黃金動心 Yellow Gold Stirs the Heart
八戒道:「哥哥,你哄我去做賊哩。這個買賣,我也去得。果是曉得實實的幫寸,我也與你講個明白:偷了寶貝,降了妖精,我卻不奈煩甚麼小家罕氣的分寶貝,我就要了。」行者道:「你要作甚?」八戒道:「我不如你們乖巧能言,人面前化得出齋來。老豬身子又夯,言語又粗,不能念經,若到那無濟無生處,可好換齋吃麼。」行者道:「老孫只要圖名,那裡圖甚寶貝?就與你便了。」那獃子聽見說都與他,他就滿心歡喜,一轂轆爬將起來,套上衣服,就和行者走路。這是清酒紅人面,黃金動道心。八戒道:「哥哥,你哄我去做贼哩。这个买卖,我也去得。果是晓得实实的帮寸,我也与你讲个明白:偷了宝贝,降了妖精,我却不奈烦甚么小家罕气的分宝贝,我就要了。」行者道:「你要作甚?」八戒道:「我不如你们乖巧能言,人面前化得出斋来。老猪身子又夯,言语又粗,不能念经,若到那无济无生处,可好换斋吃么。」行者道:「老孙只要图名,那里图甚宝贝?就与你便了。」那呆子听见说都与他,他就满心欢喜,一毂辘爬将起来,套上衣服,就和行者走路。这是清酒红人面,黄金动道心。
逐句解 Line by line
Bajie said: 'Brother, you're coaxing me into playing the thief.'
He is not fooled for a second — 哄我去做賊, 'you're coaxing me into thieving' — and he is going anyway. That combination is the whole of Bajie's character in one line.
'This piece of business — I'll go along with it too.'
去得: I can go, I'm willing (得 = de). And then the terms.
'But if it's a real, solid job of teamwork, let me have it plain with you: once we've stolen the treasure and subdued the demon, I've no patience for any petty, stingy dividing up of the spoils — I'll just take it.'
實實的幫寸: a genuine, solid piece of teamwork. 降了妖精: once the demon is subdued (降 = xiáng). 小家罕氣 is 'small-household stinginess,' the pettiness of people who count the spoons; 不奈煩, he cannot be bothered with it (不 = bú). 曉得: 得 = dé; 甚麼 = shén me. No dividing up, he says: I take the lot.
The Pilgrim said: 'And what would you want it for?'
Wukong, amused, asks what a monk would even do with it. 甚 in 作甚 is shén, 'for what.'
Bajie said: 'I'm not clever and glib like you others, able to beg alms to people's faces.'
乖巧能言: quick-witted and good with words. 化得出齋來: able to beg a meal successfully off strangers (得 = de). The self-deprecation is real and it is also a bid.
'Old Pig is thick of body and coarse of speech, and can't chant the scriptures; so if we come to some place of no help and no living, it would be handy to trade the thing for a meal.'
身子又夯: thick and clumsy of build (身子 takes 子 as the light ending zi; 夯 = hāng). 無濟無生處 is a place with no relief and no living to be had (處 = chù, 'place'). 那 = nà. He wants the treasure as a meal fund, which is both mercenary and rather touching.
The Pilgrim said: 'Old Sun is only after renown — what would I want with any treasure?'
圖名: to be after a reputation. 那裡圖甚寶貝: 'what would I want with treasure?' — the questioning nǎ again, and 甚 = shén. It is true, and it costs him nothing to say.
'It's yours, and there's an end of it.'
就與你便了: 'yours, and there's an end of it' (了 = le). The most generous gift in the book, since there is nothing to give.
When the blockhead heard that it would all be his, his heart was filled with delight; he rolled over and scrambled up, pulled on his clothes, and set off along with the Pilgrim.
都與他: all of it his. 一轂轆爬將起來: rolls over and scrambles up (轂 = gū; 將 = jiāng) — the same rolling word used of Wukong getting out of bed a few scenes ago, now applied to a pig who could not be woken by shouting and is dressed in a second at the word 'gold.' 那 = nà; 都 = dōu; 和 = hé; 行 = xíng.
This is a case of: clear wine reddens a man's face; yellow gold stirs even the Daoist heart.
清酒紅人面,黃金動道心 — 'clear wine reddens a man's face; yellow gold stirs the Daoist heart.' A proverbial pair, quoted here as prose and aimed squarely at the pig who just leapt out of bed. 道心 is the mind of someone on the Way, which is precisely the thing that is supposed to be beyond stirring.
Bajie's negotiation completes the con, and he negotiates with his eyes open. He sees straight through the 'business' — you're coaxing me into thieving — and signs on anyway, on one condition: he keeps the treasure. His justification is pure Bajie. Unlike his glib companions he cannot talk a meal out of strangers, so he needs the loot as insurance against hungry days. Self-interest, frankly avowed, is his abiding note.
Wukong closes the deal with a truth that costs him nothing: he is after reputation, not spoils, so Bajie may have the treasure and welcome. The exchange sets the two disciples neatly against each other — one indifferent to reward, the other governed entirely by his appetites — and the promise of gold turns the immovable sleeper into an eager accomplice, up and dressed in a single line.
The scene closes on a proverbial couplet that supplies the moral in miniature: as wine flushes the face, so gold moves even a would-be adept's heart. It gently satirizes the pig's cupidity while sealing the partnership, and the two of them set off — toward the well, and the grim, funny labor waiting at the bottom of it.