第三十一回 · 肉𦚐之慮 Bajie’s Grisly Misgiving — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

肉𦚐之慮 Bajie’s Grisly Misgiving

八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「哥gē哥gē，你nǐ但dàn幹gàn事shì，就jiù左zuǒ我wǒ們men。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「如rú何hé為wéi左zuǒ你nǐ？」八bā戒jiè道dào：「這zhè兩liǎng個gè孩hái子zi被bèi你nǐ抓zhuā來lái，已yǐ此cǐ諕xià破pò膽dǎn了le，這zhè一yí會huì聲shēng都dōu哭kū啞yǎ，再zài一yí會huì必bì死sǐ無wú疑yí。我wǒ們men拿ná他tā往wǎng下xià一yí摜guàn，摜guàn做zuò個gè肉ròu𦚐tuó子zi，那nà怪guài趕gǎn上shàng肯kěn放fàng？定dìng要yào我wǒ兩liǎng個gè償cháng命mìng。你nǐ卻què還hái不bú是shì個gè乾gān淨jìng人rén？連lián見jiàn證zhèng也yě沒méi你nǐ，你nǐ卻què不bú是shì左zuǒ我wǒ們men？」八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「哥gē哥gē，你nǐ但dàn干gàn事shì，就jiù左zuǒ我wǒ们men。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「如rú何hé为wéi左zuǒ你nǐ？」八bā戒jiè道dào：「这zhè两liǎng个gè孩hái子zi被bèi你nǐ抓zhuā来lái，已yǐ此cǐ諕xià破pò胆dǎn了le，这zhè一yí会huì声shēng都dōu哭kū哑yǎ，再zài一yí会huì必bì死sǐ无wú疑yí。我wǒ们men拿ná他tā往wǎng下xià一yí掼guàn，掼guàn做zuò个gè肉ròu𦚐tuó子zi，那nà怪guài赶gǎn上shàng肯kěn放fàng？定dìng要yào我wǒ两liǎng个gè偿cháng命mìng。你nǐ却què还hái不bú是shì个gè干gān净jìng人rén？连lián见jiàn证zhèng也yě没méi你nǐ，你nǐ却què不bú是shì左zuǒ我wǒ们men？」

逐句解 Line by line

八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「哥gē哥gē，你nǐ但dàn幹gàn事shì，就jiù左zuǒ我wǒ們men。」八bā戒jiè笑xiào道dào：「哥gē哥gē，你nǐ但dàn干gàn事shì，就jiù左zuǒ我wǒ们men。」

Bajie said with a laugh, “Brother, whenever you set a thing afoot, you leave us in the lurch.”

但幹事 (dàn gàn shì), as soon as you undertake anything; 幹 read gàn. 左 (zuǒ), here “to put in the wrong, to set up, to leave holding the blame.”

行xíng者zhě道dào：「如rú何hé為wéi左zuǒ你nǐ？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「如rú何hé为wéi左zuǒ你nǐ？」

Pilgrim said, “How do I set you in the wrong?”

為左 (wéi zuǒ), to work someone’s undoing; 為 here “to do, to act,” read wéi.

八bā戒jiè道dào：「這zhè兩liǎng個gè孩hái子zi被bèi你nǐ抓zhuā來lái，已yǐ此cǐ諕xià破pò膽dǎn了le，這zhè一yí會huì聲shēng都dōu哭kū啞yǎ，再zài一yí會huì必bì死sǐ無wú疑yí。八bā戒jiè道dào：「这zhè两liǎng个gè孩hái子zi被bèi你nǐ抓zhuā来lái，已yǐ此cǐ諕xià破pò胆dǎn了le，这zhè一yí会huì声shēng都dōu哭kū哑yǎ，再zài一yí会huì必bì死sǐ无wú疑yí。

Bajie said, “These two children, seized by you, are already frightened out of their wits; a while now and their voices are cried hoarse, a while more and they will surely die.

諕破膽 (xià pò dǎn), frightened out of one’s wits, “the gall burst with fear”; 諕 read xià. 哭啞 (kū yǎ), cried hoarse. 都 read dōu.

我wǒ們men拿ná他tā往wǎng下xià一yí摜guàn，摜guàn做zuò個gè肉ròu𦚐tuó子zi，那nà怪guài趕gǎn上shàng肯kěn放fàng？我wǒ们men拿ná他tā往wǎng下xià一yí掼guàn，掼guàn做zuò个gè肉ròu𦚐tuó子zi，那nà怪guài赶gǎn上shàng肯kěn放fàng？

When we dash them down and they burst into a lump of minced flesh, will the fiend, coming up behind, ever let it pass?

摜 (guàn), to dash down, to fling. 肉𦚐子 (ròu tuó zi), a shapeless lump of flesh, a mangled mass; 𦚐 (U+26690) a rare graph, read tuó. 那 read nà.

定dìng要yào我wǒ兩liǎng個gè償cháng命mìng。定dìng要yào我wǒ两liǎng个gè偿cháng命mìng。

He will surely have the two of us pay with our lives.

償命 (cháng mìng), to pay for a life with one’s own, to answer for a death.

你nǐ卻què還hái不bú是shì個gè乾gān淨jìng人rén？你nǐ却què还hái不bú是shì个gè干gān净jìng人rén？

And are you not, after all, left with clean hands?

乾淨人 (gānjìng rén), one with clean hands, free of the blame; 乾 read gān. 還 read hái.

連lián見jiàn證zhèng也yě沒méi你nǐ，你nǐ卻què不bú是shì左zuǒ我wǒ們men？」连lián见jiàn证zhèng也yě没méi你nǐ，你nǐ却què不bú是shì左zuǒ我wǒ们men？」

There is not so much as a witness against you — is that not to leave us in the lurch?”

見證 (jiàn zhèng), a witness, evidence. 左我們 (zuǒ wǒmen), to set us up, leave us holding the blame.

總評 Commentary

Bajie’s objection is at once comic and shrewdly self-interested, and it is voiced in his inimitable grisly idiom: the children cried hoarse, dashed to a lump of minced flesh, the two brothers left to answer with their lives while Wukong keeps his hands clean and no witness remains. Beneath the buffoonery lies a real complaint about the division of risk in the band — the recurring grievance that the Great Sage contrives the schemes and the others bear the danger.

The passage is also a small window on the novel’s dark comic texture, which does not flinch from the atrocity implicit in the plan even as it plays the exchange for laughs. Bajie’s word for being set up — 左, “to put in the wrong” — recurs like a refrain, and the rare graph 𦚐, glossing the mangled lump the children would become, lends his protest its lurid particularity.