第三十八回 · 理上不順 Not Clean in Point of Law — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

理上不順 Not Clean in Point of Law

行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ日rì間jiān與yǔ那nà太tài子zǐ誇kuā口kǒu，說shuō我wǒ的de手shǒu段duàn比bǐ山shān還hái高gāo，比bǐ海hǎi還hái深shēn，拿ná那nà妖yāo精jīng如rú探tàn囊náng取qǔ物wù一yì般bān，伸shēn了le手shǒu去qù就jiù拿ná將jiāng轉zhuǎn來lái。卻què也yě睡shuì不bù著zháo，想xiǎng起qǐ來lái，有yǒu些xiē難nán哩lī。」唐táng僧sēng道dào：「你nǐ說shuō難nán，便biàn就jiù不bù拿ná了le罷ba。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「拿ná是shì還hái要yào拿ná，只zhǐ是shì理lǐ上shàng不bú順shùn。」唐táng僧sēng道dào：「這zhè猴hóu頭tóu亂luàn說shuō。妖yāo精jīng奪duó了le人rén君jūn位wèi，怎zěn麼me叫jiào做zuò理lǐ上shàng不bú順shùn？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ老lǎo人rén家jiā只zhǐ知zhī念niàn經jīng拜bài佛fó，打dǎ坐zuò參cān禪chán，那nǎ曾céng見jiàn那nà蕭xiāo何hé的de律lǜ法fǎ？行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ日rì间jiān与yǔ那nà太tài子zǐ夸kuā口kǒu，说shuō我wǒ的de手shǒu段duàn比bǐ山shān还hái高gāo，比bǐ海hǎi还hái深shēn，拿ná那nà妖yāo精jīng如rú探tàn囊náng取qǔ物wù一yì般bān，伸shēn了le手shǒu去qù就jiù拿ná将jiāng转zhuǎn来lái。却què也yě睡shuì不bù著zháo，想xiǎng起qǐ来lái，有yǒu些xiē难nán哩lī。」唐táng僧sēng道dào：「你nǐ说shuō难nán，便biàn就jiù不bù拿ná了le罢ba。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「拿ná是shì还hái要yào拿ná，只zhǐ是shì理lǐ上shàng不bú顺shùn。」唐táng僧sēng道dào：「这zhè猴hóu头tóu乱luàn说shuō。妖yāo精jīng夺duó了le人rén君jūn位wèi，怎zěn么me叫jiào做zuò理lǐ上shàng不bú顺shùn？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ老lǎo人rén家jiā只zhǐ知zhī念niàn经jīng拜bài佛fó，打dǎ坐zuò参cān禅chán，那nǎ曾céng见jiàn那nà萧xiāo何hé的de律lǜ法fǎ？

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ日rì間jiān與yǔ那nà太tài子zǐ誇kuā口kǒu，說shuō我wǒ的de手shǒu段duàn比bǐ山shān還hái高gāo，比bǐ海hǎi還hái深shēn，拿ná那nà妖yāo精jīng如rú探tàn囊náng取qǔ物wù一yì般bān，伸shēn了le手shǒu去qù就jiù拿ná將jiāng轉zhuǎn來lái。行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ日rì间jiān与yǔ那nà太tài子zǐ夸kuā口kǒu，说shuō我wǒ的de手shǒu段duàn比bǐ山shān还hái高gāo，比bǐ海hǎi还hái深shēn，拿ná那nà妖yāo精jīng如rú探tàn囊náng取qǔ物wù一yì般bān，伸shēn了le手shǒu去qù就jiù拿ná将jiāng转zhuǎn来lái。

The Pilgrim said: 'By day I boasted to that prince, saying my powers were higher than the mountains and deeper than the seas, and that seizing this demon would be like taking a thing from a bag — I'd reach in my hand and pluck him right out.'

誇口: to boast. 探囊取物: 'to take a thing from a bag' — a proverb for effortless accomplishment. 拿將轉來: grab him and haul him back (將 = jiāng, directional). 那 (twice) = nà; 太子: 子 = zǐ; 還 (twice) = hái.

卻què也yě睡shuì不bù著zháo，想xiǎng起qǐ來lái，有yǒu些xiē難nán哩lī。」却què也yě睡shuì不bù著zháo，想xiǎng起qǐ来lái，有yǒu些xiē难nán哩lī。」

'But now I cannot sleep, for thinking it over, there is some difficulty in it.'

