第七十一回 · 盜出金鈴 He Tells The Whole Story — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

盜出金鈴 He Tells The Whole Story

行xíng者zhě遞dì與yǔ國guó王wáng道dào：「此cǐ書shū乃nǎi那nà怪guài差chà小xiǎo校xiào送sòng來lái者zhě。那nà小xiǎo校xiào已yǐ先xiān被bèi我wǒ打dǎ死sǐ，送sòng來lái報bào功gōng。後hòu復fù至zhì山shān中zhōng，變biàn作zuò小xiǎo校xiào，進jìn洞dòng回huí覆fù，因yīn得dé見jiàn娘niáng娘niang，盜dào出chū金jīn鈴líng，幾jǐ乎hū被bèi他tā拿ná住zhù。行xíng者zhě递dì与yǔ国guó王wáng道dào：「此cǐ书shū乃nǎi那nà怪guài差chà小xiǎo校xiào送sòng来lái者zhě。那nà小xiǎo校xiào已yǐ先xiān被bèi我wǒ打dǎ死sǐ，送sòng来lái报bào功gōng。后hòu复fù至zhì山shān中zhōng，变biàn作zuò小xiǎo校xiào，进jìn洞dòng回huí覆fù，因yīn得dé见jiàn娘niáng娘niang，盗dào出chū金jīn铃líng，几jǐ乎hū被bèi他tā拿ná住zhù。

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě遞dì與yǔ國guó王wáng道dào：「此cǐ書shū乃nǎi那nà怪guài差chà小xiǎo校xiào送sòng來lái者zhě。行xíng者zhě递dì与yǔ国guó王wáng道dào：「此cǐ书shū乃nǎi那nà怪guài差chà小xiǎo校xiào送sòng来lái者zhě。

Pilgrim handed it to the king and said, "This letter was sent by that fiend through a junior officer.

校 is xiào, a junior officer. 差 keeps the base reading here: the two other 差 in this chapter are both 差來, dispatched hither, and take the other value; this one does not.

那nà小xiǎo校xiào已yǐ先xiān被bèi我wǒ打dǎ死sǐ，送sòng來lái報bào功gōng。那nà小xiǎo校xiào已yǐ先xiān被bèi我wǒ打dǎ死sǐ，送sòng来lái报bào功gōng。

"That officer I had already killed, and sent the letter in to claim the credit.

He admits a murder in the middle of a thank-you speech, in the same flat tone as everything else. 報功 is to report a merit — the bureaucratic term for claiming credit for a deed.

後hòu復fù至zhì山shān中zhōng，變biàn作zuò小xiǎo校xiào，進jìn洞dòng回huí覆fù，后hòu复fù至zhì山shān中zhōng，变biàn作zuò小xiǎo校xiào，进jìn洞dòng回huí覆fù，

"Afterwards I went back to the mountain, turned myself into that officer, went into the cave to report,

Three clauses, each four or five characters, and the whole first half of the chapter is inside them. 回覆 is to report back to a superior.

因yīn得dé見jiàn娘niáng娘niang，盜dào出chū金jīn鈴líng，幾jǐ乎hū被bèi他tā拿ná住zhù。因yīn得dé见jiàn娘niáng娘niang，盗dào出chū金jīn铃líng，几jǐ乎hū被bèi他tā拿ná住zhù。

"and so got to see the Queen, stole the golden bells out, and was very nearly caught.

得 is dé, was able to — 因得 is and so came to. 幾乎被他拿住 is a considerable understatement of a night that involved a maid, a sleep bug and a great deal of wine.

總評 Commentary

The summary is astonishingly compressed. Everything from the challenge letter to the theft of the bells — some four thousand characters of narrative — is delivered in four clauses, and the man delivering it does not vary his tone between killing a messenger and nearly being caught.

報功 is the character that gives him away. It is the bureaucratic term for reporting a merit so it can be entered in your record, and he applies it to walking a dead man's letter into a throne room. He is, on his own account, an official filing a return.

幾乎被他拿住 — very nearly caught — is the only note of danger in the whole recapitulation, and it covers the night in the cave: the wine, the lice, the counterfeit bells, the queen's dilemma. Six characters.