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人離鄉賤
Away from Home, Held Cheap
長老聞言,滿眼垂淚道:「可憐,可憐!這才是人離鄉賤。我弟子從小兒出家,做了和尚,又不曾拜懺吃葷生歹意,看經懷怒壞禪心;又不曾丟瓦拋磚傷佛殿,阿羅臉上剝真金。噫!可憐啊!不知是那世裡觸傷天地,教我今生常遇不良人。──和尚,你不留我們宿便罷了,怎麼又說這等憊懶話,教我們在前道廊下去蹲?此話不與行者說還好,若說了,那猴子進來,一頓鐵棒,把孤拐都打斷你的。」長老道:「也罷,也罷。常言道:『人將禮樂為先。』我且進去問他一聲,看他意下如何?」长老闻言,满眼垂泪道:「可怜,可怜!这才是人离乡贱。我弟子从小儿出家,做了和尚,又不曾拜忏吃荤生歹意,看经怀怒坏禅心;又不曾丢瓦抛砖伤佛殿,阿罗脸上剥真金。噫!可怜啊!不知是那世里触伤天地,教我今生常遇不良人。──和尚,你不留我们宿便罢了,怎么又说这等惫懒话,教我们在前道廊下去蹲?此话不与行者说还好,若说了,那猴子进来,一顿铁棒,把孤拐都打断你的。」长老道:「也罢,也罢。常言道:『人将礼乐为先。』我且进去问他一声,看他意下如何?」
逐句解 Line by line
長老聞言,滿眼垂淚道:「可憐,可憐!
长老闻言,满眼垂泪道:「可怜,可怜!
The elder, hearing this, brimmed with tears and said: “How pitiful, how pitiful!”
滿眼垂淚 "eyes full, shedding tears"; 長 read zhǎng.
這才是人離鄉賤。
这才是人离乡贱。
“This indeed is what it means: away from home, a man is held cheap.”
人離鄉賤 a proverb — "a person is despised once far from home" (the counterpart to 物離鄉貴, "goods are dear far from where they're made").
我弟子從小兒出家,做了和尚,又不曾拜懺吃葷生歹意,看經懷怒壞禪心;
我弟子从小儿出家,做了和尚,又不曾拜忏吃荤生歹意,看经怀怒坏禅心;
“I, your disciple, left home as a small child and became a monk; never at my penances have I eaten meat or harboured evil thoughts, never at the scriptures have I nursed anger and spoiled the meditative mind;”
從小兒 "from childhood," 兒 the colloquial suffix er. 拜懺 (bài chàn) "to perform rites of repentance"; 吃葷 "to eat meat or pungent foods"; 禪心 "the meditative mind."
又不曾丟瓦拋磚傷佛殿,阿羅臉上剝真金。
又不曾丢瓦抛砖伤佛殿,阿罗脸上剥真金。
“nor have I flung tile or hurled brick to damage a Buddha-hall, nor stripped the true gold from an arhat's face.”
丟瓦拋磚 "to throw tiles and bricks"; 阿羅 (ā luó) arhat (阿羅漢); 剝真金 "to strip off the gilding"; 佛 read fó.
噫!
噫!
“Alas!”
噫 (yī) an exclamation of grief.
可憐啊!
可怜啊!
“How pitiful!”
可憐 "how pitiful, how pitiable" — the refrain of the lament.
不知是那世裡觸傷天地,教我今生常遇不良人。
不知是那世里触伤天地,教我今生常遇不良人。
“I know not in what former life I offended Heaven and Earth, that in this present life I so often meet with unkind men.”
那世 "which former life," 那 read nà; 觸傷天地 "to offend Heaven and Earth"; 教 "to cause," read jiào.
──和尚,你不留我們宿便罷了,怎麼又說這等憊懶話,教我們在前道廊下去蹲?
──和尚,你不留我们宿便罢了,怎么又说这等惫懒话,教我们在前道廊下去蹲?
“— Monk, if you won't lodge us, well and good; but why speak such slovenly words and send us to squat under the front verandah?”
便罷了 "and let it be at that," 罷 read bà; 憊懶話 "lazy, churlish words"; 教 read jiào; 和尚 read hé shàng.
此話不與行者說還好,若說了,那猴子進來,一頓鐵棒,把孤拐都打斷你的。」
此话不与行者说还好,若说了,那猴子进来,一顿铁棒,把孤拐都打断你的。」
“It's just as well not to tell the Pilgrim this; for if I did, and that monkey came in, one round of his iron rod would snap the very ankle-bones of you.”
那猴子 "that monkey," 那 read nà; 孤拐 (gū guǎi) the ankle-bone; 都 read dōu; 還 read hái. A flash of the comedy to come.
長老道:「也罷,也罷。
长老道:「也罢,也罢。
The elder said: “Well, let it be, let it be.”
也罷 "so be it," 罷 read bà; 長 read zhǎng.
常言道:『人將禮樂為先。』
常言道:『人将礼乐为先。』
“As the common saying goes: ‘A man puts rites and music first.’”
禮樂 (lǐ yuè) "rites and music," the Confucian pairing — 樂 read yuè ("music"). 將…為 "to take…as," 將 read jiāng, 為 read wéi.
我且進去問他一聲,看他意下如何?」
我且进去问他一声,看他意下如何?」
“Let me go in and ask him once, and see how his mind inclines.”
意下如何 "how his intent stands." Tripitaka steels himself to face the abbot in person.
總評 Commentary
Overhearing the abbot's dismissal, Tripitaka dissolves into tears and a lament — the proverb "away from home, a man is held cheap," a protest of his lifelong monastic blamelessness (he has never broken his abstinence, defaced a shrine, or robbed an image), and a karmic self-questioning: in what former life did he so offend Heaven that he must now keep meeting unkind men? It is a set-piece of self-pity, tender and faintly ridiculous at once.
The lament also carries a flash of the comedy the chapter is building toward. Mid-grief, Tripitaka lets slip that it is as well Wukong hasn't heard this, for the monkey would snap the abbot's ankle-bones with one blow of his rod — the meek master invoking his fearsome disciple. He then rallies himself with a Confucian proverb ("a man puts rites and music first") and resolves to try courtesy in person, walking straight into the confrontation the reader can see coming.