第三十八回 · 白玉為證 The White-Jade Token — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

白玉為證 The White-Jade Token

那nà娘niáng娘niáng道dào：「兒ér啊a，外wài人rén之zhī言yán，你nǐ怎zěn麼me就jiù信xìn為wéi實shí？」太tài子zǐ道dào：「兒ér還hái不bù敢gǎn認rèn實shí，父fù王wáng遺yí下xià表biǎo記jì與yǔ他tā了le。」娘niáng娘niáng問wèn是shì何hé物wù，太tài子zǐ袖xiù中zhōng取qǔ出chū那nà金jīn廂xiāng白bái玉yù珪guī，遞dì與yǔ娘niáng娘niáng。那nà娘niáng娘niáng認rèn得dé是shì當dāng時shí國guó王wáng之zhī寶bǎo，止zhǐ不bú住zhù淚lèi如rú泉quán湧yǒng。叫jiào聲shēng：「主zhǔ公gōng，你nǐ怎zěn麼me死sǐ去qù三sān年nián，不bù來lái見jiàn我wǒ，卻què先xiān見jiàn聖shèng僧sēng，後hòu見jiàn太tài子zǐ？」太tài子zǐ道dào：「母mǔ親qīn，這zhè話huà是shì怎zěn的de說shuō？」那nà娘niáng娘niáng道dào：「儿ér啊a，外wài人rén之zhī言yán，你nǐ怎zěn么me就jiù信xìn为wéi实shí？」太tài子zǐ道dào：「儿ér还hái不bù敢gǎn认rèn实shí，父fù王wáng遗yí下xià表biǎo记jì与yǔ他tā了le。」娘niáng娘niáng问wèn是shì何hé物wù，太tài子zǐ袖xiù中zhōng取qǔ出chū那nà金jīn厢xiāng白bái玉yù珪guī，递dì与yǔ娘niáng娘niáng。那nà娘niáng娘niáng认rèn得dé是shì当dāng时shí国guó王wáng之zhī宝bǎo，止zhǐ不bú住zhù泪lèi如rú泉quán涌yǒng。叫jiào声shēng：「主zhǔ公gōng，你nǐ怎zěn么me死sǐ去qù三sān年nián，不bù来lái见jiàn我wǒ，却què先xiān见jiàn圣shèng僧sēng，后hòu见jiàn太tài子zǐ？」太tài子zǐ道dào：「母mǔ亲qīn，这zhè话huà是shì怎zěn的de说shuō？」

逐句解 Line by line

那nà娘niáng娘niáng道dào：「兒ér啊a，外wài人rén之zhī言yán，你nǐ怎zěn麼me就jiù信xìn為wéi實shí？」那nà娘niáng娘niáng道dào：「儿ér啊a，外wài人rén之zhī言yán，你nǐ怎zěn么me就jiù信xìn为wéi实shí？」

The lady said: 'My child — the word of an outsider — how can you simply take it for the truth?'

外人之言: 'the word of an outsider' — the queen's caution against a stranger's report. 那 = nà; 兒啊 = ér (vocative); 信為實: to believe [it] to be real — 為 = wéi ('to be, take as').

太tài子zǐ道dào：「兒ér還hái不bù敢gǎn認rèn實shí，父fù王wáng遺yí下xià表biǎo記jì與yǔ他tā了le。」太tài子zǐ道dào：「儿ér还hái不bù敢gǎn认rèn实shí，父fù王wáng遗yí下xià表biǎo记jì与yǔ他tā了le。」

The prince said: 'Your son still dared not confirm it, but my royal father left behind a token and gave it to him.'

兒還: 'your son still' — the prince refers to himself as 兒 (ér). 遺下表記: left behind a token of proof (遺 = yí); the white-jade gui the king's ghost gave to Wukong in Ch.37. 還 = hái.

娘niáng娘niáng問wèn是shì何hé物wù，太tài子zǐ袖xiù中zhōng取qǔ出chū那nà金jīn廂xiāng白bái玉yù珪guī，遞dì與yǔ娘niáng娘niáng。娘niáng娘niáng问wèn是shì何hé物wù，太tài子zǐ袖xiù中zhōng取qǔ出chū那nà金jīn厢xiāng白bái玉yù珪guī，递dì与yǔ娘niáng娘niáng。

The lady asked what the thing was, and the prince drew from his sleeve that gold-rimmed white-jade gui and handed it to her.

金廂白玉珪: a white-jade gui (ceremonial tablet) set in a gold rim (廂 = 鑲, 'to inlay'; 珪 = 圭). 袖中: 中 = zhōng; 那 = nà; 太子: 子 = zǐ.

那nà娘niáng娘niáng認rèn得dé是shì當dāng時shí國guó王wáng之zhī寶bǎo，止zhǐ不bú住zhù淚lèi如rú泉quán湧yǒng。那nà娘niáng娘niáng认rèn得dé是shì当dāng时shí国guó王wáng之zhī宝bǎo，止zhǐ不bú住zhù泪lèi如rú泉quán涌yǒng。

The lady recognized it as the treasure of the king of that former time, and could not stop her tears from welling up like a spring.

認得: to recognize (得 = dé). 當時國王之寶: the treasure of the king of that [earlier] time. 那 = nà.

叫jiào聲shēng：「主zhǔ公gōng，你nǐ怎zěn麼me死sǐ去qù三sān年nián，不bù來lái見jiàn我wǒ，卻què先xiān見jiàn聖shèng僧sēng，後hòu見jiàn太tài子zǐ？」叫jiào声shēng：「主zhǔ公gōng，你nǐ怎zěn么me死sǐ去qù三sān年nián，不bù来lái见jiàn我wǒ，却què先xiān见jiàn圣shèng僧sēng，后hòu见jiàn太tài子zǐ？」

She cried aloud: 'My lord — how is it that, dead these three years, you have not come to see me, but appeared first to the holy monk and then to the prince?'

主公: 'my lord,' the queen's address to her dead husband. The reproach — appearing to strangers before his own wife — voices a wife's grief within the supernatural plot. 太子: 子 = zǐ.

太tài子zǐ道dào：「母mǔ親qīn，這zhè話huà是shì怎zěn的de說shuō？」太tài子zǐ道dào：「母mǔ亲qīn，这zhè话huà是shì怎zěn的de说shuō？」

The prince said: 'Mother, what do you mean by these words?'

The prince, not yet knowing of the queen's own dream, asks what she means — setting up her account. 太子: 子 = zǐ.

總評 Commentary

The queen's first instinct is prudent skepticism — why trust an outsider's word? — and the prince answers not with argument but with an object: the king's own jade gui, the token the ghost pressed on Wukong in the preceding chapter. The proof passes from sleeve to hand, and the queen's recognition is immediate and wordless, breaking into tears.

Her cry to her dead husband turns the scene from politics to grief. The reproach — that he appeared to a monk and to their son before coming to her — is the complaint of a wife, not a queen, and it deepens the chapter's insistence that the truest knowledge of the king lives in the intimacies of his marriage.

The prince's puzzled question at the close marks a gap in his knowledge: he does not yet know that his mother, too, has dreamed. The chapter has distributed the truth among three witnesses — monk, son, wife — each holding a fragment, and here the fragments begin to be laid side by side.