名利之辯 Of Profit and of Name
三藏與一行人到了河邊，勒馬觀看，真個那路口上有人行走。三藏問道：「施主，那些人上冰往那裡去？」陳老道：「河那邊乃西梁女國。這起人都是做買賣的。我這邊百錢之物，到那邊可值萬錢；那邊百錢之物，到這邊亦可值萬錢。利重本輕，所以人不顧死生而去。常年家有五七人一船，或十數人一船，飄洋而過。見如今河道凍住，故捨命而步行也。」三藏道：「世間事惟名利最重。似他為利的，捨死忘生；我弟子奉旨全忠，也只是為名，與他能差幾何？」教：「悟空，快回施主家收拾行囊，叩背馬匹，趁此層冰，早奔西方去也。」行者笑吟吟答應。三藏与一行人到了河边，勒马观看，真个那路口上有人行走。三藏问道：「施主，那些人上冰往那里去？」陈老道：「河那边乃西梁女国。这起人都是做买卖的。我这边百钱之物，到那边可值万钱；那边百钱之物，到这边亦可值万钱。利重本轻，所以人不顾死生而去。常年家有五七人一船，或十数人一船，飘洋而过。见如今河道冻住，故舍命而步行也。」三藏道：「世间事惟名利最重。似他为利的，舍死忘生；我弟子奉旨全忠，也只是为名，与他能差几何？」教：「悟空，快回施主家收拾行囊，叩背马匹，趁此层冰，早奔西方去也。」行者笑吟吟答应。
逐句解 Line by line
Tripitaka and the whole party came down to the riverside, reined in their horses and looked, and there were indeed people going to and fro up at the landing.
一行人 and 行走: both 行 are xíng. 觀看: 觀 is guān. 真個 here is plain "truly," running on inside the sentence — not the tag that announces a poem, though it looks identical. 那路口 is nà.
Tripitaka asked: 「Benefactor, where are those people going, out upon the ice?」
那 twice with two readings, and the sense decides: 那些人 is nà, "those people"; 那裡 is nǎ, "where to."
Old Chen said: 「On the far side of the river lies the Women's Kingdom of Western Liang.
河那邊 is nà. The Women's Kingdom of Western Liang is named here in passing; the pilgrims will reach it, and survive it, in Chapter Fifty-Four.
That lot are all traders.
都 is dōu. 這起人, "this crowd" — the measure word is faintly dismissive, roughly "that lot."
A thing worth a hundred cash on this side is worth ten thousand once it is over there;
那邊 is nà. Note the economics. A hundredfold mark-up across a river nobody can safely cross is the whole reason there is traffic here at all.
and a thing worth a hundred cash over there is worth ten thousand once it is here.
The clause mirrors the one before it character for character — a merchant's symmetry.
The profit is heavy and the stake is light, and so men go without caring whether they live or die.
利重: 重 is zhòng, "heavy" — not the chóng of layering used all through the poems. 本 is the capital laid out. Profit heavy and stake light: a sentence out of a counting-house, describing men drowning.
In ordinary years they cross with five or seven to a boat, or a dozen or so to a boat, and sail over.
十數人: 數 is shù, "some, a number of." Both 一船 keep 一 at yì before a rising tone.
Seeing that the river-road has frozen fast, they throw their lives away and go over on foot.」
步行: 行 is xíng. 捨命, to throw one's life away. Old Chen means it as criticism, and Tripitaka is about to turn it into an argument.
Tripitaka said: 「Of all things in this world, name and profit weigh heaviest.
世間: 間 is jiān. 最重: 重 is zhòng.
Men like these, who go for profit, cast off death and forget life;
為利: 為 is wèi, the "for" of purpose. 似 is sì, a reading fixed across this edition.
and I, your disciple, bearing the imperial rescript and keeping faith to the full — I too go only for a name. How much is there to choose between him and me?」
弟子: 子 is zǐ. 為名: 為 is wèi. 能差幾何: 差 is chà, the verb "to differ, to fall short." And it is the same character the chapter used at 欽差, read chāi, sent out on imperial commission. The monk measures the distance between himself and a smuggler using the very character of his own appointment.
He gave the order: 「Wukong, go back quickly to the benefactor's house, get the baggage together and saddle the horses, and while this layered ice holds let us push west with all speed.」
教 is jiào; 行囊: 行 is xíng; 叩背: 背 is bèi. And 層冰 is the phrase out of the chapter's own title, 僧思拜佛履層冰 — the monk, set on worshipping the Buddha, treads the layered ice. He says it himself, one line after deciding to go.
Pilgrim answered with a smile.
答應: 應 is yìng. Seven characters, and a great deal is happening inside them. Wukong agrees, and does not argue.
Old Chen explains the traffic on the ice as pure commerce: a hundred cash here is ten thousand there, the profit heavy and the stake light, and men cross without caring whether they live or die. He offers it as a cautionary remark about greed. Tripitaka takes it as a mirror instead, and the speech that follows is one of the most self-aware things he says in the whole novel.
世間事惟名利最重 — in this world nothing weighs like name and profit. The traders throw their lives away for gain; he carries an imperial rescript and keeps faith to the letter, and he goes, he says, 只是為名, only for a name. 與他能差幾何: how much is there to choose between us? It is a real insight, and it is the last thing on earth that should have been acted on. Having correctly identified his own motive as a version of the vanity he is watching kill other men, he uses the recognition as a reason to do exactly what they are doing.
The narration gives Wukong seven characters and no argument: 行者笑吟吟答應, Pilgrim answered smiling. It is the same smile he wore under the demon's questioning at the temple gate. He does not contradict his master here, and in the next chapter he will have cause to wish he had.