第三十三回 · 鐵棒萬夫 An Iron Rod Ten-Thousand Cannot Withstand — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

鐵棒萬夫 An Iron Rod Ten-Thousand Cannot Withstand

眾zhòng怪guài道dào：「大dà王wáng，你nǐ沒méi手shǒu段duàn，等děng我wǒ們men著zhuó幾jǐ個gè去qù報bào大dà大dà王wáng，教jiào點diǎn起qǐ本běn洞dòng大dà小xiǎo兵bīng來lái，擺bǎi開kāi陣zhèn勢shì，合hé力lì齊qí心xīn，怕pà他tā走zǒu了le那nǎ裡lǐ去qù？」二èr魔mó道dào：「你nǐ們men不bù曾céng見jiàn他tā那nà條tiáo鐵tiě棒bàng，有yǒu萬wàn夫fū不bù當dāng之zhī勇yǒng。我wǒ洞dòng中zhōng不bú過guò有yǒu四sì五wǔ百bǎi兵bīng，怎zěn禁jīn得de他tā那nà一yí棒bàng？」众zhòng怪guài道dào：「大dà王wáng，你nǐ没méi手shǒu段duàn，等děng我wǒ们men着zhuó几jǐ个gè去qù报bào大dà大dà王wáng，教jiào点diǎn起qǐ本běn洞dòng大dà小xiǎo兵bīng来lái，摆bǎi开kāi阵zhèn势shì，合hé力lì齐qí心xīn，怕pà他tā走zǒu了le那nǎ里lǐ去qù？」二èr魔mó道dào：「你nǐ们men不bù曾céng见jiàn他tā那nà条tiáo铁tiě棒bàng，有yǒu万wàn夫fū不bù当dāng之zhī勇yǒng。我wǒ洞dòng中zhōng不bú过guò有yǒu四sì五wǔ百bǎi兵bīng，怎zěn禁jīn得de他tā那nà一yí棒bàng？」

逐句解 Line by line

眾zhòng怪guài道dào：「大dà王wáng，你nǐ沒méi手shǒu段duàn，等děng我wǒ們men著zhuó幾jǐ個gè去qù報bào大dà大dà王wáng，教jiào點diǎn起qǐ本běn洞dòng大dà小xiǎo兵bīng來lái，擺bǎi開kāi陣zhèn勢shì，合hé力lì齊qí心xīn，怕pà他tā走zǒu了le那nǎ裡lǐ去qù？」众zhòng怪guài道dào：「大dà王wáng，你nǐ没méi手shǒu段duàn，等děng我wǒ们men着zhuó几jǐ个gè去qù报bào大dà大dà王wáng，教jiào点diǎn起qǐ本běn洞dòng大dà小xiǎo兵bīng来lái，摆bǎi开kāi阵zhèn势shì，合hé力lì齐qí心xīn，怕pà他tā走zǒu了le那nǎ里lǐ去qù？」

The fiends said: "Great King, if you've no means for it, let us send a few to report to the Great Great King, that he may muster all the soldiers of the cave, high and low, deploy them in battle-array, and join every force with a single heart — then where could he escape to?"

著幾個去 (zhuó jǐ gè qù) takes 著 as zhuó, "to send, to dispatch." That is the third of this character's readings the chapter has now used: zhe for an action left running, zháo for one that lands on its target, zhuó for sending someone off. Same character every time, and only the job it is doing tells them apart. 走了那裡去 is a rhetorical "escape where, exactly?" -- meaning nowhere -- so 那 is nǎ. 大大王 is the overlord, the Great Great King.

二èr魔mó道dào：「你nǐ們men不bù曾céng見jiàn他tā那nà條tiáo鐵tiě棒bàng，有yǒu萬wàn夫fū不bù當dāng之zhī勇yǒng。二èr魔mó道dào：「你nǐ们men不bù曾céng见jiàn他tā那nà条tiáo铁tiě棒bàng，有yǒu万wàn夫fū不bù当dāng之zhī勇yǒng。

The second fiend said: "You've not seen that iron rod of his — it has a valor ten thousand men could not withstand.

萬夫不當之勇 (wàn fū bù dāng zhī yǒng), "a valor ten thousand men could not stand against," is stock praise for a champion; 當 is dāng, "to withstand, to face." 那條 uses 條, the measure word for long thin things -- the sort of counter English lacks and has to render as "that length of rod."

我wǒ洞dòng中zhōng不bú過guò有yǒu四sì五wǔ百bǎi兵bīng，怎zěn禁jīn得de他tā那nà一yí棒bàng？」我wǒ洞dòng中zhōng不bú过guò有yǒu四sì五wǔ百bǎi兵bīng，怎zěn禁jīn得de他tā那nà一yí棒bàng？」

"In my cave there are no more than four or five hundred soldiers — how could they bear up under a single blow of that cudgel?"

禁得 (jīn de), "to bear up under" -- 禁 read jīn, "to endure," not the jìn of prohibition, and 得 the toneless marker of possibility. 那一棒, "that one blow," with 那 back to the pointing nà. The arithmetic is the point: four or five hundred troops against a single swing.

總評 Commentary

The rank and file propose the obvious thing: send for the overlord's garrison, form up, and swamp him with numbers. Their closing question -- then where could he escape to? -- is the confidence of soldiers who have never met the man.

Their captain, who has just watched the cudgel routine, knows better, and he answers with arithmetic rather than argument: a rod ten thousand men could not stand against, against four or five hundred troops of his own. That settles the case against a frontal assault, begun in the previous scene, and clears the ground for the stratagem. Note 禁 read jīn, "to endure": a single blow is more than his whole garrison could survive.