第六十六回 · 假佛成精 A False Buddha Turned Sprite — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

假佛成精 A False Buddha Turned Sprite

佛fó祖zǔ道dào：「他tā是shì我wǒ面miàn前qián司sī磬qìng的de一yí個gè黃huáng眉méi童tóng兒er。三sān月yuè三sān日rì，我wǒ因yīn赴fù元yuán始shǐ會huì去qù，留liú他tā在zài宮gōng看kān守shǒu，他tā把bǎ我wǒ這zhè幾jǐ件jiàn寶bǎo貝bèi拐guǎi出chū，假jiǎ佛fó成chéng精jīng。那nà搭dā包bāo兒er是shì我wǒ的de後hòu天tiān袋dài子zi，俗sú名míng喚huàn做zuò『人rén種zhǒng袋dài』。那nà條tiáo狼láng牙yá棒bàng是shì個gè敲qiāo磬qìng的de槌chuí兒er。」佛fó祖zǔ道dào：「他tā是shì我wǒ面miàn前qián司sī磬qìng的de一yí个gè黄huáng眉méi童tóng儿er。三sān月yuè三sān日rì，我wǒ因yīn赴fù元yuán始shǐ会huì去qù，留liú他tā在zài宫gōng看kān守shǒu，他tā把bǎ我wǒ这zhè几jǐ件jiàn宝bǎo贝bèi拐guǎi出chū，假jiǎ佛fó成chéng精jīng。那nà搭dā包bāo儿er是shì我wǒ的de后hòu天tiān袋dài子zi，俗sú名míng唤huàn做zuò『人rén种zhǒng袋dài』。那nà条tiáo狼láng牙yá棒bàng是shì个gè敲qiāo磬qìng的de槌chuí儿er。」

逐句解 Line by line

佛fó祖zǔ道dào：「他tā是shì我wǒ面miàn前qián司sī磬qìng的de一yí個gè黃huáng眉méi童tóng兒er。佛fó祖zǔ道dào：「他tā是shì我wǒ面miàn前qián司sī磬qìng的de一yí个gè黄huáng眉méi童tóng儿er。

The Buddha Patriarch said, "He is a yellow-browed page of mine who had charge of the chime-stone before me.

司磬 — in charge of the chime — is a servant's post, and 童兒, with its unstressed ending, is a boy. The creature that has beaten a god's household and four divine generals is a member of the domestic staff.

三sān月yuè三sān日rì，我wǒ因yīn赴fù元yuán始shǐ會huì去qù，留liú他tā在zài宮gōng看kān守shǒu，他tā把bǎ我wǒ這zhè幾jǐ件jiàn寶bǎo貝bèi拐guǎi出chū，假jiǎ佛fó成chéng精jīng。三sān月yuè三sān日rì，我wǒ因yīn赴fù元yuán始shǐ会huì去qù，留liú他tā在zài宫gōng看kān守shǒu，他tā把bǎ我wǒ这zhè几jǐ件jiàn宝bǎo贝bèi拐guǎi出chū，假jiǎ佛fó成chéng精jīng。

On the third day of the third month I went to the Assembly of the Primordial Beginning and left him in the palace on watch; and he made off with these few treasures of mine, and passed himself off as a Buddha and turned sprite.

看 is kān in 看守, to mind or guard something — not the kàn of looking, which is the reading almost everybody meets first. 元始 is the Celestial Worthy the god of Wudang also served, so the chapter's two divine establishments turn out to share a superior.

那nà搭dā包bāo兒er是shì我wǒ的de後hòu天tiān袋dài子zi，俗sú名míng喚huàn做zuò『人rén種zhǒng袋dài』。那nà搭dā包bāo儿er是shì我wǒ的de后hòu天tiān袋dài子zi，俗sú名míng唤huàn做zuò『人rén种zhǒng袋dài』。

That bundle is my Bag of the Latter Heaven, commonly called the Bag of Human Seed.

種 is zhǒng here, a seed or a kind. The bag has a formal name and a vulgar one and the text gives both, which is the sort of detail that makes a magic object feel like an object.

那nà條tiáo狼láng牙yá棒bàng是shì個gè敲qiāo磬qìng的de槌chuí兒er。」那nà条tiáo狼láng牙yá棒bàng是shì个gè敲qiāo磬qìng的de槌chuí儿er。」

That wolf-tooth club is the mallet for striking the chime."

Twelve characters, and the weapon no sword or spear could mark turns out to be a stick for hitting a bell with.

總評 Commentary

The explanation deflates the entire chapter, and it does so in four sentences. The fiend is a page. The invincible club is a chime-mallet. The bag that has swallowed the heavenly host, five dragons, two generals, a prince and four more generals is a piece of his master's luggage.

The date is doing quiet work. The third day of the third month is when the Buddha went to the Assembly, and the chapter has already dated the god of Wudang's birth to the first day of the third month — the same month, two days apart. The novel has put both of its divine calendars in the third month without remarking on it.

What the passage does not explain is why nobody knew. Guanyin's standing order, the Jade Emperor's commission, the god of Wudang's household and a Bodhisattva's disciple have all been thrown at a runaway servant, and none of the four establishments involved could say whose servant he was.