第二十九回 · 倒換文牒 Requesting Audience — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

倒換文牒 Requesting Audience

唐táng僧sēng步bù行xíng至zhì朝cháo門mén外wài，對duì閣gé門mén大dà使shǐ道dào：「有yǒu唐táng朝cháo僧sēng人rén，特tè來lái面miàn駕jià，倒dào換huàn文wén牒dié，乞qǐ為wèi轉zhuǎn奏zòu轉zhuǎn奏zòu。」那nà黃huáng門mén奏zòu事shì官guān連lián忙máng走zǒu至zhì白bái玉yù階jiē前qián奏zòu道dào：「萬wàn歲suì，唐táng朝cháo有yǒu個gè高gāo僧sēng，欲yù求qiú見jiàn駕jià，倒dào換huàn文wén牒dié。」唐táng僧sēng步bù行xíng至zhì朝cháo门mén外wài，对duì阁gé门mén大dà使shǐ道dào：「有yǒu唐táng朝cháo僧sēng人rén，特tè来lái面miàn驾jià，倒dào换huàn文wén牒dié，乞qǐ为wèi转zhuǎn奏zòu转zhuǎn奏zòu。」那nà黄huáng门mén奏zòu事shì官guān连lián忙máng走zǒu至zhì白bái玉yù阶jiē前qián奏zòu道dào：「万wàn岁suì，唐táng朝cháo有yǒu个gè高gāo僧sēng，欲yù求qiú见jiàn驾jià，倒dào换huàn文wén牒dié。」

逐句解 Line by line

唐táng僧sēng步bù行xíng至zhì朝cháo門mén外wài，對duì閣gé門mén大dà使shǐ道dào：「有yǒu唐táng朝cháo僧sēng人rén，特tè來lái面miàn駕jià，倒dào換huàn文wén牒dié，乞qǐ為wèi轉zhuǎn奏zòu轉zhuǎn奏zòu。」唐táng僧sēng步bù行xíng至zhì朝cháo门mén外wài，对duì阁gé门mén大dà使shǐ道dào：「有yǒu唐táng朝cháo僧sēng人rén，特tè来lái面miàn驾jià，倒dào换huàn文wén牒dié，乞qǐ为wèi转zhuǎn奏zòu转zhuǎn奏zòu。」

Tripitaka walked on foot to the outer gate of the court and said to the gate-usher, 'There is a monk of Tang who has come expressly to have audience with the throne and to have his travel-rescript renewed. I beg you to relay it up, relay it up.'

步行 (行 = xíng) = "to go on foot"; 朝門 (朝 = cháo) = "the court gate." 倒換文牒 (倒 = dào) = "to have the travel-document renewed" — the seal of each realm the pilgrim passes must be affixed anew. 乞為轉奏 (為 = wèi) = "I beg you to memorialize it on my behalf"; the doubled 轉奏轉奏 is the vernacular's emphatic reduplication. 閣門大使 = the usher of the palace gate.

那nà黃huáng門mén奏zòu事shì官guān連lián忙máng走zǒu至zhì白bái玉yù階jiē前qián奏zòu道dào：「萬wàn歲suì，唐táng朝cháo有yǒu個gè高gāo僧sēng，欲yù求qiú見jiàn駕jià，倒dào換huàn文wén牒dié。」那nà黄huáng门mén奏zòu事shì官guān连lián忙máng走zǒu至zhì白bái玉yù阶jiē前qián奏zòu道dào：「万wàn岁suì，唐táng朝cháo有yǒu个gè高gāo僧sēng，欲yù求qiú见jiàn驾jià，倒dào换huàn文wén牒dié。」

The eunuch memorial-officer hurried to the foot of the white-jade steps and reported, 'Your Majesty, there is an eminent monk of Tang who begs to see the throne and to have his travel-rescript renewed.'

黃門奏事官 = "the Yellow-Gate memorial-officer," a eunuch charged with conveying petitions to the throne. 白玉階 = "the white-jade steps" of the throne-hall; 萬歲 ("ten thousand years") is the acclamation addressed to the sovereign.

總評 Commentary

The scene shifts to the civil business that punctuates the whole pilgrimage: the 倒換文牒, the renewal of Tripitaka's travel-rescript. At each kingdom he must present his passport to be re-sealed, and this recurring formality — half diplomatic courtesy, half bureaucratic necessity — is one of the threads that stitches the episodic journey to the framing authority of the Tang throne. Here it also serves to bring Tripitaka, unwitting, into the very court whose princess he has undertaken to serve.

The passage is attentive to the layered protocol of a royal audience: the petition passes from the monk to the gate-usher (閣門大使) to the eunuch memorial-officer (黃門奏事官) before it reaches the throne, each relay marked by its proper formula. The novel's interest in the decorum of courts — the steps, the titles, the acclamations — is of a piece with its larger investment in Tang as the model of civilized order.