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.

砍頭搜寶
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

砍頭搜寶 The Hacked Head and the Recovered Treasures

tuìzhìjǐngxiàngzhīxiàyuánshìjīnquānzitàozhùguàijiāngshéngchěchějiāngxiàláizhàoguāngtóushàngkǎnlebǎojiànxíngzhětóuercénghónglehóngdào:「zhèhóuzizhèděngtóuyìngkǎnqiědàihuízàijiāngliǎngjiànbǎobèichènzǎohuán。」xíngzhědào:「shénmebǎobèiwènyào?」tóujiāngshēnshàngsōujiǎnquèjiāngjìngpíngdōusōuchūláiyòushéngziqiānzhedàizhìdòngdào:「xiōngzhǎngjiāngláile。」tuìzhìjǐngxiàngzhīxiàyuánshìjīnquānzitàozhùguàijiāngshéngchěchějiāngxiàláizhàoguāngtóushàngkǎnlebǎojiànxíngzhětóuercénghónglehóngdào:「zhèhóuzizhèděngtóuyìngkǎnqiědàihuízàijiāngliǎngjiànbǎobèichènzǎohuán。」xíngzhědào:「shénmebǎobèiwènyào?」tóujiāngshēnshàngsōujiǎnquèjiāngjìngpíngdōusōuchūláiyòushéngziqiānzhedàizhìdòngdào:「xiōngzhǎngjiāngláile。」


逐句解 Line by line

tuìzhìjǐngxiàngzhīxiàyuánshìjīnquānzitàozhùguàijiāngshéngchěchějiāngxiàláizhàoguāngtóushàngkǎnlebǎojiànxíngzhětóuercénghónglehóng tuìzhìjǐngxiàngzhīxiàyuánshìjīnquānzitàozhùguàijiāngshéngchěchějiāngxiàláizhàoguāngtóushàngkǎnlebǎojiànxíngzhětóuercénghónglehóng

It slid down to below his neck, where it turned into a golden ring clasping him fast. The fiend gave the cord a jerk, dragged him down, and hacked seven or eight sword-strokes at his bald crown. Pilgrim's scalp did not so much as flush a single flush.

褪至頸項之下 (tùn zhì jǐng xiàng zhī xià), "slid down below the neck." 那怪將繩一扯 (nà guài jiāng shéng yì chě), "the fiend jerked the cord" — disposal . 頭皮兒也不曾紅了一紅 (tóu pí er yě bù céng hóng le yì hóng), "his scalp did not flush a single flush" — diminutive er.

dào:「zhèhóuzizhèděngtóuyìngkǎnqiědàihuízàijiāngliǎngjiànbǎobèichènzǎohuán。」 dào:「zhèhóuzizhèděngtóuyìngkǎnqiědàihuízàijiāngliǎngjiànbǎobèichènzǎohuán。」

That fiend said: “This monkey — with a head as hard as this, I won't hack you; I'll just take you back and beat you later. Now, my two treasures — hand them over at once.”

頭硬 (tóu yìng), "head hard." 將我那兩件寶貝 (jiāng wǒ nà liǎng jiàn bǎo bèi), "my two treasures" — disposal , deictic . 趁早還我 (chèn zǎo huán wǒ), "hand them over at once" — read huán, return.

xíngzhědào:「shénmebǎobèiwènyào?」tóujiāngshēnshàngsōujiǎnquèjiāngjìngpíngdōusōuchūláiyòushéngziqiānzhedàizhìdòngdào:「xiōngzhǎngjiāngláile。」 xíngzhědào:「shénmebǎobèiwènyào?」tóujiāngshēnshàngsōujiǎnquèjiāngjìngpíngdōusōuchūláiyòushéngziqiānzhedàizhìdòngdào:「xiōngzhǎngjiāngláile。」

Pilgrim said: “What treasures of yours did I take, that you ask me for them?” That demon lord searched him over minutely and turned out both the gourd and the vase. Then, leading him along by the cord, he brought him into the cave and said: “Elder brother, I've brought him back.”

我拿你甚麼寶貝 (wǒ ná nǐ shén me bǎo bèi), "what treasures of yours did I take?" — interrogative shén. 將那葫蘆、淨瓶都搜出來 (jiāng nà hú lu, jìng píng dōu sōu chū lái), "turned out both the gourd and vase" — disposal , deictic . 兄長 (xiōng zhǎng), "elder brother" — read zhǎng.


總評 Commentary

The tables are wholly turned: the cord that Wukong sprang on the fiend now clasps his own neck as a golden ring, and the demon repays capture with a beating. Yet the reversal has a limit the demon cannot pass — Wukong's invulnerable body. Seven or eight sword-strokes on the bald crown, and 頭皮兒也不曾紅了一紅, not even a flush; the Great Sage's indestructibility, established since the eight days in the oil-caldrons, holds firm even in defeat.

The demon's shift from killing to keeping — I won't hack you, I'll take you back and beat you later — is both a concession to that invulnerability and a plot necessity, for a Wukong who cannot be slain must instead be held, and holding him sets up the escape to come. The recovery of the gourd and vase undoes the whole treasure-swindle at a stroke: the three vessels Wukong crowed were “surnamed Sun” are surnamed demon again, and the Great Sage is dragged into the cave with nothing but his unbreakable skull to show for the day's cunning.