第三十一回 · 管拿妖精 The Pilgrim’s Pledge — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

管拿妖精 The Pilgrim’s Pledge

行xíng者zhě道dào：「公gōng主zhǔ不bú必bì傷shāng悲bēi。豬zhū八bā戒jiè曾céng告gào訢xīn我wǒ，說shuō你nǐ有yǒu一yì封fēng書shū，曾céng救jiù了le我wǒ師shī父fù一yí命mìng，你nǐ書shū上shàng也yě有yǒu思sī念niàn父fù母mǔ之zhī意yì。老lǎo孫sūn來lái，管guǎn與yǔ你nǐ拿ná了le妖yāo精jīng，帶dài你nǐ回huí朝cháo見jiàn駕jià，別bié尋xún個gè佳jiā偶ǒu，侍shì奉fèng雙shuāng親qīn到dào老lǎo。你nǐ意yì如rú何hé？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「公gōng主zhǔ不bú必bì伤shāng悲bēi。猪zhū八bā戒jiè曾céng告gào䜣xīn我wǒ，说shuō你nǐ有yǒu一yì封fēng书shū，曾céng救jiù了le我wǒ师shī父fù一yí命mìng，你nǐ书shū上shàng也yě有yǒu思sī念niàn父fù母mǔ之zhī意yì。老lǎo孙sūn来lái，管guǎn与yǔ你nǐ拿ná了le妖yāo精jīng，带dài你nǐ回huí朝cháo见jiàn驾jià，别bié寻xún个gè佳jiā偶ǒu，侍shì奉fèng双shuāng亲qīn到dào老lǎo。你nǐ意yì如rú何hé？」

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě道dào：「公gōng主zhǔ不bú必bì傷shāng悲bēi。行xíng者zhě道dào：「公gōng主zhǔ不bú必bì伤shāng悲bēi。

Pilgrim said, "Let the princess not grieve.

傷悲, shāng bēi: to grieve, to be sorrowful.

豬zhū八bā戒jiè曾céng告gào訢xīn我wǒ，說shuō你nǐ有yǒu一yì封fēng書shū，曾céng救jiù了le我wǒ師shī父fù一yí命mìng，你nǐ書shū上shàng也yě有yǒu思sī念niàn父fù母mǔ之zhī意yì。猪zhū八bā戒jiè曾céng告gào䜣xīn我wǒ，说shuō你nǐ有yǒu一yì封fēng书shū，曾céng救jiù了le我wǒ师shī父fù一yí命mìng，你nǐ书shū上shàng也yě有yǒu思sī念niàn父fù母mǔ之zhī意yì。

Zhu Bajie has told me that you had a letter which once saved my master's life, and that in that letter you set down, too, your longing for your parents.

The letter comes back into the story, and it is the reason he trusts her. 一封書, yì fēng shū, a letter. The verb here is a textual oddity worth pausing on: the page prints 告訢, whose second character is read xīn and is a form of 欣, "glad" — but the sense plainly wanted is that of 告訴, gào sù, "to tell." The two second characters differ by a single element on the right-hand side, which is how such things happen in a woodblock edition. What is printed is what has been encoded.

老lǎo孫sūn來lái，管guǎn與yǔ你nǐ拿ná了le妖yāo精jīng，帶dài你nǐ回huí朝cháo見jiàn駕jià，別bié尋xún個gè佳jiā偶ǒu，侍shì奉fèng雙shuāng親qīn到dào老lǎo。老lǎo孙sūn来lái，管guǎn与yǔ你nǐ拿ná了le妖yāo精jīng，带dài你nǐ回huí朝cháo见jiàn驾jià，别bié寻xún个gè佳jiā偶ǒu，侍shì奉fèng双shuāng亲qīn到dào老lǎo。

Now that old Sun is come, I will assuredly take the fiend for you, bring you back to court to be received of the king, and see you matched with a worthy husband, to serve your parents to their old age.

The pledge is a complete programme, and he lays it out like a contract. 回朝見駕, huí cháo jiàn jià, to return to court and be received in audience; 佳偶, jiā ǒu, a good match, a fitting husband; 侍奉雙親, shì fèng shuāng qīn, to serve one's two parents. He is not merely offering to kill a demon; he is offering to give her back the filial life he has just accused her of abandoning.

你nǐ意yì如rú何hé？」你nǐ意yì如rú何hé？」

How seems it to you?"

你意如何, nǐ yì rú hé: "what is your mind on it?" Four words, and they change their whole footing.

總評 Commentary

Wukong's pledge answers the confession with a full programme of restoration — the fiend taken, her return to court, a proper marriage, her parents served to their old age — and so converts the reproach of the previous passage into a covenant. That he grounds his knowledge in Bajie's report of her letter reminds the reader how tightly this chapter's obligations are knotted: the letter that once freed Tripitaka now earns her a deliverer.

The closing "how seems it to you?" is a small courtesy that marks the shift between them. He came as the abductor of her children and the accuser of her conduct; he now asks her consent as an ally. The rescue is offered rather than imposed, and the compact of the following passages rests on her agreeing to it.