第三十一回 · 假哭賺妖 The Feigned Weeping — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

假哭賺妖 The Feigned Weeping

卻què說shuō那nà怪guài徑jìng回huí洞dòng口kǒu。行xíng者zhě見jiàn他tā來lái時shí，設shè法fǎ哄hǒng他tā，把bǎ眼yǎn擠jǐ了le一yì擠jǐ，撲pū簌sù簌sù淚lèi如rú雨yǔ落luò，兒ér天tiān兒ér地dì的de跌diē腳jiǎo搥chuí胸xiōng，於yú此cǐ洞dòng裡lǐ嚎háo啕táo痛tòng哭kū。那nà怪guài一yì時shí間jiān那nǎ裡lǐ認rèn得de，上shàng前qián摟lǒu住zhù道dào：「渾hún家jiā，你nǐ有yǒu何hé事shì，這zhè般bān煩fán惱nǎo？」那nà大dà聖shèng編biān成chéng的de鬼guǐ話huà，捏niē出chū的de虛xū詞cí，淚lèi汪wāng汪wāng的de告gào道dào：「郎láng君jūn啊a，常cháng言yán道dào：『男nán子zǐ少shǎo妻qī財cái沒méi主zhǔ，婦fù女nǚ無wú夫fū身shēn落luò空kōng。』却què说shuō那nà怪guài径jìng回huí洞dòng口kǒu。行xíng者zhě见jiàn他tā来lái时shí，设shè法fǎ哄hǒng他tā，把bǎ眼yǎn挤jǐ了le一yì挤jǐ，扑pū簌sù簌sù泪lèi如rú雨yǔ落luò，儿ér天tiān儿ér地dì的de跌diē脚jiǎo搥chuí胸xiōng，于yú此cǐ洞dòng里lǐ嚎háo啕táo痛tòng哭kū。那nà怪guài一yì时shí间jiān那nǎ里lǐ认rèn得de，上shàng前qián搂lǒu住zhù道dào：「浑hún家jiā，你nǐ有yǒu何hé事shì，这zhè般bān烦fán恼nǎo？」那nà大dà圣shèng编biān成chéng的de鬼guǐ话huà，捏niē出chū的de虚xū词cí，泪lèi汪wāng汪wāng的de告gào道dào：「郎láng君jūn啊a，常cháng言yán道dào：『男nán子zǐ少shǎo妻qī财cái没méi主zhǔ，妇fù女nǚ无wú夫fū身shēn落luò空kōng。』

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà怪guài徑jìng回huí洞dòng口kǒu。却què说shuō那nà怪guài径jìng回huí洞dòng口kǒu。

Now the fiend went straight back to the mouth of the cave.

徑回, jìng huí: straight back, without stopping.

行xíng者zhě見jiàn他tā來lái時shí，設shè法fǎ哄hǒng他tā，把bǎ眼yǎn擠jǐ了le一yì擠jǐ，撲pū簌sù簌sù淚lèi如rú雨yǔ落luò，兒ér天tiān兒ér地dì的de跌diē腳jiǎo搥chuí胸xiōng，於yú此cǐ洞dòng裡lǐ嚎háo啕táo痛tòng哭kū。行xíng者zhě见jiàn他tā来lái时shí，设shè法fǎ哄hǒng他tā，把bǎ眼yǎn挤jǐ了le一yì挤jǐ，扑pū簌sù簌sù泪lèi如rú雨yǔ落luò，儿ér天tiān儿ér地dì的de跌diē脚jiǎo搥chuí胸xiōng，于yú此cǐ洞dòng里lǐ嚎háo啕táo痛tòng哭kū。

Pilgrim, seeing him come, contrived to gull him: squeezing his eyes to a squint, he let the tears fall pattering like rain, and crying 'O my heaven, O my earth!' stamped his feet and beat his breast, wailing and sobbing there within the cave.

The performance begins, and the novel enjoys every detail of it. 哄, hǒng, to gull, to coax somebody into believing a thing; 撲簌簌, pū sù sù, a sound-word for tears coming fast. 兒天兒地, ér tiān ér dì, is the wail itself — "oh heaven, oh earth" — with 兒 as a pure cry, not a word. 嚎啕痛哭, háo táo tòng kū, to weep and wail bitterly. Note that he squeezes his eyes first: the tears are manufactured on the spot.

那nà怪guài一yì時shí間jiān那nǎ裡lǐ認rèn得de，上shàng前qián摟lǒu住zhù道dào：「渾hún家jiā，你nǐ有yǒu何hé事shì，這zhè般bān煩fán惱nǎo？」那nà怪guài一yì时shí间jiān那nǎ里lǐ认rèn得de，上shàng前qián搂lǒu住zhù道dào：「浑hún家jiā，你nǐ有yǒu何hé事shì，这zhè般bān烦fán恼nǎo？」

The fiend, for the moment, could in no way tell the difference; he came forward and clasped him, saying, "Wife, what is the matter, that you are so distressed?"

一時間, yì shí jiān, for the moment; 那裡認得, nǎ lǐ rèn de, "how was he to tell?" — the questioning 那. Then 摟住, lǒu zhù, to take in one's arms. The demon embraces the enemy who has come to kill him, and asks tenderly what is wrong.

那nà大dà聖shèng編biān成chéng的de鬼guǐ話huà，捏niē出chū的de虛xū詞cí，淚lèi汪wāng汪wāng的de告gào道dào：「郎láng君jūn啊a，常cháng言yán道dào：『男nán子zǐ少shǎo妻qī財cái沒méi主zhǔ，婦fù女nǚ無wú夫fū身shēn落luò空kōng。』那nà大dà圣shèng编biān成chéng的de鬼guǐ话huà，捏niē出chū的de虚xū词cí，泪lèi汪wāng汪wāng的de告gào道dào：「郎láng君jūn啊a，常cháng言yán道dào：『男nán子zǐ少shǎo妻qī财cái没méi主zhǔ，妇fù女nǚ无wú夫fū身shēn落luò空kōng。』

The Great Sage, with his ghost-tale trumped up and his lie confected, told him, all awash in tears, "My lord — as the old saying has it: 'A man who lacks a wife has no master for his wealth; a woman without a husband has her life set at naught.'

The narrator labels the goods before selling them. 編成鬼話, biān chéng guǐ huà, a trumped-up tale — literally "ghost talk," which is Chinese for nonsense told with a straight face; 捏出虛詞, niē chū xū cí, words pinched and moulded out of nothing. And then the proverb: 男子少妻財沒主, nán zǐ shǎo qī cái méi zhǔ, a man without a wife has nobody to mind his property, a woman without a husband has her life come to nothing. Wukong deploys a piece of conventional wisdom about wifely dependence in order to sound like a wife.

總評 Commentary

The deception is the comic centre of the chapter, and the novel plays it at leisure. The Great Sage, in the princess's shape, works up a virtuoso display of grief — squinted eyes, pattering tears, wails to heaven and earth, stamping and breast-beating — while the demon, wholly taken in, embraces his supposed wife with real concern. The irony is complete: the monster consoling the enemy who has come to destroy him.

The theatrical lament is prefaced with a folk proverb about husbands and wives needing each other, deployed with a straight face to lend the manufactured distress the ring of genuine wifely sorrow. The narrator's frank labels for the performance — trumped-up tale, words moulded out of nothing — let the reader in on the artifice at every step, so that the pleasure lies not in suspense but in watching the trap close by inches.