第五十八回 · 經案伏獸 The Listening Beast — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

經案伏獸 The Listening Beast

原yuán來lái那nà諦dì聽tīng是shì地dì藏zàng菩pú薩sà經jīng案àn下xià伏fú的de一yí個gè獸shòu名míng。他tā若ruò伏fú在zài地dì下xià，一yí霎shà時shí，將jiāng四sì大dà部bù洲zhōu山shān川chuān社shè稷jì，洞dòng天tiān福fú地dì之zhī間jiān，蠃luǒ蟲chóng、鱗lín蟲chóng、毛máo蟲chóng、羽yǔ蟲chóng、昆kūn蟲chóng、天tiān仙xiān、地dì仙xiān、神shén仙xiān、人rén仙xiān、鬼guǐ仙xiān，可kě以yǐ照zhào鑒jiàn善shàn惡è，察chá聽tīng賢xián愚yú。那nà獸shòu奉fèng地dì藏zàng鈞jūn旨zhǐ，就jiù於yú森sēn羅luó庭tíng院yuàn之zhī中zhōng，俯fǔ伏fú在zài地dì。原yuán来lái那nà谛dì听tīng是shì地dì藏zàng菩pú萨sà经jīng案àn下xià伏fú的de一yí个gè兽shòu名míng。他tā若ruò伏fú在zài地dì下xià，一yí霎shà时shí，将jiāng四sì大dà部bù洲zhōu山shān川chuān社shè稷jì，洞dòng天tiān福fú地dì之zhī间jiān，蠃luǒ虫chóng、鳞lín虫chóng、毛máo虫chóng、羽yǔ虫chóng、昆kūn虫chóng、天tiān仙xiān、地dì仙xiān、神shén仙xiān、人rén仙xiān、鬼guǐ仙xiān，可kě以yǐ照zhào鉴jiàn善shàn恶è，察chá听tīng贤xián愚yú。那nà兽shòu奉fèng地dì藏zàng钧jūn旨zhǐ，就jiù于yú森sēn罗luó庭tíng院yuàn之zhī中zhōng，俯fǔ伏fú在zài地dì。

逐句解 Line by line

原yuán來lái那nà諦dì聽tīng是shì地dì藏zàng菩pú薩sà經jīng案àn下xià伏fú的de一yí個gè獸shòu名míng。原yuán来lái那nà谛dì听tīng是shì地dì藏zàng菩pú萨sà经jīng案àn下xià伏fú的de一yí个gè兽shòu名míng。

Now this Diting was the name of a beast that crouches beneath the Bodhisattva Kṣitigarbha's scripture desk.

經案下伏, crouching under the scripture desk. Diting is Kṣitigarbha's mount and attendant, and being kept under the desk marks it out as an instrument of the Bodhisattva's discernment rather than a creature in its own right.

他tā若ruò伏fú在zài地dì下xià，一yí霎shà時shí，將jiāng四sì大dà部bù洲zhōu山shān川chuān社shè稷jì，洞dòng天tiān福fú地dì之zhī間jiān，蠃luǒ蟲chóng、鱗lín蟲chóng、毛máo蟲chóng、羽yǔ蟲chóng、昆kūn蟲chóng、天tiān仙xiān、地dì仙xiān、神shén仙xiān、人rén仙xiān、鬼guǐ仙xiān，可kě以yǐ照zhào鑒jiàn善shàn惡è，察chá聽tīng賢xián愚yú。他tā若ruò伏fú在zài地dì下xià，一yí霎shà时shí，将jiāng四sì大dà部bù洲zhōu山shān川chuān社shè稷jì，洞dòng天tiān福fú地dì之zhī间jiān，蠃luǒ虫chóng、鳞lín虫chóng、毛máo虫chóng、羽yǔ虫chóng、昆kūn虫chóng、天tiān仙xiān、地dì仙xiān、神shén仙xiān、人rén仙xiān、鬼guǐ仙xiān，可kě以yǐ照zhào鉴jiàn善shàn恶è，察chá听tīng贤xián愚yú。

If it lies down upon the ground, then in one instant, throughout the mountains and rivers and altars of the four great continents and among the cave-heavens and blessed lands — the shelled, the scaled, the hairy, the feathered and the insect kinds, and the heavenly, earthly, divine, human and ghostly immortals — it can mirror out good and evil and listen out the worthy from the foolish.

The beast lies down and hears the entire cosmos at once, sorted by kind. The five classes of 蟲 and the five classes of 仙 listed here are the very taxonomy the Buddha will use at the chapter's close. 將 is jiāng, introducing what is being handled; 之間 takes jiān.

那nà獸shòu奉fèng地dì藏zàng鈞jūn旨zhǐ，就jiù於yú森sēn羅luó庭tíng院yuàn之zhī中zhōng，俯fǔ伏fú在zài地dì。那nà兽shòu奉fèng地dì藏zàng钧jūn旨zhǐ，就jiù于yú森sēn罗luó庭tíng院yuàn之zhī中zhōng，俯fǔ伏fú在zài地dì。

That beast, receiving Kṣitigarbha's august command, crouched down upon the ground there in the courtyard of the Hall of Judgement.

鈞旨, august command, is the formal term for an order from a very senior personage. 森羅庭院之中 takes zhōng.

總評 Commentary

The description of Diting is the chapter's one piece of pure exposition, and it is unusually careful. The beast does not see and does not judge. It hears, right across the cosmos, and what it listens for is not appearance but moral quality — 照鑒善惡，察聽賢愚, mirroring good and evil, hearing out the worthy from the foolish.

That is exactly the faculty the chapter has been missing. The mirror in Heaven reflected two identical bodies because bodies were all it could reflect. Diting listens to what a thing is rather than looking at what it resembles, and the imposture, which has beaten sight at every level, has no defence against it.

The list of the five 蟲 and the five 仙 is planted here and will be picked up word for word by the Buddha in the chapter's last movement, when he explains that the impostor belongs to none of the ten classes. The novel is laying out its filing system a thousand characters before it uses it.