第六十二回 · 滿天星月 Stars And Moon Fill The Sky — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

滿天星月 Stars And Moon Fill The Sky

三sān藏zàng師shī徒tú們men吃chī了le齋zhāi，漸jiàn漸jiàn天tiān昏hūn。只zhǐ見jiàn那nà枷jiā鎖suǒ的de和hé尚shàng拿ná了le兩liǎng把bǎ笤tiáo帚zhǒu進jìn來lái，三sān藏zàng甚shèn喜xǐ。正zhèng說shuō處chù，一yí個gè小xiǎo和hé尚shàng點diǎn了le燈dēng來lái請qǐng洗xǐ澡zǎo。此cǐ時shí滿mǎn天tiān星xīng月yuè光guāng輝huī，譙qiào樓lóu上shàng更gēng鼓gǔ齊qí發fā。三sān藏zàng师shī徒tú们men吃chī了le斋zhāi，渐jiàn渐jiàn天tiān昏hūn。只zhǐ见jiàn那nà枷jiā锁suǒ的de和hé尚shàng拿ná了le两liǎng把bǎ笤tiáo帚zhǒu进jìn来lái，三sān藏zàng甚shèn喜xǐ。正zhèng说shuō处chù，一yí个gè小xiǎo和hé尚shàng点diǎn了le灯dēng来lái请qǐng洗xǐ澡zǎo。此cǐ时shí满mǎn天tiān星xīng月yuè光guāng辉huī，谯qiào楼lóu上shàng更gēng鼓gǔ齐qí发fā。

逐句解 Line by line

三sān藏zàng師shī徒tú們men吃chī了le齋zhāi，漸jiàn漸jiàn天tiān昏hūn。三sān藏zàng师shī徒tú们men吃chī了le斋zhāi，渐jiàn渐jiàn天tiān昏hūn。

Tripitaka and his disciples ate their meal, and little by little the sky darkened.

漸漸 is a doubled frame and keeps full tones at both syllables. The sentence does the work of a scene division: the meal ends and the light goes.

只zhǐ見jiàn那nà枷jiā鎖suǒ的de和hé尚shàng拿ná了le兩liǎng把bǎ笤tiáo帚zhǒu進jìn來lái，三sān藏zàng甚shèn喜xǐ。只zhǐ见jiàn那nà枷jiā锁suǒ的de和hé尚shàng拿ná了le两liǎng把bǎ笤tiáo帚zhǒu进jìn来lái，三sān藏zàng甚shèn喜xǐ。

Then the monks in the cangues came in carrying two brooms, and Tripitaka was very pleased.

甚 is the intensifier here, shèn, very pleased — against 甚時分 thirteen segments earlier, where the same character asks a question. Two brooms, because Pilgrim is going up too.

正zhèng說shuō處chù，一yí個gè小xiǎo和hé尚shàng點diǎn了le燈dēng來lái請qǐng洗xǐ澡zǎo。正zhèng说shuō处chù，一yí个gè小xiǎo和hé尚shàng点diǎn了le灯dēng来lái请qǐng洗xǐ澡zǎo。

Just as they were speaking, a young monk brought a lamp and asked him to come and bathe.

正說處 is the other 處: the chù of a place, borrowed to mean a moment — at the point where they were speaking. It stands fifteen segments from 如何處之, where the same character is a verb and takes chǔ.

此cǐ時shí滿mǎn天tiān星xīng月yuè光guāng輝huī，譙qiào樓lóu上shàng更gēng鼓gǔ齊qí發fā。此cǐ时shí满mǎn天tiān星xīng月yuè光guāng辉huī，谯qiào楼lóu上shàng更gēng鼓gǔ齐qí发fā。

By now the sky was full of the light of stars and moon, and from the watchtower the drums of the night-watch sounded together.

譙樓 is the drum-tower over a city gate, and 更鼓 the drum that marks the night-watches; 更 takes gēng in that sense and not the gèng of comparison. The line is the chapter turning from afternoon into night.

總評 Commentary

Four short sentences move the chapter from a meal to full dark, and each one puts an object in place for what follows: the brooms, the lamp, the bath, the stars. Nothing is described at length and nothing is wasted.

The arrangement is one the novel has used before, with this same temple in it. In the thirteenth chapter Tripitaka reached 法門寺 on his second day out of Chang'an, the meal was eaten, the evening came on unnoticed, and a poem about starlight and a clear moon followed under the very formula that is about to introduce the poem here. He named that temple three passages back.