Canonical Classics ← 第六十七回
第六十七回
zhěngjiùtuóluóchánxìngwěn
tuōhuìdàoxīnqīng

Rescuing Tuoluo, the Meditative Nature Is Stilled · Escaping the Filth, the Heart of the Way Is Clean

諕矮了三寸
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

諕矮了三寸 Shrunk At The Sight

zhèdāizijiùxiàǎilesāncùndào:「yeyayǎnyǒuzhèbānazhīkǒuyǒuduōshǎoli。」xíngzhědào:「xiánliǎngchízheshīdàilǎosūnshàngtǎokǒukànshìshényāojīng。」jièdào:「geyàogòngchūmenlái。」zhèdāizijiùxiàǎilesāncùndào:「yeyayǎnyǒuzhèbānazhīkǒuyǒuduōshǎoli。」xíngzhědào:「xiánliǎngchízheshīdàilǎosūnshàngtǎokǒukànshìshényāojīng。」jièdào:「geyàogòngchūmenlái。」


逐句解 Line by line

zhèdāizijiùxiàǎilesāncùndào:「yeya zhèdāizijiùxiàǎilesāncùndào:「yeya

At that the idiot shrank three cùn shorter with fright. "Grandfather!

A cùn is the Chinese inch, about an inch and a quarter. is xià again — the third and last of the chapter's three appearances, and automatic transcription is wrong at every one. 爺爺 takes an unstressed second syllable, like the whole class of doubled address terms.

yǎnyǒuzhèbānazhīkǒuyǒuduōshǎoli。」 yǎnyǒuzhèbānazhīkǒuyǒuduōshǎoli。」

"If the eyes are that big, there is no telling how big the mouth must be."

The inference runs from a part to the whole — exactly the method the elders used when they measured Pilgrim against the creature's teeth.

xíngzhědào:「xián xíngzhědào:「xián

Pilgrim said, "Do not be afraid, worthy brother.

Seven characters, but the unit carries a full statement after the bracket and so is not a bare opener. It stands as its own segment.

liǎngchízheshīdàilǎosūnshàngtǎokǒukànshìshényāojīng。」 liǎngchízheshīdàilǎosūnshàngtǎokǒukànshìshényāojīng。」

"You two guard the master while old Sun goes up and draws a word out of him — we shall see what sort of demon he is."

討口氣 is to sound somebody out, to get a word out of them — the same thing Pilgrim has been doing to the villagers all evening. is the question-word shén, and the marker zhe.

jièdào:「geyàogòngchūmenlái。」 jièdào:「geyàogòngchūmenlái。」

Eight Rules said, "Brother — don't give us away."

is gòng, to inform on somebody or confess — a courtroom word — not the gōng that means to supply. 哥哥 takes the unstressed second syllable.


總評 Commentary

Three cùn is a measurable quantity of fright and the text reports it as fact. It is the same trick as the elders' remark about the teeth: something that cannot be quantified, quantified anyway.

Pilgrim's plan is reconnaissance rather than combat. He will go up and get the creature to talk — which is what he has been doing to the villagers all evening, asking questions until he has the whole account.

Eight Rules gets the last word and it is the funniest line in the exchange. He does not ask Pilgrim to be careful, or to come back. He asks him not to mention that the rest of them are down there.