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.

叫龍現身
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

叫龍現身 Summon the Dragons to Show

guóshīruònéngjiàodelóngwángxiànshēnjiùsuàndegōngláo。」guówángdào:「guǎrénzuòleèrshísānniánhuánggèngcéngkànjiànhuólóngshìzěnmeyàngliǎngjiāxiǎnlùnsēngdàodànjiàodeláidejiùshìyǒugōngjiàochūdeyǒuzuì。」guóshīruònéngjiàodelóngwángxiànshēnjiùsuàndegōngláo。」guówángdào:「guǎrénzuòleèrshísānniánhuánggèngcéngkànjiànhuólóngshìzěnmeyàngliǎngjiāxiǎnlùnsēngdàodànjiàodeláidejiùshìyǒugōngjiàochūdeyǒuzuì。」


逐句解 Line by line

guóshīruònéngjiàodelóngwángxiànshēnjiùsuàndegōngláo。」 guóshīruònéngjiàodelóngwángxiànshēnjiùsuàndegōngláo。」

If that Preceptor can call the Dragon Kings to show themselves, then let the credit be reckoned his.”

那國師: = . 叫得龍王現身: = de, marking whether he can manage it at all. 功勞 "merit, credit." The terms sound scrupulously fair, and they are: whoever can do it, wins.

guówángdào:「guǎrénzuòleèrshísānniánhuánggèngcéngkànjiànhuólóngshìzěnmeyàng guówángdào:「guǎrénzuòleèrshísānniánhuánggèngcéngkànjiànhuólóngshìzěnmeyàng

The king said in great delight, “In the twenty-three years I have been emperor, I have never once seen what a live dragon looks like.

更不曾: = gèng. 看見: = kàn. 做了: = le. 活龍 "a living dragon." Twenty-three years on the throne of a kingdom whose whole religious establishment claims to command dragons, and he has never seen one. Nobody in the room remarks on this.

liǎngjiāxiǎnlùnsēngdàodànjiàodeláidejiùshìyǒugōng liǎngjiāxiǎnlùnsēngdàodànjiàodeláidejiùshìyǒugōng

Let your two parties each display your powers — monk or Daoist, no matter — whoever can call them here has the merit;

兩家各顯法力 "let each side show its power." 不論僧道: the falling tone of pulls to -- "monk or Daoist, it makes no difference." 叫得來: = de.

jiàochūdeyǒuzuì。」 jiàochūdeyǒuzuì。」

whoever cannot call them out is guilty.”

叫不出: the level tone of keeps at . 有罪 "is at fault."


總評 Commentary

The test is perfectly chosen. A dragon cannot be produced by burning paper, and it cannot be argued into the sky. Either one appears or it does not.

The king seizes on it with the delight of a child at a fair -- twenty-three years as emperor and he has never seen a live one. That line does a lot of quiet work. His Preceptors have been commanding dragons on his behalf for years and have never once shown him the goods.

And the terms are impeccably even: monk or Daoist, whoever can call them has the credit, whoever cannot is guilty. It looks like scrupulous fairness. It is a challenge that is impossible for one side and trivial for the other, and Wukong wrote it.