原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
大聖問會
Monkey demands a place at the feast
原來那大聖變化了，正睡在此枝，被他驚醒。大聖即現本相，耳朵內掣出金箍棒，幌一幌，碗來粗細，咄的一聲道：「你是那方怪物，敢大膽偷摘我桃。」慌得那七仙女一齊跪下道：「大聖息怒。我等不是妖怪，乃王母娘娘差來的七衣仙女，摘取仙桃，大開寶閣，做蟠桃勝會。適至此間，先見了本園土地等神，尋大聖不見。我等恐遲了王母懿旨，是以等不得大聖，故先在此摘桃。萬望恕罪。」大聖聞言，回嗔作喜道：「仙娥請起。王母開閣設宴，請的是誰？」仙女道：「上會自有舊規，請的是西天佛老、菩薩、聖僧、羅漢，南方南極觀音，東方崇恩聖帝、十洲三島仙翁，北方北極玄靈，中央黃極黃角大仙，這個是五方五老。還有五斗星君，上八洞三清、四帝、太乙天仙等眾，中八洞玉皇、九壘、海嶽神仙，下八洞幽冥教主、注世地仙，各宮各殿大小尊神，俱一齊赴蟠桃嘉會。」大聖笑道：「可請我麼？」仙女道：「不曾聽得說。」大聖道：「我乃齊天大聖，就請我老孫做個席尊，有何不可？」仙女道：「此是上會舊規，今會不知如何。」大聖道：「此言也是，難怪汝等。你且立下，待老孫先去打聽個消息，看可請老孫不請。」原来那大圣变化了，正睡在此枝，被他惊醒。大圣即现本相，耳朵内掣出金箍棒，幌一幌，碗来粗细，咄的一声道：「你是那方怪物，敢大胆偷摘我桃。」慌得那七仙女一齐跪下道：「大圣息怒。我等不是妖怪，乃王母娘娘差来的七衣仙女，摘取仙桃，大开宝阁，做蟠桃胜会。适至此间，先见了本园土地等神，寻大圣不见。我等恐迟了王母懿旨，是以等不得大圣，故先在此摘桃。万望恕罪。」大圣闻言，回嗔作喜道：「仙娥请起。王母开阁设宴，请的是谁？」仙女道：「上会自有旧规，请的是西天佛老、菩萨、圣僧、罗汉，南方南极观音，东方崇恩圣帝、十洲三岛仙翁，北方北极玄灵，中央黄极黄角大仙，这个是五方五老。还有五斗星君，上八洞三清、四帝、太乙天仙等众，中八洞玉皇、九垒、海岳神仙，下八洞幽冥教主、注世地仙，各宫各殿大小尊神，俱一齐赴蟠桃嘉会。」大圣笑道：「可请我么？」仙女道：「不曾听得说。」大圣道：「我乃齐天大圣，就请我老孙做个席尊，有何不可？」仙女道：「此是上会旧规，今会不知如何。」大圣道：「此言也是，难怪汝等。你且立下，待老孙先去打听个消息，看可请老孙不请。」
逐句解 Line by line
原來那大聖變化了，正睡在此枝，被他驚醒。
原来那大圣变化了，正睡在此枝，被他惊醒。
Now the Great Sage, having transformed, was asleep on that very branch, and was startled awake by her.
大聖即現本相，耳朵內掣出金箍棒，幌一幌，碗來粗細，咄的一聲道：「你是那方怪物，敢大膽偷摘我桃。」
大圣即现本相，耳朵内掣出金箍棒，幌一幌，碗来粗细，咄的一声道：「你是那方怪物，敢大胆偷摘我桃。」
The Great Sage at once showed his true form, drew the gold-banded cudgel from his ear, gave it a shake till it was thick as a bowl, and with a shout cried: 'What sort of fiend are you, that dares so boldly steal and pick my peaches?'
那方 (世德堂; modern editions 哪方) is read nǎ fāng, interrogative: "from what quarter, what sort."
慌得那七仙女一齊跪下道：「大聖息怒。我等不是妖怪，乃王母娘娘差來的七衣仙女，摘取仙桃，大開寶閣，做蟠桃勝會。適至此間，先見了本園土地等神，尋大聖不見。我等恐遲了王母懿旨，是以等不得大聖，故先在此摘桃。萬望恕罪。」
慌得那七仙女一齐跪下道：「大圣息怒。我等不是妖怪，乃王母娘娘差来的七衣仙女，摘取仙桃，大开宝阁，做蟠桃胜会。适至此间，先见了本园土地等神，寻大圣不见。我等恐迟了王母懿旨，是以等不得大圣，故先在此摘桃。万望恕罪。」
In terror the seven fairies knelt all together and said: 'Let the Great Sage stay his wrath. We are no demons, but the Seven-Robed Fairies sent by the Lady Queen Mother to pick the immortal peaches, throw open the Treasure Pavilion, and hold the Grand Peach Feast. Coming here just now, we first met the garden's earth-god and the rest, and sought the Great Sage but could not find him. Fearing to be late for the Queen Mother's command, we could not wait for the Great Sage, and so picked here first. We beg ten thousand pardons for the offence.'
