第五十二回 · 圈套飛砂 The Ring Takes the Sand — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

圈套飛砂 The Ring Takes the Sand

那nà妖yāo魔mó見jiàn飛fēi砂shā迷mí目mù，把bǎ頭tóu低dī了le一yì低dī，足zú下xià就jiù有yǒu三sān尺chǐ餘yú深shēn。慌huāng得de他tā將jiāng身shēn一yí縱zòng，跳tiào在zài浮fú上shàng一yì層céng。未wèi曾céng立lì得de穩wěn，須xū臾yú，又yòu有yǒu二èr尺chǐ餘yú深shēn。那nà怪guài急jí了le，拔bá出chū腳jiǎo來lái，即jí忙máng取qǔ圈quān子zi，往wǎng上shàng一yì撇piē，叫jiào聲shēng：「著zháo！」唿hū喇lā的de一yí下xià，把bǎ十shí八bā粒lì金jīn丹dān砂shā又yòu盡jìn套tào去qù，拽zhuài回huí步bù，徑jìng歸guī本běn洞dòng。那nà妖yāo魔mó见jiàn飞fēi砂shā迷mí目mù，把bǎ头tóu低dī了le一yì低dī，足zú下xià就jiù有yǒu三sān尺chǐ余yú深shēn。慌huāng得de他tā将jiāng身shēn一yí纵zòng，跳tiào在zài浮fú上shàng一yì层céng。未wèi曾céng立lì得de稳wěn，须xū臾yú，又yòu有yǒu二èr尺chǐ余yú深shēn。那nà怪guài急jí了le，拔bá出chū脚jiǎo来lái，即jí忙máng取qǔ圈quān子zi，往wǎng上shàng一yì撇piē，叫jiào声shēng：「着zháo！」唿hū喇lā的de一yí下xià，把bǎ十shí八bā粒lì金jīn丹dān砂shā又yòu尽jìn套tào去qù，拽zhuài回huí步bù，径jìng归guī本běn洞dòng。

逐句解 Line by line

那nà妖yāo魔mó見jiàn飛fēi砂shā迷mí目mù，把bǎ頭tóu低dī了le一yì低dī，足zú下xià就jiù有yǒu三sān尺chǐ餘yú深shēn。那nà妖yāo魔mó见jiàn飞fēi砂shā迷mí目mù，把bǎ头tóu低dī了le一yì低dī，足zú下xià就jiù有yǒu三sān尺chǐ余yú深shēn。

The fiend saw the flying sand blinding his eyes, and dropped his head for one moment — and under his feet there was already more than three chǐ of it.

For the first time in three chapters, the demon is losing. 那妖魔 points, so 那 is nà; 低了一低: 了 is le, and 一 shifts to yì before a first tone. The measure 尺 stays untranslated as chǐ — a Ming foot of roughly 32 centimetres, so this is about a metre of sand underfoot in the time it takes to blink.

慌huāng得de他tā將jiāng身shēn一yí縱zòng，跳tiào在zài浮fú上shàng一yì層céng。慌huāng得de他tā将jiāng身shēn一yí纵zòng，跳tiào在zài浮fú上shàng一yì层céng。

In alarm he gave his body a spring and jumped to the layer floating on top.

慌得: 得 is de; 將身一縱: 將 is jiāng. This is the closest anyone comes to winning in the whole chapter, and it lasts two sentences.

未wèi曾céng立lì得de穩wěn，須xū臾yú，又yòu有yǒu二èr尺chǐ餘yú深shēn。未wèi曾céng立lì得de稳wěn，须xū臾yú，又yòu有yǒu二èr尺chǐ余yú深shēn。

He had not yet got his footing when in a moment there were two chǐ more.

立得穩: 得 is de. 須臾 is a moment, a term borrowed from the Buddhist divisions of time. The sand is rising faster than he can climb.

那nà怪guài急jí了le，拔bá出chū腳jiǎo來lái，即jí忙máng取qǔ圈quān子zi，往wǎng上shàng一yì撇piē，叫jiào聲shēng：「著zháo！」那nà怪guài急jí了le，拔bá出chū脚jiǎo来lái，即jí忙máng取qǔ圈quān子zi，往wǎng上shàng一yì撇piē，叫jiào声shēng：「着zháo！」

The monster was desperate. He pulled his feet free, snatched out the ring in haste, flung it upward, and cried: "Have it!"

那怪 points, so 那 is nà; 急了: 了 is le; 圈子 takes the bare ending zi; the cry 著！ is zháo, as before. 一撇: 一 is yì before a third tone.

唿hū喇lā的de一yí下xià，把bǎ十shí八bā粒lì金jīn丹dān砂shā又yòu盡jìn套tào去qù，拽zhuài回huí步bù，徑jìng歸guī本běn洞dòng。唿hū喇lā的de一yí下xià，把bǎ十shí八bā粒lì金jīn丹dān砂shā又yòu尽jìn套tào去qù，拽zhuài回huí步bù，径jìng归guī本běn洞dòng。

With a whoosh and a rattle it snared away all eighteen grains of golden cinnabar sand as well; and he hauled his steps back and went straight home to his cave.

盡套去: 盡 is jìn, the reading used throughout this edition; 拽回步: 拽 is zhuài. 唿喇的一下 repeats the sound of the first confiscation word for word — the narrator is quoting himself, and the repetition is the point.

總評 Commentary

For three sentences the sand is winning, and the chapter lets the reader feel it: three chǐ underfoot before he has finished blinking, a jump to the surface, no footing there, two chǐ more. It is the only stretch in three chapters where the demon is in genuine trouble, and the narrative measures it out like a rising flood.

Then the same four characters as before — 唿喇的一下, with a whoosh and a rattle — and the sand is inside the ring with everything else. The repetition is exact and deliberate: the narrator used this sound when the ring took the six weapons and the fire-gear, and he uses it again here without varying a syllable. Four assaults have now ended in the same sentence. What is different this time is that the failure was expected. The Tathāgata gave the arhats a sealed instruction to be opened when the sand was lost, which means he knew it would be.