Canonical Classics ← 第七十一回
第七十一回
行xíng者zhě假jiǎ名míng降xiáng怪guài犼hǒu
觀guān音yīn現xiàn像xiàng伏fú妖yāo王wáng

Pilgrim Under a False Name Subdues the Monster Hou · Guanyin Shows Her Image and Puts Down the Fiend King

口說無憑
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

口說無憑 Talk Proves Nothing You Go First

妖yāo王wáng道dào:「鈴líng兒ér乃nǎi金jīn丹dān之zhī寶bǎo,又yòu不bú是shì飛fēi禽qín走zǒu獸shòu,如rú何hé辨biàn得de雌cí雄xióng?但dàn只zhǐ是shì搖yáo出chū寶bǎo來lái,就jiù是shì好hǎo的de。」行xíng者zhě道dào:「口kǒu說shuō無wú憑píng,做zuò出chū便biàn見jiàn。且qiě讓ràng你nǐ先xiān搖yáo。」妖yāo王wáng道dào:「铃líng儿ér乃nǎi金jīn丹dān之zhī宝bǎo,又yòu不bú是shì飞fēi禽qín走zǒu兽shòu,如rú何hé辨biàn得de雌cí雄xióng?但dàn只zhǐ是shì摇yáo出chū宝bǎo来lái,就jiù是shì好hǎo的de。」行xíng者zhě道dào:「口kǒu说shuō无wú凭píng,做zuò出chū便biàn见jiàn。且qiě让ràng你nǐ先xiān摇yáo。」


逐句解 Line by line

妖yāo王wáng道dào:「鈴líng兒ér乃nǎi金jīn丹dān之zhī寶bǎo,又yòu不bú是shì飛fēi禽qín走zǒu獸shòu,如rú何hé辨biàn得de雌cí雄xióng? 妖yāo王wáng道dào:「铃líng儿ér乃nǎi金jīn丹dān之zhī宝bǎo,又yòu不bú是shì飞fēi禽qín走zǒu兽shòu,如rú何hé辨biàn得de雌cí雄xióng?

The fiend king said, "Bells are treasures of the golden elixir, not birds of the air or beasts of the field. How is one to tell cock from hen?

得 is de here, the potential — how could one manage to tell. The pair 如何得 would take the other reading, but 辨 stands between them, so this one has to be judged on its own.

但dàn只zhǐ是shì搖yáo出chū寶bǎo來lái,就jiù是shì好hǎo的de。」 但dàn只zhǐ是shì摇yáo出chū宝bǎo来lái,就jiù是shì好hǎo的de。」

"Whichever shakes out its treasures is the good one, and that is all."

He proposes a test, and it is a perfectly fair one. 但只是 stacks three limiting words — only, just, is — for the sense of never mind all that, the point is.

行xíng者zhě道dào:「口kǒu說shuō無wú憑píng,做zuò出chū便biàn見jiàn。且qiě讓ràng你nǐ先xiān搖yáo。」 行xíng者zhě道dào:「口kǒu说shuō无wú凭píng,做zuò出chū便biàn见jiàn。且qiě让ràng你nǐ先xiān摇yáo。」

Pilgrim said, "Talk proves nothing; do it and we shall see. You go first."

口說無憑 is a set phrase — spoken words are no warrant. The five characters that close the quotation are short enough to ride in the same segment as the sentence that opens it.


總評 Commentary

The fiend wins the argument and loses everything. He correctly points out that bells are not livestock and cannot be sexed, and proposes the only sensible test there is: shake them and see which works. He has reasoned his way, step by careful step, to the exact action that will finish him.

口說無憑,做出便見 — talk proves nothing, do it and we shall see — is Wukong agreeing enthusiastically. He has spent this whole passage being invited to produce evidence, and the evidence is on his side, because his bells are the real ones.

And then 且讓你先搖: you go first. The politeness is the point. He is letting the monster demonstrate a set of counterfeits in front of a crowd, and he offers it as a courtesy.