Canonical Classics ← 第四十一回
第四十一回
xīnyuánzāohuǒbài
bèiqín

The Mind-Ape Suffers Defeat by Fire · The Wood-Mother Is Seized by the Demon

徑到東洋
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

徑到東洋 Straight to the Eastern Ocean

hǎoshèngzòngyúnqǐngdàodōngyángquèxīnkànwánhǎijǐng使shǐshuǐfēnkāilàngzhèngxíngshíjiànxúnhǎichāxiāngzhuàngkànjiànshìsūnshènghuídàoshuǐjīnggōngbàozhīlǎolóngwángáoguǎngshuàilónglóngsūnxiābīngxièchūményíngjiēqǐngmiànzuòzuòdìnggàocháhǎoshèngzòngyúnqǐngdàodōngyángquèxīnkànwánhǎijǐng使shǐshuǐfēnkāilàngzhèngxíngshíjiànxúnhǎichāxiāngzhuàngkànjiànshìsūnshènghuídàoshuǐjīnggōngbàozhīlǎolóngwángáo广guǎngshuàilónglóngsūnxiābīngxièchūményíngjiēqǐngmiànzuòzuòdìnggàochá


逐句解 Line by line

hǎoshèngzòngyúnqǐngdàodōngyángquèxīnkànwánhǎijǐng使shǐshuǐfēnkāilàng hǎoshèngzòngyúnqǐngdàodōngyángquèxīnkànwánhǎijǐng使shǐshuǐfēnkāilàng

Fine Great Sage! He loosed his cloud, left the spot, and in a moment reached the Eastern Ocean; but with no mind to enjoy the sea-prospect, he worked a water-repelling spell and parted the waves.

好大聖, "Fine Great Sage!", is the narrator cheering from the sidelines, a formula used to launch a burst of action. The nice touch is what follows: he has no interest whatever in the view. Wukong sightseeing under the ocean would be entirely in character, and the line pointedly says he does not. 逼水法 is the spell that pushes water aside so he can walk down.

zhèngxíngshíjiànxúnhǎichāxiāngzhuàngkànjiànshìsūnshènghuídàoshuǐjīnggōngbàozhīlǎolóngwáng zhèngxíngshíjiànxúnhǎichāxiāngzhuàngkànjiànshìsūnshènghuídàoshuǐjīnggōngbàozhīlǎolóngwáng

As he went, a sea-patrolling yaksha ran into him; seeing it was the Great Sage Sun, it hurried back into the crystal palace and reported to the old Dragon King.

A sea-patrolling yaksha blunders into him. A yaksha in Buddhist writing is a fierce spirit, often in service to a greater power, and here they work as the dragon court's coastguard. It recognises him instantly and runs, which tells you something about Wukong's standing down here.

áoguǎngshuàilónglóngsūnxiābīngxièchūményíngjiēqǐngmiànzuò áo广guǎngshuàilónglóngsūnxiābīngxièchūményíngjiēqǐngmiànzuò

Ao Guang at once led out his dragon-sons and dragon-grandsons, his shrimp-soldiers and crab-troops, all together to meet him at the gate, and invited him within to sit.

Ao Guang, Dragon King of the Eastern Ocean, comes out personally with the entire household. is read shuài, to lead, not the that means a rate or ratio. 蝦兵蟹卒, shrimp-soldiers and crab-troops, is a set phrase for a dragon king's retinue and, outside the novel, a mildly dismissive term for a rabble of underlings.

zuòdìnggàochá zuòdìnggàochá

When they were seated and the courtesies done, tea was called for.

Three formal beats in six characters: seated, courtesies completed, tea called for. The prose slows to walking pace to perform the protocol, and that formality is the whole content of the line.


總評 Commentary

The reception follows the novel's fixed choreography for arriving at a dragon court: waves parted, alarmed sea-herald, the king out at the gate with his whole household, then seating, courtesies and tea.

The formality is the point, and it is worth measuring against history. Wukong's last notable visit to this palace, back in Chapter 3, was to bully Ao Guang out of the iron cudgel he still carries and a suit of armour besides. He left having effectively robbed the place. Now the same king comes out to meet him with full ceremony. Nothing is said about the earlier business, and the courtesy is either genuine respect or a very long memory being carefully managed.