Canonical Classics ← 第三十四回
第三十四回
wángqiǎosuànkùnxīnyuán
shèngténgnuópiànbǎobèi

The Demon King, by artful reckoning, confounds the Mind-Monkey; the Great Sage, by shifting sleight, filches away the treasures.

刮殺小妖
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

刮殺小妖 The Couriers Struck Down

xiǎoyāojiànshuōzhehǎiyǎngènghuòxíngzhěguǒrènzuòjiārénmángmángwǎngqiánfēipǎoyòupǎoyǒujiǔxíngzhědào:「zǒukuàilexiēmenjiāyǒuduōshǎole?」xiǎoguàidào:「yǒushíliùle。」xíngzhědào:「háiyǒuduōyuǎn?」hǎilóngyòngshǒuzhǐdào:「línzijiùshì。」xíngzhětáitóujiàndàihēilínyuǎnliàodelǎoguàizhǐzàilínziwàiquèdìngràngxiǎoguàiqiánzǒuchūtiěbàngzǒushàngqiánzháojiǎohòuguāliánjīnjiùliǎngxiǎoyāoguāzuòtuánròubǐngquètuōzhejiǎocángzàibàngshēncǎoxiǎoyāojiànshuōzhehǎiyǎngènghuòxíngzhěguǒrènzuòjiārénmángmángwǎngqiánfēipǎoyòupǎoyǒujiǔxíngzhědào:「zǒukuàilexiēmenjiāyǒuduōshǎole?」xiǎoguàidào:「yǒushíliùle。」xíngzhědào:「háiyǒuduōyuǎn?」hǎilóngyòngshǒuzhǐdào:「línzijiùshì。」xíngzhětáitóujiàndàihēilínyuǎnliàodelǎoguàizhǐzàilínziwàiquèdìngràngxiǎoguàiqiánzǒuchūtiěbàngzǒushàngqiánzháojiǎohòuguāliánjīnjiùliǎngxiǎoyāoguāzuòtuánròubǐngquètuōzhejiǎocángzàibàngshēncǎo


逐句解 Line by line

xiǎoyāojiànshuōzhehǎiyǎngènghuòxíngzhěguǒrènzuòjiārénmángmángwǎngqiánfēipǎoyòupǎoyǒujiǔxíngzhědào:「zǒukuàilexiēmenjiāyǒuduōshǎole?」xiǎoguàidào:「yǒushíliùle。」xíngzhědào:「háiyǒuduōyuǎn?」hǎilóngyòngshǒuzhǐdào:「línzijiùshì。」 xiǎoyāojiànshuōzhehǎiyǎngènghuòxíngzhěguǒrènzuòjiārénmángmángwǎngqiánfēipǎoyòupǎoyǒujiǔxíngzhědào:「zǒukuàilexiēmenjiāyǒuduōshǎole?」xiǎoguàidào:「yǒushíliùle。」xíngzhědào:「háiyǒuduōyuǎn?」hǎilóngyòngshǒuzhǐdào:「línzijiùshì。」

When the imp heard him speak of the “sea-bottom eye,” he doubted no further and took Pilgrim for one of their own. In great haste they sped on ahead, and in one breath had run eight or nine li more. Pilgrim said: “We've come too fast. How far are we from home now?” The little fiend said: “Some fifteen or sixteen li.” Pilgrim said: “How much farther?” Sea-Reclining Dragon pointed with his hand: “That dark grove yonder is the place.”

海底眼 (hǎi dǐ yǎn), "the sea-bottom eye" — an insider's byword whose casual use vouches for Pilgrim's belonging. 見說著 (jiàn shuō zhe), "hearing it spoken of" — durative zhe. 還有多遠 (hái yǒu duō yuǎn), "how much farther" — read hái.

xíngzhětáitóujiàndàihēilínyuǎnliàodelǎoguàizhǐzàilínziwàiquèdìngràngxiǎoguàiqiánzǒuchūtiěbàngzǒushàngqiánzháojiǎohòuguāliánjīnjiùliǎngxiǎoyāoguāzuòtuánròubǐngquètuōzhejiǎocángzàibàngshēncǎo xíngzhětáitóujiàndàihēilínyuǎnliàodelǎoguàizhǐzàilínziwàiquèdìngràngxiǎoguàiqiánzǒuchūtiěbàngzǒushàngqiánzháojiǎohòuguāliánjīnjiùliǎngxiǎoyāoguāzuòtuánròubǐngquètuōzhejiǎocángzàibàngshēncǎo

Pilgrim lifted his head and saw the belt of dark woods not far off, and reckoned the old fiend must be just about the grove. He halted his steps and let the little fiend walk ahead; then he drew out his iron cudgel, stepped up, and gave a scrape at the backs of their heels. Pitiably unable to bear a blow, the two little imps were scraped into a single lump of meat-cake. He dragged them off by the feet and hid them in the deep grass beside the road.

料得 (liào de), "reckoned that" — the cognition particle de. 著腳後一刮 (zháo jiǎo hòu yì guā), "a scrape reaching the back of the heels" — the contact-verb zháo; but 拖著腳 (tuō zhe jiǎo), "dragging by the feet," durative zhe. 藏在 (cáng zài), "hid," read cáng.


總評 Commentary

Wukong completes the interrogation-then-execution he planned on the road. The password 海底眼 does its work — a single insider's phrase converts suspicion into fellowship, and the couriers lead their killer to their own mistress's door. The narrator's timing is exact: the location extracted, the pace slowed, the cudgel drawn, and the blow delivered only once the grove is in sight and the intelligence complete.

The killing is dispatched with the novel's characteristic blend of violence and comic diction: 刮做一團肉餅, scraped into a single lump of meat-cake, reduces two named retainers to a culinary flatness, and the tidy concealment in roadside grass has the efficiency of a workman clearing up. There is no cruelty dwelt upon and no remorse; the imps were an obstacle and an opportunity, and Wukong has used them for both.