第三十回 · 怒斥公主 The Demon Berates the Princess — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

怒斥公主 The Demon Berates the Princess

卻què說shuō那nà公gōng主zhǔ不bù知zhī，梳shū妝zhuāng方fāng畢bì，移yí步bù前qián來lái。只zhǐ見jiàn那nà怪guài怒nù目mù攢cuán眉méi，咬yǎo牙yá切qiè齒chǐ。那nà公gōng主zhǔ還hái陪péi笑xiào臉liǎn迎yíng道dào：「郎láng君jūn有yǒu何hé事shì這zhè等děng煩fán惱nǎo？」那nà怪guài咄duō的de一yì聲shēng罵mà道dào：「你nǐ這zhè狗gǒu心xīn賤jiàn婦fù，全quán沒méi人rén倫lún。我wǒ當dāng初chū帶dài你nǐ到dào此cǐ，更gèng無wú半bàn點diǎn兒er說shuō話huà。你nǐ穿chuān的de錦jǐn，戴dài的de金jīn，缺quē少shǎo東dōng西xī我wǒ去qù尋xún。四sì時shí受shòu用yòng，每měi日rì情qíng深shēn。你nǐ怎zěn麼me只zhǐ想xiǎng你nǐ父fù母mǔ，更gèng無wú半bàn點diǎn夫fū婦fù心xīn？」却què说shuō那nà公gōng主zhǔ不bù知zhī，梳shū妆zhuāng方fāng毕bì，移yí步bù前qián来lái。只zhǐ见jiàn那nà怪guài怒nù目mù攒cuán眉méi，咬yǎo牙yá切qiè齿chǐ。那nà公gōng主zhǔ还hái陪péi笑xiào脸liǎn迎yíng道dào：「郎láng君jūn有yǒu何hé事shì这zhè等děng烦fán恼nǎo？」那nà怪guài咄duō的de一yì声shēng骂mà道dào：「你nǐ这zhè狗gǒu心xīn贱jiàn妇fù，全quán没méi人rén伦lún。我wǒ当dāng初chū带dài你nǐ到dào此cǐ，更gèng无wú半bàn点diǎn儿er说shuō话huà。你nǐ穿chuān的de锦jǐn，戴dài的de金jīn，缺quē少shǎo东dōng西xī我wǒ去qù寻xún。四sì时shí受shòu用yòng，每měi日rì情qíng深shēn。你nǐ怎zěn么me只zhǐ想xiǎng你nǐ父fù母mǔ，更gèng无wú半bàn点diǎn夫fū妇fù心xīn？」

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà公gōng主zhǔ不bù知zhī，梳shū妝zhuāng方fāng畢bì，移yí步bù前qián來lái。却què说shuō那nà公gōng主zhǔ不bù知zhī，梳shū妆zhuāng方fāng毕bì，移yí步bù前qián来lái。

Now the princess, all unknowing, had just finished at her toilette and came stepping forward.

The dramatic irony is set at once: she is 不知, wholly unaware of the danger, having just completed her 梳妝 (her morning grooming and adornment) as the demon waits with murder in mind.

只zhǐ見jiàn那nà怪guài怒nù目mù攢cuán眉méi，咬yǎo牙yá切qiè齒chǐ。只zhǐ见jiàn那nà怪guài怒nù目mù攒cuán眉méi，咬yǎo牙yá切qiè齿chǐ。

She saw only the demon glaring wide-eyed, his brows knotted, grinding his teeth in fury.

A four-character physiognomy of rage: 怒目攢眉 (blazing eyes, knitted brows) paired with 咬牙切齒 (clenching, grinding teeth). In 攢眉 the graph 攢 is read cuán, "to draw together, knit," not the zǎn of "to hoard."

那nà公gōng主zhǔ還hái陪péi笑xiào臉liǎn迎yíng道dào：「郎láng君jūn有yǒu何hé事shì這zhè等děng煩fán惱nǎo？」那nà公gōng主zhǔ还hái陪péi笑xiào脸liǎn迎yíng道dào：「郎láng君jūn有yǒu何hé事shì这zhè等děng烦fán恼nǎo？」

Even so the princess met him with a forced smile and greeted him: "My lord, what is it that vexes you so?"

