第六十三回 · 琵琶骨 Through The Shoulder Blade — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

琵琶骨 Through The Shoulder Blade

當dāng駕jià官guān即jí取qǔ鐵tiě索suǒ一yì條tiáo，把bǎ龍lóng婆pó琵pí琶pá骨gǔ穿chuān了le。教jiào沙shā僧sēng：「請qǐng國guó王wáng來lái看kàn我wǒ們men安ān塔tǎ去qù。」那nà國guó王wáng即jí忙máng排pái駕jià，遂suì同tóng三sān藏zàng攜xié手shǒu出chū朝cháo，並bìng文wén武wǔ多duō官guān，隨suí至zhì金jīn光guāng寺sì。行xíng者zhě上shàng塔tǎ，將jiāng舍shè利lì子zi安ān在zài第dì十shí三sān層céng塔tǎ頂dǐng寶bǎo瓶píng中zhōng間jiān，把bǎ龍lóng婆pó鎖suǒ在zài塔tǎ心xīn柱zhù上shàng。当dāng驾jià官guān即jí取qǔ铁tiě索suǒ一yì条tiáo，把bǎ龙lóng婆pó琵pí琶pá骨gǔ穿chuān了le。教jiào沙shā僧sēng：「请qǐng国guó王wáng来lái看kàn我wǒ们men安ān塔tǎ去qù。」那nà国guó王wáng即jí忙máng排pái驾jià，遂suì同tóng三sān藏zàng携xié手shǒu出chū朝cháo，并bìng文wén武wǔ多duō官guān，随suí至zhì金jīn光guāng寺sì。行xíng者zhě上shàng塔tǎ，将jiāng舍shè利lì子zi安ān在zài第dì十shí三sān层céng塔tǎ顶dǐng宝bǎo瓶píng中zhōng间jiān，把bǎ龙lóng婆pó锁suǒ在zài塔tǎ心xīn柱zhù上shàng。

逐句解 Line by line

當dāng駕jià官guān即jí取qǔ鐵tiě索suǒ一yì條tiáo，把bǎ龍lóng婆pó琵pí琶pá骨gǔ穿chuān了le。当dāng驾jià官guān即jí取qǔ铁tiě索suǒ一yì条tiáo，把bǎ龙lóng婆pó琵pí琶pá骨gǔ穿chuān了le。

The officer in attendance fetched a chain at once and ran it through the dragon dame's shoulder-blades.

當 is dāng in 當駕, on duty with the carriage. 一條 takes 一 at yì before the rising 條 tiáo. 琵琶骨 is the shoulder-blade, named for its shape, and running a chain through it is exactly what was done to the two fish-fiends in the chapter before this one.

教jiào沙shā僧sēng：「請qǐng國guó王wáng來lái看kàn我wǒ們men安ān塔tǎ去qù。」教jiào沙shā僧sēng：「请qǐng国guó王wáng来lái看kàn我wǒ们men安ān塔tǎ去qù。」

He told Sha Monk, "Ask the king to come and watch us set the pagoda to rights."

看 is kàn here, simply to look — six segments after the same graph took kān at 看塔, where the sense was to guard. The two readings sit closer together than anywhere else in the chapter. 教 is jiào.

那nà國guó王wáng即jí忙máng排pái駕jià，遂suì同tóng三sān藏zàng攜xié手shǒu出chū朝cháo，並bìng文wén武wǔ多duō官guān，隨suí至zhì金jīn光guāng寺sì。那nà国guó王wáng即jí忙máng排pái驾jià，遂suì同tóng三sān藏zàng携xié手shǒu出chū朝cháo，并bìng文wén武wǔ多duō官guān，随suí至zhì金jīn光guāng寺sì。

The king had his carriage made ready at once and came out of the court hand in hand with Tripitaka, with the officers civil and military, and so to the Temple of Golden Light.

藏 is zàng and 朝 is cháo, the court. 攜手 — hand in hand — is the same gesture Erlang made to Pilgrim on the mountain, and it puts a king and a foreign monk on the same footing without a word of comment.

行xíng者zhě上shàng塔tǎ，將jiāng舍shè利lì子zi安ān在zài第dì十shí三sān層céng塔tǎ頂dǐng寶bǎo瓶píng中zhōng間jiān，把bǎ龍lóng婆pó鎖suǒ在zài塔tǎ心xīn柱zhù上shàng。行xíng者zhě上shàng塔tǎ，将jiāng舍shè利lì子zi安ān在zài第dì十shí三sān层céng塔tǎ顶dǐng宝bǎo瓶píng中zhōng间jiān，把bǎ龙lóng婆pó锁suǒ在zài塔tǎ心xīn柱zhù上shàng。

Pilgrim went up the pagoda and set the śarīra in the middle of the precious vase at the crown of the thirteenth storey, and chained the dragon dame to the central pillar.

舍利 is the registered transcription again, and 子 after it takes its own reading. 將 is the disposal marker jiāng; 中 is zhōng and 間 stands at jiān. The relic goes into the vase and the prisoner onto the pillar in one sentence, at the top and the centre of the same tower.

總評 Commentary

The chain through the shoulder-blades is the chapter's last piece of symmetry. It is precisely what was done to the two fish-fiends at the start of the previous chapter, when Pilgrim first caught them on the pagoda — the same restraint, applied to the household that sent them.

The procession that follows is described in the language of state. The carriage is made ready, the officers civil and military attend, the king comes out hand in hand with Tripitaka. It is the same gesture Erlang used on the mountain, and the novel gives it to a king and a foreign monk without remarking on it.

The last sentence puts two things in place at once: the relic in the vase at the crown, and the dragon dame chained to the pillar at the centre. She is now part of the fixture she was brought to guard.