第五十三回 · 茅舍青山 The Farmstead on the Slope — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

茅舍青山 The Farmstead on the Slope

這zhè大dà聖shèng正zhèng然rán觀guān看kàn那nà山shān，又yòu只zhǐ見jiàn背bèi陰yīn處chù，有yǒu一yì所suǒ莊zhuāng院yuàn，忽hū聞wén得dé犬quǎn吠fèi之zhī聲shēng。大dà聖shèng下xià山shān，徑jìng至zhì莊zhuāng所suǒ，卻què也yě好hǎo個gè去qù處chù。看kàn那nà：这zhè大dà圣shèng正zhèng然rán观guān看kàn那nà山shān，又yòu只zhǐ见jiàn背bèi阴yīn处chù，有yǒu一yì所suǒ庄zhuāng院yuàn，忽hū闻wén得dé犬quǎn吠fèi之zhī声shēng。大dà圣shèng下xià山shān，径jìng至zhì庄zhuāng所suǒ，却què也yě好hǎo个gè去qù处chù。看kàn那nà：

小xiǎo橋qiáo通tōng活huó水shuǐ，茅máo舍shè倚yǐ青qīng山shān。小xiǎo桥qiáo通tōng活huó水shuǐ，茅máo舍shè倚yǐ青qīng山shān。

村cūn犬quǎn汪wāng籬lí落luò，幽yōu人rén自zì往wǎng還huán。村cūn犬quǎn汪wāng篱lí落luò，幽yōu人rén自zì往wǎng还huán。

逐句解 Line by line

這zhè大dà聖shèng正zhèng然rán觀guān看kàn那nà山shān，又yòu只zhǐ見jiàn背bèi陰yīn處chù，有yǒu一yì所suǒ莊zhuāng院yuàn，忽hū聞wén得dé犬quǎn吠fèi之zhī聲shēng。这zhè大dà圣shèng正zhèng然rán观guān看kàn那nà山shān，又yòu只zhǐ见jiàn背bèi阴yīn处chù，有yǒu一yì所suǒ庄zhuāng院yuàn，忽hū闻wén得dé犬quǎn吠fèi之zhī声shēng。

The Great Sage was just then contemplating that mountain when he saw further, on the shaded side, a farmstead, and heard of a sudden the sound of dogs barking.

背陰處 is the north-facing slope, the shaded side, with 背 read bèi. 聞得 takes 得 as dé. The dogs are the first sound anywhere in the passage after ninety-two characters of silent scenery.

大dà聖shèng下xià山shān，徑jìng至zhì莊zhuāng所suǒ，卻què也yě好hǎo個gè去qù處chù。看kàn那nà：大dà圣shèng下xià山shān，径jìng至zhì庄zhuāng所suǒ，却què也yě好hǎo个gè去qù处chù。看kàn那nà：

The Great Sage came down the mountain and went straight to the farmstead, and it was indeed a fine spot. Look at it:

看那 — look at it — is the cue, and a plainer one than the flourish that opened the mountain. Both 處 are chù.

小xiǎo橋qiáo通tōng活huó水shuǐ，茅máo舍shè倚yǐ青qīng山shān。小xiǎo桥qiáo通tōng活huó水shuǐ，茅máo舍shè倚yǐ青qīng山shān。

A little bridge carrying living water; a thatched cottage leaning on the green hill.

通活水 is running water rather than standing, the mark of a well-sited house. 茅舍 takes 舍 as shè, a dwelling.

村cūn犬quǎn汪wāng籬lí落luò，幽yōu人rén自zì往wǎng還huán。村cūn犬quǎn汪wāng篱lí落luò，幽yōu人rén自zì往wǎng还huán。

Village dogs barking at the hedge; a man in seclusion coming and going alone.

籬落 is a hedge or fence, with 落 read luò; 往還 takes 還 as huán. 幽人 is the recluse of the poetic tradition, and 自往還 leaves him no company but his own.

總評 Commentary

A second and much smaller description follows straight on from the first, and the contrast is the point of it. Where the mountain ran to eight couplets and measured itself against Tiantai and Hua, this one runs to two and measures itself against nothing. Bridge, water, cottage, hill, dogs, hedge, one man: seven nouns and no comparisons.

The drop in scale comes with a change of vocabulary. The mountain was made of brocade, indigo, folding screens and dressed hair, all of it drawn from art. This one is made of the plainest furniture of a farm, and its single literary gesture is 幽人, the recluse, who belongs to poetry rather than to the landscape. The novel has moved from scenery to habitation in four segments.

The barking dogs deserve a note. They sound in the prose lead-in and again in the verse, and they are the first noise anywhere here — the mountain description was entirely silent apart from birds. Sound is how the novel signals that Wukong has arrived somewhere inhabited, and it is also, in the plainest way, how a traveller on foot in Ming China knew a house was near.