第三十四回 · 小妖失寶 The Imps Discover the Loss — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

小妖失寶 The Imps Discover the Loss

卻què說shuō那nà兩liǎng個gè小xiǎo妖yāo將jiāng假jiǎ葫hú蘆lú拿ná在zài手shǒu中zhōng，爭zhēng看kàn一yí會huì，忽hū擡tái頭tóu不bú見jiàn了le行xíng者zhě。伶líng俐lì蟲chóng道dào：「哥gē啊a，神shén仙xiān也yě會huì打dǎ誑kuáng語yǔ。他tā說shuō換huàn了le寶bǎo貝bèi，度dù我wǒ等děng成chéng仙xiān，怎zěn麼me不bù辭cí就jiù去qù了le？」精jīng細xì鬼guǐ道dào：「我wǒ們men相xiāng應yìng便pián宜yi的de多duō哩lī，他tā敢gǎn去qù得de成chéng？拿ná過guò葫hú蘆lú來lái，等děng我wǒ裝zhuāng裝zhuāng天tiān，也yě試shì演yǎn試shì演yǎn看kàn。」却què说shuō那nà两liǎng个gè小xiǎo妖yāo将jiāng假jiǎ葫hú芦lú拿ná在zài手shǒu中zhōng，争zhēng看kàn一yí会huì，忽hū抬tái头tóu不bú见jiàn了le行xíng者zhě。伶líng俐lì虫chóng道dào：「哥gē啊a，神shén仙xiān也yě会huì打dǎ诳kuáng语yǔ。他tā说shuō换huàn了le宝bǎo贝bèi，度dù我wǒ等děng成chéng仙xiān，怎zěn么me不bù辞cí就jiù去qù了le？」精jīng细xì鬼guǐ道dào：「我wǒ们men相xiāng应yìng便pián宜yi的de多duō哩lī，他tā敢gǎn去qù得de成chéng？拿ná过guò葫hú芦lú来lái，等děng我wǒ装zhuāng装zhuāng天tiān，也yě试shì演yǎn试shì演yǎn看kàn。」

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà兩liǎng個gè小xiǎo妖yāo將jiāng假jiǎ葫hú蘆lú拿ná在zài手shǒu中zhōng，爭zhēng看kàn一yí會huì，忽hū擡tái頭tóu不bú見jiàn了le行xíng者zhě。却què说shuō那nà两liǎng个gè小xiǎo妖yāo将jiāng假jiǎ葫hú芦lú拿ná在zài手shǒu中zhōng，争zhēng看kàn一yí会huì，忽hū抬tái头tóu不bú见jiàn了le行xíng者zhě。

Now tell of those two little imps, the false gourd in their hands, who vied a while in gazing at it — then looked up all at once, and Pilgrim was gone.

假葫蘆 (jiǎ hú lu), "the false gourd" — the hair-conjured counterfeit Pilgrim traded them in the last chapter. 將 (jiāng) is the disposal coverb; 爭看 (zhēng kàn), "vied to look," the two heads bent over one prize.

伶líng俐lì蟲chóng道dào：「哥gē啊a，神shén仙xiān也yě會huì打dǎ誑kuáng語yǔ。他tā說shuō換huàn了le寶bǎo貝bèi，度dù我wǒ等děng成chéng仙xiān，怎zěn麼me不bù辭cí就jiù去qù了le？」伶líng俐lì虫chóng道dào：「哥gē啊a，神shén仙xiān也yě会huì打dǎ诳kuáng语yǔ。他tā说shuō换huàn了le宝bǎo贝bèi，度dù我wǒ等děng成chéng仙xiān，怎zěn么me不bù辞cí就jiù去qù了le？」

Clever-Bug said: “Brother, so immortals too can tell barefaced lies. He said that having traded treasures he would see us across into immortality — how is it he has gone off without a word of parting?”

打誑語 (dǎ kuáng yǔ), "to utter lying speech" — a Buddhist term for the precept against false words, here on a demon's lips. 度 (dù), "to ferry across," the soteriological verb of deliverance.

精jīng細xì鬼guǐ道dào：「我wǒ們men相xiāng應yìng便pián宜yi的de多duō哩lī，他tā敢gǎn去qù得de成chéng？拿ná過guò葫hú蘆lú來lái，等děng我wǒ裝zhuāng裝zhuāng天tiān，也yě試shì演yǎn試shì演yǎn看kàn。」精jīng细xì鬼guǐ道dào：「我wǒ们men相xiāng应yìng便pián宜yi的de多duō哩lī，他tā敢gǎn去qù得de成chéng？拿ná过guò葫hú芦lú来lái，等děng我wǒ装zhuāng装zhuāng天tiān，也yě试shì演yǎn试shì演yǎn看kàn。」

Fine-and-Keen said: “We got much the better of the bargain — could he really get away with it? Bring the gourd over; let me bottle up Heaven too, and give it a trial run.”

相應 (xiāng yìng), here the vernacular idiom "advantageous, a good bargain" — 應 read yìng. 裝裝天 (zhuāng zhuāng tiān), "bottle up Heaven a bit," the reduplicated verb of a casual test; 試演 (shì yǎn), "to rehearse, try out.”

總評 Commentary

The chapter opens on the instant of deception's unraveling: two imps clutching a counterfeit and an empty sky where their benefactor stood. The narrative wastes no time — 忽擡頭 marks the discovery with the suddenness of a stage direction, and the swindle of chapter thirty-three passes at once into its consequences.

Clever-Bug's complaint that “immortals too can tell barefaced lies” carries the episode's sly irony: the imp invokes a Buddhist precept against a swindler who is, in fact, the sworn protector of a Buddhist pilgrim. Fine-and-Keen's answer — that the bargain was too good for the other party to simply walk away — shows greed still outrunning suspicion, and his proposed remedy is not to examine the goods but to play with them.