原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
真個手段
Have You Real Skill?
那公主道：「你真個有手段麼？」行者道：「我的手段，你是也不曾看見，絕會降妖，極能伏怪。」公主道：「你卻莫誤了我耶。」行者道：「決然誤你不得。」公主道：「你既會降妖伏怪，如今卻怎樣拿他？」行者說：「你且迴避迴避，莫在我這眼前：倘他來時，不好動手腳，只恐你與他情濃了，捨不得他。」那公主道：「你真个有手段么？」行者道：「我的手段，你是也不曾看见，绝会降妖，极能伏怪。」公主道：「你却莫误了我耶。」行者道：「决然误你不得。」公主道：「你既会降妖伏怪，如今却怎样拿他？」行者说：「你且回避回避，莫在我这眼前：倘他来时，不好动手脚，只恐你与他情浓了，舍不得他。」
逐句解 Line by line
那公主道：「你真個有手段麼？」
那公主道：「你真个有手段么？」
The princess said, “Have you indeed such powers?”
真個 (zhēn gè), truly, really. 手段 (shǒuduàn), skill, capability, means. 那 read nà.
行者道：「我的手段，你是也不曾看見，絕會降妖，極能伏怪。」
行者道：「我的手段，你是也不曾看见，绝会降妖，极能伏怪。」
Pilgrim said, “My powers you have not yet seen: I am consummate at subduing fiends, supreme at quelling monsters.”
絕會降妖 (jué huì xiáng yāo), wholly master of subduing fiends; 降 read xiáng. 極能伏怪 (jí néng fú guài), supremely able to quell monsters.
公主道：「你卻莫誤了我耶。」
公主道：「你却莫误了我耶。」
The princess said, “See that you do not fail me, then.”
誤 (wù), to fail, to lead astray, to spoil. 耶 (yé), a final particle of entreaty or doubt.
行者道：「決然誤你不得。」
行者道：「决然误你不得。」
Pilgrim said, “I shall by no means fail you.”
決然 (juérán), assuredly, without fail. 誤你不得 (wù nǐ bu de), cannot fail you; 得 read de.
公主道：「你既會降妖伏怪，如今卻怎樣拿他？」
公主道：「你既会降妖伏怪，如今却怎样拿他？」
The princess said, “Since you can subdue fiends and quell monsters, how then will you take him now?”
降妖伏怪 (xiáng yāo fú guài), to subdue fiends and quell monsters; 降 read xiáng.
行者說：「你且迴避迴避，莫在我這眼前：倘他來時，不好動手腳，只恐你與他情濃了，捨不得他。」
行者说：「你且回避回避，莫在我这眼前：倘他来时，不好动手脚，只恐你与他情浓了，舍不得他。」
Pilgrim said, “Withdraw a while, and be not here before my eyes: for when he comes, it would be awkward to set to work, and I fear that, your love for him being deep, you would not have the heart to give him up.”
迴避 (huíbì), to withdraw, to keep out of the way. 動手腳 (dòng shǒujiǎo), to set to work, to act. 捨不得 (shě bu de), to be loath to part with; 得 read de.
總評 Commentary
The exchange settles the terms of the coming combat with a brisk, businesslike rhythm of question and pledge — the princess pressing for assurance, Wukong answering in the confident cadences of the seasoned demon-queller. The formal antithesis of his boasts, “consummate at subduing fiends, supreme at quelling monsters,” gives his self-assurance a ceremonious, almost liturgical ring.
His request that she withdraw, lest her lingering affection stay his hand, introduces a note of psychological shrewdness and a delicate provocation. The suggestion that she might, after all, be loath to see her demon-husband harmed touches the ambiguity of her situation — captive yet thirteen years his wife — and draws from her the protest that opens the final passage of the block, where feeling and necessity are weighed against each other.