第六十四回 · 丰采清奇 The Four Whitehairs Of Han — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

丰采清奇 The Four Whitehairs Of Han

三sān藏zàng稱chēng謝xiè道dào：「四sì位wèi仙xiān翁wēng，俱jù享xiǎng高gāo壽shòu，但dàn勁jìn節jié翁wēng又yòu千qiān歲suì餘yú矣yǐ。高gāo年nián得dé道dào，丰fēng采cǎi清qīng奇qí，得dé非fēi漢hàn時shí之zhī『四sì皓hào』乎hū？」四sì老lǎo道dào：「承chéng過guò獎jiǎng，承chéng過guò獎jiǎng。吾wú等děng非fēi四sì皓hào，乃nǎi深shēn山shān之zhī『四sì操cāo』也yě。敢gǎn問wèn聖shèng僧sēng，妙miào齡líng幾jǐ何hé？」三sān藏zàng称chēng谢xiè道dào：「四sì位wèi仙xiān翁wēng，俱jù享xiǎng高gāo寿shòu，但dàn劲jìn节jié翁wēng又yòu千qiān岁suì余yú矣yǐ。高gāo年nián得dé道dào，丰fēng采cǎi清qīng奇qí，得dé非fēi汉hàn时shí之zhī『四sì皓hào』乎hū？」四sì老lǎo道dào：「承chéng过guò奖jiǎng，承chéng过guò奖jiǎng。吾wú等děng非fēi四sì皓hào，乃nǎi深shēn山shān之zhī『四sì操cāo』也yě。敢gǎn问wèn圣shèng僧sēng，妙miào龄líng几jǐ何hé？」

逐句解 Line by line

三sān藏zàng稱chēng謝xiè道dào：「四sì位wèi仙xiān翁wēng，俱jù享xiǎng高gāo壽shòu，但dàn勁jìn節jié翁wēng又yòu千qiān歲suì餘yú矣yǐ。三sān藏zàng称chēng谢xiè道dào：「四sì位wèi仙xiān翁wēng，俱jù享xiǎng高gāo寿shòu，但dàn劲jìn节jié翁wēng又yòu千qiān岁suì余yú矣yǐ。

Tripitaka gave thanks and said, "The four immortal elders all enjoy a great age, and the elder Sturdy Joint a thousand years and more besides.

稱 is fixed at chēng across the corpus, here inside 稱謝, to express thanks.

高gāo年nián得dé道dào，丰fēng采cǎi清qīng奇qí，得dé非fēi漢hàn時shí之zhī『四sì皓hào』乎hū？」高gāo年nián得dé道dào，丰fēng采cǎi清qīng奇qí，得dé非fēi汉hàn时shí之zhī『四sì皓hào』乎hū？」

"High in years and possessed of the Way, of a clear and singular presence — can it be that you are the Four Whitehairs of the Han?"

Both instances of 得 head a clause of their own and take dé: 得道, to have attained the Way, and 得非…乎, the bookish formula for putting a guess as a question.

四sì老lǎo道dào：「承chéng過guò獎jiǎng，承chéng過guò獎jiǎng。四sì老lǎo道dào：「承chéng过guò奖jiǎng，承chéng过guò奖jiǎng。

The four old men said, "You praise us too far, you praise us too far.

This unit leaves its quotation open at exactly nine characters. A speech-opener is folded forward only when it runs to fewer than nine, so nine is one past the line and the unit stands. 承過獎 is the standard deprecating formula, said twice over as courtesy requires — the Chinese equivalent of "you flatter me, you flatter me".

吾wú等děng非fēi四sì皓hào，乃nǎi深shēn山shān之zhī『四sì操cāo』也yě。吾wú等děng非fēi四sì皓hào，乃nǎi深shēn山shān之zhī『四sì操cāo』也yě。

"We are not the Four Whitehairs. We are the Four Constancies of the deep hills.

The correction is a better pun than the compliment. 操 is moral constancy, and it pairs with 節 — the character in the Eighteenth Duke's own style name — to make 節操, integrity. Evergreens are the standing emblem of exactly that virtue, so the joke is that they have just told the truth about themselves again.

敢gǎn問wèn聖shèng僧sēng，妙miào齡líng幾jǐ何hé？」敢gǎn问wèn圣shèng僧sēng，妙miào龄líng几jǐ何hé？」

"May we presume to ask the holy monk his own years?"

This closes the quotation at exactly eight characters, and a tail is joined backwards only when it runs to fewer than eight, so eight is one past the line and the unit stands alone. Both boundary cases in this passage fall the same way.

總評 Commentary

Tripitaka pays the elders the highest compliment available to a man of letters: he asks whether they are the Four Whitehairs of Mount Shang, the four aged recluses who came down from the hills to save the Han succession. It places them as sages, as loyalists, and as figures out of the historical record rather than the woods.

Their answer is a joke and a correction and, if anyone were listening properly, a confession. They are not the Four Whitehairs but the Four Constancies of the deep hills — and constancy is the virtue Chinese writing has always read out of trees that keep their leaves through winter. The character they pick pairs with the Eighteenth Duke's own style name to make the ordinary word for integrity.

The exchange is also where the conversation turns. Having deflected the compliment, they immediately ask Tripitaka his age, which obliges him to answer in kind. He has heard four poems; he is about to give a fifth.