第六十五回 · 三千諸佛 Three Thousand Buddhas — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

三千諸佛 Three Thousand Buddhas

長zhǎng老lǎo戰zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de爬pá起qǐ來lái再zài看kàn，真zhēn個gè是shì四sì個gè字zì，乃nǎi「小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì」。三sān藏zàng道dào：「就jiù是shì小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì，必bì定dìng也yě有yǒu個gè佛fó祖zǔ在zài內nèi。經jīng上shàng言yán三sān千qiān諸zhū佛fó，想xiǎng是shì不bú在zài一yì方fāng：似sì觀guān音yīn在zài南nán海hǎi，普pǔ賢xián在zài峨é眉méi，文wén殊shū在zài五wǔ臺tái。這zhè不bù知zhī是shì那nǎ一yí位wèi佛fó祖zǔ的de道dào場chǎng。古gǔ人rén云yún：『有yǒu佛fó有yǒu經jīng，無wú方fāng無wú寶bǎo。』我wǒ們men可kě進jìn去qù來lái。」长zhǎng老lǎo战zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de爬pá起qǐ来lái再zài看kàn，真zhēn个gè是shì四sì个gè字zì，乃nǎi「小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì」。三sān藏zàng道dào：「就jiù是shì小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì，必bì定dìng也yě有yǒu个gè佛fó祖zǔ在zài内nèi。经jīng上shàng言yán三sān千qiān诸zhū佛fó，想xiǎng是shì不bú在zài一yì方fāng：似sì观guān音yīn在zài南nán海hǎi，普pǔ贤xián在zài峨é眉méi，文wén殊shū在zài五wǔ台tái。这zhè不bù知zhī是shì那nǎ一yí位wèi佛fó祖zǔ的de道dào场chǎng。古gǔ人rén云yún：『有yǒu佛fó有yǒu经jīng，无wú方fāng无wú宝bǎo。』我wǒ们men可kě进jìn去qù来lái。」

逐句解 Line by line

長zhǎng老lǎo戰zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de爬pá起qǐ來lái再zài看kàn，真zhēn個gè是shì四sì個gè字zì，乃nǎi「小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì」。长zhǎng老lǎo战zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de爬pá起qǐ来lái再zài看kàn，真zhēn个gè是shì四sì个gè字zì，乃nǎi「小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì」。

The elder got up trembling and looked again, and there were indeed four characters: Lesser Thunderclap Monastery.

One character is the difference between the place he wants and the place he is standing in front of, and the text delivers it as flatly as it possibly can: 真個是四個字, there really were four. He is still trembling — and still frightened of the wrong thing.

三sān藏zàng道dào：「就jiù是shì小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì，必bì定dìng也yě有yǒu個gè佛fó祖zǔ在zài內nèi。三sān藏zàng道dào：「就jiù是shì小xiǎo雷léi音yīn寺sì，必bì定dìng也yě有yǒu个gè佛fó祖zǔ在zài内nèi。

Tripitaka said, "Even if it is the Lesser Thunderclap Monastery, there is bound to be a Buddha inside."

就是 concedes the point and sets it aside in the same breath. Shown that the name is not the one he read, he keeps his conclusion and changes his premise, which is the manoeuvre the rest of the speech elaborates.

經jīng上shàng言yán三sān千qiān諸zhū佛fó，想xiǎng是shì不bú在zài一yì方fāng：似sì觀guān音yīn在zài南nán海hǎi，普pǔ賢xián在zài峨é眉méi，文wén殊shū在zài五wǔ臺tái。经jīng上shàng言yán三sān千qiān诸zhū佛fó，想xiǎng是shì不bú在zài一yì方fāng：似sì观guān音yīn在zài南nán海hǎi，普pǔ贤xián在zài峨é眉méi，文wén殊shū在zài五wǔ台tái。

"The scriptures speak of three thousand Buddhas, and I suppose they are not all in one quarter — as Guanyin is at the Southern Sea, Samantabhadra on Emei, and Mañjuśrī on Wutai."

Three of the four great bodhisattva mountains, and the argument is perfectly sound as far as it goes: holiness really is spread about. Guanyin is at the Southern Sea, Samantabhadra on Emei, Mañjuśrī on Wutai. The fourth mountain, Kṣitigarbha's, goes unmentioned anywhere in the chapter — and the sound doctrine is being used to license walking into a building on the strength of a signboard.

這zhè不bù知zhī是shì那nǎ一yí位wèi佛fó祖zǔ的de道dào場chǎng。这zhè不bù知zhī是shì那nǎ一yí位wèi佛fó祖zǔ的de道dào场chǎng。

"There is no telling which Buddha's place of practice this may be."

那 is nǎ again, licensed by the 不知 in front of it. 場 reads chǎng here, the reading for an actual venue — and this is the only place in the whole chapter where the character is neither the level-tone measure word nor a rhyme.

古gǔ人rén云yún：『有yǒu佛fó有yǒu經jīng，無wú方fāng無wú寶bǎo。』我wǒ們men可kě進jìn去qù來lái。」古gǔ人rén云yún：『有yǒu佛fó有yǒu经jīng，无wú方fāng无wú宝bǎo。』我wǒ们men可kě进jìn去qù来lái。」

"The ancients said: where there is a Buddha there are scriptures; where there is no such quarter there is no treasure. Let us go in."

The saying turns his own argument round: if holiness is distributed by place, then a place with a Buddha in it will have scriptures. Between the colon and the inner quotation the edition prints a wide typographic space of a kind the reading edition cannot carry, since its words are already separated by ordinary spaces.

總評 Commentary

This is the passage where the chapter is lost. Tripitaka has just been shown that the sign says something other than what he read, and he answers with a piece of genuine doctrine — the Buddhas are many and they are not all in one place — which makes the difference between the two names beside the point.

None of the doctrine is wrong. Guanyin really is placed at the Southern Sea, Samantabhadra on Emei, Mañjuśrī on Wutai, and three thousand Buddhas is a scriptural commonplace. What is wrong is the step he takes next, from holiness is distributed to this building is one of its distributions, and nothing in the premises will carry him there.

The quotation he finishes on does the same work in miniature. It is offered as authority and it is perfectly circular: where there is a Buddha there are scriptures. Whether there is a Buddha is the only thing anybody has been asking.