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僧官傲慢
The Abbot's Contempt
那道人急到方丈報道：「老爺，外面有個人來了。」那僧官即起身，換了衣服，按一按毘盧帽，披上袈裟，急開門迎接，問道人：「那裡人來？」道人用手指定道：「那正殿後邊不是一個人？」那三藏光著一個頭，穿一領二十五條達摩衣，足下登一雙拖泥帶水的達公鞋，斜倚在那後門首。僧官見了，大怒道：「道人少打！你豈不知我是僧官，但只有城上來的士夫降香，我方出來迎接？這等個和尚，你怎麼多虛少實，報我接他？看他那嘴臉，不是個誠實的，多是雲遊方上僧，今日天晚，想是要來借宿。我們方丈中，豈容他打攪？教他往前廊下蹲罷了，報我怎麼？」抽身轉去。那道人急到方丈报道：「老爷，外面有个人来了。」那僧官即起身，换了衣服，按一按毘卢帽，披上袈裟，急开门迎接，问道人：「那里人来？」道人用手指定道：「那正殿后边不是一个人？」那三藏光著一个头，穿一领二十五条达摩衣，足下登一双拖泥带水的达公鞋，斜倚在那后门首。僧官见了，大怒道：「道人少打！你岂不知我是僧官，但只有城上来的士夫降香，我方出来迎接？这等个和尚，你怎么多虚少实，报我接他？看他那嘴脸，不是个诚实的，多是云游方上僧，今日天晚，想是要来借宿。我们方丈中，岂容他打搅？教他往前廊下蹲罢了，报我怎么？」抽身转去。
逐句解 Line by line
那道人急到方丈報道：「老爺，外面有個人來了。」
那道人急到方丈报道：「老爷，外面有个人来了。」
The servitor hurried to the abbot's quarters and reported: “Your Reverence, someone has come outside.”
方丈 (fāng zhàng) here the abbot's quarters (and, by metonymy, the abbot); 老爺 (lǎo yé) "master, sir," a deferential address; 那 read nà.
那僧官即起身，換了衣服，按一按毘盧帽，披上袈裟，急開門迎接，問道人：「那裡人來？」
那僧官即起身，换了衣服，按一按毘卢帽，披上袈裟，急开门迎接，问道人：「那里人来？」
The abbot rose at once, changed his robe, settled his Vairocana cap, threw on his kāṣāya, hurried to open the door in welcome, and asked the servitor: “Where has this visitor come from?”
僧官 (sēng guān) a monk holding official rank, the "abbot" of this house. 毘盧帽 (pí lú mào) the "Vairocana cap," a five-lobed ceremonial hat; 袈裟 (jiā shā) the monk's patchwork robe, kāṣāya; 那 read nà. His elaborate dressing shows he expects a person of consequence.
道人用手指定道：「那正殿後邊不是一個人？」
道人用手指定道：「那正殿后边不是一个人？」
The servitor pointed and said: “Isn't that a man there, behind the main hall?”
指定 "to point out"; 那 read nà.
那三藏光著一個頭，穿一領二十五條達摩衣，足下登一雙拖泥帶水的達公鞋，斜倚在那後門首。
那三藏光著一个头，穿一领二十五条达摩衣，足下登一双拖泥带水的达公鞋，斜倚在那后门首。
There stood Tripitaka, bare-headed, wearing a twenty-five-strip Dharma robe and, on his feet, a pair of mud-draggled monk's sandals, leaning aslant by the back door.
光著頭 "bare-headed," 著 the durative zhe. 二十五條達摩衣 the patched kāṣāya sewn of twenty-five strips (達摩衣, after Bodhidharma); 達公鞋 "Master Da's shoes," rough monk's sandals (達公 = Bodhidharma), 達 read dá. 拖泥帶水 "dragging mud and trailing water," bedraggled; 那 read nà.
僧官見了，大怒道：「道人少打！
僧官见了，大怒道：「道人少打！
The abbot, seeing him, flew into a rage: “You servitor, you're asking for a beating!”
少打 "just short of a beating," a scolding threat; 少 read shǎo.
你豈不知我是僧官，但只有城上來的士夫降香，我方出來迎接？
你岂不知我是僧官，但只有城上来的士夫降香，我方出来迎接？
“Don't you know that I am the abbot, and come out only to receive gentlemen from the city who come to offer incense?”
士夫 (shì fū) "gentlemen, officials"; 降香 (jiàng xiāng) "to offer incense," 降 read jiàng. His welcome is reserved strictly for the well-connected.
這等個和尚，你怎麼多虛少實，報我接他？
这等个和尚，你怎么多虚少实，报我接他？
“A monk of this sort — why do you make so much of nothing and report him for me to receive?”
多虛少實 "much empty show, little substance," 少 read shǎo; 和尚 read hé shàng. The abbot judges wholly by appearance.
看他那嘴臉，不是個誠實的，多是雲遊方上僧，今日天晚，想是要來借宿。
看他那嘴脸，不是个诚实的，多是云游方上僧，今日天晚，想是要来借宿。
“Look at that face of his — no honest man; most likely a wandering mendicant, and now the day's late he'll be wanting to beg a night's lodging.”
嘴臉 (zuǐ liǎn) "features, mug"; 雲遊方上僧 "a cloud-wandering itinerant monk"; 那 read nà.
我們方丈中，豈容他打攪？
我们方丈中，岂容他打搅？
“Would I let him disturb our abbot's quarters?”
打攪 (dǎ jiǎo) "to disturb, trouble"; 中 read zhōng.
教他往前廊下蹲罷了，報我怎麼？」
教他往前廊下蹲罢了，报我怎么？」
“Just send him to squat under the front verandah and be done — why report to me?”
蹲 (dūn) "to squat, crouch"; 罷了 "and that's that," the dismissive 罷 read bà; 教 read jiào ("to make, tell to").
抽身轉去。
抽身转去。
And he turned on his heel and went off.
抽身轉去 "to draw back and turn away." The abbot dismisses the matter without a second thought.
總評 Commentary
The abbot — a 僧官, a monk of official rank — is introduced through a small, telling sequence. Told a visitor has come, he dresses with care (changing his robe, settling his Vairocana cap, donning his kāṣāya), plainly expecting someone worth impressing. The instant he sees a travel-worn monk leaning by the back door, his manner curdles into contempt: he berates the servant for troubling him, declares that he comes out only for city gentlemen bringing incense, and orders the stranger sent to squat under the eaves.
The satire is pointed and characteristically the novel's own. This is a Buddhist abbot, keeper of a rich temple full of images of compassion, who judges a fellow monk entirely by his shabby clothes and reserves all courtesy for the powerful. His snobbery is the moral inversion of everything his establishment professes; Tripitaka's earnest reverence before the temple's statuary, in the passages just before, now stands against the living unkindness of the man who runs the place.