Canonical Classics ← 第三十五回
第三十五回
wàidàoshīwēizhèngxìng
xīnyuánhuòbǎoxié

The Heretic Way plies its might to cow the upright nature · The Mind-Monkey wins the treasures and quells the vile fiend

二童歸天
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

二童歸天 The Boys Return to Heaven

lǎojūnshōudejiànbǎobèijiēkāijìngpínggàikǒudàochūliǎngxiānyòngshǒuzhǐrénghuàwéijīnyínèrtóngxiāngsuízuǒyòuzhǐjiànxiáguāngwàndàolǎojūnshōudejiànbǎobèijiēkāijìngpínggàikǒudàochūliǎngxiānyòngshǒuzhǐrénghuàwéijīnyínèrtóngxiāngsuízuǒyòuzhǐjiànxiáguāngwàndào

piǎomiǎotóngguīdōushuàiyuànxiāoyáozhíshàngluótiānpiǎomiǎotóngguīdōushuàiyuànxiāoyáozhíshàngluótiān

jìngzhīhòuyòuyǒushénshìsūnshèngzěnshēngbǎotángsēngshídào西tiānqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiějìngzhīhòuyòuyǒushénshìsūnshèngzěnshēngbǎotángsēngshídào西tiānqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiě


逐句解 Line by line

lǎojūnshōudejiànbǎobèijiēkāijìngpínggàikǒudàochūliǎngxiān lǎojūnshōudejiànbǎobèijiēkāijìngpínggàikǒudàochūliǎngxiān

Lord Lao took back the five treasures, uncapped the mouths of the gourd and the Pure Vase, and poured out two streams of immortal vapor.

收得五件寶貝 is "gathered up the five treasures," the complement de; 倒出兩股仙氣 is "poured out two streams of immortal vapour," read dào, to tip out. What was dissolved comes out of the bottle as breath.

yòngshǒuzhǐrénghuàwéijīnyínèrtóngxiāngsuízuǒyòu yòngshǒuzhǐrénghuàwéijīnyínèrtóngxiāngsuízuǒyòu

With a point of his hand, they changed again into the Gold and Silver acolyte-boys, attending on his left and right.

化為 is "changed into," read wéi; 相隨左右 is "attending on either side," read xiāng. One gesture undoes the deaths of two chapters, which is the privilege of gods and the frustration of everyone else.

zhǐjiànxiáguāngwàndào zhǐjiànxiáguāngwàndào

Then were seen ten thousand shafts of rosy light — lo!

霞光萬道 is "ten thousand shafts of rosy light," the standard aureole of a divine ascent; () — "lo" — turns the prose over to the closing couplet, the same exclamation that opened the first battle-verse.

piǎomiǎotóngguīdōushuàiyuànxiāoyáozhíshàngluótiān piǎomiǎotóngguīdōushuàiyuànxiāoyáozhíshàngluótiān

Wreathed in mist, together they return to the Tuṣita court; free and unfettered, straight up to the Great Canopy Heaven.

兜率院 (Dōushuài Yuàn) is the Tuṣita court, Lord Lao's heaven, with read shuài in this Buddhist name rather than . 大羅天 is the Great Canopy Heaven, highest of the Daoist heavens — and having both in one couplet is the chapter signing off in two theologies at once. 逍遙 returns here from the head-verse, where it described the liberated adept; it now describes two servants going home.

jìngzhīhòuyòuyǒushénshìsūnshèngzěnshēngbǎotángsēngshídào西tiānqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiě jìngzhīhòuyòuyǒushénshìsūnshèngzěnshēngbǎotángsēngshídào西tiānqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiě

In the end, there is no knowing what further matters there were after this, nor how Sun the Great Sage would guard the Tang Monk, nor when they would reach the Western Heaven; let it be heard in the telling of the next chapter.

且聽下回分解 — "let it be heard in the next chapter's telling," read jiě; 又有甚事 has read shén, and 得到 has read . The storyteller's standard sign-off, inherited from the days when the next instalment cost another coin.


總評 Commentary

The chapter closes the circle it opened. Lord Lao uncaps the vessels, pours out the two streams of vapour that were the melted fiends, and with one pointed finger restores them to shape as the Gold and Silver boys, obedient at his left and right. A whole demonic career dissolves back into the servants they were the entire time.

The closing couplet sends the three of them up together, and it is worth noticing where they go: the Tuṣita court is a Buddhist heaven and the Great Canopy Heaven a Daoist one, held in a single pair of lines without apology. The word 逍遙 comes back too, having opened the chapter as an emblem of the liberated adept and closing it on two furnace-boys drifting home. Then the storyteller's formula, and the road west continues.