第六十一回 · 定風丹 The Wind Fixing Pill — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

定風丹 The Wind Fixing Pill

狠hěn得de他tā爆bào躁zào如rú雷léi，掣chè鐵tiě棒bàng，劈pī頭tóu便biàn打dǎ；那nà魔mó王wáng就jiù使shǐ扇shàn子zi搧shān他tā一yí下xià。不bù知zhī那nà大dà聖shèng先xiān前qián變biàn蟭jiāo蟟liáo蟲chóng入rù羅luó剎chà女nǚ腹fù中zhōng之zhī時shí，將jiāng定dìng風fēng丹dān噙qín在zài口kǒu裡lǐ，不bù覺jué的de嚥yàn下xià肚dù裡lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ五wǔ臟zàng皆jiē牢láo，皮pí骨gǔ皆jiē固gù，憑píng他tā怎zěn麼me搧shān，再zài也yě搧shān他tā不bú動dòng。牛niú王wáng慌huāng了le，把bǎ寶bǎo貝bèi丟diū入rù口kǒu中zhōng，雙shuāng手shǒu掄lūn劍jiàn就jiù砍kǎn。狠hěn得de他tā爆bào躁zào如rú雷léi，掣chè铁tiě棒bàng，劈pī头tóu便biàn打dǎ；那nà魔mó王wáng就jiù使shǐ扇shàn子zi搧shān他tā一yí下xià。不bù知zhī那nà大dà圣shèng先xiān前qián变biàn蟭jiāo蟟liáo虫chóng入rù罗luó刹chà女nǚ腹fù中zhōng之zhī时shí，将jiāng定dìng风fēng丹dān噙qín在zài口kǒu里lǐ，不bù觉jué的de咽yàn下xià肚dù里lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ五wǔ脏zàng皆jiē牢láo，皮pí骨gǔ皆jiē固gù，凭píng他tā怎zěn么me搧shān，再zài也yě搧shān他tā不bú动dòng。牛niú王wáng慌huāng了le，把bǎ宝bǎo贝bèi丢diū入rù口kǒu中zhōng，双shuāng手shǒu抡lūn剑jiàn就jiù砍kǎn。

逐句解 Line by line

狠hěn得de他tā爆bào躁zào如rú雷léi，掣chè鐵tiě棒bàng，劈pī頭tóu便biàn打dǎ；那nà魔mó王wáng就jiù使shǐ扇shàn子zi搧shān他tā一yí下xià。狠hěn得de他tā爆bào躁zào如rú雷léi，掣chè铁tiě棒bàng，劈pī头tóu便biàn打dǎ；那nà魔mó王wáng就jiù使shǐ扇shàn子zi搧shān他tā一yí下xià。

It galled him till he raged like thunder; he whipped out the iron rod and struck at the head, and the Demon King at once used the fan and fanned him a stroke.

狠得他爆躁如雷 uses the light linking de: 得 hooks the verb to a whole clause of result, the same shape as 慌得推倒 or 諕得魄散魂飛, and not the heavier dé that would stand as a verb in its own right.

不bù知zhī那nà大dà聖shèng先xiān前qián變biàn蟭jiāo蟟liáo蟲chóng入rù羅luó剎chà女nǚ腹fù中zhōng之zhī時shí，將jiāng定dìng風fēng丹dān噙qín在zài口kǒu裡lǐ，不bù覺jué的de嚥yàn下xià肚dù裡lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ五wǔ臟zàng皆jiē牢láo，皮pí骨gǔ皆jiē固gù，憑píng他tā怎zěn麼me搧shān，再zài也yě搧shān他tā不bú動dòng。不bù知zhī那nà大dà圣shèng先xiān前qián变biàn蟭jiāo蟟liáo虫chóng入rù罗luó刹chà女nǚ腹fù中zhōng之zhī时shí，将jiāng定dìng风fēng丹dān噙qín在zài口kǒu里lǐ，不bù觉jué的de咽yàn下xià肚dù里lǐ，所suǒ以yǐ五wǔ脏zàng皆jiē牢láo，皮pí骨gǔ皆jiē固gù，凭píng他tā怎zěn么me搧shān，再zài也yě搧shān他tā不bú动dòng。

What he did not know was that the Great Sage, when he had earlier turned into a cicada-fly and gone into the Rākṣasī's belly, had held the wind-fixing pill in his mouth and swallowed it down without noticing; so his five viscera were made fast and his skin and bone firm, and fan how the other might, he could not stir him at all.

The pill is the chapter's hinge, and the reader is told about it only now. The 定風丹 was swallowed in the previous chapter, and 不覺的 marks the accident: 覺 is jué, to notice, so 不 stays bù. 將 is jiāng, "taking"; 剎 in 羅剎 is chà. Note what this does to the fight: the fan now fails for a reason neither combatant chose, which is why the whole thing has to be settled by force.

牛niú王wáng慌huāng了le，把bǎ寶bǎo貝bèi丟diū入rù口kǒu中zhōng，雙shuāng手shǒu掄lūn劍jiàn就jiù砍kǎn。牛niú王wáng慌huāng了le，把bǎ宝bǎo贝bèi丢diū入rù口kǒu中zhōng，双shuāng手shǒu抡lūn剑jiàn就jiù砍kǎn。

The Bull King took fright, threw the treasure into his mouth, and swinging his swords two-handed fell to hacking.

掄 is lūn, to swing or brandish, against the lún of 掄材, to select. 口中 takes 中 at zhōng. Putting the fan in his mouth is the safest place he has and the worst possible one, as any reader who has just been told how the pill got swallowed will already suspect.

總評 Commentary

The fight starts again and works for neither party. The Bull King fans, and nothing happens; the storyteller steps forward to explain why, in a fifty-five character aside that reaches back into the previous chapter for its material.

The explanation insists on accident. 不覺的嚥下肚裡 — swallowed without noticing. The Great Sage did not plan this defence, does not know he has it, and could not have described it if you asked him. The one thing that saves him here is the one thing in the whole sequence he had no hand in, which is a pointed arrangement in a passage otherwise entirely about the consequences of what people choose.

牛王慌了 records the moment the demon realises his weapon has stopped working, and his response is to put it in his mouth. It is the safest place he has. It is also — as any reader who has just heard how the pill was swallowed will notice — the precise spot from which things in this novel get taken.