第五十九回 · 不停當 It Would Not Do — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

不停當 It Would Not Do

那nà師shī父fù爬pá上shàng馬mǎ，與yǔ八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，復fù東dōng來lái有yǒu二èr十shí餘yú里lǐ，方fāng才cái歇xiē下xià，道dào：「悟wù空kōng，如rú何hé了le呀ya？」行xíng者zhě丟diū下xià扇shàn子zi道dào：「不bù停tíng當dàng，不bù停tíng當dàng，被bèi那nà廝sī哄hǒng了le。」三sān藏zàng聽tīng說shuō，愁chóu促cù眉méi尖jiān，悶mèn添tiān心xīn上shàng，止zhǐ不bú住zhù兩liǎng淚lèi交jiāo流liú，只zhǐ道dào：「怎zěn生shēng是shì好hǎo？」那nà师shī父fù爬pá上shàng马mǎ，与yǔ八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，复fù东dōng来lái有yǒu二èr十shí余yú里lǐ，方fāng才cái歇xiē下xià，道dào：「悟wù空kōng，如rú何hé了le呀ya？」行xíng者zhě丢diū下xià扇shàn子zi道dào：「不bù停tíng当dàng，不bù停tíng当dàng，被bèi那nà厮sī哄hǒng了le。」三sān藏zàng听tīng说shuō，愁chóu促cù眉méi尖jiān，闷mèn添tiān心xīn上shàng，止zhǐ不bú住zhù两liǎng泪lèi交jiāo流liú，只zhǐ道dào：「怎zěn生shēng是shì好hǎo？」

逐句解 Line by line

那nà師shī父fù爬pá上shàng馬mǎ，與yǔ八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，復fù東dōng來lái有yǒu二èr十shí餘yú里lǐ，方fāng才cái歇xiē下xià，道dào：「悟wù空kōng，如rú何hé了le呀ya？」那nà师shī父fù爬pá上shàng马mǎ，与yǔ八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng，复fù东dōng来lái有yǒu二èr十shí余yú里lǐ，方fāng才cái歇xiē下xià，道dào：「悟wù空kōng，如rú何hé了le呀ya？」

That master scrambled onto the horse and came back eastward with Eight Rules and Sha Monk more than twenty lǐ before they halted at last. Then he said, 'Wukong — how did it go?'

如何了呀, "how has it turned out, then" — 呀 is the light exclamation here, not the yā of a creaking door earlier in the chapter. Twenty lǐ of retreat is the measure of the fire.

行xíng者zhě丟diū下xià扇shàn子zi道dào：「不bù停tíng當dàng，不bù停tíng當dàng，被bèi那nà廝sī哄hǒng了le。」行xíng者zhě丢diū下xià扇shàn子zi道dào：「不bù停tíng当dàng，不bù停tíng当dàng，被bèi那nà厮sī哄hǒng了le。」

Pilgrim threw down the fan and said, 'It would not do, it would not do. That creature has tricked me.'

停當 is tíng dàng, "settled, in proper order," so 當 takes dàng and not the dāng of time and position. Negated twice over in six characters, it says that nothing whatever is as it should be. 哄 hǒng is to fool or take in.

三sān藏zàng聽tīng說shuō，愁chóu促cù眉méi尖jiān，悶mèn添tiān心xīn上shàng，止zhǐ不bú住zhù兩liǎng淚lèi交jiāo流liú，只zhǐ道dào：「怎zěn生shēng是shì好hǎo？」三sān藏zàng听tīng说shuō，愁chóu促cù眉méi尖jiān，闷mèn添tiān心xīn上shàng，止zhǐ不bú住zhù两liǎng泪lèi交jiāo流liú，只zhǐ道dào：「怎zěn生shēng是shì好hǎo？」

Hearing this, Tripitaka knitted his brows in grief and heaped care upon his heart. He could not hold back the tears that ran down both cheeks, and could only say, 'What is to be done?'

愁促眉尖, sorrow drawing the tips of the brows together; 悶添心上, gloom added onto the heart. The two four-character clauses are a matched pair.

總評 Commentary

Twenty lǐ of retreat, and only then do they stop. The distance is the measure of what Pilgrim's three fannings did, and Tripitaka's question when they halt — 如何了呀, how did it go then — is put to a man who has arrived at a run with his leg hair burnt off.

不停當，不停當 is the answer, doubled in the cadence the chapter has used all through, and it is an admission rather than a report. 停當 means settled, in proper order, as things ought to be; negated twice it says that nothing is. Then the diagnosis: 被那廝哄了, that creature has tricked me.

It is worth registering how quickly he gets there. He has no proof, no second fan to compare it against, and the one witness he consulted confirmed the object was genuine. He reasons from a result that contradicts everything he was told about the fan, and arrives at the right answer immediately — the same method that got him from a cake in his hand to the existence of the Iron-Fan Immortal.

Tripitaka weeps. The novel gives him two matched four-character clauses of grief and then 怎生是好, what is to be done, which is his standing contribution at moments like this. He has been told the road is shut and the remedy has failed.