第三十回 · 叩問來歷 The King's Questions — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

叩問來歷 The King's Questions

那nà老lǎo妖yāo叩kòu頭tóu道dào：「主zhǔ公gōng，臣chén是shì城chéng東dōng碗wǎn子zi山shān波bō月yuè洞dòng人rén家jiā。」國guó王wáng道dào：「你nǐ那nà山shān離lí此cǐ處chù多duō遠yuǎn？」老lǎo妖yāo道dào：「不bù遠yuǎn，只zhǐ有yǒu三sān百bǎi里lǐ。」國guó王wáng道dào：「三sān百bǎi里lǐ路lù，我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ如rú何hé得dé到dào那nà裡lǐ，與yǔ你nǐ匹pǐ配pèi？」那nà老lǎo妖yāo叩kòu头tóu道dào：「主zhǔ公gōng，臣chén是shì城chéng东dōng碗wǎn子zi山shān波bō月yuè洞dòng人rén家jiā。」国guó王wáng道dào：「你nǐ那nà山shān离lí此cǐ处chù多duō远yuǎn？」老lǎo妖yāo道dào：「不bù远yuǎn，只zhǐ有yǒu三sān百bǎi里lǐ。」国guó王wáng道dào：「三sān百bǎi里lǐ路lù，我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ如rú何hé得dé到dào那nà里lǐ，与yǔ你nǐ匹pǐ配pèi？」

逐句解 Line by line

那nà老lǎo妖yāo叩kòu頭tóu道dào：「主zhǔ公gōng，臣chén是shì城chéng東dōng碗wǎn子zi山shān波bō月yuè洞dòng人rén家jiā。」那nà老lǎo妖yāo叩kòu头tóu道dào：「主zhǔ公gōng，臣chén是shì城chéng东dōng碗wǎn子zi山shān波bō月yuè洞dòng人rén家jiā。」

The old fiend kowtowed and said: "My sovereign, your servant is of a household at the Moon-Waves Cave on Bowl-Son Mountain, to the east of the city."

碗子山波月洞 — Bowl-Son Mountain and the Moon-Waves Cave, the demon’s lair through these chapters. In 碗子 the suffixal 子 is zi. 那 is deictic nà.

國guó王wáng道dào：「你nǐ那nà山shān離lí此cǐ處chù多duō遠yuǎn？」国guó王wáng道dào：「你nǐ那nà山shān离lí此cǐ处chù多duō远yuǎn？」

The king said: "How far is that mountain of yours from here?"

你那山 — "that mountain of yours" — takes 那 as deictic nà.

老lǎo妖yāo道dào：「不bù遠yuǎn，只zhǐ有yǒu三sān百bǎi里lǐ。」老lǎo妖yāo道dào：「不bù远yuǎn，只zhǐ有yǒu三sān百bǎi里lǐ。」

The old fiend said: "Not far — a mere three hundred li."

里 is the Chinese mile, here left in its romanized form. The demon’s answers are crisp and plausible, the better to disarm.

國guó王wáng道dào：「三sān百bǎi里lǐ路lù，我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ如rú何hé得dé到dào那nà裡lǐ，與yǔ你nǐ匹pǐ配pèi？」国guó王wáng道dào：「三sān百bǎi里lǐ路lù，我wǒ公gōng主zhǔ如rú何hé得dé到dào那nà里lǐ，与yǔ你nǐ匹pǐ配pèi？」

The king said: "Three hundred li — however did my princess come to be there, and be wedded to you?"

得到 ("to reach, arrive at") takes 得 as dé; 那裡 here means "there" (the demon’s mountain), so 那 is deictic nà. The king’s reasonable question sets up the demon’s elaborate lie.

總評 Commentary

The king’s questions are entirely sensible — how far, and how the princess ever came so far — and this reasonableness is what the demon’s fiction must satisfy. The scene is built as a plausible interrogation, its danger lying not in any lapse of royal judgment but in the impossibility of seeing through a demon’s disguise with mortal eyes.