第六十回 · 妻者齊也 A Wife Is an Equal — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

妻者齊也 A Wife Is an Equal

羅luó剎chà復fù接jiē杯bēi斟zhēn起qǐ，遞dì與yǔ大dà王wáng道dào：「自zì古gǔ道dào：『妻qī者zhě，齊qí也yě。』夫fū乃nǎi養yǎng身shēn之zhī父fù，謝xiè甚shén麼me？」他tā兩liǎng人rén謙qiān謙qiān講jiǎng講jiǎng，方fāng才cái坐zuò下xià巡xún酒jiǔ。大dà聖shèng不bù敢gǎn破pò葷hūn，只zhǐ吃chī幾jǐ個gè果guǒ子zi，與yǔ他tā言yán言yán語yǔ語yǔ。罗luó刹chà复fù接jiē杯bēi斟zhēn起qǐ，递dì与yǔ大dà王wáng道dào：「自zì古gǔ道dào：『妻qī者zhě，齐qí也yě。』夫fū乃nǎi养yǎng身shēn之zhī父fù，谢xiè甚shén么me？」他tā两liǎng人rén谦qiān谦qiān讲jiǎng讲jiǎng，方fāng才cái坐zuò下xià巡xún酒jiǔ。大dà圣shèng不bù敢gǎn破pò荤hūn，只zhǐ吃chī几jǐ个gè果guǒ子zi，与yǔ他tā言yán言yán语yǔ语yǔ。

逐句解 Line by line

羅luó剎chà復fù接jiē杯bēi斟zhēn起qǐ，遞dì與yǔ大dà王wáng道dào：「自zì古gǔ道dào：『妻qī者zhě，齊qí也yě。』罗luó刹chà复fù接jiē杯bēi斟zhēn起qǐ，递dì与yǔ大dà王wáng道dào：「自zì古gǔ道dào：『妻qī者zhě，齐qí也yě。』

The Rākṣasī took the cup again, filled it, and handed it to the great king, saying, "From of old it is said: a wife is an equal."

妻者齊也 is a gloss out of the classical dictionaries, which explain 妻, wife, by the near-homophone 齊, level or equal — a wife being the one who stands level with her husband. The source sets the maxim in its own quotation marks.

夫fū乃nǎi養yǎng身shēn之zhī父fù，謝xiè甚shén麼me？」夫fū乃nǎi养yǎng身shēn之zhī父fù，谢xiè甚shén么me？」

"A husband is the father who sustains one's body. What is there to thank?"

甚 is shén. The two halves of her answer sit oddly together and she does not notice: a wife is an equal, and a husband is a father.

他tā兩liǎng人rén謙qiān謙qiān講jiǎng講jiǎng，方fāng才cái坐zuò下xià巡xún酒jiǔ。他tā两liǎng人rén谦qiān谦qiān讲jiǎng讲jiǎng，方fāng才cái坐zuò下xià巡xún酒jiǔ。

The two of them made their deferences back and forth, and only then sat down and sent the wine round.

謙謙講講 doubles both syllables of two words at once — deferring and discussing — in the vernacular manner, which makes the politeness go on rather longer than it needs to.

大dà聖shèng不bù敢gǎn破pò葷hūn，只zhǐ吃chī幾jǐ個gè果guǒ子zi，與yǔ他tā言yán言yán語yǔ語yǔ。大dà圣shèng不bù敢gǎn破pò荤hūn，只zhǐ吃chī几jǐ个gè果guǒ子zi，与yǔ他tā言yán言yán语yǔ语yǔ。

The Great Sage dared not break his abstinence from flesh, and ate only a few pieces of fruit, talking with her the while.

破葷 is to break a vegetarian rule. 子 in 果子, fruit, is the swallowed suffix zi. 言言語語 doubles again, and the doubling carries the sense of desultory chat rather than conversation.

總評 Commentary

The exchange of maxims is a duel of classical authority and she wins it. He offered the drink as repayment; she replies with the old gloss that a wife is an equal, which makes repayment inapplicable between them, and then with the claim that a husband is the father who sustains the body, which makes the gratitude run the other way. Two propositions that do not sit at all easily together, both deployed to the same end: there is nothing to thank her for, because they are one household.

The detail that closes the passage is the only thing in the scene the Great Sage cannot counterfeit. He dares not break his abstinence from meat, and eats fruit. The disguise covers his face, his voice, his manner and his history; it does not cover a monastic rule, and a Bull Demon King sitting at his own table eating nothing but fruit is the one visible crack in the performance. Nobody notices.