆dāi子zi哑yǎ哑yǎ的de暗àn笑xiào而ér睡shuì。行xíng者zhě坐zuò在zài铺pù上shàng，转zhuǎn运yùn神shén功gōng，直zhí到dào三sān更gēng后hòu方fāng才cái睡shuì下xià。

逐句解 Line by line

八bā戒jiè解jiě包bāo袱fú，展zhǎn開kāi鋪pū蓋gài，請qǐng行xíng者zhě安ān置zhì。行xíng者zhě閉bì著zhe眼yǎn亂luàn摸mō。八bā戒jiè解jiě包bāo袱fú，展zhǎn开kāi铺pū盖gài，请qǐng行xíng者zhě安ān置zhì。行xíng者zhě闭bì著zhe眼yǎn乱luàn摸mō。

Bajie untied the bundles, spread out the bedding, and invited the Pilgrim to lie down. The Pilgrim, with his eyes shut, groped about him at random.

展開鋪蓋: 鋪 here is the verb, pū, "to spread." 閉著眼 takes 著 as zhe. Bajie is doing the work of a servant, and doing it kindly.

八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「先xiān生shēng，你nǐ的de明míng杖zhàng兒er呢ne？」八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「先xiān生shēng，你nǐ的de明míng杖zhàng儿er呢ne？」

Bajie laughed. "Master," he said, "and where is your blind man's staff?"

先生 in this mouth is not "master" but the polite address given to a blind fortune-teller, who carries a 明杖兒 — literally a "brightness-staff," the stick by which a blind man sees. The joke is cruel and very good.

行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ這zhè個gè饢náng糟zāo的de獃dāi子zi，你nǐ照zhào顧gù我wǒ做zuò瞎xiā子zi哩lī。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ这zhè个gè馕náng糟zāo的de呆dāi子zi，你nǐ照zhào顾gù我wǒ做zuò瞎xiā子zi哩lī。」

Said the Pilgrim, "You swill-swallowing Idiot! So you would have me play the blind man, would you?"

饢糟, "swill-stuffing," is abuse aimed at Bajie's appetite. 照顧我做瞎子 — "to look after me as a blind man," i.e. to cast me in the part. 哩 takes lī.

那nà獃dāi子zi啞yǎ啞yǎ的de暗àn笑xiào而ér睡shuì。行xíng者zhě坐zuò在zài鋪pù上shàng，轉zhuǎn運yùn神shén功gōng，直zhí到dào三sān更gēng後hòu方fāng才cái睡shuì下xià。那nà呆dāi子zi哑yǎ哑yǎ的de暗àn笑xiào而ér睡shuì。行xíng者zhě坐zuò在zài铺pù上shàng，转zhuǎn运yùn神shén功gōng，直zhí到dào三sān更gēng后hòu方fāng才cái睡shuì下xià。

The Idiot laughed to himself with a stifled cackle and went to sleep. The Pilgrim sat up on the bed, turning his spiritual power within him, and it was past the third watch before he lay down.

啞啞的暗笑: laughing under his breath, having got the last word for once. 鋪上 takes 鋪 as the noun pù, "the bed" — the same graph, and a different reading, from the first segment. 三更 is the third night-watch, around midnight; 更 reads gēng.

總評 Commentary

Eighty-one graphs, and a whole relationship in them. Bajie lays the bedding out for a brother who cannot see, and then cannot resist the blind-man joke; the Pilgrim, who has been insulting Bajie for six chapters, is for once the one insulted and can only call him a glutton. Then the Idiot laughs into his pillow, which is the sweetest small victory anyone has had in this book.

The graph 鋪 occurs twice here in two readings — pū, the verb, in 展開鋪蓋, and pù, the noun, in 鋪上. It is a useful reminder that the Pilgrim, who does not sleep, sits up on that bed all night turning his 神功 inward: he is not resting his eyes, he is trying to heal them himself, and it is the farmer's ointment that works.