第六十七回 · 嗚呼喪矣 And So It Died — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

嗚呼喪矣 And So It Died

又yòu在zài裡lǐ面miàn盡jìn著zhe力lì把bǎ鐵tiě棒bàng從cóng脊jǐ背bèi上shàng搠shuò將jiāng出chū去qù，約yuē有yǒu五wǔ七qī丈zhàng長cháng，就jiù似sì一yì根gēn桅wéi杆gān。那nà廝sī忍rěn疼téng掙zhèng命mìng，往wǎng前qián一yì攛cuān，比bǐ使shǐ風fēng更gèng快kuài，攛cuān回huí舊jiù路lù，下xià了le山shān，有yǒu二èr十shí餘yú里lǐ，卻què才cái倒dǎo在zài塵chén埃āi，動dòng蕩dàng不bù得de，嗚wū呼hū喪sàng矣yǐ。又yòu在zài里lǐ面miàn尽jìn着zhe力lì把bǎ铁tiě棒bàng从cóng脊jǐ背bèi上shàng搠shuò将jiāng出chū去qù，约yuē有yǒu五wǔ七qī丈zhàng长cháng，就jiù似sì一yì根gēn桅wéi杆gān。那nà厮sī忍rěn疼téng挣zhèng命mìng，往wǎng前qián一yì撺cuān，比bǐ使shǐ风fēng更gèng快kuài，撺cuān回huí旧jiù路lù，下xià了le山shān，有yǒu二èr十shí余yú里lǐ，却què才cái倒dǎo在zài尘chén埃āi，动dòng荡dàng不bù得de，呜wū呼hū丧sàng矣yǐ。

逐句解 Line by line

又yòu在zài裡lǐ面miàn盡jìn著zhe力lì把bǎ鐵tiě棒bàng從cóng脊jǐ背bèi上shàng搠shuò將jiāng出chū去qù，約yuē有yǒu五wǔ七qī丈zhàng長cháng，就jiù似sì一yì根gēn桅wéi杆gān。又yòu在zài里lǐ面miàn尽jìn着zhe力lì把bǎ铁tiě棒bàng从cóng脊jǐ背bèi上shàng搠shuò将jiāng出chū去qù，约yuē有yǒu五wǔ七qī丈zhàng长cháng，就jiù似sì一yì根gēn桅wéi杆gān。

Then from inside he put out the whole of his strength and drove the iron rod up through the creature's spine — five or seven zhàng of it, for all the world like a mast.

A zhàng is ten Chinese feet, so five or seven of them is a good fifty or seventy feet of iron. 將 is the directional syllable jiāng here — "out and away" — rather than the object-hauling one. 長 is cháng, the size sense, and 盡 is fixed at jìn.

那nà廝sī忍rěn疼téng掙zhèng命mìng，往wǎng前qián一yì攛cuān，比bǐ使shǐ風fēng更gèng快kuài，攛cuān回huí舊jiù路lù，下xià了le山shān，有yǒu二èr十shí餘yú里lǐ，卻què才cái倒dǎo在zài塵chén埃āi，動dòng蕩dàng不bù得de，嗚wū呼hū喪sàng矣yǐ。那nà厮sī忍rěn疼téng挣zhèng命mìng，往wǎng前qián一yì撺cuān，比bǐ使shǐ风fēng更gèng快kuài，撺cuān回huí旧jiù路lù，下xià了le山shān，有yǒu二èr十shí余yú里lǐ，却què才cái倒dǎo在zài尘chén埃āi，动dòng荡dàng不bù得de，呜wū呼hū丧sàng矣yǐ。

The thing, enduring the pain and struggling for its life, shot forward faster than any wind could have driven it, bolted back the way it had come, went down the hill and a good twenty li beyond, and only then fell into the dust, unable to stir; and so it died.

掙 is zhèng again, the second and last time in the chapter. 倒 is the verb dǎo, to fall — not the adverb the same character takes two segments further on. 得 is the light de in 動蕩不得, the verb standing in front of it.

總評 Commentary

The mast Eight Rules asked for is delivered as a spine with an iron rod driven through it, and the joke and the killing are the same act. Nothing marks the transition: the sentence that measures the rod is the sentence that ends the fight.

What follows runs to nine clauses and every one of them is movement — forward, back along the old road, down the hill, twenty li, into the dust. The creature's death is given to us as a distance.

嗚呼喪矣 closes it in four characters of formal classical Chinese dropped into vernacular narrative. A lament in the grand manner, delivered over an animal.