第六十八回 · 二丈四尺 Threads Matched To The Solar Terms — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

二丈四尺 Threads Matched To The Solar Terms

即jí變biàn作zuò三sān條tiáo絲sī線xiàn，每měi條tiáo各gè長cháng二èr丈zhàng四sì尺chǐ，按àn二èr十shí四sì氣qì，托tuō於yú手shǒu內nèi，對duì唐táng僧sēng道dào：「這zhè不bú是shì我wǒ的de金jīn線xiàn？」近jìn侍shì宦huàn官guān在zài傍páng道dào：「長zhǎng老lǎo且qiě休xiū講jiǎng口kǒu，請qǐng入rù宮gōng中zhōng診zhěn視shì去qù來lái。」即jí变biàn作zuò三sān条tiáo丝sī线xiàn，每měi条tiáo各gè长cháng二èr丈zhàng四sì尺chǐ，按àn二èr十shí四sì气qì，托tuō于yú手shǒu内nèi，对duì唐táng僧sēng道dào：「这zhè不bú是shì我wǒ的de金jīn线xiàn？」近jìn侍shì宦huàn官guān在zài傍páng道dào：「长zhǎng老lǎo且qiě休xiū讲jiǎng口kǒu，请qǐng入rù宫gōng中zhōng诊zhěn视shì去qù来lái。」

逐句解 Line by line

即jí變biàn作zuò三sān條tiáo絲sī線xiàn，每měi條tiáo各gè長cháng二èr丈zhàng四sì尺chǐ，按àn二èr十shí四sì氣qì，托tuō於yú手shǒu內nèi，對duì唐táng僧sēng道dào：「這zhè不bú是shì我wǒ的de金jīn線xiàn？」即jí变biàn作zuò三sān条tiáo丝sī线xiàn，每měi条tiáo各gè长cháng二èr丈zhàng四sì尺chǐ，按àn二èr十shí四sì气qì，托tuō于yú手shǒu内nèi，对duì唐táng僧sēng道dào：「这zhè不bú是shì我wǒ的de金jīn线xiàn？」

They turned at once into three silk threads, each two zhàng and four chǐ in length, to match the twenty-four breaths of the year. He held them out on his palm and said to the Tang Monk, "Are these not my golden threads?"

長 is cháng here, length — against the zhǎng of 長老 in the line below, the two readings a dozen characters apart. A 丈 is ten 尺, so each thread runs to twenty-four chǐ, and 二十四氣 are the twenty-four solar terms into which the Chinese year is divided. The length is a calendar.

近jìn侍shì宦huàn官guān在zài傍páng道dào：「長zhǎng老lǎo且qiě休xiū講jiǎng口kǒu，請qǐng入rù宮gōng中zhōng診zhěn視shì去qù來lái。」近jìn侍shì宦huàn官guān在zài傍páng道dào：「长zhǎng老lǎo且qiě休xiū讲jiǎng口kǒu，请qǐng入rù宫gōng中zhōng诊zhěn视shì去qù来lái。」

The attending eunuch said from beside them, "Elder, leave off arguing and come into the palace to make your examination."

傍 reads páng in 在傍, at the side, and not the bàng of drawing near, which is what the machine offers. 講口 is to dispute — the eunuch is telling a monk and a monkey to stop bickering.

總評 Commentary

The measurement is not decoration. Two zhàng four chǐ is twenty-four chǐ, and the twenty-four breaths are the divisions of the solar year, so each thread is a calendar laid out in silk. The correspondence is exact rather than approximate.

That is the answer to the four classics. Tripitaka asked what chapter and verse his disciple had read; the reply is an object built to a cosmological measure, produced from a tail, and it settles the argument because it can be held out on a palm.

And then a eunuch tells them both to be quiet. The chapter's last word on the quarrel comes from a servant with somewhere to be.