第二十五回 · 麻繩秋風 Ropes Like the Autumn Wind — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

麻繩秋風 Ropes Like the Autumn Wind

八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē哥ge又yòu弄nòng虛xū頭tóu了le。這zhè裡lǐ麻má繩shéng噴pēn水shuǐ，緊jǐn緊jǐn的de綁bǎng著zhe，還hái比bǐ關guān在zài殿diàn上shàng，被bèi你nǐ使shǐ解jiě鎖suǒ法fǎ搠shuò開kāi門mén走zǒu哩li。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「不bú是shì誇kuā口kǒu說shuō，那nǎ怕pà他tā三sān股gǔ的de麻má繩shéng噴pēn上shàng了le水shuǐ，就jiù是shì碗wǎn粗cū的de棕zōng纜lǎn，也yě只zhǐ好hǎo當dàng秋qiū風fēng。」八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē哥ge又yòu弄nòng虚xū头tóu了le。这zhè里lǐ麻má绳shéng喷pēn水shuǐ，紧jǐn紧jǐn的de绑bǎng着zhe，还hái比bǐ关guān在zài殿diàn上shàng，被bèi你nǐ使shǐ解jiě锁suǒ法fǎ搠shuò开kāi门mén走zǒu哩li。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「不bú是shì夸kuā口kǒu说shuō，那nǎ怕pà他tā三sān股gǔ的de麻má绳shéng喷pēn上shàng了le水shuǐ，就jiù是shì碗wǎn粗cū的de棕zōng缆lǎn，也yě只zhǐ好hǎo当dàng秋qiū风fēng。」

逐句解 Line by line

八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē哥ge又yòu弄nòng虛xū頭tóu了le。八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē哥ge又yòu弄nòng虚xū头tóu了le。

Bajie said, "Brother is up to his empty tricks again.

弄虛頭, nòng xū tóu, is putting on a bluff, all show and no substance — the ancestor of the modern 弄虛 family of words for faking it.

這zhè裡lǐ麻má繩shéng噴pēn水shuǐ，緊jǐn緊jǐn的de綁bǎng著zhe，還hái比bǐ關guān在zài殿diàn上shàng，被bèi你nǐ使shǐ解jiě鎖suǒ法fǎ搠shuò開kāi門mén走zǒu哩li。」这zhè里lǐ麻má绳shéng喷pēn水shuǐ，紧jǐn紧jǐn的de绑bǎng着zhe，还hái比bǐ关guān在zài殿diàn上shàng，被bèi你nǐ使shǐ解jiě锁suǒ法fǎ搠shuò开kāi门mén走zǒu哩li。」

"Here the hemp ropes have been sprayed with water and bound tight and fast; it is worse than being shut in the hall, where you used the lock-loosing spell and prised the door open to get out."

Bajie's objection is a technical one, and correct. Hemp rope sprayed with water swells and tightens as it dries, so a soaked binding grips harder than a dry one — a genuine piece of rope-craft, and the reason the abbey did it. 緊緊的綁著 takes 著 as zhe, a state that holds. 搠開門, shuò kāi mén, prising the door open, recalls the lock-loosing spell of the first escape; 還 is hái, "even more so."

行xíng者zhě道dào：「不bú是shì誇kuā口kǒu說shuō，那nǎ怕pà他tā三sān股gǔ的de麻má繩shéng噴pēn上shàng了le水shuǐ，就jiù是shì碗wǎn粗cū的de棕zōng纜lǎn，也yě只zhǐ好hǎo當dàng秋qiū風fēng。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「不bú是shì夸kuā口kǒu说shuō，那nǎ怕pà他tā三sān股gǔ的de麻má绳shéng喷pēn上shàng了le水shuǐ，就jiù是shì碗wǎn粗cū的de棕zōng缆lǎn，也yě只zhǐ好hǎo当dàng秋qiū风fēng。」

The Pilgrim said, "Not to boast, but even his three-strand hemp rope, water-soaked as it is—yes, and a bowl-thick palm-fibre cable too—would be no more to me than the autumn wind."

And the boast. 那怕, nǎ pà, "even if, never mind" — the interrogative 那 as nǎ, written today as 哪怕. 棕纜, zōng lǎn, is cable laid up from palm fibre, the stuff of ships' hawsers, and 碗粗 means as thick as a rice bowl. 當秋風, dàng qiū fēng, "count it as the autumn wind," takes 當 as dàng, "to reckon as." Rope thick as your wrist, and he rates it at a breeze.

總評 Commentary

Bajie is right about the rope. Wet hemp shrinks and grips as it dries, which is why the abbey sprayed it, and his complaint carries the specific grievance of somebody who has just discovered this the hard way. He is also right that the last escape had a door to work on and this one does not.

Wukong's answer does not engage with any of it. Three-strand hemp, a hawser as thick as a rice bowl — 也只好當秋風, all of it counts as the autumn wind. The image is well chosen: not "I could break it" but "it is not there." He has been swaggering since the first passage of this chapter, and this is the last swagger before he makes good on it.