Canonical Classics ← 第六十五回
第六十五回
妖yāo邪xié假jiǎ設shè小xiǎo雷léi音yīn
四sì眾zhòng皆jiē遭zāo大dà厄è難nàn

A Fiend Falsely Sets Up a Lesser Thunderclap · The Four Pilgrims All Fall into Great Calamity

不分好歹
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

不分好歹 Flung Down Anyhow

老lǎo妖yāo教jiào小xiǎo的de們men取qǔ了le三sān五wǔ十shí條tiáo麻má索suǒ,解jiě開kāi搭dā包bāo,拿ná一yí個gè,綑kǔn一yí個gè。一yí個gè個gè都dōu骨gǔ軟ruǎn觔jīn麻má,皮pí膚fū窊wā皺zhòu。綑kǔn了le擡tái去qù後hòu邊biān,不bù分fēn好hǎo歹dǎi,俱jù擲zhì之zhī於yú地dì。妖yāo王wáng又yòu命mìng排pái筵yán暢chàng飲yǐn,自zì旦dàn至zhì暮mù方fāng散sàn,各gè歸guī寢qǐn處chù不bù題tí。老lǎo妖yāo教jiào小xiǎo的de们men取qǔ了le三sān五wǔ十shí条tiáo麻má索suǒ,解jiě开kāi搭dā包bāo,拿ná一yí个gè,捆kǔn一yí个gè。一yí个gè个gè都dōu骨gǔ软ruǎn觔jīn麻má,皮pí肤fū窊wā皱zhòu。捆kǔn了le擡tái去qù后hòu边biān,不bù分fēn好hǎo歹dǎi,俱jù掷zhì之zhī于yú地dì。妖yāo王wáng又yòu命mìng排pái筵yán畅chàng饮yǐn,自zì旦dàn至zhì暮mù方fāng散sàn,各gè归guī寝qǐn处chù不bù题tí。


逐句解 Line by line

老lǎo妖yāo教jiào小xiǎo的de們men取qǔ了le三sān五wǔ十shí條tiáo麻má索suǒ,解jiě開kāi搭dā包bāo,拿ná一yí個gè,綑kǔn一yí個gè。 老lǎo妖yāo教jiào小xiǎo的de们men取qǔ了le三sān五wǔ十shí条tiáo麻má索suǒ,解jiě开kāi搭dā包bāo,拿ná一yí个gè,捆kǔn一yí个gè。

The old demon had his lads fetch thirty or fifty hemp ropes, opened the bag, and took them out one at a time and bound them one at a time.

拿一個,綑一個 is the whole procedure in six characters, and the repetition is the point: thirty-four prisoners, handled one at a time. 三五十 is the everyday way of giving a rough count — thirty or fifty, call it what you like.

一yí個gè個gè都dōu骨gǔ軟ruǎn觔jīn麻má,皮pí膚fū窊wā皺zhòu。 一yí个gè个gè都dōu骨gǔ软ruǎn觔jīn麻má,皮pí肤fū窊wā皱zhòu。

Every one of them had gone soft in the bone and numb in the sinew, with the skin sunk and wrinkled.

觔 is a variant of 筋 and reads jīn. 骨軟觔麻 puts bone against sinew where the Metal Dragon got 力盡觔柔, strength against sinew — the same character gone slack in both. The bag has done to thirty-four what a whole night's work did to one.

綑kǔn了le擡tái去qù後hòu邊biān,不bù分fēn好hǎo歹dǎi,俱jù擲zhì之zhī於yú地dì。 捆kǔn了le擡tái去qù后hòu边biān,不bù分fēn好hǎo歹dǎi,俱jù掷zhì之zhī于yú地dì。

Bound, they were carried off to the back, and without sorting the good from the bad they were all thrown down on the ground.

不分好歹 is the vernacular for making no distinction whatever — not sorting the good from the bad — and the flatness of 俱擲之於地, all of them thrown down on the ground, is the lowest point the celestial establishment reaches in this chapter.

妖yāo王wáng又yòu命mìng排pái筵yán暢chàng飲yǐn,自zì旦dàn至zhì暮mù方fāng散sàn,各gè歸guī寢qǐn處chù不bù題tí。 妖yāo王wáng又yòu命mìng排pái筵yán畅chàng饮yǐn,自zì旦dàn至zhì暮mù方fāng散sàn,各gè归guī寝qǐn处chù不bù题tí。

The demon king then ordered a banquet set out and drank his fill, and they did not break up until dusk, when each went off to his sleeping quarters — and no more of that.

不題 closes the thread, as it did after the first capture: the demons' side is sealed off and the narrative goes elsewhere. 散 is sàn, to break up and disperse, and 處 is chù, the place.


總評 Commentary

The chapter has now performed the same sequence twice: a capture, a stowing away at the back, a feast, and 不題. The second time, the haul includes the twenty-eight lunar mansions and the Guardians of the Five Quarters.

The detail that carries it is 不分好歹. Heaven's officers are tipped onto the floor of a back room without being sorted from anybody else, and the demon goes off to drink from dawn to dusk. Nothing in the passage treats the capture of thirty-three celestial officers as more remarkable than the capture of four travellers the day before.