第六十五回 · 合成一塊 Closed Into One Piece — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

合成一塊 Closed Into One Piece

眾zhòng神shén真zhēn個gè掀xiān鐃náo，就jiù如rú長zhǎng就jiù的de一yì般bān，莫mò想xiǎng揭jiē動dòng分fēn毫háo。金jīn頭tóu揭jiē諦dì道dào：「大dà聖shèng，這zhè鐃náo鈸bó不bù知zhī是shì件jiàn甚shén麼me寶bǎo貝bèi，連lián上shàng帶dài下xià，合hé成chéng一yí塊kuài。小xiǎo神shén力lì薄bó，不bù能néng掀xiān動dòng。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ在zài裡lǐ面miàn，不bù知zhī使shǐ了le多duō少shǎo神shén通tōng，也yě不bù得dé動dòng。」众zhòng神shén真zhēn个gè掀xiān铙náo，就jiù如rú长zhǎng就jiù的de一yì般bān，莫mò想xiǎng揭jiē动dòng分fēn毫háo。金jīn头tóu揭jiē谛dì道dào：「大dà圣shèng，这zhè铙náo钹bó不bù知zhī是shì件jiàn甚shén么me宝bǎo贝bèi，连lián上shàng带dài下xià，合hé成chéng一yí块kuài。小xiǎo神shén力lì薄bó，不bù能néng掀xiān动dòng。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ在zài里lǐ面miàn，不bù知zhī使shǐ了le多duō少shǎo神shén通tōng，也yě不bù得dé动dòng。」

逐句解 Line by line

眾zhòng神shén真zhēn個gè掀xiān鐃náo，就jiù如rú長zhǎng就jiù的de一yì般bān，莫mò想xiǎng揭jiē動dòng分fēn毫háo。众zhòng神shén真zhēn个gè掀xiān铙náo，就jiù如rú长zhǎng就jiù的de一yì般bān，莫mò想xiǎng揭jiē动dòng分fēn毫háo。

The gods did indeed try to prise the cymbals up, but it was as if the thing had grown that way, and there was no hope of lifting it a hair's breadth.

長就 is grown-into-position, the same zhǎng Pilgrim used on himself a few passages back, now said of the object. And the formula is his own first failure with one character changed: he could not 得動 it from inside, they cannot 揭動 it from outside.

金jīn頭tóu揭jiē諦dì道dào：「大dà聖shèng，這zhè鐃náo鈸bó不bù知zhī是shì件jiàn甚shén麼me寶bǎo貝bèi，連lián上shàng帶dài下xià，合hé成chéng一yí塊kuài。金jīn头tóu揭jiē谛dì道dào：「大dà圣shèng，这zhè铙náo钹bó不bù知zhī是shì件jiàn甚shén么me宝bǎo贝bèi，连lián上shàng带dài下xià，合hé成chéng一yí块kuài。

The Gold-headed Guardian said, "Great Sage, there is no telling what sort of treasure these cymbals are. Top and bottom together, they have closed into one piece."

寶貝 is the novel's ordinary word for a magic implement, and a Guardian of the Five Quarters admitting he cannot identify this one is the first sign that the object outranks everybody present. 連上帶下 is a four-character formula for taking two things together, top and bottom at once.

小xiǎo神shén力lì薄bó，不bù能néng掀xiān動dòng。」小xiǎo神shén力lì薄bó，不bù能néng掀xiān动dòng。」

"Your minor deities are weak and cannot shift them."

小神 is a deity's self-deprecating first person in front of a superior — your humble godling. 薄 reads bó, the literary band, inside the bound compound 力薄, not the báo of a thin sheet of something.

行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ在zài裡lǐ面miàn，不bù知zhī使shǐ了le多duō少shǎo神shén通tōng，也yě不bù得dé動dòng。」行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ在zài里lǐ面miàn，不bù知zhī使shǐ了le多duō少shǎo神shén通tōng，也yě不bù得dé动dòng。」

Pilgrim said, "I have been in here using I do not know how many transformations, and I cannot move it either."

也 puts him alongside the gods rather than above them, which is not a position the Great Sage takes very often. 得 is dé in 不得動, where the negative is governing a modal rather than a completed action.

總評 Commentary

The gods fail exactly as he did and describe the failure better than he could. 連上帶下，合成一塊 — top and bottom closed into one piece — is the clearest statement anybody manages of what is actually wrong. The cymbals are not shut. They are single.

It also raises the stakes without saying so. A Guardian of the Five Quarters cannot name the treasure, which means it is not in the celestial inventory he would know by heart. The chapter has produced an object from outside the system, and the system's next move is to send more of itself.