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.

遞鍾勸酒
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

遞鍾勸酒 Pressing the Cup of Wine

lǎole滿mǎn滿mǎndezhēnlebēijiǔjìnqiánshuāngshǒuèrdào:「xiánzhōnger。」èrdào:「xiōngzhǎngmenchīlezhèbànhuìjiǔyòushénzhōng?」lǎodào:「zhùtángsēngjièshāsēngyóuyòusuǒlesūnxíngzhězhuānglezhěxíngsūngōngláogāiduōzhōng。」èrjiàngōngjìngzěngǎnjiēdànzhīshǒutuōzhezhīshǒugǎnjiēquèhǎilóngshuāngshǒujiēbēizhīhǎilóngshìsūnxíngzhěbiàndekànduānyīnqínfèngshìèrjiējiǔchīleyàohuífèngbēilǎodào:「xiāohuíjiǔzhèpéibēiba。」liǎngrénzhǐguǎnqiānxùnlǎolemǎnmǎndezhēnlebēijiǔjìnqiánshuāngshǒuèrdào:「xiánzhōnger。」èrdào:「xiōngzhǎngmenchīlezhèbànhuìjiǔyòushénzhōng?」lǎodào:「zhùtángsēngjièshāsēngyóuyòusuǒlesūnxíngzhězhuānglezhěxíngsūngōngláogāiduōzhōng。」èrjiàngōngjìngzěngǎnjiēdànzhīshǒutuōzhezhīshǒugǎnjiēquèhǎilóngshuāngshǒujiēbēizhīhǎilóngshìsūnxíngzhěbiàndekànduānyīnqínfèngshìèrjiējiǔchīleyàohuífèngbēilǎodào:「xiāohuíjiǔzhèpéibēiba。」liǎngrénzhǐguǎnqiānxùn


逐句解 Line by line

lǎole滿mǎn滿mǎndezhēnlebēijiǔjìnqiánshuāngshǒuèrdào:「xiánzhōnger。」èrdào:「xiōngzhǎngmenchīlezhèbànhuìjiǔyòushénzhōng?」lǎodào:「zhùtángsēngjièshāsēngyóuyòusuǒlesūnxíngzhězhuānglezhěxíngsūngōngláogāiduōzhōng。」 lǎolemǎnmǎndezhēnlebēijiǔjìnqiánshuāngshǒuèrdào:「xiánzhōnger。」èrdào:「xiōngzhǎngmenchīlezhèbànhuìjiǔyòushénzhōng?」lǎodào:「zhùtángsēngjièshāsēngyóuyòusuǒlesūnxíngzhězhuānglezhěxíngsūngōngláogāiduōzhōng。」

That old fiend took up the pot, poured a brimming cup of wine, and coming forward presented it with both hands to the second fiend: “Worthy brother, let me pass you a cup.” The second fiend said: “Elder brother, we've already drunk this half-while — why pass another cup?” The old fiend said: “You took the Tang Monk, Bajie, and Sha Monk, well and good; but you've also caught Sun the Pilgrim and bottled Che the Pilgrim — for such merit, I ought to pass you a good few cups more.”

遞個鍾兒 (dì gè zhōng er), "pass a cup" — diminutive er. 兄長 (xiōng zhǎng), "elder brother" — read zhǎng. 又遞甚鍾 (yòu dì shén zhōng), "why pass another cup?" — interrogative shén.

èrjiàngōngjìngzěngǎnjiēdànzhīshǒutuōzhezhīshǒugǎnjiēquèhǎilóngshuāngshǒujiēbēizhīhǎilóngshìsūnxíngzhěbiàndekànduānyīnqínfèngshì èrjiàngōngjìngzěngǎnjiēdànzhīshǒutuōzhezhīshǒugǎnjiēquèhǎilóngshuāngshǒujiēbēizhīhǎilóngshìsūnxíngzhěbiàndekànduānyīnqínfèngshì

The second fiend, seeing his brother so courteous, how dared he not accept? But with one hand he was holding the gourd, and dared not reach with it; so he passed the gourd to Sea-Reclining Dragon and took the cup with both hands — not knowing that this Sea-Reclining Dragon was Sun the Pilgrim transformed. See how he held the gourd, waiting attendance most attentively.

怎敢不接 (zěn gǎn bù jiē), "how dared he not accept?" — the etiquette of the toast. 不知那倚海龍是孫行者變的 (bù zhī nà yǐ hǎi lóng shì sūn xíng zhě biàn de), "not knowing that Sea-Reclining Dragon was Sun the Pilgrim transformed" — deictic . 慇懃奉侍 (yīn qín fèng shì), "waiting attendance attentively.”

èrjiējiǔchīleyàohuífèngbēilǎodào:「xiāohuíjiǔzhèpéibēiba。」liǎngrénzhǐguǎnqiānxùn èrjiējiǔchīleyàohuífèngbēilǎodào:「xiāohuíjiǔzhèpéibēiba。」liǎngrénzhǐguǎnqiānxùn

The second fiend took the wine and drank it, and would return a cup in turn. The old fiend said: “No need to return it; here I'll keep you company with a cup.” And the two of them kept up their courtesies.

回奉一杯 (huí fèng yì bēi), "return a cup in turn." 不消回酒 (bù xiāo huí jiǔ), "no need to return it." 兩人只管謙遜 (liǎng rén zhǐ guǎn qiān xùn), "the two kept up their courtesies" — the mutual deference that leaves the gourd in Wukong's hands.


總評 Commentary

The chapter's final swindle is set up by an exquisite piece of social comedy. The old fiend, moved to reward his brother's string of captures with a ceremonial cup, sets in motion a small ritual of fraternal courtesy — the brimming cup, the two-handed offering, the demurral, the insistence on merit. The very etiquette of the toast requires the second fiend to free his hands, and so to part, for a moment, with the gourd.

That parting is the whole point, and Wukong is positioned to receive it. Handed the treasure to hold while the brothers exchange their cups, the disguised Great Sage plays the attentive servant — 慇懃奉侍 — with the gourd in his grasp and the demons deep in their mutual deference. The scene's warmth and formality are precisely what disarm the fiends: absorbed in honoring each other, they have set the one thing that matters into the hands of the one being who must not hold it.