第二十七回 · 堅執不吃 The Monk Will Not Eat — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

堅執不吃 The Monk Will Not Eat

三sān藏zàng道dào：「善shàn哉zāi！善shàn哉zāi！我wǒ有yǒu徒tú弟dì摘zhāi果guǒ子zi去qù了le，就jiù來lái。我wǒ不bù敢gǎn吃chī，假jiǎ如rú我wǒ和hé尚shàng吃chī了le你nǐ飯fàn，你nǐ丈zhàng夫fū曉xiǎo得dé，罵mà你nǐ，卻què不bú罪zuì坐zuò貧pín僧sēng也yě？」那nà女nǚ子zǐ見jiàn唐táng僧sēng不bù肯kěn吃chī，卻què又yòu滿mǎn面miàn春chūn生shēng道dào：「師shī父fù啊a，我wǒ父fù母mǔ齋zhāi僧sēng，還hái是shì小xiǎo可kě；我wǒ丈zhàng夫fū更gèng是shì個gè善shàn人rén，一yì生shēng好hǎo的de是shì修xiū橋qiáo補bǔ路lù，愛ài老lǎo憐lián貧pín。但dàn聽tīng見jiàn說shuō這zhè飯fàn送sòng與yǔ師shī父fù吃chī了le，他tā與yǔ我wǒ夫fū妻qī情qíng上shàng，比bǐ尋xún常cháng更gèng是shì不bù同tóng。」三sān藏zàng也yě只zhǐ是shì不bù吃chī。三sān藏zàng道dào：「善shàn哉zāi！善shàn哉zāi！我wǒ有yǒu徒tú弟dì摘zhāi果guǒ子zi去qù了le，就jiù来lái。我wǒ不bù敢gǎn吃chī，假jiǎ如rú我wǒ和hé尚shàng吃chī了le你nǐ饭fàn，你nǐ丈zhàng夫fū晓xiǎo得dé，骂mà你nǐ，却què不bú罪zuì坐zuò贫pín僧sēng也yě？」那nà女nǚ子zǐ见jiàn唐táng僧sēng不bù肯kěn吃chī，却què又yòu满mǎn面miàn春chūn生shēng道dào：「师shī父fù啊a，我wǒ父fù母mǔ斋zhāi僧sēng，还hái是shì小xiǎo可kě；我wǒ丈zhàng夫fū更gèng是shì个gè善shàn人rén，一yì生shēng好hǎo的de是shì修xiū桥qiáo补bǔ路lù，爱ài老lǎo怜lián贫pín。但dàn听tīng见jiàn说shuō这zhè饭fàn送sòng与yǔ师shī父fù吃chī了le，他tā与yǔ我wǒ夫fū妻qī情qíng上shàng，比bǐ寻xún常cháng更gèng是shì不bù同tóng。」三sān藏zàng也yě只zhǐ是shì不bù吃chī。

逐句解 Line by line

三sān藏zàng道dào：「善shàn哉zāi！三sān藏zàng道dào：「善shàn哉zāi！

Tripitaka said, "How good!

善哉 (shàn zāi) renders the Sanskrit sādhu — well said, well done — and is the standard Buddhist noise of approval, what a monk says when something pleases him spiritually. The pious tale has landed.

善shàn哉zāi！善shàn哉zāi！

"How good!

Said twice. He means it, which is the trouble.

我wǒ有yǒu徒tú弟dì摘zhāi果guǒ子zi去qù了le，就jiù來lái。我wǒ有yǒu徒tú弟dì摘zhāi果guǒ子zi去qù了le，就jiù来lái。

"But I have a disciple gone to pick fruit, who will be back directly.

And there is the clock, dropped into the conversation without emphasis: a disciple is out picking fruit and will be back directly. From the demon's side of the table it is the only sentence in the scene that matters. (果子 takes the toneless zi.)

我wǒ不bù敢gǎn吃chī，假jiǎ如rú我wǒ和hé尚shàng吃chī了le你nǐ飯fàn，你nǐ丈zhàng夫fū曉xiǎo得dé，罵mà你nǐ，卻què不bú罪zuì坐zuò貧pín僧sēng也yě？」我wǒ不bù敢gǎn吃chī，假jiǎ如rú我wǒ和hé尚shàng吃chī了le你nǐ饭fàn，你nǐ丈zhàng夫fū晓xiǎo得dé，骂mà你nǐ，却què不bú罪zuì坐zuò贫pín僧sēng也yě？」

"I dare not eat it. Suppose I, a monk, ate your food and your husband found out and cursed you — would not the blame fall upon this poor cleric?"

