第三十八回 · 花園荒境 The Garden Fallen to Ruin — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

花園荒境 The Garden Fallen to Ruin

行xíng者zhě道dào：「兄xiōng弟dì啊a，你nǐ說shuō我wǒ發fā急jí為wèi何hé？你nǐ看kàn這zhè：行xíng者zhě道dào：「兄xiōng弟dì啊a，你nǐ说shuō我wǒ发fā急jí为wèi何hé？你nǐ看kàn这zhè：

彩cǎi畫huà雕diāo欄lán狼láng狽bèi，寶bǎo妝zhuāng亭tíng閣gé攲qī歪wāi。彩cǎi画huà雕diāo栏lán狼láng狈bèi，宝bǎo妆zhuāng亭tíng阁gé攲qī歪wāi。

莎shā汀tīng蓼liǎo岸àn盡jìn塵chén埋mái，芍sháo藥yào荼tú䕷mí俱jù敗bài。莎shā汀tīng蓼liǎo岸àn尽jìn尘chén埋mái，芍sháo药yào荼tú䕷mí俱jù败bài。

茉mò莉lì玫méi瑰guī香xiāng暗àn，牡mǔ丹dān百bǎi合hé空kōng開kāi。茉mò莉lì玫méi瑰guī香xiāng暗àn，牡mǔ丹dān百bǎi合hé空kōng开kāi。

芙fú蓉róng木mù槿jǐn草cǎo垓gāi垓gāi，異yì卉huì奇qí葩pā壅yōng壞huài。芙fú蓉róng木mù槿jǐn草cǎo垓gāi垓gāi，异yì卉huì奇qí葩pā壅yōng坏huài。

巧qiǎo石shí山shān峰fēng俱jù倒dǎo，池chí塘táng水shuǐ涸hé魚yú衰shuāi。巧qiǎo石shí山shān峰fēng俱jù倒dǎo，池chí塘táng水shuǐ涸hé鱼yú衰shuāi。

青qīng松sōng紫zǐ竹zhú似sì乾gān柴chái，滿mǎn路lù茸rōng茸rōng蒿hāo艾ài。青qīng松sōng紫zǐ竹zhú似sì干gān柴chái，满mǎn路lù茸rōng茸rōng蒿hāo艾ài。

丹dān桂guì碧bì桃táo枝zhī損sǔn，海hǎi榴liú棠táng棣dì根gēn歪wāi。丹dān桂guì碧bì桃táo枝zhī损sǔn，海hǎi榴liú棠táng棣dì根gēn歪wāi。

橋qiáo頭tóu曲qū徑jìng有yǒu蒼cāng苔tái，冷lěng落luò花huā園yuán境jìng界jiè。」桥qiáo头tóu曲qū径jìng有yǒu苍cāng苔tái，冷lěng落luò花huā园yuán境jìng界jiè。」

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě道dào：「兄xiōng弟dì啊a，你nǐ說shuō我wǒ發fā急jí為wèi何hé？行xíng者zhě道dào：「兄xiōng弟dì啊a，你nǐ说shuō我wǒ发fā急jí为wèi何hé？

The Pilgrim said: 'Brother — you ask why I grew agitated?'

發急為何: 'why [I] grew agitated' — 為 = wèi ('for what reason'). 行 = xíng. Wukong answers his own outcry by pointing to the ruined garden.

你nǐ看kàn這zhè：你nǐ看kàn这zhè：

'Just look at this:'

你看這: the verse-tag introducing the display rhapsody (賦) that follows.

彩cǎi畫huà雕diāo欄lán狼láng狽bèi，寶bǎo妝zhuāng亭tíng閣gé攲qī歪wāi。彩cǎi画huà雕diāo栏lán狼láng狈bèi，宝bǎo妆zhuāng亭tíng阁gé攲qī歪wāi。

The painted balustrades are wrecked, the jewel-dressed pavilions lean awry.

The rhapsody opens the catalogue of ruin: 彩畫雕欄 (painted railings) 狼狽 (in disarray) // 寶妝亭閣 (jewel-adorned pavilions) 攲歪 (leaning askew).

莎shā汀tīng蓼liǎo岸àn盡jìn塵chén埋mái，芍sháo藥yào荼tú䕷mí俱jù敗bài。莎shā汀tīng蓼liǎo岸àn尽jìn尘chén埋mái，芍sháo药yào荼tú䕷mí俱jù败bài。

Sedge-banks and knotweed shores lie wholly buried in dust; peonies and tú-mí roses have all decayed.

