原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
起轎開路
The Sedan Sets Out
後壁廂即有兩個女怪擡出一頂香藤轎，放在門外，掛上青絹緯幔。老怪起身出洞，坐在轎裡。後有幾個小女妖捧著減粧，端著鏡架，提著手巾，托著香盒，跟隨左右。那老怪道：「你們來怎的？我往自家兒子去處，愁那裡沒人伏侍，要你們去獻勤塌嘴？都回去，關了門看家。」那幾個小妖果俱回去，止有兩個擡轎的。老怪問道：「那差來的叫做甚麼名字？」行者連忙答應道：「他叫做巴山虎，我叫做倚海龍。」老怪道：「你兩個前走，與我開路。」行者暗想道：「可是晦氣，經倒不曾取得，且來替他做皂隸。」卻又不敢抵強，只得向前引路，大四聲喝起。后壁厢即有两个女怪抬出一顶香藤轿，放在门外，挂上青绢纬幔。老怪起身出洞，坐在轿里。后有几个小女妖捧著减粧，端著镜架，提著手巾，托著香盒，跟随左右。那老怪道：「你们来怎的？我往自家儿子去处，愁那里没人伏侍，要你们去献勤塌嘴？都回去，关了门看家。」那几个小妖果俱回去，止有两个抬轿的。老怪问道：「那差来的叫做甚么名字？」行者连忙答应道：「他叫做巴山虎，我叫做倚海龙。」老怪道：「你两个前走，与我开路。」行者暗想道：「可是晦气，经倒不曾取得，且来替他做皂隶。」却又不敢抵强，只得向前引路，大四声喝起。
逐句解 Line by line
後壁廂即有兩個女怪擡出一頂香藤轎，放在門外，掛上青絹緯幔。老怪起身出洞，坐在轎裡。後有幾個小女妖捧著減粧，端著鏡架，提著手巾，托著香盒，跟隨左右。
后壁厢即有两个女怪抬出一顶香藤轿，放在门外，挂上青绢纬幔。老怪起身出洞，坐在轿里。后有几个小女妖捧著减粧，端著镜架，提著手巾，托著香盒，跟随左右。
From the rear quarters two female fiends carried out a fragrant-rattan sedan, set it outside the gate, and hung up green-silk curtains. The old fiend rose and came out of the cave and seated herself in the sedan. Behind came several little she-imps, bearing her toilet-case, holding the mirror-stand, carrying towels and an incense-box, attending her left and right.
香藤轎 (xiāng téng jiào), "a fragrant-rattan sedan-chair." 捧著／端著／提著／托著 (pěng zhe / duān zhe / tí zhe / tuō zhe), "bearing, holding, carrying, cradling" — four durative zhe in a row, the retinue's fussing attendance.
那老怪道：「你們來怎的？我往自家兒子去處，愁那裡沒人伏侍，要你們去獻勤塌嘴？都回去，關了門看家。」那幾個小妖果俱回去，止有兩個擡轎的。
那老怪道：「你们来怎的？我往自家儿子去处，愁那里没人伏侍，要你们去献勤塌嘴？都回去，关了门看家。」那几个小妖果俱回去，止有两个抬轿的。
That old fiend said: “What are you coming along for? I'm going to my own sons' place — as if there'd be no one there to wait on me, that I'd need you lot to go fawning and flattering? All of you, go back; shut the gate and mind the house.” Those several little imps did indeed all go back, leaving only the two sedan-bearers.
那老怪 (nà lǎo guài), "that old fiend," deictic nà. 兒子去處 (ér zi qù chù), "the sons' place" — 兒 the noun-morpheme ér, 處 read chù. 獻勤塌嘴 (xiàn qín tā zuǐ), "to fawn and flatter" — the matriarch's blunt contempt for toadying.
老怪問道：「那差來的叫做甚麼名字？」行者連忙答應道：「他叫做巴山虎，我叫做倚海龍。」
老怪问道：「那差来的叫做甚么名字？」行者连忙答应道：「他叫做巴山虎，我叫做倚海龙。」
The old fiend asked: “What are the names of the ones who were sent?” Pilgrim answered at once: “He's called Mountain-Straddling Tiger, and I'm called Sea-Reclining Dragon.” The old fiend said: “You two go ahead and clear the road for me.”
那差來的 (nà chāi lái de), "the ones who were sent" — deictic 那, 差 read chāi. 叫做甚麼名字 (jiào zuò shén me míng zi), "called what names" — interrogative shén. 連忙答應 (lián máng dá yìng), "answered at once" — 應 read yìng.
老怪道：「你兩個前走，與我開路。」行者暗想道：「可是晦氣，經倒不曾取得，且來替他做皂隸。」卻又不敢抵強，只得向前引路，大四聲喝起。
老怪道：「你两个前走，与我开路。」行者暗想道：「可是晦气，经倒不曾取得，且来替他做皂隶。」却又不敢抵强，只得向前引路，大四声喝起。
Pilgrim thought to himself: “What rotten luck — the scriptures still not fetched, and here I come to play his lictor instead.” Yet he dared not resist, and could only lead the way in front, giving four loud shouts to clear the road.
經倒不曾取得 (jīng dào bù céng qǔ dé), "the scriptures yet not fetched" — 倒 the adversative dào; 取得, dé, to obtain. 只得向前引路 (zhǐ dé xiàng qián yǐn lù), "could only lead in front" — 得 read dé, of necessity. 喝起 (hè qǐ), "gave a shout" — 喝 read hè.
總評 Commentary
The staging is domestic comedy of the highest polish: the fragrant-rattan sedan, green-silk curtains, and a bustling retinue of she-imps with toilet-case, mirror, towels, and incense — the whole apparatus of a great lady's outing, deployed by a nine-tailed fox. The matriarch's brusque dismissal of her maids, scorning their fawning, is a shrewd stroke of characterization: she is imperious, self-sufficient, and thereby, unwittingly, strips away every witness to what is about to befall her.
Wukong's private grievance — the scriptures still unfetched while he plays a demon's lictor — is the running comic complaint of the whole quest, the Great Sage chafing at indignity in service of a higher end. That he 卻又不敢抵強, dared not resist, and shouts to clear the road for his own intended victim, sharpens the irony: the herald crying way for the sedan is the assassin walking his target to the ambush, and the four loud shouts are the overture to murder.