大聖聞言，回嗔作喜道：「仙娥請起。王母開閣設宴，請的是誰？」
大圣闻言，回嗔作喜道：「仙娥请起。王母开阁设宴，请的是谁？」
The Great Sage, hearing this, turned his anger to delight and said: 'Rise, fairy maidens. When the Queen Mother opens her pavilion and lays out the feast, who are the invited?'
仙女道：「上會自有舊規，請的是西天佛老、菩薩、聖僧、羅漢，南方南極觀音，東方崇恩聖帝、十洲三島仙翁，北方北極玄靈，中央黃極黃角大仙，這個是五方五老。還有五斗星君，上八洞三清、四帝、太乙天仙等眾，中八洞玉皇、九壘、海嶽神仙，下八洞幽冥教主、注世地仙，各宮各殿大小尊神，俱一齊赴蟠桃嘉會。」
仙女道：「上会自有旧规，请的是西天佛老、菩萨、圣僧、罗汉，南方南极观音，东方崇恩圣帝、十洲三岛仙翁，北方北极玄灵，中央黄极黄角大仙，这个是五方五老。还有五斗星君，上八洞三清、四帝、太乙天仙等众，中八洞玉皇、九垒、海岳神仙，下八洞幽冥教主、注世地仙，各宫各殿大小尊神，俱一齐赴蟠桃嘉会。」
The fairies said: 'The upper feast has its old roster. Those invited are: the Old Buddha of the Western Heaven, the Bodhisattvas, holy monks and arhats; in the south, Guanyin of the Southern Pole; in the east, the Holy Emperor Chong'en and the immortal sages of the Ten Continents and Three Isles; in the north, the Dark Numen of the Northern Pole; in the centre, the Great Immortal Yellow-Horn of the Yellow Pole — these are the Five Elders of the Five Regions. There are also the Five Dipper Star-Lords; of the upper eight caverns, the Three Pure Ones, the Four Emperors, the Grand-Monad Heavenly Immortals and their host; of the middle eight caverns, the Jade Emperor, the Nine Ramparts, and the gods of seas and peaks; of the lower eight caverns, the Lord of the Dark Netherworld and the earth-immortals who order the world; and the great and small honoured gods of every palace and hall — all alike come to the fair Peach Feast.'
The roster maps the cosmos: the 五方五老 (Five Elders of the Five Regions, by direction), then the 五斗星君 and the three tiers of 八洞 (eight caverns) — upper, middle, lower. 佛老 = fó lǎo, the Old Buddha; 五斗 = wǔ dǒu, the Five Dippers.
大聖笑道：「可請我麼？」
大圣笑道：「可请我么？」
The Great Sage said with a smile: 'And am I invited?'
仙女道：「不曾聽得說。」
仙女道：「不曾听得说。」
The fairies said: 'We have not heard it said.'
大聖道：「我乃齊天大聖，就請我老孫做個席尊，有何不可？」
大圣道：「我乃齐天大圣，就请我老孙做个席尊，有何不可？」
The Great Sage said: 'I am the Great Sage Equal to Heaven — why should it not do to invite old Sun to take the seat of honour?'
席尊 (世德堂; modern editions 尊席): the seat of honour, the place of the chief guest.
仙女道：「此是上會舊規，今會不知如何。」
仙女道：「此是上会旧规，今会不知如何。」
The fairies said: 'This was the old roster of the former feast; how it may be for this one, we cannot say.'
大聖道：「此言也是，難怪汝等。你且立下，待老孫先去打聽個消息，看可請老孫不請。」
大圣道：「此言也是，难怪汝等。你且立下，待老孙先去打听个消息，看可请老孙不请。」
The Great Sage said: 'What you say is fair enough — no blame to you. Wait here while old Sun goes first to get wind of how things stand, and see whether old Sun is invited or no.'
總評 Commentary
The scene turns on a question of seating — and in this cosmos seating is ontology. The roster the fairy recites is a map of the whole ordered universe, ranked by region and by tier: the Five Elders of the five directions, the Dipper-lords, the three storeys of caverns descending from the Buddhas of the Western Heaven to the earth-immortals who "order the world" (注世地仙). Into this exhaustive hierarchy the 心猿 inserts one dissonant demand: 就請我老孫做個席尊 — "invite old Sun to take the seat of honour."
Here the alchemical and the political fuse. The unrefined mind does not ask to join the order; it asks to preside over it. His turn from rage to delight (回嗔作喜) the instant the feast is named shows where the appetite truly lies — not in peaches but in precedence. And the fairies’ plain answer, 不曾聽得說 ("we have not heard it said"), is the wound: the cosmos has drawn up its seating and left the self-styled Equal-to-Heaven off the list. The spell of stillness and the theft of the immortal wine that follow are this exclusion answered in kind. Plaks reads the whole Havoc sequence just so — as the ego’s demand for a rank the structured cosmos cannot grant it.