第三十回 · 妖登金階 The Demon Admitted to Court — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

妖登金階 The Demon Admitted to Court

國guó王wáng准zhǔn奏zòu，叫jiào宣xuān，把bǎ妖yāo宣xuān至zhì金jīn階jiē。他tā一yì般bān的de也yě舞wǔ蹈dǎo山shān呼hū的de行xíng禮lǐ。多duō官guān見jiàn他tā生shēng得de俊jùn麗lì，也yě不bù敢gǎn認rèn他tā是shì妖yāo精jīng。他tā都dōu是shì些xiē肉ròu眼yǎn凡fán胎tāi，卻què當dāng做zuò好hǎo人rén。那nà國guó王wáng見jiàn他tā聳sǒng壑hè昂áng霄xiāo，以yǐ為wéi濟jì世shì之zhī梁liáng棟dòng，便biàn問wèn他tā：「駙fù馬mǎ，你nǐ家jiā在zài那nǎ裡lǐ居jū住zhù？是shì何hé方fāng人rén氏shì？幾jǐ時shí得dé我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ配pèi合hé？怎zěn麼me今jīn日rì才cái來lái認rèn親qīn？」国guó王wáng准zhǔn奏zòu，叫jiào宣xuān，把bǎ妖yāo宣xuān至zhì金jīn阶jiē。他tā一yì般bān的de也yě舞wǔ蹈dǎo山shān呼hū的de行xíng礼lǐ。多duō官guān见jiàn他tā生shēng得de俊jùn丽lì，也yě不bù敢gǎn认rèn他tā是shì妖yāo精jīng。他tā都dōu是shì些xiē肉ròu眼yǎn凡fán胎tāi，却què当dāng做zuò好hǎo人rén。那nà国guó王wáng见jiàn他tā耸sǒng壑hè昂áng霄xiāo，以yǐ为wéi济jì世shì之zhī梁liáng栋dòng，便biàn问wèn他tā：「驸fù马mǎ，你nǐ家jiā在zài那nǎ里lǐ居jū住zhù？是shì何hé方fāng人rén氏shì？几jǐ时shí得dé我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ配pèi合hé？怎zěn么me今jīn日rì才cái来lái认rèn亲qīn？」

逐句解 Line by line

國guó王wáng准zhǔn奏zòu，叫jiào宣xuān，把bǎ妖yāo宣xuān至zhì金jīn階jiē。国guó王wáng准zhǔn奏zòu，叫jiào宣xuān，把bǎ妖yāo宣xuān至zhì金jīn阶jiē。

The king granted the petition and called for the summons, and the demon was ushered up to the golden steps.

准奏: to approve a memorial. The bureaucratic formality that admitted the demon now carries him into the throne-hall itself.

他tā一yì般bān的de也yě舞wǔ蹈dǎo山shān呼hū的de行xíng禮lǐ。他tā一yì般bān的de也yě舞wǔ蹈dǎo山shān呼hū的de行xíng礼lǐ。

He too performed the ritual courtesies — the ceremonial dance, the shouted acclamation — like any true courtier.

舞蹈山呼 names the court ritual of audience: the prescribed obeisant "dance" and the 山呼 ("mountain-hailing"), the massed cry of 萬歲 ("Ten thousand years!"). 行禮 takes 行 as xíng.

多duō官guān見jiàn他tā生shēng得de俊jùn麗lì，也yě不bù敢gǎn認rèn他tā是shì妖yāo精jīng。多duō官guān见jiàn他tā生shēng得de俊jùn丽lì，也yě不bù敢gǎn认rèn他tā是shì妖yāo精jīng。

The officials, seeing how handsome he was formed, dared not take him for a demon.

生得俊麗 takes the structural 得 as de. The disguise’s beauty is precisely what disarms suspicion.

他tā都dōu是shì些xiē肉ròu眼yǎn凡fán胎tāi，卻què當dāng做zuò好hǎo人rén。他tā都dōu是shì些xiē肉ròu眼yǎn凡fán胎tāi，却què当dāng做zuò好hǎo人rén。

They were, one and all, creatures of fleshly eyes and mortal frame, and so mistook him for an honest man.

都 ("all, one and all") is read dōu. 肉眼凡胎 — "eyes of flesh, a common womb" — is the standard phrase for ordinary mortals who lack the spiritual sight to pierce a disguise; the court’s blindness is a moral as well as a perceptual limit.

那nà國guó王wáng見jiàn他tā聳sǒng壑hè昂áng霄xiāo，以yǐ為wéi濟jì世shì之zhī梁liáng棟dòng，便biàn問wèn他tā：那nà国guó王wáng见jiàn他tā耸sǒng壑hè昂áng霄xiāo，以yǐ为wéi济jì世shì之zhī梁liáng栋dòng，便biàn问wèn他tā：

The king, seeing him tower as though to overtop the ravines and mount the sky, took him for a roof-beam fit to save the age, and asked him:

聳壑昂霄 ("rising over the ravines, lofty to the very heavens") lends the impostor a commanding presence; 濟世之梁棟 ("a ridge-beam to save the world") is a set metaphor for a great statesman. In 以為 ("to take to be") the graph 為 is read wéi. 那 here is deictic nà.

「駙fù馬mǎ，你nǐ家jiā在zài那nǎ裡lǐ居jū住zhù？是shì何hé方fāng人rén氏shì？幾jǐ時shí得dé我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ配pèi合hé？怎zěn麼me今jīn日rì才cái來lái認rèn親qīn？」「驸fù马mǎ，你nǐ家jiā在zài那nǎ里lǐ居jū住zhù？是shì何hé方fāng人rén氏shì？几jǐ时shí得dé我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ配pèi合hé？怎zěn么me今jīn日rì才cái来lái认rèn亲qīn？」

"Consort, where does your household dwell? Of what region are you? When did you come to be matched with my princess? And how is it that only today you come to claim the kinship?"

Here 那裡 means "where" — so 那 is the interrogative nǎ, the first such use in the chapter (all earlier instances being the deictic nà). 幾時得 takes 得 as dé ("when did you obtain/win").

總評 Commentary

The demon’s admission is the pivot from petition to peril: the same courtly machinery that ushered him in — memorial, summons, the ritual dance and acclamation — is exactly what he now exploits. His flawless performance of the audience-rite marks how thoroughly the imposture is pitched at the forms of civility.

The court’s failure is framed in the novel’s recurring language of spiritual blindness: 肉眼凡胎, eyes of mere flesh. The king, worse, is actively deceived — he reads the towering figure as a 濟世之梁棟, a pillar of the state, and it is this admiration that opens the way to the demon’s fatal fiction.