第六十八回 · 查點人夫 Counting Out The Bearers — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

查點人夫 Counting Out The Bearers

卻què說shuō那nà館guǎn中zhōng有yǒu兩liǎng個gè大dà使shǐ，乃nǎi是shì一yí正zhèng一yí副fù，都dōu在zài廳tīng上shàng查chá點diǎn人rén夫fū，要yào往wǎng那nà裡lǐ接jiē官guān。忽hū見jiàn唐táng僧sēng來lái到dào，個gè個gè心xīn驚jīng，齊qí道dào：「是shì甚shén麼me人rén？是shì甚shén麼me人rén？往wǎng那nà裡lǐ走zǒu？」却què说shuō那nà馆guǎn中zhōng有yǒu两liǎng个gè大dà使shǐ，乃nǎi是shì一yí正zhèng一yí副fù，都dōu在zài厅tīng上shàng查chá点diǎn人rén夫fū，要yào往wǎng那nà里lǐ接jiē官guān。忽hū见jiàn唐táng僧sēng来lái到dào，个gè个gè心xīn惊jīng，齐qí道dào：「是shì甚shén么me人rén？是shì甚shén么me人rén？往wǎng那nà里lǐ走zǒu？」

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà館guǎn中zhōng有yǒu兩liǎng個gè大dà使shǐ，乃nǎi是shì一yí正zhèng一yí副fù，都dōu在zài廳tīng上shàng查chá點diǎn人rén夫fū，要yào往wǎng那nà裡lǐ接jiē官guān。却què说shuō那nà馆guǎn中zhōng有yǒu两liǎng个gè大dà使shǐ，乃nǎi是shì一yí正zhèng一yí副fù，都dōu在zài厅tīng上shàng查chá点diǎn人rén夫fū，要yào往wǎng那nà里lǐ接jiē官guān。

Now in that hall there were two commissioners, a chief and a deputy, both up in the main room counting out bearers, meaning to go somewhere and receive an official.

一正一副 — one chief, one deputy — is an ordinary pair of numbers, and both instances of 一 shift tone in the ordinary way before the falling tone that follows. Neither is one of the fixed uses that hold their citation tone.

忽hū見jiàn唐táng僧sēng來lái到dào，個gè個gè心xīn驚jīng，齊qí道dào：「是shì甚shén麼me人rén？忽hū见jiàn唐táng僧sēng来lái到dào，个gè个gè心xīn惊jīng，齐qí道dào：「是shì甚shén么me人rén？

Seeing the Tang Monk arrive, every one of them took fright, and they cried out together, "What sort of people are these?

甚 takes shén when it is paired with 麼. Standing on its own it would read shèn, as it did when the pilgrims were arguing below the wall.

是shì甚shén麼me人rén？往wǎng那nà裡lǐ走zǒu？」是shì甚shén么me人rén？往wǎng那nà里lǐ走zǒu？」

"What sort of people are these? Where do you think you are going?"

The repeated question is in the source, not a copyist's slip. The closing four characters fold back into it: a tail that shuts its own quotation and carries no attribution of its own joins what precedes it, and the joined unit then stands at eight characters, which is exactly where folding stops.

總評 Commentary

The commissioners are caught mid-task, and the task is telling. They are mustering bearers to go out and meet somebody of consequence; the pilgrims arrive at exactly the wrong moment, into a room already busy with the reception of a different guest.

The doubled question does what doubling does — it registers alarm without the narrator having to name it. They ask twice because nobody answers the first time.