第六十七回 · 共湊一千畝 A Thousand Mu Put Together — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

共湊一千畝 A Thousand Mu Put Together

眾zhòng老lǎo道dào：「既jì如rú此cǐ說shuō，都dōu是shì受shòu戒jiè的de高gāo僧sēng。既jì不bú要yào錢qián，豈qǐ有yǒu空kōng勞láo之zhī理lǐ？我wǒ等děng各gè家jiā俱jù以yǐ魚yú田tián為wéi活huó，若ruò果guǒ降xiáng了le妖yāo孽niè，淨jìng了le地dì方fāng，我wǒ等děng每měi家jiā送sòng你nǐ兩liǎng畝mǔ良liáng田tián，共gòng湊còu一yì千qiān畝mǔ，坐zuò落luò一yí處chù，你nǐ師shī徒tú們men在zài上shàng起qǐ蓋gài寺sì院yuàn，打dǎ坐zuò參cān禪chán，強qiáng似sì方fāng上shàng雲yún遊yóu。」众zhòng老lǎo道dào：「既jì如rú此cǐ说shuō，都dōu是shì受shòu戒jiè的de高gāo僧sēng。既jì不bú要yào钱qián，岂qǐ有yǒu空kōng劳láo之zhī理lǐ？我wǒ等děng各gè家jiā俱jù以yǐ鱼yú田tián为wéi活huó，若ruò果guǒ降xiáng了le妖yāo孽niè，净jìng了le地dì方fāng，我wǒ等děng每měi家jiā送sòng你nǐ两liǎng亩mǔ良liáng田tián，共gòng凑còu一yì千qiān亩mǔ，坐zuò落luò一yí处chù，你nǐ师shī徒tú们men在zài上shàng起qǐ盖gài寺sì院yuàn，打dǎ坐zuò参cān禅chán，强qiáng似sì方fāng上shàng云yún游yóu。」

逐句解 Line by line

眾zhòng老lǎo道dào：「既jì如rú此cǐ說shuō，都dōu是shì受shòu戒jiè的de高gāo僧sēng。众zhòng老lǎo道dào：「既jì如rú此cǐ说shuō，都dōu是shì受shòu戒jiè的de高gāo僧sēng。

The elders said, "If you speak so, you are all eminent monks under the precepts.

受戒 is to have formally taken the monastic vows. The elders are conceding the moral claim Pilgrim has just made.

既jì不bú要yào錢qián，豈qǐ有yǒu空kōng勞láo之zhī理lǐ？既jì不bú要yào钱qián，岂qǐ有yǒu空kōng劳láo之zhī理lǐ？

"But if you will take no money, how can there be any question of letting your labour go for nothing?

空 is kōng, "in vain" — automatic transcription supplies the kòng that means vacant time, having mistaken the two preceding characters for a word. 空勞 is effort spent for no return, and the elders will not have it, which is why the haggling continues.

我wǒ等děng各gè家jiā俱jù以yǐ魚yú田tián為wéi活huó，若ruò果guǒ降xiáng了le妖yāo孽niè，淨jìng了le地dì方fāng，我wǒ等děng每měi家jiā送sòng你nǐ兩liǎng畝mǔ良liáng田tián，共gòng湊còu一yì千qiān畝mǔ，坐zuò落luò一yí處chù，你nǐ師shī徒tú們men在zài上shàng起qǐ蓋gài寺sì院yuàn，打dǎ坐zuò參cān禪chán，強qiáng似sì方fāng上shàng雲yún遊yóu。」我wǒ等děng各gè家jiā俱jù以yǐ鱼yú田tián为wéi活huó，若ruò果guǒ降xiáng了le妖yāo孽niè，净jìng了le地dì方fāng，我wǒ等děng每měi家jiā送sòng你nǐ两liǎng亩mǔ良liáng田tián，共gòng凑còu一yì千qiān亩mǔ，坐zuò落luò一yí处chù，你nǐ师shī徒tú们men在zài上shàng起qǐ盖gài寺sì院yuàn，打dǎ坐zuò参cān禅chán，强qiáng似sì方fāng上shàng云yún游yóu。」

"Every household of ours lives by its fish ponds and its fields. If you truly subdue this monstrous thing and clean out the district, each family will make you a gift of two mu of good land — a thousand mu put together, all lying in one place — and you and your disciples may raise a monastery upon it, sit in meditation and practise Chan, which would be better than wandering the country."

A mu is the Chinese unit of land area, and a thousand of them is a substantial estate. 為 is wéi in 為活, to make a living by. 降 is xiáng, to subdue, not the jiàng of descending — the reading the self-portrait needed. 參 is cān in 參禪, to sit in Chan meditation — the school English knows through its Japanese name, Zen.

總評 Commentary

The counter-offer is more generous than any money could have been and it is calculated to the acre. Two mu per household, eight or nine households in the room but five hundred in the village, a thousand mu all lying together. They have thought about this.

What they are offering is not a fee but a settlement — a monastery, land under it, an end to the road. The whole shape of a life that is the opposite of the one these four are living. 強似方上雲遊, "better than drifting about the country," is said as though nobody could dispute it.

It comes from people who mean nothing but kindness by it, which is what makes it difficult. The pilgrimage is a vow to keep moving, and a thousand mu of good land is precisely a reason to stop.