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.

三徒共溺
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

三徒共溺 Three Contributions

dāizijiējiùliánghóngdǎoxiàbǎnláishāshādeleshāpénshāshàngquèlebàngāngjiùzhěngduānzuòzàishàngdào:「xiǎoxiānlǐngshèngshuǐ。」dāizijiējiùliánghóngdǎoxiàbǎnláishāshādeleshāpénshāshàngquèlebàngāngjiùzhěngduānzuòzàishàngdào:「xiǎoxiānlǐngshèngshuǐ。」


逐句解 Line by line

dāizijiējiùliánghóngdǎoxiàbǎnláishāshādeleshāpén dāizijiējiùliánghóngdǎoxiàbǎnláishāshādeleshāpén

That idiot hoisted his clothes and — with a great rushing roar, like the Lüliang cataract crashing down its weir — pissed out a whole sand-basin's worth.

那獃子: = ; = zi. The joke is the simile. 呂梁洪 is the Lüliang cataract, a stretch of rapids proverbial for sheer force -- 莊子 tells of a swimmer who survives it by going with the water. The novel reaches for that famous image and applies it to Bajie urinating into a basin, which is exactly the kind of mock-grandeur the whole scene runs on. 倒下: = dǎo, to crash down. 就似: = .

shāshàngquèlebàngāng shāshàngquèlebàngāng

Friar Sand too let go half a vat.

卻也 "he too, for his part." 撒了半缸: = le; a is the big vat, so half of one is a considerable quantity.

jiùzhěngduānzuòzàishàngdào:「xiǎoxiānlǐngshèngshuǐ。」 jiùzhěngduānzuòzàishàngdào:「xiǎoxiānlǐngshèngshuǐ。」

Then, as before, they straightened their robes and sat up on high, and said, “Little immortals, receive your holy water.”

依舊 "as before." 端坐在上 "sitting up straight in the high seat" -- back into the idols' poses. 領聖水 "receive the holy water," delivered in the flattest priestly tone available.


總評 Commentary

Each disciple adds his measure, and the novel dignifies Bajie's with a comparison to one of the most famous rapids in Chinese letters. That gap -- epic simile, squalid act -- is the engine of the passage.

Then all three straighten their robes, resume the statues' posture, and announce 領聖水 in the voice of a god conferring a favour. The whiplash between what they have just done and how they announce it is the joke in its purest form, and the novel holds the pose for exactly one line before moving on.