莎汀蓼岸: sedge-flats and knotweed-banks. 荼䕷: the tú-mí rose (䕷 = mí, U+4577, an Ext-A graph). 盡 = jìn ('wholly').

茉mò莉lì玫méi瑰guī香xiāng暗àn，牡mǔ丹dān百bǎi合hé空kōng開kāi。茉mò莉lì玫méi瑰guī香xiāng暗àn，牡mǔ丹dān百bǎi合hé空kōng开kāi。

Jasmine and rugosa rose breathe a faded scent; tree-peony and lily bloom to no avail.

茉莉玫瑰: jasmine and rugosa rose; 牡丹百合: tree-peony and lily. 空開: to bloom in vain, unseen.

芙fú蓉róng木mù槿jǐn草cǎo垓gāi垓gāi，異yì卉huì奇qí葩pā壅yōng壞huài。芙fú蓉róng木mù槿jǐn草cǎo垓gāi垓gāi，异yì卉huì奇qí葩pā壅yōng坏huài。

Hibiscus and rose-of-Sharon choke in rank grass; rare herbs and wondrous blossoms are smothered and spoiled.

芙蓉木槿: hibiscus and rose-of-Sharon; 異卉奇葩: rare herbs and wondrous flowers. 垓垓: rank and overgrown; 壅壞: choked and spoiled.

巧qiǎo石shí山shān峰fēng俱jù倒dǎo，池chí塘táng水shuǐ涸hé魚yú衰shuāi。巧qiǎo石shí山shān峰fēng俱jù倒dǎo，池chí塘táng水shuǐ涸hé鱼yú衰shuāi。

The cunning rockery peaks have all toppled; the pond has run dry and its fish grown feeble.

巧石山峰: the artful rockery 'peaks.' 俱倒: all toppled (倒 = dǎo). 水涸魚衰: the water dried up, the fish enfeebled.

青qīng松sōng紫zǐ竹zhú似sì乾gān柴chái，滿mǎn路lù茸rōng茸rōng蒿hāo艾ài。青qīng松sōng紫zǐ竹zhú似sì干gān柴chái，满mǎn路lù茸rōng茸rōng蒿hāo艾ài。

Green pine and purple bamboo are like dry kindling; the paths are thick with tangled mugwort and wormwood.

似乾柴: like dry firewood (似 = sì; 乾 = gān, 'dry'). 蒿艾: mugwort and wormwood — weeds of neglect.

丹dān桂guì碧bì桃táo枝zhī損sǔn，海hǎi榴liú棠táng棣dì根gēn歪wāi。丹dān桂guì碧bì桃táo枝zhī损sǔn，海hǎi榴liú棠táng棣dì根gēn歪wāi。

Cinnamon and green-fleshed peach have their boughs broken; pomegranate and kerria have their roots wrenched askew.

丹桂碧桃: cinnamon-osmanthus and green peach; 海榴棠棣: pomegranate and kerria/bush-cherry. 枝損…根歪: boughs broken, roots wrenched.

At the bridgehead and along the winding path lies grey-green moss — such is the desolate compass of this garden.'

蒼苔: grey-green moss. 冷落花園境界: 'the cold, desolate realm of this garden' — the rhapsody's summing image of ruin.

總評 Commentary

Wukong's outcry is explained not by fear but by grief: the imperial garden, once the pride of the realm, lies in utter ruin, and the novel marks the discovery with a full descriptive rhapsody (賦). The set-piece is a conventional 'ruined garden' catalogue, deployed to precise thematic effect — the garden's desolation is the visible sign of the kingdom's usurpation, the outward decay that answers the demon's hidden crime.

The rhapsody's method is accumulation: couplet after couplet of named flowers, trees, waters, and stones, each paired with a verb of destruction — buried, decayed, toppled, dried, broken, wrenched. The very richness of the flora (jasmine, peony, hibiscus, pomegranate, tú-mí rose) heightens the pathos of their common ruin, and the parallelism enacts the totality of the collapse.

Within the novel's allegory the ruined garden is legible as the state of the realm under false rule: cultivation gone to weeds, living water run dry. The true king lies drowned in this very garden's well; the desolation the pilgrims behold is both literal and emblematic, the ground of decay from which, once the impostor is overthrown, restoration must begin.