第二十四回 · 菜園蔬圃 The Kitchen Garden — Journey to the West

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

菜園蔬圃 The Kitchen Garden

那nà行xíng者zhě觀guān看kàn不bú盡jìn，又yòu見jiàn一yì層céng門mén，推tuī開kāi看kàn處chù，卻què是shì一yí座zuò菜cài園yuán：那nà行xíng者zhě观guān看kàn不bú尽jìn，又yòu见jiàn一yì层céng门mén，推tuī开kāi看kàn处chù，却què是shì一yí座zuò菜cài园yuán：

佈bù種zhòng四sì時shí蔬shū菜cài，菠bō芹qín莙jūn薘dá薑jiāng苔tái。布bù种zhòng四sì时shí蔬shū菜cài，菠bō芹qín莙jūn荙dá姜jiāng苔tái。

筍sǔn薯shǔ瓜guā瓠hù茭jiāo白bái，蔥cōng蒜suàn芫yán荽suī韭jiǔ薤xiè。笋sǔn薯shǔ瓜guā瓠hù茭jiāo白bái，葱cōng蒜suàn芫yán荽suī韭jiǔ薤xiè。

窩wō蕖qú童tóng蒿hāo苦kǔ藚xù，葫hú蘆lú茄qié子zi須xū栽zāi。窝wō蕖qú童tóng蒿hāo苦kǔ藚xù，葫hú芦lú茄qié子zi须xū栽zāi。

蔓màn菁jīng蘿luó蔔bo羊yáng頭tóu埋mái，紅hóng莧xiàn青qīng菘sōng紫zǐ芥jiè。蔓màn菁jīng萝luó卜bo羊yáng头tóu埋mái，红hóng苋xiàn青qīng菘sōng紫zǐ芥jiè。

行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「他tā也yě是shì個gè自zì種zhòng自zì吃chī的de道dào士shì。」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「他tā也yě是shì个gè自zì种zhòng自zì吃chī的de道dào士shì。」

逐句解 Line by line

Pilgrim, looking on without cease, saw yet another gate; pushing it open, he found a vegetable garden:

觀看不盡 — the verb guān, and the fourth and last of the chapter's 不盡 phrases, with 不 rising to bú before 盡.

佈bù種zhòng四sì時shí蔬shū菜cài，菠bō芹qín莙jūn薘dá薑jiāng苔tái。布bù种zhòng四sì时shí蔬shū菜cài，菠bō芹qín莙jūn荙dá姜jiāng苔tái。

Planted with the greens of all four seasons — spinach, celery, chard, ginger-shoots and taro;

The register drops through the floor, and deliberately: after jasper orchids and gentleman-bamboo, a list of vegetables. 佈種 takes 種 as zhòng, the verb "to sow," not zhǒng, "seed" or "kind." 莙薘, jūn dá, is chard.

筍sǔn薯shǔ瓜guā瓠hù茭jiāo白bái，蔥cōng蒜suàn芫yán荽suī韭jiǔ薤xiè。笋sǔn薯shǔ瓜guā瓠hù茭jiāo白bái，葱cōng蒜suàn芫yán荽suī韭jiǔ薤xiè。

bamboo-shoots, yams, gourds and calabashes, and water-bamboo; scallions, garlic, coriander, leeks and shallots.

茭白, jiāo bái, water-bamboo — the swollen stem of a wild rice grass, still a common Chinese vegetable and unfamiliar to most English readers. 芫荽, yán suī, coriander; 韭薤, chives and shallots.

窩wō蕖qú童tóng蒿hāo苦kǔ藚xù，葫hú蘆lú茄qié子zi須xū栽zāi。窝wō蕖qú童tóng蒿hāo苦kǔ藚xù，葫hú芦lú茄qié子zi须xū栽zāi。

Water-mallow, tong-wormwood, and bitter dock; bottle-gourd and eggplant must be set out too;

窩蕖, a marsh plant; 童蒿, a wormwood; 苦藚, bitter dock. 須栽, must be planted — the line is written like a gardener's memorandum.

蔓màn菁jīng蘿luó蔔bo羊yáng頭tóu埋mái，紅hóng莧xiàn青qīng菘sōng紫zǐ芥jiè。蔓màn菁jīng萝luó卜bo羊yáng头tóu埋mái，红hóng苋xiàn青qīng菘sōng紫zǐ芥jiè。

turnip and radish buried round like sheep-heads; red amaranth, green pak-choi, purple mustard.

蔓菁 is mán jīng, turnip — 蔓 takes mán only in this compound, against màn in 蔓延 and 蔓草. 蘿蔔, luó bo, radish, with the second syllable neutral. 羊頭埋, buried round like sheep-heads, describes how the roots sit half out of the soil. 青菘, qīng sōng, is pak-choi.

Pilgrim said with a laugh, "So he's a Daoist who plants his own and eats his own."

Pilgrim's deflating one-liner. After two rhapsodies of paradisal splendour, the immortal grows his own dinner. 自種自吃 takes 種 as zhòng again.

總評 Commentary

A second gate, and the register falls straight through the floor. After jasper-sand orchids and gentleman-bamboo, here is a list of about two dozen vegetables — spinach, chard, water-bamboo, coriander, chives, shallots, dock, turnip, radish, pak-choi, mustard — set out in the same rhapsodic couplet-metre as the flower garden, and reading rather like a gardener's memorandum.

Pilgrim's one-line verdict punctures the whole preceding splendour: so he's a Daoist who plants his own and eats his own. It is a peasant's joke about a landowner, and it lands, because it is true — even a paradise-abbey has to get dinner from somewhere. The comic timing is exact: two passages of celestial grandeur, then cabbages.