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咬衣泣諫
The Horse Pleads
小龍聞說,一口咬住他直裰子,那裡肯放,止不住眼中滴淚道:「師兄啊,你千萬休生懶惰。」八戒道:「不懶惰便怎麼?沙兄弟已被他拿住,我是戰不過他,不趁此散火,還等甚麼?」小龙闻说,一口咬住他直裰子,那里肯放,止不住眼中滴泪道:「师兄啊,你千万休生懒惰。」八戒道:「不懒惰便怎么?沙兄弟已被他拿住,我是战不过他,不趁此散火,还等甚么?」
逐句解 Line by line
小龍聞說,一口咬住他直裰子,那裡肯放,止不住眼中滴淚道:「師兄啊,你千萬休生懶惰。」
小龙闻说,一口咬住他直裰子,那里肯放,止不住眼中滴泪道:「师兄啊,你千万休生懒惰。」
At this the little dragon caught his cassock in its teeth with one bite and would by no means let go, and, unable to hold back the tears in its eyes, said: "Brother, I beg you a thousand times — do not give way to sloth!"
Here 那裡肯放 means "would in no way let go," so 那 is the rhetorical nǎ; 眼中 takes 中 as zhōng. 直裰 is a monk’s cassock; 休生懶惰, "do not breed laziness." The horse must physically hold Bajie to plead with him.
八戒道:「不懶惰便怎麼?沙兄弟已被他拿住,我是戰不過他,不趁此散火,還等甚麼?」
八戒道:「不懒惰便怎么?沙兄弟已被他拿住,我是战不过他,不趁此散火,还等甚么?」
Bajie said: "And if I’m not slothful, what of it? Brother Sha is already taken; I’m no match for him in a fight; if we don’t break up the band now, what are we waiting for?"
散火 ("break up the band, disband") takes 散 as sàn; 還等甚麼 takes 還 as hái and 甚 as shén. Bajie meets the plea with pure practicality: they are outmatched, so why not scatter?
總評 Commentary
The scene’s pathos is carried by the mute animal made suddenly eloquent: the dragon-horse bites its master’s brother by the robe, weeps, and begs. Against this desperation Bajie sets a flat, self-preserving calculus — Sha is captured, the demon is too strong, so the fellowship should simply disband. The word 散火 ("break up the band") names the real crisis of the passage: not the demon’s strength, but the pilgrims’ will to hold together.