六般兵器,一圈套去 Six Weapons, and the Ring Takes Them All
這太子使斬妖劍,劈手相迎。他兩個搭上手,卻才賭鬥,那大聖急轉山坡,叫:「雷公何在?快早去,著妖魔下個雷㨝,助太子降伏來也。」鄧、張二公即踏雲光,正欲下手,只見那太子使出法來,將身一變,變作三頭六臂,手持六般兵器,望妖魔砍來;那魔王也變作三頭六臂,三柄長槍抵住。這太子又弄出降妖法力,將六般兵器拋將起去。是那六般兵器?卻是砍妖劍、斬妖刀、縛妖索、降魔杵、繡球、火輪兒。大叫一聲:「變!」一變十,十變百,百變千,千變萬,都是一般兵器,如驟雨冰雹,紛紛密密,望妖魔打將去。那魔王公然不懼,一隻手取出那白森森的圈子來,望空拋起,叫聲:「著!」唿喇的一下,把六般兵器套將下來。慌得那哪吒太子赤手逃生。魔王得勝而回。这太子使斩妖剑,劈手相迎。他两个搭上手,却才赌斗,那大圣急转山坡,叫:「雷公何在?快早去,着妖魔下个雷㨝,助太子降伏来也。」邓、张二公即踏云光,正欲下手,只见那太子使出法来,将身一变,变作三头六臂,手持六般兵器,望妖魔砍来;那魔王也变作三头六臂,三柄长枪抵住。这太子又弄出降妖法力,将六般兵器抛将起去。是那六般兵器?却是砍妖剑、斩妖刀、缚妖索、降魔杵、绣球、火轮儿。大叫一声:「变!」一变十,十变百,百变千,千变万,都是一般兵器,如骤雨冰雹,纷纷密密,望妖魔打将去。那魔王公然不惧,一只手取出那白森森的圈子来,望空抛起,叫声:「着!」唿喇的一下,把六般兵器套将下来。慌得那哪咤太子赤手逃生。魔王得胜而回。
逐句解 Line by line
The prince drew his fiend-cleaving sword and met him hand to hand.
相迎 takes xiāng, the "each other" reading — they met one another — against the xiàng of 相貌, looks, one passage back. 太子 takes zǐ.
The two of them had barely joined hands and begun their contest when the Great Sage darted round the mountain slope and called, "Where are the thunder lords? Go quick and drop a thunder-wedge at the fiend, to help the prince subdue him!"
著妖魔下個雷㨝 takes 著 as zhuó, and the case is worth setting out. The frame is a dispatching one — have somebody do something — and Ch.5 carries the identical shape in 快著糾察靈官緝訪這廝蹤跡. Every zhe on this project's list leans back on a verb standing in front of it (望著, 照著, 執著), whereas 著妖魔 has no verb in front of it at all, so 著 is heading its own phrase — and a bare 著 in that position takes the formal reading zhuó, which the 廣韻 rhyme book records under 張略切. 降伏 takes xiáng, to subdue, not the jiàng of descending. 雷㨝 reads léi xiē. And note who is calling for the thunder-wedge: Wukong, on the prince's behalf, having brushed the same plan aside two passages ago. 那大聖 takes nà, 太子 takes zǐ.
Deng and Zhang stepped onto their cloud-light and were on the point of striking when they saw the prince put forth his art: he shook his body into a change, became three-headed and six-armed, took six weapons in his hands and hewed at the fiend; and the demon king also became three-headed and six-armed, and held him off with three long spears.
Whatever Nezha does, the fiend does straight back — that mirroring is the whole design of the sentence, and the semicolon holds the two halves in one breath. 將身一變 uses 將 as a grammatical helper introducing what gets acted on, read jiāng; 一變 gives yí. 長槍 takes cháng, long, not the zhǎng of growing up. Both instances of 那 are the pointing nà.
Then the prince brought out his fiend-subduing power and flung the six weapons up into the air.
降妖 takes xiáng. Then 將 turns up twice in one sentence doing two different jobs, both read jiāng: in 將六般兵器 it introduces the things being flung, and in 拋將起去 it sits wedged inside the verb, carrying no meaning of its own and simply keeping the motion going. 太子 takes zǐ.
And what were the six weapons?
那 takes nà. The narrator turns to the reader for one line and asks a question — this is where the storyteller's voice surfaces through the written book.
They were the fiend-hewing sword, the fiend-cleaving blade, the fiend-binding rope, the demon-quelling pestle, the embroidered ball and the fire-wheel.
Count them, because in four segments they will all be gone: the fiend-hewing sword, the fiend-cleaving blade, the fiend-binding rope, the demon-quelling pestle, the embroidered ball and the fire-wheel. It is Nezha's standing kit, the full set. 降魔杵 takes xiáng, subduing. 火輪兒 ends in the light er that forms a name, against the ér of 孩兒, a child, in the previous passage.
He gave a great shout: "Change!"
一聲 gives yì.
One became ten, ten became a hundred, a hundred a thousand, a thousand ten thousand, all of them weapons of the same kind, and like a driving rain of hail they came thick and close, beating down at the fiend.
One to ten, ten to a hundred, a hundred to a thousand, a thousand to ten thousand — thirty-three characters of pure escalation, and the largest display of force in the whole chapter. It gets exactly one sentence before the ring answers it. 都是 takes dōu; 打將去 has 將 wedged inside the verb, read jiāng; 一變十 gives yí and 一般 gives yì.
The demon king was not in the least afraid. With one hand he took out that white and glistening ring, threw it up into the empty air and cried, "Hit!"
叫聲「著!」 takes zháo — the shout that means a blow has landed, exactly as at the end of Ch.50. Both instances of 那 are the pointing nà; 圈子 ends in the light zi; 不懼 gives bú and 一隻 gives yì. 白森森 is the particular white of bone.
With a whoosh it brought the whole six weapons down and gathered them in.
套將下來 wedges 將 inside the verb once more; 一下 gives yí. 唿喇 is a sound-word for one sudden sweep. Fourteen characters to undo the thirty-three that came before them.
Prince Nezha was thrown into confusion and fled bare-handed for his life.
慌得 takes dé, 那 takes nà, 太子 takes zǐ. And 赤手, bare-handed, picks up the 赤腳 of Wukong's opening lament: that is the chapter's second disarming, and it shares its word for "bare" with the first.
The demon king went back victorious.
得勝 takes dé. Six characters close the first of the chapter's four defeats.
The engagement is built as a ladder and then kicked over. Nezha doubles himself, doubles his weapons, then multiplies them ten-thousandfold — thirty-three characters of escalation — and the ring answers with one throw and one word. The proportion is the argument.
將 does three separate jobs in this passage, all read jiāng: in 將身一變 it introduces what is acted on, in 將六般兵器 it marks what gets thrown, and in 拋將起去, 打將去 and 套將下來 it sits inside the verb with no meaning at all, simply carrying the motion along. Two of the three fall inside a single sentence.
赤手逃生 puts Nezha exactly where Wukong was in the chapter's opening lament, 空拳赤腳. The book is keeping a running tally of what the ring has taken, and it will be four sets of weapons before the chapter closes.