第二十九回 · 喝退八戒 The Back Gate and the Dismissal — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

喝退八戒 The Back Gate and the Dismissal

公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「郎láng君jūn，放fàng他tā從cóng後hòu門mén裡lǐ去qù罷bà。」妖yāo魔mó道dào：「奈nài煩fán哩li，放fàng他tā去qù便biàn罷bà，又yòu管guǎn他tā甚shén麼me後hòu門mén前qián門mén哩li。」他tā遂suì綽chuò了le鋼gāng刀dāo，高gāo叫jiào道dào：「那nà豬zhū八bā戒jiè，你nǐ過guò來lái。我wǒ不bú是shì怕pà你nǐ，不bù與yǔ你nǐ戰zhàn；看kàn著zhe我wǒ渾hún家jiā的de分fèn上shàng，饒ráo了le你nǐ師shī父fù也yě。趁chèn早zǎo去qù後hòu門mén首shǒu尋xún著zháo他tā，往wǎng西xī方fāng去qù罷bà。若ruò再zài來lái犯fàn我wǒ境jìng界jiè，斷duàn乎hū不bù饒ráo。」公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「郎láng君jūn，放fàng他tā从cóng后hòu门mén里lǐ去qù罢bà。」妖yāo魔mó道dào：「奈nài烦fán哩li，放fàng他tā去qù便biàn罢bà，又yòu管guǎn他tā甚shén么me后hòu门mén前qián门mén哩li。」他tā遂suì绰chuò了le钢gāng刀dāo，高gāo叫jiào道dào：「那nà猪zhū八bā戒jiè，你nǐ过guò来lái。我wǒ不bú是shì怕pà你nǐ，不bù与yǔ你nǐ战zhàn；看kàn著zhe我wǒ浑hún家jiā的de分fèn上shàng，饶ráo了le你nǐ师shī父fù也yě。趁chèn早zǎo去qù后hòu门mén首shǒu寻xún著zháo他tā，往wǎng西xī方fāng去qù罢bà。若ruò再zài来lái犯fàn我wǒ境jìng界jiè，断duàn乎hū不bù饶ráo。」

逐句解 Line by line

公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「郎láng君jūn，放fàng他tā從cóng後hòu門mén裡lǐ去qù罷bà。」公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「郎láng君jūn，放fàng他tā从cóng后hòu门mén里lǐ去qù罢bà。」

Said the princess, 'My lord, let him go out by the back gate.'

Her insistence on the back gate (後門) completes her care for Tripitaka's safe passage, keeping him clear of the lesser imps massed at the front.

妖yāo魔mó道dào：「奈nài煩fán哩li，放fàng他tā去qù便biàn罷bà，又yòu管guǎn他tā甚shén麼me後hòu門mén前qián門mén哩li。」妖yāo魔mó道dào：「奈nài烦fán哩li，放fàng他tā去qù便biàn罢bà，又yòu管guǎn他tā甚shén么me后hòu门mén前qián门mén哩li。」

Said the fiend, 'How tiresome! Let him go and be done — who cares whether it's the back gate or the front!'

奈煩 = "how vexing, what a bother"; the sentence-final 哩 is the light particle li. 甚 is shén. The ogre's impatience (又管他甚麼...) is characteristically slovenly — and it is exactly this carelessness the princess has counted on.

他tā遂suì綽chuò了le鋼gāng刀dāo，高gāo叫jiào道dào：「那nà豬zhū八bā戒jiè，你nǐ過guò來lái。我wǒ不bú是shì怕pà你nǐ，不bù與yǔ你nǐ戰zhàn；看kàn著zhe我wǒ渾hún家jiā的de分fèn上shàng，饒ráo了le你nǐ師shī父fù也yě。趁chèn早zǎo去qù後hòu門mén首shǒu尋xún著zháo他tā，往wǎng西xī方fāng去qù罷bà。若ruò再zài來lái犯fàn我wǒ境jìng界jiè，斷duàn乎hū不bù饒ráo。」他tā遂suì绰chuò了le钢gāng刀dāo，高gāo叫jiào道dào：「那nà猪zhū八bā戒jiè，你nǐ过guò来lái。我wǒ不bú是shì怕pà你nǐ，不bù与yǔ你nǐ战zhàn；看kàn著zhe我wǒ浑hún家jiā的de分fèn上shàng，饶ráo了le你nǐ师shī父fù也yě。趁chèn早zǎo去qù后hòu门mén首shǒu寻xún著zháo他tā，往wǎng西xī方fāng去qù罢bà。若ruò再zài来lái犯fàn我wǒ境jìng界jiè，断duàn乎hū不bù饶ráo。」

Then he snatched up his steel blade and called out loudly, 'You there, Zhu Eight Rules — come here. It is not that I fear you, that I will not fight you; but for the sake of my wife I spare your master. Get you quickly to the back gate, find him, and be off to the west. Should you come again to trespass on my domain, I will by no means spare you.'

綽刀 = "to grab up a blade." 分上 (分 = fèn) = "for the sake of, on account of"; 看著 the durative zhe. The ogre's face-saving formula — 我不是怕你 ("not that I fear you") — precedes his concession; 尋著 takes 著 as the resultative zháo ("find"). His warning against 犯我境界 ("trespassing on my territory") ironically invites the very return it forbids.

總評 Commentary

The ogre's dismissal of Eight Rules is all bravado and impatience. His face-saving disclaimer — that he spares the master not from fear but 看著我渾家的分上, for his wife's sake — lets him yield without loss of dignity, while his slovenly indifference to which gate the monk uses (又管他甚麼後門前門) confirms that carelessness, not calculation, governs him. The princess's design succeeds precisely because it is built upon this laziness.

The scene closes on a piece of transparent dramatic irony. The Yellow-Robe Ogre warns that any return to trespass on his domain will meet no mercy — and the reader knows the pilgrims must and will return within the chapter, once the letter reaches Baoxiang and the king dispatches the disciples against him. His prohibition is thus, in the tale's economy, an invitation; the boast that ends the encounter sets up the renewed combat that will undo him.