第五十八回 · 空手回覆 Why Not Seize It — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

空手回覆 Why Not Seize It

八bā戒jiè道dào：「沙shā僧sēng，你nǐ既jì到dào水shuǐ簾lián洞dòng，看kàn見jiàn假jiǎ八bā戒jiè挑tiāo著zhe行xíng李lǐ，怎zěn麼me不bù搶qiǎng將jiāng來lái？」沙shā僧sēng道dào：「那nà妖yāo精jīng見jiàn我wǒ使shǐ寶bǎo杖zhàng打dǎ他tā假jiǎ沙shā僧sēng，他tā就jiù亂luàn圍wéi上shàng來lái要yào拿ná，是shì我wǒ顧gù性xìng命mìng走zǒu了le。及jí告gào菩pú薩sà，與yǔ行xíng者zhě復fù至zhì洞dòng口kǒu，他tā兩liǎng個gè打dǎ在zài空kōng中zhōng，是shì我wǒ去qù掀xiān翻fān他tā的de石shí凳dèng，打dǎ散sàn他tā的de小xiǎo妖yāo。只zhǐ見jiàn一yì股gǔ瀑pù布bù泉quán水shuǐ流liú，竟jìng不bù知zhī洞dòng門mén開kāi在zài何hé處chù，尋xún不bù著zháo行xíng李lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ空kōng手shǒu回huí覆fù師shī命mìng也yě。」八bā戒jiè道dào：「沙shā僧sēng，你nǐ既jì到dào水shuǐ帘lián洞dòng，看kàn见jiàn假jiǎ八bā戒jiè挑tiāo着zhe行xíng李lǐ，怎zěn么me不bù抢qiǎng将jiāng来lái？」沙shā僧sēng道dào：「那nà妖yāo精jīng见jiàn我wǒ使shǐ宝bǎo杖zhàng打dǎ他tā假jiǎ沙shā僧sēng，他tā就jiù乱luàn围wéi上shàng来lái要yào拿ná，是shì我wǒ顾gù性xìng命mìng走zǒu了le。及jí告gào菩pú萨sà，与yǔ行xíng者zhě复fù至zhì洞dòng口kǒu，他tā两liǎng个gè打dǎ在zài空kōng中zhōng，是shì我wǒ去qù掀xiān翻fān他tā的de石shí凳dèng，打dǎ散sàn他tā的de小xiǎo妖yāo。只zhǐ见jiàn一yì股gǔ瀑pù布bù泉quán水shuǐ流liú，竟jìng不bù知zhī洞dòng门mén开kāi在zài何hé处chù，寻xún不bù着zháo行xíng李lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ空kōng手shǒu回huí覆fù师shī命mìng也yě。」

逐句解 Line by line

八bā戒jiè道dào：「沙shā僧sēng，你nǐ既jì到dào水shuǐ簾lián洞dòng，看kàn見jiàn假jiǎ八bā戒jiè挑tiāo著zhe行xíng李lǐ，怎zěn麼me不bù搶qiǎng將jiāng來lái？」八bā戒jiè道dào：「沙shā僧sēng，你nǐ既jì到dào水shuǐ帘lián洞dòng，看kàn见jiàn假jiǎ八bā戒jiè挑tiāo着zhe行xíng李lǐ，怎zěn么me不bù抢qiǎng将jiāng来lái？」

Eight Rules said: "Sha Monk, since you got as far as the Water-Curtain Cave and saw the false Eight Rules shouldering our luggage, how was it you did not snatch it back?"

Eight Rules asks the practical question nobody has asked. 挑著 pairs 挑 as tiāo, to shoulder a carrying pole, with 著 as zhe. 搶將來 uses the same little 將 of motion this way as 打將來.

沙shā僧sēng道dào：「那nà妖yāo精jīng見jiàn我wǒ使shǐ寶bǎo杖zhàng打dǎ他tā假jiǎ沙shā僧sēng，他tā就jiù亂luàn圍wéi上shàng來lái要yào拿ná，是shì我wǒ顧gù性xìng命mìng走zǒu了le。沙shā僧sēng道dào：「那nà妖yāo精jīng见jiàn我wǒ使shǐ宝bǎo杖zhàng打dǎ他tā假jiǎ沙shā僧sēng，他tā就jiù乱luàn围wéi上shàng来lái要yào拿ná，是shì我wǒ顾gù性xìng命mìng走zǒu了le。

Sha Monk said: "When that fiend saw me strike his false Sha Monk with my treasure staff, he came crowding round in a rabble to seize me, and I made off to save my life.

顧性命, looking to one's own life — Sha Monk reports his own flight plainly and offers no excuse for it, which is very much in character.

及jí告gào菩pú薩sà，與yǔ行xíng者zhě復fù至zhì洞dòng口kǒu，他tā兩liǎng個gè打dǎ在zài空kōng中zhōng，是shì我wǒ去qù掀xiān翻fān他tā的de石shí凳dèng，打dǎ散sàn他tā的de小xiǎo妖yāo。及jí告gào菩pú萨sà，与yǔ行xíng者zhě复fù至zhì洞dòng口kǒu，他tā两liǎng个gè打dǎ在zài空kōng中zhōng，是shì我wǒ去qù掀xiān翻fān他tā的de石shí凳dèng，打dǎ散sàn他tā的de小xiǎo妖yāo。

Then I went and told the Bodhisattva, and came back with the Pilgrim to the cave mouth. While the two of them were fighting up in the air, I went and overturned his stone benches and scattered his little fiends.

掀翻他的石凳 and 打散他的小妖 retell, in Sha Monk's own mouth, the raid the narrator described near the start of the chapter. The novel keeps going back over the same ground.

只zhǐ見jiàn一yì股gǔ瀑pù布bù泉quán水shuǐ流liú，竟jìng不bù知zhī洞dòng門mén開kāi在zài何hé處chù，尋xún不bù著zháo行xíng李lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ空kōng手shǒu回huí覆fù師shī命mìng也yě。」只zhǐ见jiàn一yì股gǔ瀑pù布bù泉quán水shuǐ流liú，竟jìng不bù知zhī洞dòng门mén开kāi在zài何hé处chù，寻xún不bù着zháo行xíng李lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ空kōng手shǒu回huí覆fù师shī命mìng也yě。」

I saw only a single cataract of spring-water flowing, and truly could not tell where the cave door opened. I could not find the luggage, and so came back empty-handed to report to our master's command."

尋不著: this 著 is zháo, managing to do a thing, and its rising tone keeps the 不 in front of it at bù, exactly as at 齋不著. 何處 takes chù.

總評 Commentary

Eight Rules asks the obvious practical question, and it is the first time in the chapter that anyone has pressed on a concrete failure rather than on the impossible one. Sha Monk's answer is honest to the point of bluntness: he ran to save his life, and he could not find the door.

The retelling matters structurally. This is the third time the raid on the Water-Curtain Cave has been narrated — once by the narrator, once to Tripitaka, now to Eight Rules — and every version is accurate. The chapter has an extraordinary appetite for repetition, and it is not padding. The story of the true and false Pilgrim is being built out of testimony, and testimony is the kind of thing that gets repeated.

尋不著行李 is also the practical thread that carries the next passage. The luggage holds the travel rescript, without which the pilgrimage cannot legally proceed, however many Wukongs are available to escort it.