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.

留個名罷
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

留個名罷 Leaving a Name

xíngzhězuòzàishàngmiàntīngjiànshuōchūzhèhuàerláishíledào:「nòngshǒuduànsuǒxìngliúmíngba。」jiàoyúnxíngzhězuòzàishàngmiàntīngjiànshuōchūzhèhuàerláishíledào:「nòngshǒuduànsuǒxìngliúmíngba。」jiàoyún

dàohàodàohàohǎodàohàodàohàohǎo
sānqīngkěnjiàngfánsānqīngkěnjiàngfán
jiāngzhēnxìngshuōzhījiāngzhēnxìngshuōzhī
tángsēngzhòngfèngzhǐlái西tángsēngzhòngfèngzhǐlái西
liángxiāoshìxiàjiànggōngwéiliángxiāoshìxiàjiànggōngwéi
chīlegòngyǎngxiánzuòchīlegòngyǎngxiánzuò
méngkòubàizhīméngkòubàizhī
shìshénmeshèngshuǐmenchīdedōushìzhī尿niào。」shìshénmeshèngshuǐmenchīdedōushìzhī尿niào。」

逐句解 Line by line

xíngzhězuòzàishàngmiàntīngjiànshuōchūzhèhuàerláishíledào:「nòngshǒuduànsuǒxìngliúmíngba。」 xíngzhězuòzàishàngmiàntīngjiànshuōchūzhèhuàerláishíledào:「nòngshǒuduànsuǒxìngliúmíngba。」

Pilgrim, seated up above and hearing these words spoken out, saw the game was up and said, “Let me work a little trick — I may as well leave them a name.”

話兒: = er. 已此識破 "by now the trick had been seen through." 索性留個名罷: = ba, the softener at the end of a sentence; 索性 is "might as well, and be done with it." He is not cornered -- he has decided to sign his work.

jiàoyún jiàoyún

He cried out in a loud voice:

大叫云 "he called out aloud" -- the tag that introduces the taunt in verse.

dàohàodàohàohǎo dàohàodàohàohǎo

“You reverend Daoists, you Daoists — how foolish are your fancies!

道號道號 "O Daoist reverences, Daoist reverences" -- calling them by their titles and making the titles ridiculous. 你好胡思: = hǎo, "how, so"; 胡思 "wild, groundless notions."

sānqīngkěnjiàngfán sānqīngkěnjiàngfán

What Three Pure Ones would ever stoop to this mortal ground?

那個: = , the questioning reading -- "which Three Pure Ones?" 肯降凡基: = jiàng, to stoop down to the mortal ground.

jiāngzhēnxìngshuōzhī jiāngzhēnxìngshuōzhī

I'll take my true surname and make it known to you:

吾將真姓: = jiāng, taking hold of the thing named -- "I take my true surname and..."

tángsēngzhòngfèngzhǐlái西 tángsēngzhòngfèngzhǐlái西

the monks of Great Tang, come west by imperial command.

大唐僧眾 "the company of monks from Great Tang." 奉旨 "by imperial command."

liángxiāoshìxiàjiànggōngwéi liángxiāoshìxiàjiànggōngwéi

On a fine night, with nothing to do, we came down to your temple halls,

良宵無事 "a fine night, nothing to do." 下降宮闈: = jiàng, came down to the temple chambers. He is parodying the language of a divine visitation while describing a burglary.

chīlegòngyǎngxiánzuò chīlegòngyǎngxiánzuò

ate up your offerings, and sat about idle and amused.

吃了供養: = gòng, the offerings. 閑坐嬉嬉 "sat about idle, laughing."

méngkòubàizhī méngkòubàizhī

You have knocked your heads to us in worship — how are we to repay it?

蒙你叩拜 "favoured with your kowtows." 何以答之 "and how shall we repay it?" -- the last courtesy before the punchline.

shìshénmeshèngshuǐmenchīdedōushìzhī尿niào。」 shìshénmeshèngshuǐmenchīdedōushìzhī尿niào。」

What holy water was that, then? What you drank was every drop my piss!”

那裡是甚麼聖水: = , the questioning reading again, and = shén in 甚麼, "what" -- worth setting beside 不甚 a few lines back, where the same character is shèn and means "very." 都是: = dōu. 一溺之尿: the falling tone of pulls to .


總評 Commentary

Wukong ends the trick by confessing it in verse -- and in the same tidy four-character parallel lines the immortals used for their prayers. The form that carried their reverence now carries his jeer, which is a neater piece of mockery than anything he could have said in prose.

He observes every courtesy on the way down. What Three Pure Ones would come to a place like this? Let me tell you my real name. We came down on a quiet evening, ate your food, and sat about enjoying ourselves. You have bowed to us -- how shall we repay you? And then the last line, which repays them.

The passage also puts the two readings of within a few lines of each other: 不甚 "not very," where it is shèn, and 甚麼 "what," where it is shén. The same character doing two unrelated jobs, in one small scene.