第七十一回 · 無個姓外 No Such Surname In The Primer — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

無個姓外 No Such Surname In The Primer

妖yāo王wáng道dào：「可kě有yǒu個gè姓xìng外wài的de麼me？」娘niáng娘niang道dào：「我wǒ在zài宮gōng，只zhǐ知zhī內nèi裡lǐ輔fǔ助zhù君jūn王wáng，早zǎo晚wǎn教jiào誨huì妃fēi嬪pín，外wài事shì無wú邊biān，我wǒ怎zěn記jì得dé名míng姓xìng？」妖yāo王wáng道dào：「這zhè來lái者zhě稱chēng為wéi『外wài公gōng』，我wǒ想xiǎng著zhe《百bǎi家jiā姓xìng》上shàng，更gèng無wú個gè姓xìng外wài的de。妖yāo王wáng道dào：「可kě有yǒu个gè姓xìng外wài的de么me？」娘niáng娘niang道dào：「我wǒ在zài宫gōng，只zhǐ知zhī内nèi里lǐ辅fǔ助zhù君jūn王wáng，早zǎo晚wǎn教jiào诲huì妃fēi嫔pín，外wài事shì无wú边biān，我wǒ怎zěn记jì得dé名míng姓xìng？」妖yāo王wáng道dào：「这zhè来lái者zhě称chēng为wéi『外wài公gōng』，我wǒ想xiǎng着zhe《百bǎi家jiā姓xìng》上shàng，更gèng无wú个gè姓xìng外wài的de。

逐句解 Line by line

妖yāo王wáng道dào：「可kě有yǒu個gè姓xìng外wài的de麼me？」妖yāo王wáng道dào：「可kě有yǒu个gè姓xìng外wài的de么me？」

The fiend king said, "Is there one among them surnamed Wai?"

He has taken 外公 apart and decided the 外 must be a family name. 麼 is the light question word at the end.

娘niáng娘niang道dào：「我wǒ在zài宮gōng，只zhǐ知zhī內nèi裡lǐ輔fǔ助zhù君jūn王wáng，早zǎo晚wǎn教jiào誨huì妃fēi嬪pín，娘niáng娘niang道dào：「我wǒ在zài宫gōng，只zhǐ知zhī内nèi里lǐ辅fǔ助zhù君jūn王wáng，早zǎo晚wǎn教jiào诲huì妃fēi嫔pín，

The Queen said, "Living in the palace, all I know is helping my lord within and instructing the consorts morning and evening.

She answers a silly question with the standard description of a queen's duties. 教 is jiào in 教誨, to instruct.

外wài事shì無wú邊biān，我wǒ怎zěn記jì得dé名míng姓xìng？」外wài事shì无wú边biān，我wǒ怎zěn记jì得dé名míng姓xìng？」

"Matters outside are without limit. How should I remember names?"

The pun lands on 外. She has just used it for outside affairs, the world beyond the palace, in a conversation about a man who says his surname is 外. 得 is dé in 記得, to remember.

妖yāo王wáng道dào：「這zhè來lái者zhě稱chēng為wéi『外wài公gōng』，我wǒ想xiǎng著zhe《百bǎi家jiā姓xìng》上shàng，更gèng無wú個gè姓xìng外wài的de。妖yāo王wáng道dào：「这zhè来lái者zhě称chēng为wéi『外wài公gōng』，我wǒ想xiǎng着zhe《百bǎi家jiā姓xìng》上shàng，更gèng无wú个gè姓xìng外wài的de。

The fiend king said, "This arrival calls himself Wai-gong. I have been thinking about the Hundred Family Surnames, and there is no surname Wai in it at all.

為 is wéi in 稱為, to be called. 著 is zhe, durative — he has been turning it over. The 《百家姓》 is the Song-dynasty rhyming list of family names that every child learned by heart, so consulting it is like checking a phone book from memory.

總評 Commentary

The fiend is doing genuine research and it is entirely misdirected. Told that a man calls himself 外公, he concludes that 外 must be a surname, and goes looking for it in the 《百家姓》 — the Hundred Family Surnames, a rhymed list of family names that Chinese children memorised as a first reader. He is checking a directory.

The queen, meanwhile, makes the joke without meaning to. 外事無邊 — affairs outside are without limit — uses 外 in its plain sense, the world beyond the palace walls, in the middle of a conversation about whether 外 is somebody's family name. Neither of them notices.

What nobody in the room will say is the obvious thing. 外公 is not a name. It is mother's father, and calling yourself that to someone's face is a way of claiming to outrank them by two generations. The fiend has heard an insult and gone to look it up.