原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
定計激怪
The Plan Laid to Provoke the Fiend
沙僧道:「哥啊,怎麼樣激他?」行者道:「你兩個駕起雲,站在那金鑾殿上,莫分好歹,把那孩子往那白玉階前一摜。有人問你是甚人,你便說是黃袍妖精的兒子,被我兩個拿將來也。那怪聽見,管情回來,我卻不須進城與他鬥了。若在城上廝殺,必要噴雲噯霧,播土揚塵,驚擾那朝廷與多官、黎庶,俱不安也。」沙僧道:「哥啊,怎么样激他?」行者道:「你两个驾起云,站在那金銮殿上,莫分好歹,把那孩子往那白玉阶前一掼。有人问你是甚人,你便说是黄袍妖精的儿子,被我两个拿将来也。那怪听见,管情回来,我却不须进城与他斗了。若在城上厮杀,必要喷云嗳雾,播土扬尘,惊扰那朝廷与多官、黎庶,俱不安也。」
逐句解 Line by line
沙僧道:「哥啊,怎麼樣激他?」
沙僧道:「哥啊,怎么样激他?」
Sha Seng said, “Brother, how are we to provoke him?”
怎麼樣 (zěnmeyàng), in what manner, how.
行者道:「你兩個駕起雲,站在那金鑾殿上,莫分好歹,把那孩子往那白玉階前一摜。
行者道:「你两个驾起云,站在那金銮殿上,莫分好歹,把那孩子往那白玉阶前一掼。
Pilgrim said, “The two of you ride up on the clouds and stand above the Hall of Golden Chimes; then, without heed of consequence, dash the children down before the white jade steps.
金鑾殿 (Jīnluán Diàn), the Hall of Golden Chimes, the throne-hall. 莫分好歹 (mò fēn hǎodǎi), without weighing good from ill, recklessly; 分 read fēn. 白玉階 (bái yù jiē), the white jade steps of the throne. 那 throughout read nà.
有人問你是甚人,你便說是黃袍妖精的兒子,被我兩個拿將來也。
有人问你是甚人,你便说是黄袍妖精的儿子,被我两个拿将来也。
Should any ask who you are, say only that these are the Yellow-Robe fiend’s sons, seized and brought here by the two of us.
甚人 (shén rén), who, what person; 甚 read shén. 兒子 (érzi), sons; 兒 read ér. 拿將來 (ná jiāng lái), brought along; 將 read jiāng.
那怪聽見,管情回來,我卻不須進城與他鬥了。
那怪听见,管情回来,我却不须进城与他斗了。
The fiend, hearing of it, will surely return, and I shall have no need to enter the city and fight him there.
管情 (guǎn qíng), assuredly, without fail. 鬥 (dòu), to fight, to do battle. 那 read nà.
若在城上廝殺,必要噴雲噯霧,播土揚塵,驚擾那朝廷與多官、黎庶,俱不安也。」
若在城上厮杀,必要喷云嗳雾,播土扬尘,惊扰那朝廷与多官、黎庶,俱不安也。」
For were we to fight within the city, we should surely spew clouds and belch fog, scatter earth and raise dust, and so alarm the court, its many officers, and the common folk, that none would be at peace.”
噴雲噯霧 (pēn yún ài wù), to spew cloud and belch mist — the turmoil of magic combat. 播土揚塵 (bō tǔ yáng chén), to fling up earth and raise dust. 黎庶 (lí shù), the common people. 朝廷 read cháotíng; 那 read nà.
總評 Commentary
Wukong’s plan is a small masterpiece of tactical prudence: rather than storm the demon’s lair or fight within the crowded capital, he will bait the fiend out to open ground by a public provocation — the children hurled before the throne, claimed as the demon’s own. The stratagem turns the hostages taken earlier to precise account.
The concluding rationale is more than tactics; it registers the pilgrim’s regard for the innocent bystanders of his wars. His care not to “alarm the court and the common folk” with the storms of magic combat shows the Great Sage, for all his ruthlessness with the demon’s children, mindful of the ordinary order he is sworn to protect — a characteristic touch of the novel’s moral bookkeeping.