第六十五回 · 如意之物 A Thing That Answers The Will — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

如意之物 A Thing That Answers The Will

亢kàng金jīn龍lóng道dào：「大dà聖shèng啊a，且qiě休xiū焦jiāo躁zào。觀guān此cǐ寶bǎo定dìng是shì個gè如rú意yì之zhī物wù，斷duàn然rán也yě能néng變biàn化huà。你nǐ在zài那nà裡lǐ面miàn，於yú那nà合hé縫fèng之zhī處chù，用yòng手shǒu摸mō著zhe，等děng我wǒ使shǐ角jiǎo尖jiān兒er拱gǒng進jìn來lái，你nǐ可kě變biàn化huà了le，順shùn鬆sōng處chù脫tuō身shēn。」行xíng者zhě依yī言yán，真zhēn個gè在zài裡lǐ面miàn亂luàn摸mō。亢kàng金jīn龙lóng道dào：「大dà圣shèng啊a，且qiě休xiū焦jiāo躁zào。观guān此cǐ宝bǎo定dìng是shì个gè如rú意yì之zhī物wù，断duàn然rán也yě能néng变biàn化huà。你nǐ在zài那nà里lǐ面miàn，于yú那nà合hé缝fèng之zhī处chù，用yòng手shǒu摸mō着zhe，等děng我wǒ使shǐ角jiǎo尖jiān儿er拱gǒng进jìn来lái，你nǐ可kě变biàn化huà了le，顺shùn松sōng处chù脱tuō身shēn。」行xíng者zhě依yī言yán，真zhēn个gè在zài里lǐ面miàn乱luàn摸mō。

逐句解 Line by line

亢kàng金jīn龍lóng道dào：「大dà聖shèng啊a，且qiě休xiū焦jiāo躁zào。亢kàng金jīn龙lóng道dào：「大dà圣shèng啊a，且qiě休xiū焦jiāo躁zào。

The Metal Dragon of Kang said, "Great Sage, do not fret."

The star lords are named on a fixed pattern — the lunar mansion, its element, its creature — so this one is Neck, metal, dragon. He is named four times and is the only one of the twenty-eight the chapter names outside the roll call, which is the novel marking him out before he does anything.

觀guān此cǐ寶bǎo定dìng是shì個gè如rú意yì之zhī物wù，斷duàn然rán也yě能néng變biàn化huà。观guān此cǐ宝bǎo定dìng是shì个gè如rú意yì之zhī物wù，断duàn然rán也yě能néng变biàn化huà。

"Looking at this treasure, it must be a thing that answers to the will, and it can certainly transform."

The first correct piece of reasoning anybody has done about the object. 如意 is the word for an implement that does what its holder wants, and the deduction runs: it changed size with the Great Sage, therefore it changes, therefore it can be worked on. Everyone else has been asking how hard it is.

你nǐ在zài那nà裡lǐ面miàn，於yú那nà合hé縫fèng之zhī處chù，用yòng手shǒu摸mō著zhe，等děng我wǒ使shǐ角jiǎo尖jiān兒er拱gǒng進jìn來lái，你nǐ可kě變biàn化huà了le，順shùn鬆sōng處chù脫tuō身shēn。」你nǐ在zài那nà里lǐ面miàn，于yú那nà合hé缝fèng之zhī处chù，用yòng手shǒu摸mō着zhe，等děng我wǒ使shǐ角jiǎo尖jiān儿er拱gǒng进jìn来lái，你nǐ可kě变biàn化huà了le，顺shùn松sōng处chù脱tuō身shēn。」

"You in there — feel along the seam with your hand, and wait until I have worked the tip of my horn in. Then change yourself and slip out where it gives."

拱 is to push through by burrowing — the verb a pig uses with its snout — and it comes back twice more before the rescue is over. 合縫之處 and 順鬆處 both take chù, the place: the whole plan is about locating one.

行xíng者zhě依yī言yán，真zhēn個gè在zài裡lǐ面miàn亂luàn摸mō。行xíng者zhě依yī言yán，真zhēn个gè在zài里lǐ面miàn乱luàn摸mō。

Pilgrim did as he was told and groped about inside in earnest.

依言 — he did as he was told. Eleven graphs, and they are the first in the chapter in which the Great Sage carries out somebody else's plan.

總評 Commentary

The plan is good because it starts from a property of the object rather than from a wish. The cymbals matched Pilgrim's size when he grew and again when he shrank; therefore they are responsive; therefore a wedge driven into the seam will make a gap — and a gap is all he needs.

It also needs the right instrument, and the Metal Dragon happens to be one. A horn is the only thing on the field that can be made needle-fine and then thickened again on command, which is exactly the two-stage motion the seam requires. Heaven has sent twenty-eight officers and precisely one of them is the right shape.