陪笑臉 is to put on a placating, ingratiating smile; 還 here is hái, "even so, still" — she smiles despite his evident wrath. 郎君 is a wife’s affectionate term for her husband, its tenderness soon to be thrown back in her face.

那nà怪guài咄duō的de一yì聲shēng罵mà道dào：「你nǐ這zhè狗gǒu心xīn賤jiàn婦fù，全quán沒méi人rén倫lún。那nà怪guài咄duō的de一yì声shēng骂mà道dào：「你nǐ这zhè狗gǒu心xīn贱jiàn妇fù，全quán没méi人rén伦lún。

With a snarling bark the demon cursed her: "You dog-hearted, base-born woman, utterly void of human decency!"

咄的一聲 renders the sharp bark of his voice. The abuse 狗心賤婦 ("dog-hearted, base woman") is met by the charge that she is without 人倫 — the cardinal bonds and duties that order human relations in the Confucian scheme.

我wǒ當dāng初chū帶dài你nǐ到dào此cǐ，更gèng無wú半bàn點diǎn兒er說shuō話huà。我wǒ当dāng初chū带dài你nǐ到dào此cǐ，更gèng无wú半bàn点diǎn儿er说shuō话huà。

"When first I carried you off to this place, you had not the slightest cause for complaint."

更無半點兒說話 — "not the least bit to be said [against your treatment]," i.e. no ground for grievance whatever. The suffixal 兒 in 半點兒 is read er. The demon casts himself as a blameless provider — dramatically false, since she is his prisoner.

你nǐ穿chuān的de錦jǐn，戴dài的de金jīn，缺quē少shǎo東dōng西xī我wǒ去qù尋xún。你nǐ穿chuān的de锦jǐn，戴dài的de金jīn，缺quē少shǎo东dōng西xī我wǒ去qù寻xún。

"The brocade you wear, the gold you don — and whatever you wanted, I went out and fetched."

Here the tirade slips into rhythmic four-character parallelism (你穿的錦，戴的金) — a vernacular technique for heightened speech within prose, distinct from the colon-marked verse set-pieces elsewhere in the chapter.

四sì時shí受shòu用yòng，每měi日rì情qíng深shēn。四sì时shí受shòu用yòng，每měi日rì情qíng深shēn。

"Through all four seasons you had your comforts, and every day my devotion ran deep."

四時受用: to enjoy one’s ease in every season. The word 受用 ("to enjoy, to have the benefit of") is worth marking, for the demon will shortly use the same word in its grim sense — of "enjoying," that is, devouring, the captive monk.

你nǐ怎zěn麼me只zhǐ想xiǎng你nǐ父fù母mǔ，更gèng無wú半bàn點diǎn夫fū婦fù心xīn？」你nǐ怎zěn么me只zhǐ想xiǎng你nǐ父fù母mǔ，更gèng无wú半bàn点diǎn夫fū妇fù心xīn？」

"How is it, then, that you think only of your father and mother, and have not the least heart of a wife?"

The rhetorical climax of the tirade: 夫婦心, "the heart of husband and wife," is precisely what the demon has no right to invoke, since the "marriage" is an abduction. The whole speech weaponizes the vocabulary of domestic devotion against its victim.

總評 Commentary

The demon’s tirade works by moral inversion: he is the abductor and she the captive, yet he plays the aggrieved husband, cataloguing his own generosity — the brocade, the gold, the year-round comforts. The rhetorical force of the passage comes entirely from this reversal of who has wronged whom.

Formally, the speech modulates into rhythmic four-character couplets embedded in the prose. This is a standard resource of the vernacular novel for marking emotional intensity, and should be distinguished from the 詩 and 賦 set-pieces (set off in the source by the colon marker) that punctuate the chapter proper.

Note how the language of tenderness is turned into a weapon: 郎君, 情深, 夫婦心. The "talk of parting" the princess dreads is in truth an interrogation, and the caress conceals the knife.