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繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
哪吒論天
Nezha Argues the Sky Can Be Bottled
那日遊神徑至南天門裡，靈霄殿下，啟奏玉帝，備言前事。玉帝道：「這潑猴頭，出言無狀。前者觀音來說放了他，保護唐僧，朕這裡又差五方揭諦、四值功曹，輪流護持。如今又借天裝，天可裝乎？」才說裝不得，那班中閃出哪吒三太子，奏道：「萬歲，天也裝得。」玉帝道：「天怎樣裝？」哪吒道：「自混沌初分，以輕清為天，重濁為地。天是一團清氣而扶托瑤天宮闕，以理論之，其實難裝；但只孫行者保唐僧西去取經，誠所謂泰山之福緣，海深之善慶，今日當助他成功。」那日游神径至南天门里，灵霄殿下，启奏玉帝，备言前事。玉帝道：「这泼猴头，出言无状。前者观音来说放了他，保护唐僧，朕这里又差五方揭谛、四值功曹，轮流护持。如今又借天装，天可装乎？」才说装不得，那班中闪出哪咤三太子，奏道：「万岁，天也装得。」玉帝道：「天怎样装？」哪咤道：「自混沌初分，以轻清为天，重浊为地。天是一团清气而扶托瑶天宫阙，以理论之，其实难装；但只孙行者保唐僧西去取经，诚所谓泰山之福缘，海深之善庆，今日当助他成功。」
逐句解 Line by line
那日遊神徑至南天門裡，靈霄殿下，啟奏玉帝，備言前事。
那日游神径至南天门里，灵霄殿下，启奏玉帝，备言前事。
The Day-Roaming Spirit went straight through the Southern Gate of Heaven to the foot of the Hall of Divine Mists, memorialized the Jade Emperor, and laid out the whole matter.
南天門 (nán tiān mén), the “Southern Gate of Heaven.” 備言前事 (bèi yán qián shì), “reported the affair in full.”
玉帝道：「這潑猴頭，出言無狀。前者觀音來說放了他，保護唐僧，朕這裡又差五方揭諦、四值功曹，輪流護持。如今又借天裝，天可裝乎？」
玉帝道：「这泼猴头，出言无状。前者观音来说放了他，保护唐僧，朕这里又差五方揭谛、四值功曹，轮流护持。如今又借天装，天可装乎？」
The Jade Emperor said: “This wretched ape, speaking so insolently! Before, Guanyin came to say he'd been released to protect Tripitaka, and I dispatched the Guardians of the Five Quarters and the Merit-Officers of the Four Watches to guard him by turns. Now he wants to borrow the sky to bottle — but can the sky be bottled?”
觀音 (guān yīn), Guanyin, the Bodhisattva, 觀 read guān. 四值功曹 (sì zhí gōng cáo), the “Merit-Officers of the Four Watches.” 輪流護持 (lún liú hù chí), “to guard in rotation.”
才說裝不得，那班中閃出哪吒三太子，奏道：「萬歲，天也裝得。」
才说装不得，那班中闪出哪咤三太子，奏道：「万岁，天也装得。」
Just as he was saying the sky could not be bottled, the Third Prince Nezha stepped forth from the ranks and reported: “Your Majesty, the sky can be bottled.”
裝不得／裝得 (zhuāng bù dé / zhuāng dé), “cannot be bottled / can be bottled,” the potential 得 (de). 哪吒三太子 (né zhā sān tài zǐ), the Third Prince Nezha, a martial deity.
玉帝道：「天怎樣裝？」
玉帝道：「天怎样装？」
The Jade Emperor said: “How can the sky be bottled?”
怎樣裝 (zěn yàng zhuāng), “in what way bottled.” The Emperor's skepticism invites Nezha's cosmological argument.
哪吒道：「自混沌初分，以輕清為天，重濁為地。
哪咤道：「自混沌初分，以轻清为天，重浊为地。
Nezha said: “Since the primal chaos first divided, the light and pure became Heaven, the heavy and turbid became Earth.
以輕清為天，重濁為地 (yǐ qīng qīng wéi tiān, zhòng zhuó wéi dì), “the light-and-clear made Heaven, the heavy-and-turbid made Earth,” 為 read wéi, “to be, become”; 重 read zhòng. A standard cosmogony.
天是一團清氣而扶托瑤天宮闕，以理論之，其實難裝；但只孫行者保唐僧西去取經，誠所謂泰山之福緣，海深之善慶，今日當助他成功。」
天是一团清气而扶托瑶天宫阙，以理论之，其实难装；但只孙行者保唐僧西去取经，诚所谓泰山之福缘，海深之善庆，今日当助他成功。」
“Heaven is a mass of pure vapor upholding the jade palaces and towers; by reason, it truly can't be bottled. But since Sun Pilgrim guards Tripitaka on his westward journey for the scriptures — a blessing weighty as Mount Tai, a fortune deep as the sea — today we ought to help him succeed.”
扶托瑤天宮闕 (fú tuō yáo tiān gōng què), “upholding the jasper palaces of Heaven.” 泰山之福緣 (tài shān zhī fú yuán), “blessing weighty as Mount Tai.” 當助他成功 (dāng zhù tā chéng gōng), “ought to help him succeed.”
總評 Commentary
The scene shifts to Heaven's court, where the Jade Emperor greets Pilgrim's request with weary exasperation — this insolent ape, already released and guarded at imperial expense, now demands the sky itself. His skepticism is also cosmological: can the sky be bottled at all? The question is genuine, and it is Nezha, the martial Third Prince, who steps forward with an answer.
Nezha's argument is a small lesson in Chinese cosmogony: at the parting of chaos, the light and pure rose as Heaven, the heavy and turbid settled as Earth; Heaven, being mere pure vapor, cannot literally be bottled. But he pivots from physics to merit — Pilgrim's guardianship of the scripture-pilgrim is a blessing “weighty as Mount Tai,” and Heaven ought therefore to help. The reasoning legitimizes the coming deception: the sky cannot be bottled, but it can be made to seem so, in a good cause.