第七十一回 · 空歡喜 A Cat Biting A Bladder — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

空歡喜 A Cat Biting A Bladder

眾zhòng侍shì婢bì分fēn班bān，出chū屏píng風fēng外wài擺bǎi列liè。惟wéi有yǒu假jiǎ春chūn嬌jiāo執zhí壺hú，上shàng下xià奉fèng酒jiǔ。娘niáng娘niang與yǔ那nà妖yāo王wáng專zhuān說shuō得de是shì夫fū妻qī之zhī話huà。你nǐ看kàn那nà娘niáng娘niang一yí片piàn雲yún情qíng雨yǔ意yì，哄hǒng得de那nà妖yāo王wáng骨gǔ軟ruǎn觔jīn麻má。只zhǐ是shì沒méi福fú，不bù得dé沾zhān身shēn。可kě憐lián！真zhēn是shì貓māo咬yǎo尿niào胞pāo──空kōng歡huān喜xǐ。众zhòng侍shì婢bì分fēn班bān，出chū屏píng风fēng外wài摆bǎi列liè。惟wéi有yǒu假jiǎ春chūn娇jiāo执zhí壶hú，上shàng下xià奉fèng酒jiǔ。娘niáng娘niang与yǔ那nà妖yāo王wáng专zhuān说shuō得de是shì夫fū妻qī之zhī话huà。你nǐ看kàn那nà娘niáng娘niang一yí片piàn云yún情qíng雨yǔ意yì，哄hǒng得de那nà妖yāo王wáng骨gǔ软ruǎn觔jīn麻má。只zhǐ是shì没méi福fú，不bù得dé沾zhān身shēn。可kě怜lián！真zhēn是shì猫māo咬yǎo尿niào胞pāo──空kōng欢huān喜xǐ。

逐句解 Line by line

眾zhòng侍shì婢bì分fēn班bān，出chū屏píng風fēng外wài擺bǎi列liè。惟wéi有yǒu假jiǎ春chūn嬌jiāo執zhí壺hú，上shàng下xià奉fèng酒jiǔ。众zhòng侍shì婢bì分fēn班bān，出chū屏píng风fēng外wài摆bǎi列liè。惟wéi有yǒu假jiǎ春chūn娇jiāo执zhí壶hú，上shàng下xià奉fèng酒jiǔ。

The maids divided into ranks and drew up outside the screen. Only the false Chunjiao kept the pot, serving wine up and down.

The room empties and the one who stays is the one nobody should trust. 分 is fēn, to divide into groups; 惟有 is only, which is the word doing the damage.

娘niáng娘niang與yǔ那nà妖yāo王wáng專zhuān說shuō得de是shì夫fū妻qī之zhī話huà。娘niáng娘niang与yǔ那nà妖yāo王wáng专zhuān说shuō得de是shì夫fū妻qī之zhī话huà。

The Queen and the fiend king talked of nothing but the talk of husband and wife.

得 is de here, the light linker between a verb and what follows it — 說得是 is a settled reading in this edition. 專 is exclusively, only: nothing else was discussed.

你nǐ看kàn那nà娘niáng娘niang一yí片piàn雲yún情qíng雨yǔ意yì，哄hǒng得de那nà妖yāo王wáng骨gǔ軟ruǎn觔jīn麻má。你nǐ看kàn那nà娘niáng娘niang一yí片piàn云yún情qíng雨yǔ意yì，哄hǒng得de那nà妖yāo王wáng骨gǔ软ruǎn觔jīn麻má。

See how the Queen was all cloud-feeling and rain-desire, coaxing the fiend king until his bones went soft and his sinews numb.

雲情雨意 is built on the oldest euphemism in Chinese literature: a king of Chu dreamed of a goddess who told him she was the morning cloud and the evening rain, and clouds-and-rain has meant sex ever since. 得 is de again, this time joining 哄 to its result.

只zhǐ是shì沒méi福fú，不bù得dé沾zhān身shēn。可kě憐lián！只zhǐ是shì没méi福fú，不bù得dé沾zhān身shēn。可kě怜lián！

Only he had no such luck: he could not touch her. A pity!

沒 is méi, the everyday negative, which the old dictionary does not record at all. 得 is dé here and not the light linker: the character in front of 不 is 福, a noun, so 不得 is the modal cannot rather than a verb with its negative complement.

真zhēn是shì貓māo咬yǎo尿niào胞pāo──空kōng歡huān喜xǐ。真zhēn是shì猫māo咬yǎo尿niào胞pāo──空kōng欢huān喜xǐ。

It was truly a case of the cat biting the bladder — joy over nothing at all.

A 歇後語: a picture, a dash, and the meaning. A cat bites into a bladder expecting meat and gets a mouthful of air. The punchline turns on 空 doing two jobs at once — the bladder is empty, and so is the delight. 胞 is pāo: 康熙肉部五畫 opens at 匹交切, 𠀤音拋 for exactly this sense and puts the familiar reading in a later band.

總評 Commentary

The chapter has been building to this joke for a long time and it lands in nine characters. 貓咬尿胞──空歡喜 is a xiehouyu, the two-part Chinese proverb where the first half draws a picture and the second half tells you what it means. A cat bites into a bladder expecting meat and gets air. 空 does double duty: the bladder is empty and so is the pleasure.

It is also a callback. 滿心歡喜 — heart full of delight — was used of this same fiend 372 characters ago, when he hurried out to meet the queen at the door of the flaying pavilion. Here the narrator picks the word up again and empties it out.

不得沾身 is the line the chapter keeps coming back to. 沾身 appears three times altogether, and the other two arrive 4,107 characters from here, when the Bodhisattva explains why the fiend was never able to touch her. The joke and the theology are the same fact told twice, once as a cat with a mouthful of air and once as a decree from heaven.