His reason for refusing is beautifully, uselessly considerate: if your husband hears you fed a monk with his lunch he will scold you, and then it will be my fault. 罪坐 is to have blame come and settle on you; 貧僧, "this poor monk", is the elder's humble way of saying "I". He is worrying about a marital row while a corpse-fiend stands in front of him holding a jar of maggots. The scruple is real, fine-grained, and aimed at entirely the wrong thing. (曉得 takes the toneless de.)

那nà女nǚ子zǐ見jiàn唐táng僧sēng不bù肯kěn吃chī，卻què又yòu滿mǎn面miàn春chūn生shēng道dào：「師shī父fù啊a，我wǒ父fù母mǔ齋zhāi僧sēng，還hái是shì小xiǎo可kě；那nà女nǚ子zǐ见jiàn唐táng僧sēng不bù肯kěn吃chī，却què又yòu满mǎn面miàn春chūn生shēng道dào：「师shī父fù啊a，我wǒ父fù母mǔ斋zhāi僧sēng，还hái是shì小xiǎo可kě；

Seeing the Tang Monk would not eat, the woman, her face all abloom with spring warmth, pressed on: "Master, ah — my parents' alms-giving to monks is a small thing;

滿面春生 — spring coming up all over her face — is a lovely way of saying she beamed. And watch her change tack: the parents have not worked, so out comes the husband. 還是小可, "that's only a small matter", takes 還 as hái, "still, yet" — a different reading from the huán, "repay", in her earlier 還誓願. 那 points, so nà; 女子 takes zǐ.

我wǒ丈zhàng夫fū更gèng是shì個gè善shàn人rén，一yì生shēng好hǎo的de是shì修xiū橋qiáo補bǔ路lù，愛ài老lǎo憐lián貧pín。我wǒ丈zhàng夫fū更gèng是shì个gè善shàn人rén，一yì生shēng好hǎo的de是shì修xiū桥qiáo补bǔ路lù，爱ài老lǎo怜lián贫pín。

"but my husband is a good man beyond that — all his life he has loved to mend bridges and repair roads, and to cherish the old and pity the poor.

修橋補路 and 愛老憐貧 — mending bridges and roads, cherishing the old and pitying the poor — are the standard catalogue of lay good works, the items any Ming layman would list if asked what a virtuous man does with his money. She has now furnished her imaginary husband with a full charitable record. (更 is gèng, "even more so".)

但dàn聽tīng見jiàn說shuō這zhè飯fàn送sòng與yǔ師shī父fù吃chī了le，他tā與yǔ我wǒ夫fū妻qī情qíng上shàng，比bǐ尋xún常cháng更gèng是shì不bù同tóng。」但dàn听tīng见jiàn说shuō这zhè饭fàn送sòng与yǔ师shī父fù吃chī了le，他tā与yǔ我wǒ夫fū妻qī情qíng上shàng，比bǐ寻xún常cháng更gèng是shì不bù同tóng。」

"Were he but to hear that this food had been given to you, Master, to eat, then in his love for me as his wife he would be more pleased than ever."

And the counter-argument lands, turning his objection inside out. He said the husband would be angry; she says the husband would be delighted, and would think the better of her for it. She has taken the precise shape of his refusal and answered it point for point — as she has done every single time he has raised a doubt. (更 is gèng again.)

三sān藏zàng也yě只zhǐ是shì不bù吃chī。三sān藏zàng也yě只zhǐ是shì不bù吃chī。

But Tripitaka simply would not eat.

Seven characters, and they are the last thing standing. He will not eat. Not because he suspects her — he does not — but because he is being stubborn about a point of etiquette. It is enough. It holds until Wukong lands.

總評 Commentary

Won over by the woman's piety, the monk still refuses the food — not from suspicion but from delicacy, afraid of getting a wife into trouble with her husband. It is a characteristically fine-grained moral scruple, and characteristically pointed at the wrong thing: he weighs a domestic impropriety while blind to the fiend in front of him.

Every refusal draws a fresh appeal — the husband's charity, then the husband's supposed delight at the gift. But the passage twice glances at the real threat to her plan: the disciple gone for fruit, who will be back directly. Her mounting urgency is being measured against Wukong's flight time.

The stalemate — she cannot make him eat, he cannot see what she is — is the still point before the storm. It breaks two passages later, when Wukong drops out of the sky, sees at a glance what a whole party of monks could not, and swings.