第二十九回 · 心生巧計 The Princess Calls the Ogre Down — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

心生巧計 The Princess Calls the Ogre Down

卻què說shuō公gōng主zhǔ娘niáng娘niáng心xīn生shēng巧qiǎo計jì，急jí往wǎng前qián來lái，出chū門mén外wài，分fēn開kāi了le大dà小xiǎo群qún妖yāo。只zhǐ聽tīng得de叮dīng叮dīng噹dāng噹dāng，兵bīng刃rèn亂luàn響xiǎng。原yuán來lái是shì八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng與yǔ那nà怪guài在zài半bàn空kōng裡lǐ廝sī殺shā哩lī。這zhè公gōng主zhǔ厲lì聲shēng高gāo叫jiào道dào：「黃huáng袍páo郎láng！」那nà妖yāo王wáng聽tīng得de公gōng主zhǔ叫jiào喚huàn，即jí丟diū了le八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，按àn落luò雲yún頭tóu，揪jiū了le鋼gāng刀dāo，攙chān著zhe公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「渾hún家jiā，有yǒu甚shén話huà說shuō？」却què说shuō公gōng主zhǔ娘niáng娘niáng心xīn生shēng巧qiǎo计jì，急jí往wǎng前qián来lái，出chū门mén外wài，分fēn开kāi了le大dà小xiǎo群qún妖yāo。只zhǐ听tīng得de叮dīng叮dīng当dāng当dāng，兵bīng刃rèn乱luàn响xiǎng。原yuán来lái是shì八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng与yǔ那nà怪guài在zài半bàn空kōng里lǐ厮sī杀shā哩lī。这zhè公gōng主zhǔ厉lì声shēng高gāo叫jiào道dào：「黄huáng袍páo郎láng！」那nà妖yāo王wáng听tīng得de公gōng主zhǔ叫jiào唤huàn，即jí丢diū了le八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，按àn落luò云yún头tóu，揪jiū了le钢gāng刀dāo，搀chān著zhe公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「浑hún家jiā，有yǒu甚shén话huà说shuō？」

逐句解 Line by line

Now the princess, a clever scheme forming in her heart, hurried forward, passed out at the gate, and pushed through the throng of demons great and small. She heard only a clang and clatter, a wild ringing of blades: it was Eight Rules and Sha Monk, locked in combat with the fiend high in the air.

心生巧計 ("a clever scheme forming in the heart") names her stratagem outright. 叮叮噹噹 is onomatopoeia for the clash of weapons; 廝殺 = "to fight it out." 只聽得 takes 得 as the structural de. The resumptive 卻說 marks the storyteller's return to the outer scene.

這zhè公gōng主zhǔ厲lì聲shēng高gāo叫jiào道dào：「黃huáng袍páo郎láng！」那nà妖yāo王wáng聽tīng得de公gōng主zhǔ叫jiào喚huàn，即jí丟diū了le八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，按àn落luò雲yún頭tóu，揪jiū了le鋼gāng刀dāo，攙chān著zhe公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「渾hún家jiā，有yǒu甚shén話huà說shuō？」这zhè公gōng主zhǔ厉lì声shēng高gāo叫jiào道dào：「黄huáng袍páo郎láng！」那nà妖yāo王wáng听tīng得de公gōng主zhǔ叫jiào唤huàn，即jí丢diū了le八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，按àn落luò云yún头tóu，揪jiū了le钢gāng刀dāo，搀chān著zhe公gōng主zhǔ道dào：「浑hún家jiā，有yǒu甚shén话huà说shuō？」

The princess called out in a shrill, loud voice: 'Yellow-Robe, my lord!' Hearing her call, the ogre-king at once let Eight Rules and Sha Monk be, brought his cloud down to earth, gripped his steel blade, and, steadying the princess, said, 'Wife, what have you to tell me?'

黃袍郎 ("Yellow-Robe, [my] lord") is the princess's intimate address for the Yellow-Robe Ogre. 按落雲頭 = "to press the cloud down and alight." 渾家 is the vernacular word for "wife." 有甚話說 takes 甚 as shén ("what"); 聽得 again the structural de.

總評 Commentary

The princess's intervention is staged with a fine sense of theater. She parts the horde of demons like a curtain, and a single shrill cry — 黃袍郎! — is enough to halt a battle that martial force could not decide: the ogre drops his airborne opponents and descends at the sound of his wife's voice. The scene turns on the leverage of intimacy, and the narrator marks it with the domestic vocabulary of the demon marriage.

That the fiend addresses her as 渾家 ("wife") and she him as 郎 ("my lord") is the whole point of the manipulation to follow: the Yellow-Robe Ogre, for all his menace, is a husband, and it is through the husband that the monster can be moved. The novel is repeatedly interested in these domesticated demons, whose ferocity is qualified by conjugal habit; here that habit is precisely the seam the princess works.