第五十五回 · 行者細述 Pilgrim Tells What He Saw — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

行者細述 Pilgrim Tells What He Saw

沙shā僧sēng道dào：「二èr哥gē且qiě休xiū取qǔ笑xiào。如rú今jīn天tiān色sè晚wǎn矣yǐ，大dà哥gē傷shāng了le頭tóu，師shī父fù又yòu不bù知zhī死sǐ活huó，怎zěn的de是shì好hǎo？」行xíng者zhě哼hēng道dào：「師shī父fù沒méi事shì。我wǒ進jìn去qù時shí，變biàn作zuò蜜mì蜂fēng兒er，飛fēi入rù裡lǐ面miàn，見jiàn那nà婦fù人rén坐zuò在zài花huā亭tíng子zi上shàng。少shǎo頃qǐng，兩liǎng個gè丫yā鬟huán捧pěng兩liǎng盤pán饝mó饝mó：一yì盤pán是shì人rén肉ròu餡xiàn，葷hūn的de；一yì盤pán是shì鄧dèng沙shā餡xiàn，素sù的de。又yòu著zhuó兩liǎng個gè女nǚ童tóng扶fú師shī父fù出chū來lái吃chī一yí個gè壓yā驚jīng，又yòu要yào與yǔ師shī父fù做zuò甚shén麼me道dào伴bàn兒er。師shī父fù始shǐ初chū不bù與yǔ那nà婦fù人rén答dá話huà，也yě不bù吃chī饝mó饝mó。後hòu見jiàn他tā甜tián言yán美měi語yǔ，不bù知zhī怎zěn麼me，就jiù開kāi口kǒu說shuō話huà，卻què說shuō吃chī素sù的de。沙shā僧sēng道dào：「二èr哥gē且qiě休xiū取qǔ笑xiào。如rú今jīn天tiān色sè晚wǎn矣yǐ，大dà哥gē伤shāng了le头tóu，师shī父fù又yòu不bù知zhī死sǐ活huó，怎zěn的de是shì好hǎo？」行xíng者zhě哼hēng道dào：「师shī父fù没méi事shì。我wǒ进jìn去qù时shí，变biàn作zuò蜜mì蜂fēng儿er，飞fēi入rù里lǐ面miàn，见jiàn那nà妇fù人rén坐zuò在zài花huā亭tíng子zi上shàng。少shǎo顷qǐng，两liǎng个gè丫yā鬟huán捧pěng两liǎng盘pán饝mó饝mó：一yì盘pán是shì人rén肉ròu馅xiàn，荤hūn的de；一yì盘pán是shì邓dèng沙shā馅xiàn，素sù的de。又yòu着zhuó两liǎng个gè女nǚ童tóng扶fú师shī父fù出chū来lái吃chī一yí个gè压yā惊jīng，又yòu要yào与yǔ师shī父fù做zuò甚shén么me道dào伴bàn儿er。师shī父fù始shǐ初chū不bù与yǔ那nà妇fù人rén答dá话huà，也yě不bù吃chī饝mó饝mó。后hòu见jiàn他tā甜tián言yán美měi语yǔ，不bù知zhī怎zěn么me，就jiù开kāi口kǒu说shuō话huà，却què说shuō吃chī素sù的de。

逐句解 Line by line

沙shā僧sēng道dào：「二èr哥gē且qiě休xiū取qǔ笑xiào。如rú今jīn天tiān色sè晚wǎn矣yǐ，大dà哥gē傷shāng了le頭tóu，師shī父fù又yòu不bù知zhī死sǐ活huó，怎zěn的de是shì好hǎo？」沙shā僧sēng道dào：「二èr哥gē且qiě休xiū取qǔ笑xiào。如rú今jīn天tiān色sè晚wǎn矣yǐ，大dà哥gē伤shāng了le头tóu，师shī父fù又yòu不bù知zhī死sǐ活huó，怎zěn的de是shì好hǎo？」

Sha Monk said, “Second brother, leave off your joking. The light is going now, eldest brother has hurt his head, and we do not so much as know whether our master is alive or dead. What are we to do?”

怎的 takes 的 as the toneless de. Sha Monk is doing what he does throughout this chapter: cutting the horseplay short and asking the practical question.

行xíng者zhě哼hēng道dào：「師shī父fù沒méi事shì。我wǒ進jìn去qù時shí，變biàn作zuò蜜mì蜂fēng兒er，飛fēi入rù裡lǐ面miàn，見jiàn那nà婦fù人rén坐zuò在zài花huā亭tíng子zi上shàng。行xíng者zhě哼hēng道dào：「师shī父fù没méi事shì。我wǒ进jìn去qù时shí，变biàn作zuò蜜mì蜂fēng儿er，飞fēi入rù里lǐ面miàn，见jiàn那nà妇fù人rén坐zuò在zài花huā亭tíng子zi上shàng。

Pilgrim said with a groan, “Our master is well enough. When I went in I changed into a bee and flew inside, and saw that woman seated up in the flower pavilion.

