第三十四回 · 蒼蠅隨妖 A Fly upon the Imps' Trail — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

蒼蠅隨妖 A Fly upon the Imps' Trail

行xíng者zhě在zài半bàn空kōng中zhōng見jiàn他tā回huí去qù，又yòu搖yáo身shēn一yí變biàn，變biàn作zuò蒼cāng蠅yíng兒er，飛fēi下xià去qù，跟gēn著zhe小xiǎo妖yāo。你nǐ道dào他tā既jì變biàn了le蒼cāng蠅yíng，那nà寶bǎo貝bèi卻què放fàng在zài何hé處chù？如rú丟diū在zài路lù上shàng，藏cáng在zài草cǎo裡lǐ，被bèi人rén看kàn見jiàn拿ná去qù，卻què不bú是shì勞láo而ér無wú功gōng？他tā還hái帶dài在zài身shēn上shàng。帶dài在zài身shēn上shàng啊a，蒼cāng蠅yíng不bú過guò豆dòu粒lì大dà小xiǎo，如rú何hé容róng得de？原yuán來lái他tā那nà寶bǎo貝bèi，與yǔ他tā金jīn箍gū棒bàng相xiāng同tóng，叫jiào做zuò如rú意yì佛fó寶bǎo，隨suí身shēn變biàn化huà，可kě以yǐ大dà，可kě以yǐ小xiǎo，故gù身shēn上shàng亦yì可kě容róng得de。行xíng者zhě在zài半bàn空kōng中zhōng见jiàn他tā回huí去qù，又yòu摇yáo身shēn一yí变biàn，变biàn作zuò苍cāng蝇yíng儿er，飞fēi下xià去qù，跟gēn着zhe小xiǎo妖yāo。你nǐ道dào他tā既jì变biàn了le苍cāng蝇yíng，那nà宝bǎo贝bèi却què放fàng在zài何hé处chù？如rú丢diū在zài路lù上shàng，藏cáng在zài草cǎo里lǐ，被bèi人rén看kàn见jiàn拿ná去qù，却què不bú是shì劳láo而ér无wú功gōng？他tā还hái带dài在zài身shēn上shàng。带dài在zài身shēn上shàng啊a，苍cāng蝇yíng不bú过guò豆dòu粒lì大dà小xiǎo，如rú何hé容róng得de？原yuán来lái他tā那nà宝bǎo贝bèi，与yǔ他tā金jīn箍gū棒bàng相xiāng同tóng，叫jiào做zuò如rú意yì佛fó宝bǎo，随suí身shēn变biàn化huà，可kě以yǐ大dà，可kě以yǐ小xiǎo，故gù身shēn上shàng亦yì可kě容róng得de。

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě在zài半bàn空kōng中zhōng見jiàn他tā回huí去qù，又yòu搖yáo身shēn一yí變biàn，變biàn作zuò蒼cāng蠅yíng兒er，飛fēi下xià去qù，跟gēn著zhe小xiǎo妖yāo。行xíng者zhě在zài半bàn空kōng中zhōng见jiàn他tā回huí去qù，又yòu摇yáo身shēn一yí变biàn，变biàn作zuò苍cāng蝇yíng儿er，飞fēi下xià去qù，跟gēn着zhe小xiǎo妖yāo。

Pilgrim in mid-air watched them turn back; with another shake of his body he changed into a little fly and flew down to follow the imps.

搖身一變 yáo shēn yí biàn — one shake of the body and he is something else — is the fixed formula for a transformation, and by this point in the novel the narrator spends no wonder on it at all. The choice of shape is the joke: 蒼蠅兒 cāng ying er, a little fly, with 兒 er shrinking him to the most negligible thing in the room.

你nǐ道dào他tā既jì變biàn了le蒼cāng蠅yíng，那nà寶bǎo貝bèi卻què放fàng在zài何hé處chù？如rú丟diū在zài路lù上shàng，藏cáng在zài草cǎo裡lǐ，被bèi人rén看kàn見jiàn拿ná去qù，卻què不bú是shì勞láo而ér無wú功gōng？他tā還hái帶dài在zài身shēn上shàng。你nǐ道dào他tā既jì变biàn了le苍cāng蝇yíng，那nà宝bǎo贝bèi却què放fàng在zài何hé处chù？如rú丢diū在zài路lù上shàng，藏cáng在zài草cǎo里lǐ，被bèi人rén看kàn见jiàn拿ná去qù，却què不bú是shì劳láo而ér无wú功gōng？他tā还hái带dài在zài身shēn上shàng。

Now you ask: since he had turned into a fly, where were the treasures put? Had he dropped them by the road or hidden them in the grass, and someone had seen and taken them, would his labor not have been in vain? No — he kept them on his person.

你道 nǐ dào is the storyteller turning to the audience — now you ask — and inventing the objection before anyone can raise it. It is the oldest trick in oral performance and the novel never tires of it. 藏在草裡 cáng zài cǎo lǐ, hidden in the grass, takes 藏 as cáng. 勞而無功 láo ér wú gōng — toil and no result — is still the phrase Chinese reaches for when effort comes to nothing.

帶dài在zài身shēn上shàng啊a，蒼cāng蠅yíng不bú過guò豆dòu粒lì大dà小xiǎo，如rú何hé容róng得de？原yuán來lái他tā那nà寶bǎo貝bèi，與yǔ他tā金jīn箍gū棒bàng相xiāng同tóng，叫jiào做zuò如rú意yì佛fó寶bǎo，隨suí身shēn變biàn化huà，可kě以yǐ大dà，可kě以yǐ小xiǎo，故gù身shēn上shàng亦yì可kě容róng得de。带dài在zài身shēn上shàng啊a，苍cāng蝇yíng不bú过guò豆dòu粒lì大dà小xiǎo，如rú何hé容róng得de？原yuán来lái他tā那nà宝bǎo贝bèi，与yǔ他tā金jīn箍gū棒bàng相xiāng同tóng，叫jiào做zuò如rú意yì佛fó宝bǎo，随suí身shēn变biàn化huà，可kě以yǐ大dà，可kě以yǐ小xiǎo，故gù身shēn上shàng亦yì可kě容róng得de。

On his person, you say — but a fly is no bigger than a bean; how could they be contained? The fact is, those treasures of his, like his gold-banded cudgel, are called wish-fulfilling Buddha-treasures: they change with the body, can be great, can be small, and so upon his person they too could be held.

The storyteller's answer patches the plot and slips in a rule the whole chapter will lean on. 如意佛寶 rú yì fó bǎo, wish-fulfilling Buddha-treasures: 如意 means conforming to intent, the same epithet the cudgel carries in its full name, 如意金箍棒. So these vessels answer to the will of whoever holds them, and greatness and smallness are moods rather than measurements. 豆粒大小 dòu lì dà xiǎo, the size of a bean — the objection is real, and the answer is that size is negotiable.

總評 Commentary

The pursuit changes register from farce to surveillance. The trickster who was lately a white-bearded immortal is now a fly, the smallest possible witness, riding the imps' own retreat into the enemy's hall. The transformation formula passes without comment; the wonder is saved for a technicality.

That technicality — where does a fly keep two stolen gourds? — is raised by the storyteller himself in the borrowed voice of a sceptical listener, and answered by folding the plunder into the novel's physics of scale. Like the cudgel, the vessels are 如意, obedient to intent. The aside also plants, very quietly, the idea that these treasures answer to their holder — the point on which the entire chapter will turn.