第六十九回 · 變作靈芝 Fish Would Become Dragons — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

變作靈芝 Fish Would Become Dragons

我wǒ若ruò過guò水shuǐ撒sā尿niào，水shuǐ中zhōng遊yóu魚yú食shí了le成chéng龍lóng；過guò山shān撒sā尿niào，山shān中zhōng草cǎo頭tóu得dé味wèi變biàn作zuò靈líng芝zhī，仙xiān僮tóng採cǎi去qù長cháng壽shòu。我wǒ怎zěn肯kěn在zài此cǐ塵chén俗sú之zhī處chù輕qīng拋pāo卻què也yě？」我wǒ若ruò过guò水shuǐ撒sā尿niào，水shuǐ中zhōng游yóu鱼yú食shí了le成chéng龙lóng；过guò山shān撒sā尿niào，山shān中zhōng草cǎo头tóu得dé味wèi变biàn作zuò灵líng芝zhī，仙xiān僮tóng采cǎi去qù长cháng寿shòu。我wǒ怎zěn肯kěn在zài此cǐ尘chén俗sú之zhī处chù轻qīng抛pāo却què也yě？」

逐句解 Line by line

我wǒ若ruò過guò水shuǐ撒sā尿niào，水shuǐ中zhōng遊yóu魚yú食shí了le成chéng龍lóng；我wǒ若ruò过guò水shuǐ撒sā尿niào，水shuǐ中zhōng游yóu鱼yú食shí了le成chéng龙lóng；

"If I pass water over a river, the fish that swim there will eat it and become dragons;

The refusal begins on grounds of waste rather than dignity.

過guò山shān撒sā尿niào，山shān中zhōng草cǎo頭tóu得dé味wèi變biàn作zuò靈líng芝zhī，仙xiān僮tóng採cǎi去qù長cháng壽shòu。过guò山shān撒sā尿niào，山shān中zhōng草cǎo头tóu得dé味wèi变biàn作zuò灵líng芝zhī，仙xiān僮tóng采cǎi去qù长cháng寿shòu。

"and if I pass water over a mountain, the grasses there will take the savour of it and turn into the numinous fungus, which the immortals' boys gather for long life.

靈芝 is the numinous fungus of Daoist lore, the standard ingredient of immortality — and this claim reaches one step further than the last one, since somebody then comes and gathers it. 得 is the full verb dé, to get. 長 is cháng in 長壽, long life, not the zhǎng of seniority.

我wǒ怎zěn肯kěn在zài此cǐ塵chén俗sú之zhī處chù輕qīng拋pāo卻què也yě？」我wǒ怎zěn肯kěn在zài此cǐ尘chén俗sú之zhī处chù轻qīng抛pāo却què也yě？」

"How should I be willing to throw it away lightly in a common, dusty place like this?"

And now the ground shifts. 塵俗之處 — a common, dusty place — is a judgement on the setting. The other two objections tonight were about pharmacology; this one is about status. 處 is chù, a place.

總評 Commentary

The refusal starts as an argument about waste. What he passes over water turns fish into dragons; what he passes over a mountain turns the grass into the fungus of immortality, which the immortals' servants then come and gather. The second claim reaches a step further than the first.

Then the ground shifts under the argument. A common, dusty place is a judgement on the setting, and it is the fourth objection of the night and much the grandest. Sha the monk and Eight Rules argued pharmacology; the dragon argues that the audience is beneath him.