睡不著: cannot fall asleep (著 = zháo, so 不 = bù). 有些難: there is some difficulty (難 = nán).

唐táng僧sēng道dào：「你nǐ說shuō難nán，便biàn就jiù不bù拿ná了le罷ba。」唐táng僧sēng道dào：「你nǐ说shuō难nán，便biàn就jiù不bù拿ná了le罢ba。」

The Tang Monk said: 'If you say it is hard, then just do not seize him, and let it be.'

便就不拿了罷: 'then just don't seize him, and be done' (罷 = ba, particle). Tripitaka's plain solution to Wukong's scruple.

行xíng者zhě道dào：「拿ná是shì還hái要yào拿ná，只zhǐ是shì理lǐ上shàng不bú順shùn。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「拿ná是shì还hái要yào拿ná，只zhǐ是shì理lǐ上shàng不bú顺shùn。」

The Pilgrim said: 'Seize him I still mean to; only the thing is not clean in point of law.'

理上不順: 'not smooth in principle/law' — the case cannot be cleanly prosecuted (還 = hái). This legalistic worry is Wukong's real concern.

唐táng僧sēng道dào：「這zhè猴hóu頭tóu亂luàn說shuō。唐táng僧sēng道dào：「这zhè猴hóu头tóu乱luàn说shuō。

The Tang Monk said: 'This monkey-head is talking nonsense.'

猴頭: 'monkey-head,' Tripitaka's affectionate-abusive epithet for Wukong. 亂說: to talk wildly.

妖yāo精jīng奪duó了le人rén君jūn位wèi，怎zěn麼me叫jiào做zuò理lǐ上shàng不bú順shùn？」妖yāo精jīng夺duó了le人rén君jūn位wèi，怎zěn么me叫jiào做zuò理lǐ上shàng不bú顺shùn？」

'A demon has seized a sovereign's throne — how can you call that "not clean in point of law"?'

奪了人君位: usurped a sovereign's throne. Tripitaka's common-sense objection: the crime is plain, so where is the difficulty?

行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ老lǎo人rén家jiā只zhǐ知zhī念niàn經jīng拜bài佛fó，打dǎ坐zuò參cān禪chán，那nǎ曾céng見jiàn那nà蕭xiāo何hé的de律lǜ法fǎ？行xíng者zhě道dào：「你nǐ老lǎo人rén家jiā只zhǐ知zhī念niàn经jīng拜bài佛fó，打dǎ坐zuò参cān禅chán，那nǎ曾céng见jiàn那nà萧xiāo何hé的de律lǜ法fǎ？

The Pilgrim said: 'You, sir, know only how to chant sutras and worship the Buddha, to sit in meditation and practice Chan — when did you ever look into the statutes of Xiao He?'

念經拜佛，打坐參禪: chanting scriptures and worshipping the Buddha, sitting in meditation and practicing Chan — 參 = cān (參禪); 佛 = fó. 那曾見: 'when did you ever see' — 那 = nǎ (interrogative). 那蕭何: 'that Xiao He' — 那 = nà (deictic). 蕭何 was the Han statesman famed for codifying the empire's laws.

總評 Commentary

Wukong's midnight worry is a delightfully unexpected one: not whether he can defeat the demon — of that he is serenely certain, having boasted it would be 'like taking a thing from a bag' — but whether he can prosecute the case. The Monkey King, so often pure force, here reveals a lawyer's caution: the seizure would be 'not clean in point of law' (理上不順).

Tripitaka's replies are the straight-man's. If it is hard, don't do it; and anyway, a demon on a stolen throne is manifestly a criminal — where is the difficulty? His common sense sets off Wukong's cleverness, and the comic asymmetry between the meditating monk and the scheming disciple drives the scene.

Wukong's retort — that the master knows sutras but not the statutes of Xiao He — invokes the great Han codifier of law as the emblem of due process, and states the passage's real subject: the difference between knowing a thing to be true and being able to prove it. The chapter's concern with distinguishing false from true here takes a juridical turn, anticipating Wukong's need to produce evidence — the king's body — before the demon can be brought down.