第二十二回 · 妖精出水呈兇 The Monster Rises from the Sands — Journey to the West

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

妖精出水呈兇 The Monster Rises from the Sands

師shī徒tú們men正zhèng看kàn碑bēi文wén，只zhǐ聽tīng得de那nà浪làng湧yǒng如rú山shān，波bō翻fān若ruò嶺lǐng，河hé當dāng中zhōng滑huá辣là的de鑽zuān出chū一yí個gè妖yāo精jīng，十shí分fēn兇xiōng醜chǒu：师shī徒tú们men正zhèng看kàn碑bēi文wén，只zhǐ听tīng得de那nà浪làng涌yǒng如rú山shān，波bō翻fān若ruò岭lǐng，河hé当dāng中zhōng滑huá辣là的de钻zuān出chū一yí个gè妖yāo精jīng，十shí分fēn凶xiōng丑chǒu：

一yì頭tóu紅hóng燄yàn髮fà蓬péng鬆sōng，兩liǎng隻zhī圓yuán睛jīng亮liàng似sì燈dēng。一yì头tóu红hóng燄yàn发fà蓬péng松sōng，两liǎng只zhī圆yuán睛jīng亮liàng似sì灯dēng。

不bù黑hēi不bù青qīng藍lán靛diàn臉liǎn，如rú雷léi如rú鼓gǔ老lǎo龍lóng聲shēng。不bù黑hēi不bù青qīng蓝lán靛diàn脸liǎn，如rú雷léi如rú鼓gǔ老lǎo龙lóng声shēng。

身shēn披pī一yì領lǐng鵝é黃huáng氅chǎng，腰yāo束shù雙shuāng攢zǎn露lòu白bái藤téng。身shēn披pī一yì领lǐng鹅é黄huáng氅chǎng，腰yāo束shù双shuāng攒zǎn露lòu白bái藤téng。

項xiàng下xià骷kū髏lóu懸xuán九jiǔ個gè，手shǒu持chí寶bǎo杖zhàng甚shèn崢zhēng嶸róng。项xiàng下xià骷kū髅lóu悬xuán九jiǔ个gè，手shǒu持chí宝bǎo杖zhàng甚shèn峥zhēng嵘róng。

逐句解 Line by line

師shī徒tú們men正zhèng看kàn碑bēi文wén，只zhǐ聽tīng得de那nà浪làng湧yǒng如rú山shān，波bō翻fān若ruò嶺lǐng，师shī徒tú们men正zhèng看kàn碑bēi文wén，只zhǐ听tīng得de那nà浪làng涌yǒng如rú山shān，波bō翻fān若ruò岭lǐng，

As master and disciples were reading the inscription, they suddenly heard the waves welling up like mountains, the breakers tumbling like ridges,

只聽得 ('they suddenly heard'; 得 de) and 那浪 ('those waves'; 那 nà). The simile pair 湧如山…翻若嶺 ('welling like mountains … tumbling like ridges') swells the water to monstrous scale just before the fiend breaks its surface.

河hé當dāng中zhōng滑huá辣là的de鑽zuān出chū一yí個gè妖yāo精jīng，十shí分fēn兇xiōng醜chǒu：河hé当dāng中zhōng滑huá辣là的de钻zuān出chū一yí个gè妖yāo精jīng，十shí分fēn凶xiōng丑chǒu：

and out from the very middle of the river, with a slithering rush, bored a monster, hideous in the extreme:

滑辣的 is an onomatopoeic vernacular adverb — the 'slither-crack' of the thing bursting up through the water; 鑽出 ('bored out') marks its abrupt emergence. 十分兇醜 ('utterly fierce and ugly') is the set tag introducing a portrait-verse.

A head of flame-red hair, matted and wild; a pair of round eyes gleaming bright as lamps.

The portrait opens at the head, as such set-pieces do. 紅燄髮 ('flame-red hair') and 圓睛亮似燈 ('round eyes bright as lanterns') mark the fiend as a creature of demonic fire and glare.

A face not black, not green, but indigo-dark; a voice like thunder, like a drum — an old dragon's roar.

藍靛臉 ('indigo-dyed face') fixes the uncanny colour between black and green; 如雷如鼓…老龍聲 ('like thunder and drum … an aged dragon's voice') lends the fiend a numinous, water-dwelling terror.

About him a cloak of goose-yellow hung; at his waist twin bound coils of bare white rattan.

鵝黃氅 ('goose-yellow cape') and 露白藤 ('gleaming white rattan [belt]') dress the fiend in the trappings of a fallen officer — a hint of the deposed heavenly general the next verse will name.

From his neck nine skulls dangled in a string; in his hand a precious staff, most grimly tall.

項下骷髏懸九個 ('nine skulls hung at his throat') is the fiend's signature emblem, whose meaning the chapter will later disclose. 甚崢嶸 ('most towering, fearsome'; 甚 shèn, 'exceedingly') describes the 寶杖 — the demon-quelling staff that will meet Bajie's rake.

總評 Commentary

The monster's emergence is staged for maximum shock: the water first swells to the scale of mountains and ridges, and only then does the fiend burst up 'from the very middle of the river' with a slithering rush. The portrait-verse that follows is a standard 贊 set-piece, cataloguing the creature head to foot — fiery hair, lamp-bright eyes, indigo face, a dragon's roaring voice.

Two details are seeds the chapter will later harvest. The 鵝黃氅 and white-rattan belt clothe the fiend in the remnants of officer's dress, and the nine skulls strung at his throat are no mere ornament of horror: both point past the man-eating demon to the disgraced heavenly general beneath, whose story and whose skulls will prove central to the crossing. The 寶杖 in his hand — the demon-quelling staff — completes the arming for the duel to come.