第六十回 · 杏葉兒 No Bigger Than an Apricot Leaf — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

杏葉兒 No Bigger Than an Apricot Leaf

大dà聖shèng見jiàn他tā這zhè等děng酣hān然rán，暗àn自zì留liú心xīn，挑tiǎo鬥dòu道dào：「夫fū人rén，真zhēn扇shàn子zi你nǐ收shōu在zài那nǎ裡lǐ？早zǎo晚wǎn仔zǐ細xì，但dàn恐kǒng孫sūn行xíng者zhě變biàn化huà多duō端duān，卻què又yòu來lái騙piàn去qù。」羅luó剎chà笑xiào嘻xī嘻xī的de，口kǒu中zhōng吐tǔ出chū，只zhǐ有yǒu一yí個gè杏xìng葉yè兒er大dà小xiǎo，遞dì與yǔ大dà聖shèng道dào：「這zhè個gè不bú是shì寶bǎo貝bèi？」大dà圣shèng见jiàn他tā这zhè等děng酣hān然rán，暗àn自zì留liú心xīn，挑tiǎo斗dòu道dào：「夫fū人rén，真zhēn扇shàn子zi你nǐ收shōu在zài那nǎ里lǐ？早zǎo晚wǎn仔zǐ细xì，但dàn恐kǒng孙sūn行xíng者zhě变biàn化huà多duō端duān，却què又yòu来lái骗piàn去qù。」罗luó刹chà笑xiào嘻xī嘻xī的de，口kǒu中zhōng吐tǔ出chū，只zhǐ有yǒu一yí个gè杏xìng叶yè儿er大dà小xiǎo，递dì与yǔ大dà圣shèng道dào：「这zhè个gè不bú是shì宝bǎo贝bèi？」

逐句解 Line by line

大dà聖shèng見jiàn他tā這zhè等děng酣hān然rán，暗àn自zì留liú心xīn，挑tiǎo鬥dòu道dào：「夫fū人rén，真zhēn扇shàn子zi你nǐ收shōu在zài那nǎ裡lǐ？大dà圣shèng见jiàn他tā这zhè等děng酣hān然rán，暗àn自zì留liú心xīn，挑tiǎo斗dòu道dào：「夫fū人rén，真zhēn扇shàn子zi你nǐ收shōu在zài那nǎ里lǐ？

The Great Sage, seeing her so far gone, kept a private watch on her and drew her out with a question: "Madam, where do you keep the true fan?"

挑 is tiǎo, to provoke or draw somebody out — the same word modern Chinese writes as 挑鬥 here and more often as a compound meaning to tease. 那裡 is a question, so 那 is nǎ. And 暗自留心 — privately keeping watch — says plainly that the tenderness of the previous passage was reconnaissance.

早zǎo晚wǎn仔zǐ細xì，但dàn恐kǒng孫sūn行xíng者zhě變biàn化huà多duō端duān，卻què又yòu來lái騙piàn去qù。」早zǎo晚wǎn仔zǐ细xì，但dàn恐kǒng孙sūn行xíng者zhě变biàn化huà多duō端duān，却què又yòu来lái骗piàn去qù。」

"Be careful of it night and morning. I only fear that Sun the Pilgrim has transformations without number, and may come and cheat it away again."

仔 is zǐ in 仔細, careful, not the zǎi the character takes elsewhere. The warning is impeccable advice, and it is being given by the person it warns against, for the sole purpose of making her produce the thing.

羅luó剎chà笑xiào嘻xī嘻xī的de，口kǒu中zhōng吐tǔ出chū，只zhǐ有yǒu一yí個gè杏xìng葉yè兒er大dà小xiǎo，遞dì與yǔ大dà聖shèng道dào：「這zhè個gè不bú是shì寶bǎo貝bèi？」罗luó刹chà笑xiào嘻xī嘻xī的de，口kǒu中zhōng吐tǔ出chū，只zhǐ有yǒu一yí个gè杏xìng叶yè儿er大dà小xiǎo，递dì与yǔ大dà圣shèng道dào：「这zhè个gè不bú是shì宝bǎo贝bèi？」

The Rākṣasī, laughing merrily, spat it out of her mouth — a thing no bigger than an apricot leaf — and handed it to the Great Sage, saying, "Is not this the treasure?"

兒 in 杏葉兒 is the swallowed suffix er. 中 is zhōng. She has been keeping the fan in her mouth the whole time, which is why the previous chapter's search of the cave turned up nothing.

總評 Commentary

The question is put with enormous care and answered with none at all. He asks where the fan is kept, wraps the question in solicitude, and adds a warning against precisely the trick he is playing; she laughs, spits the thing out and hands it to him. The whole manoeuvre takes three sentences, and the wine has done all the work that argument could not do in two chapters.

The revelation also solves a problem the previous chapter left hanging. The Great Sage was inside her body and did not find the fan; he had it in his hands and it was a forgery. It has been in her mouth the entire time, which is why neither search nor extortion could ever have reached it, and why nothing but her own hand could have produced it.

Its size is the second surprise. A treasure that puts out eight hundred 里 of fire turns out to be the size of an apricot leaf. The novel likes this kind of disproportion and usually gets a joke out of it; here it gets a difficulty instead, because the Great Sage now has the thing and no idea how to work it.