沒事 takes 沒 as méi. 蜜蜂兒 takes the curled-tongue ending er and 亭子 the light zi, both as in the scene he is retelling.

少shǎo頃qǐng，兩liǎng個gè丫yā鬟huán捧pěng兩liǎng盤pán饝mó饝mó：一yì盤pán是shì人rén肉ròu餡xiàn，葷hūn的de；一yì盤pán是shì鄧dèng沙shā餡xiàn，素sù的de。少shǎo顷qǐng，两liǎng个gè丫yā鬟huán捧pěng两liǎng盘pán饝mó饝mó：一yì盘pán是shì人rén肉ròu馅xiàn，荤hūn的de；一yì盘pán是shì邓dèng沙shā馅xiàn，素sù的de。

“Presently two maidservants brought in two platters of buns: one platter with a filling of human flesh, which was the meat; one with a filling of sweet bean paste, which was the fast fare.

少頃 takes 少 as shǎo, "a little while", not the shào of youth. The two halves either side of the semicolon are a matched pair and stay in one line.

又yòu著zhuó兩liǎng個gè女nǚ童tóng扶fú師shī父fù出chū來lái吃chī一yí個gè壓yā驚jīng，又yòu要yào與yǔ師shī父fù做zuò甚shén麼me道dào伴bàn兒er。又yòu着zhuó两liǎng个gè女nǚ童tóng扶fú师shī父fù出chū来lái吃chī一yí个gè压yā惊jīng，又yòu要yào与yǔ师shī父fù做zuò甚shén么me道dào伴bàn儿er。

“Then she had two of the girls bring our master out to eat one and settle his fright, and after that she would have him be some sort of companion in the Way to her.

又著兩個女童 uses 著 in its sending sense, zhuó — she had the girls do it. And listen to 甚麼道伴兒: the demon said "companion in the Way" straight, and Pilgrim reports it as "some sort of companion in the Way". Two extra characters carry his entire opinion.

師shī父fù始shǐ初chū不bù與yǔ那nà婦fù人rén答dá話huà，也yě不bù吃chī饝mó饝mó。师shī父fù始shǐ初chū不bù与yǔ那nà妇fù人rén答dá话huà，也yě不bù吃chī饝mó饝mó。

“At the first our master would not answer that woman at all, nor would he eat the buns.

始初 is the vernacular for "at first". Both 不 stand before third and first tones and take bù automatically.

後hòu見jiàn他tā甜tián言yán美měi語yǔ，不bù知zhī怎zěn麼me，就jiù開kāi口kǒu說shuō話huà，卻què說shuō吃chī素sù的de。后hòu见jiàn他tā甜tián言yán美měi语yǔ，不bù知zhī怎zěn么me，就jiù开kāi口kǒu说shuō话huà，却què说shuō吃chī素sù的de。

“Then, hearing her honeyed words and her pretty speeches — I cannot tell how it came about — he opened his mouth and spoke, and said that he would eat the fast ones.

不知怎麼 is an admission of ignorance rather than a rhetorical flourish. It is Pilgrim who cannot account for what he watched — and the reader, who saw more than he did, can.

總評 Commentary

The novel now has Pilgrim retell, in about a hundred and fifty characters, an episode we have just watched at more than three times the length. The book does this constantly, and it is never merely economical: what matters is always the gap between the two tellings. Here the gap is tone. The demon offered to be a 道伴, a companion in the Way, and meant it as an inducement; Pilgrim reports that she wanted his master for 甚麼道伴兒, some sort of companion or other, and those two extra characters carry the whole of his opinion.

The compression is revealing about what Pilgrim thinks matters. He gives the two platters their full description, filling by filling, because the food is the part he understood; he gives the proposal one dismissive clause. A demon who wants to eat a monk is a familiar problem. One who wants to marry him is not, and Pilgrim's summary quietly files the second under the first.

The passage ends on an admission the reader is in a position to correct. 不知怎麼: Pilgrim cannot tell how it came about that his master, having refused to speak at all, suddenly opened his mouth. But we watched him decide. The private calculation in which Tripitaka weighed a demon against a queen and concluded that refusal might be fatal was invisible from the latticework, and the novel is making a quiet point about the limits of even Pilgrim's sight: he can turn himself into an insect and hear every word spoken in the room, and he still cannot see the one thing that explains it.