Canonical Classics ← 第四十五回
第四十五回
sānqīngguànshèngliúmíng
chēchíguóhóuwángxiǎn

At the Abbey of the Three Pure Ones the Great Sage leaves his name; in the Kingdom of Cart-Slow the Monkey King displays his magic.

攔住大仙
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拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

攔住大仙 Intercepting the Immortal

xiānqiànshēngǒngshǒuleguówángjìngxiàlóuláixíngzhěxiàngqiánlánzhùdào:「xiānshēng?」xiāndào:「dēngtán。」xíngzhědào:「zhònglegèngràngyuǎnxiāngzhīsēngxiānqiànshēngǒngshǒuleguówángjìngxiàlóuláixíngzhěxiàngqiánlánzhùdào:「xiānshēng?」xiāndào:「dēngtán。」xíngzhědào:「zhònglegèngràngyuǎnxiāngzhīsēng


逐句解 Line by line

xiānqiànshēngǒngshǒuleguówángjìngxiàlóulái xiānqiànshēngǒngshǒuleguówángjìngxiàlóulái

Tiger-Power the Immortal rose with a slight bow and cupped his hands, took his leave of the king, and came straight down from the tower.

那虎力大仙: = . 欠身拱手 "half-rising, hands cupped" -- a courteous salute, done sitting down. "to take leave."

xíngzhěxiàngqiánlánzhùdào:「xiānshēng?」 xíngzhěxiàngqiánlánzhùdào:「xiānshēng?」

Pilgrim stepped forward, blocked his way, and said, “Sir, where are you off to?”

行者: = xíng. 攔住 "to block the way." 那裡去: = , the questioning reading -- "where are you off to?"

xiāndào:「dēngtán。」 xiāndào:「dēngtán。」

The immortal said, “To mount the altar and pray for rain.”

登壇祈雨 "to go up the altar and pray for rain."

xíngzhědào:「zhònglegèngràngyuǎnxiāngzhīsēng xíngzhědào:「zhònglegèngràngyuǎnxiāngzhīsēng

Pilgrim said, “You are far too full of yourself, giving no way at all to me, a monk from a distant land.

忒自重: = zhòng in 自重, to think a lot of yourself. 更不讓: = gèng; the falling tone of pulls to .


總評 Commentary

Wukong steps in front of Tiger-Power before he can reach the altar. What follows looks like a squabble about manners and is in fact the decisive manoeuvre of the contest.

His opening complaint -- you are far too full of yourself, giving no way to a monk from far off -- is mock-injured etiquette, the outsider claiming his turn. It puts the immortal on the back foot over something trivial, which is the ideal position from which to ask him for something important.