第六十四回 · 一株老松 Ten Trees Upon The Cliff — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

一株老松 Ten Trees Upon The Cliff

他tā三sān人rén同tóng師shī父fù看kàn處chù，只zhǐ見jiàn一yí座zuò石shí崖yá，崖yá上shàng有yǒu「木mù仙xiān庵ān」三sān字zì。三sān藏zàng道dào：「此cǐ間jiān正zhèng是shì。」行xíng者zhě仔zǐ細xì觀guān之zhī，卻què原yuán來lái是shì一yì株zhū大dà檜guì樹shù、一yì株zhū老lǎo柏bǎi、一yì株zhū老lǎo松sōng、一yì株zhū老lǎo竹zhú，竹zhú後hòu有yǒu一yì株zhū丹dān楓fēng。再zài看kàn崖yá那nà邊biān，還hái有yǒu一yì株zhū老lǎo杏xìng、二èr株zhū臘là梅méi、二èr株zhū丹dān桂guì。他tā三sān人rén同tóng师shī父fù看kàn处chù，只zhǐ见jiàn一yí座zuò石shí崖yá，崖yá上shàng有yǒu「木mù仙xiān庵ān」三sān字zì。三sān藏zàng道dào：「此cǐ间jiān正zhèng是shì。」行xíng者zhě仔zǐ细xì观guān之zhī，却què原yuán来lái是shì一yì株zhū大dà桧guì树shù、一yì株zhū老lǎo柏bǎi、一yì株zhū老lǎo松sōng、一yì株zhū老lǎo竹zhú，竹zhú后hòu有yǒu一yì株zhū丹dān枫fēng。再zài看kàn崖yá那nà边biān，还hái有yǒu一yì株zhū老lǎo杏xìng、二èr株zhū腊là梅méi、二èr株zhū丹dān桂guì。

逐句解 Line by line

他tā三sān人rén同tóng師shī父fù看kàn處chù，只zhǐ見jiàn一yí座zuò石shí崖yá，崖yá上shàng有yǒu「木mù仙xiān庵ān」三sān字zì。他tā三sān人rén同tóng师shī父fù看kàn处chù，只zhǐ见jiàn一yí座zuò石shí崖yá，崖yá上shàng有yǒu「木mù仙xiān庵ān」三sān字zì。

The three of them went with their master to look at the place, and saw a stone cliff, and on the cliff three characters: Hermitage of the Wood Immortals.

The name that was painted over a door in the night turns out by daylight to be cut into the rock. Nothing that happened here was staged for the occasion.

三sān藏zàng道dào：「此cǐ間jiān正zhèng是shì。」三sān藏zàng道dào：「此cǐ间jiān正zhèng是shì。」

Tripitaka said, "This is the very place."

Seven characters, carrying their own attribution and closing their own quotation.

行xíng者zhě仔zǐ細xì觀guān之zhī，卻què原yuán來lái是shì一yì株zhū大dà檜guì樹shù、一yì株zhū老lǎo柏bǎi、一yì株zhū老lǎo松sōng、一yì株zhū老lǎo竹zhú，竹zhú後hòu有yǒu一yì株zhū丹dān楓fēng。行xíng者zhě仔zǐ细xì观guān之zhī，却què原yuán来lái是shì一yì株zhū大dà桧guì树shù、一yì株zhū老lǎo柏bǎi、一yì株zhū老lǎo松sōng、一yì株zhū老lǎo竹zhú，竹zhú后hòu有yǒu一yì株zhū丹dān枫fēng。

Pilgrim looked at it carefully, and it turned out to be a great juniper, an old cypress, an old pine and an old bamboo, with a red maple standing behind the bamboo.

仔 is fixed at zǐ across the corpus; the automatic reading gives zǎi. Watch the order: the trees are not listed in the order in which they spoke, and the maple — which never spoke at all — is put last and placed behind the bamboo.

再zài看kàn崖yá那nà邊biān，還hái有yǒu一yì株zhū老lǎo杏xìng、二èr株zhū臘là梅méi、二èr株zhū丹dān桂guì。再zài看kàn崖yá那nà边biān，还hái有yǒu一yì株zhū老lǎo杏xìng、二èr株zhū腊là梅méi、二èr株zhū丹dān桂guì。

Looking again at the other side of the cliff, there were besides an old apricot, two winter plums and two red osmanthus.

Five trees on one side and five on the other. 還 is hái, besides.

總評 Commentary

Daylight does the work that a whole night of poetry could not. The three characters that were painted over a door are cut into a rock face; the hermitage is a cliff; and the company that sat drinking tea is a stand of timber.

The count is exact and the chapter has been careful with it. Five trees on the near side — juniper, cypress, pine, bamboo, and a maple behind the bamboo — and five on the far side, an apricot, two winter plums and two red osmanthus. Ten in all, and every one of them was in the room.

The maple is the one to watch. It stands behind the bamboo, it is named last, and it has not spoken a word of verse all evening. It was the thing carrying the trays.