第七十一回 · 沖天鶴唳 A Crane Cry From The Sky — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

沖天鶴唳 A Crane Cry From The Sky

俱jù正zhèng在zài倉cāng皇huáng之zhī際jì，忽hū聽tīng得dé那nà半bàn空kōng中zhōng有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「大dà聖shèng，我wǒ來lái也yě。」行xíng者zhě擡tái頭tóu觀guān看kàn，只zhǐ見jiàn那nà：俱jù正zhèng在zài仓cāng皇huáng之zhī际jì，忽hū听tīng得dé那nà半bàn空kōng中zhōng有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「大dà圣shèng，我wǒ来lái也yě。」行xíng者zhě抬tái头tóu观guān看kàn，只zhǐ见jiàn那nà：

肅sù肅sù沖chōng天tiān鶴hè唳lì，飄piāo飄piāo徑jìng至zhì朝cháo前qián。肃sù肃sù冲chōng天tiān鹤hè唳lì，飘piāo飘piāo径jìng至zhì朝cháo前qián。

繚liáo繞rào祥xiáng光guāng道dào道dào，氤yīn氳yūn瑞ruì氣qì翩piān翩piān。缭liáo绕rào祥xiáng光guāng道dào道dào，氤yīn氲yūn瑞ruì气qì翩piān翩piān。

棕zōng衣yī苫shān體tǐ放fàng雲yún煙yān，足zú踏tà芒máng鞋xié罕hǎn見jiàn。棕zōng衣yī苫shān体tǐ放fàng云yún烟yān，足zú踏tà芒máng鞋xié罕hǎn见jiàn。

逐句解 Line by line

俱jù正zhèng在zài倉cāng皇huáng之zhī際jì，忽hū聽tīng得dé那nà半bàn空kōng中zhōng有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「大dà聖shèng，我wǒ來lái也yě。」俱jù正zhèng在zài仓cāng皇huáng之zhī际jì，忽hū听tīng得dé那nà半bàn空kōng中zhōng有yǒu人rén叫jiào道dào：「大dà圣shèng，我wǒ来lái也yě。」

Just as they were all in confusion, they suddenly heard someone calling from mid-air: "Great Sage, I am here."

得 is dé, the ending on a verb of hearing. The words are the same six that announced Guanyin's arrival earlier — 我來也 — and once again the speaker does not give a name.

行xíng者zhě擡tái頭tóu觀guān看kàn，只zhǐ見jiàn那nà：行xíng者zhě抬tái头tóu观guān看kàn，只zhǐ见jiàn那nà：

Pilgrim raised his head to look, and saw:

Nine characters with the tag at its tail, opening the last showcase of the chapter. 只見那： is one of the stock formulas for handing the scene over to verse.

肅sù肅sù沖chōng天tiān鶴hè唳lì，飄piāo飄piāo徑jìng至zhì朝cháo前qián。肃sù肃sù冲chōng天tiān鹤hè唳lì，飘piāo飘piāo径jìng至zhì朝cháo前qián。

A crane's cry, austere, piercing the sky; drifting lightly, straight to the front of the court.

Both halves open on a doubled word — 肅肅 for the severity of the sound, 飄飄 for the lightness of the approach. 徑 is jìng, straight there, the same word used of Wukong flying to the fox's head.

繚liáo繞rào祥xiáng光guāng道dào道dào，氤yīn氳yūn瑞ruì氣qì翩piān翩piān。缭liáo绕rào祥xiáng光guāng道dào道dào，氤yīn氲yūn瑞ruì气qì翩piān翩piān。

Auspicious light wound about in strand upon strand; lucky vapours hung fluttering and dense.

Two doubled words, 道道 and 翩翩, and two bound pairs that only exist as pairs: 繚繞, winding and coiling, and 氤氳, a thick mingling of vapours. Twelve characters and eight of them are working in twos.

棕zōng衣yī苫shān體tǐ放fàng雲yún煙yān，足zú踏tà芒máng鞋xié罕hǎn見jiàn。棕zōng衣yī苫shān体tǐ放fàng云yún烟yān，足zú踏tà芒máng鞋xié罕hǎn见jiàn。

A palm-fibre robe thatching his body and giving off cloud and mist; on his feet straw sandals seldom seen.

苫 is to thatch, to cover with matting — the robe is described as roofing rather than clothing. 棕衣 is the garment the whole rest of this episode turns on, and the verse names it before anybody explains it.

總評 Commentary

我來也 — I am here — is the second arrival in the chapter announced with exactly those three characters, and both times the voice comes out of mid-air without a name attached. The first was Guanyin putting out the fire. This time nobody in the hall knows who it is.

The showcase that follows is the last full one in the chapter — only a closing couplet remains after it — and it is flawless: six couplets, every closing half exactly six characters, and every one of the six rhyming — 前, 翩, 見, 纏, 遍, 魘, all on the same -an sound.

The important detail is buried in the third couplet and passes as scene-setting. 棕衣, a palm-fibre robe — the coarse raincape a peasant or a hermit wears. The verse mentions it as part of the immortal's costume. It is the object that has been keeping the king of Purpuria out of his own wife's bed for three years, and nobody has said so yet.