第六十五回 · 這等怠慢 Why Are You So Slow — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

這等怠慢 Why Are You So Slow

即jí命mìng八bā戒jiè取qǔ袈jiā裟shā，換huàn僧sēng帽mào，結jié束shù了le衣yī冠guān，舉jǔ步bù前qián進jìn。只zhǐ聽tīng得dé山shān門mén裡lǐ有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「唐táng僧sēng，你nǐ自zì東dōng土tǔ來lái拜bài見jiàn我wǒ佛fó，怎zěn麼me還hái這zhè等děng怠dài慢màn？」三sān藏zàng聞wén言yán，即jí便biàn下xià拜bài；八bā戒jiè也yě磕kē頭tóu，沙shā僧sēng也yě跪guì倒dǎo。惟wéi大dà聖shèng牽qiān馬mǎ，收shōu拾shí行xíng李lǐ在zài後hòu。即jí命mìng八bā戒jiè取qǔ袈jiā裟shā，换huàn僧sēng帽mào，结jié束shù了le衣yī冠guān，举jǔ步bù前qián进jìn。只zhǐ听tīng得dé山shān门mén里lǐ有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「唐táng僧sēng，你nǐ自zì东dōng土tǔ来lái拜bài见jiàn我wǒ佛fó，怎zěn么me还hái这zhè等děng怠dài慢màn？」三sān藏zàng闻wén言yán，即jí便biàn下xià拜bài；八bā戒jiè也yě磕kē头tóu，沙shā僧sēng也yě跪guì倒dǎo。惟wéi大dà圣shèng牵qiān马mǎ，收shōu拾shí行xíng李lǐ在zài后hòu。

逐句解 Line by line

即jí命mìng八bā戒jiè取qǔ袈jiā裟shā，換huàn僧sēng帽mào，結jié束shù了le衣yī冠guān，舉jǔ步bù前qián進jìn。即jí命mìng八bā戒jiè取qǔ袈jiā裟shā，换huàn僧sēng帽mào，结jié束shù了le衣yī冠guān，举jǔ步bù前qián进jìn。

He had Eight Rules fetch out the cassock at once, changed his monk's cap, put his vestments in order, and stepped forward.

He dresses for the audience before anybody has confirmed there is one. 結束 in this register means to make one's clothing fast and tidy — nothing to do with bringing a thing to an end, which is what the same two characters mean today.

只zhǐ聽tīng得dé山shān門mén裡lǐ有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「唐táng僧sēng，你nǐ自zì東dōng土tǔ來lái拜bài見jiàn我wǒ佛fó，怎zěn麼me還hái這zhè等děng怠dài慢màn？」只zhǐ听tīng得dé山shān门mén里lǐ有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「唐táng僧sēng，你nǐ自zì东dōng土tǔ来lái拜bài见jiàn我wǒ佛fó，怎zěn么me还hái这zhè等děng怠dài慢màn？」

And a voice was heard calling from inside the mountain gate: "Tang Monk! You have come from the Land of the East to pay your respects to our Buddha — why are you still so slow about it?"

The voice knows his name, knows where he has come from, and knows what he came for. That is the whole of the impersonation, and it is enough. 得 is dé in 聽得, heading a claim of its own — heard, and here is what was heard — rather than linking one verb to another.

三sān藏zàng聞wén言yán，即jí便biàn下xià拜bài；三sān藏zàng闻wén言yán，即jí便biàn下xià拜bài；

Tripitaka heard it and went straight down;

Eight characters, and no interval whatever between hearing and kneeling. The source cuts the clause off at a semicolon so that it stands by itself: he is separated from the other two even by the punctuation.

八bā戒jiè也yě磕kē頭tóu，沙shā僧sēng也yě跪guì倒dǎo。八bā戒jiè也yě磕kē头tóu，沙shā僧sēng也yě跪guì倒dǎo。

Eight Rules knocked his head on the ground too, and Sha Monk went down on his knees.

Two subjects, two verbs, and a repeated 也 holding them in balance, which is why this half of the sentence is shaped quite differently from the half before it. 倒 is dǎo, going down — the same reading it took when the elder came off his horse.

惟wéi大dà聖shèng牽qiān馬mǎ，收shōu拾shí行xíng李lǐ在zài後hòu。惟wéi大dà圣shèng牵qiān马mǎ，收shōu拾shí行xíng李lǐ在zài后hòu。

Only the Great Sage stayed at the back, holding the horse and seeing to the luggage.

惟 sets him apart from all three at once. The detail is practical rather than defiant — somebody has to hold the horse — and it happens to put him in the one position from which the hall can be looked at from outside.

總評 Commentary

The trap works because it is polite. Nobody drags the pilgrims anywhere. A voice greets them by name, states their errand correctly, and reproaches them mildly for being slow — everything a genuine welcome would contain, and nothing else.

The three who bow do it in descending order of conviction. Tripitaka is down before the sentence has finished, Eight Rules knocks his head on the ground, Sha Monk kneels. Pilgrim is left at the back with the horse, and notice that the text does not say he refused. It says only that he was holding the luggage.