第七十一回 · 剿除乾淨 The Cave Cleared Out — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

剿除乾淨 The Cave Cleared Out

卻què說shuō孫sūn大dà聖shèng整zhěng束shù了le衣yī裙qún，掄lūn鐵tiě棒bàng打dǎ進jìn獬xiè豸zhì洞dòng去qù，把bǎ群qún妖yāo眾zhòng怪guài盡jìn情qíng打dǎ死sǐ，剿jiǎo除chú乾gān淨jìng。直zhí至zhì宮gōng中zhōng，請qǐng聖shèng宮gōng娘niáng娘niang回huí國guó。那nà娘niáng娘niang頂dǐng禮lǐ不bú盡jìn。却què说shuō孙sūn大dà圣shèng整zhěng束shù了le衣yī裙qún，抡lūn铁tiě棒bàng打dǎ进jìn獬xiè豸zhì洞dòng去qù，把bǎ群qún妖yāo众zhòng怪guài尽jìn情qíng打dǎ死sǐ，剿jiǎo除chú干gān净jìng。直zhí至zhì宫gōng中zhōng，请qǐng圣shèng宫gōng娘niáng娘niang回huí国guó。那nà娘niáng娘niang顶dǐng礼lǐ不bú尽jìn。

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō孫sūn大dà聖shèng整zhěng束shù了le衣yī裙qún，掄lūn鐵tiě棒bàng打dǎ進jìn獬xiè豸zhì洞dòng去qù，却què说shuō孙sūn大dà圣shèng整zhěng束shù了le衣yī裙qún，抡lūn铁tiě棒bàng打dǎ进jìn獬xiè豸zhì洞dòng去qù，

Now the Great Sage Sun tightened his belt and skirts, swung the iron cudgel and fought his way into Xiezhi Cave,

獬豸 is xiè zhì, the horned beast of judgement that in old belief butts the guilty party in a dispute. The cave is named after a symbol of justice. 整束 is to get oneself belted and ready.

把bǎ群qún妖yāo眾zhòng怪guài盡jìn情qíng打dǎ死sǐ，剿jiǎo除chú乾gān淨jìng。把bǎ群qún妖yāo众zhòng怪guài尽jìn情qíng打dǎ死sǐ，剿jiǎo除chú干gān净jìng。

beat the whole crowd of fiends and monsters to death without restraint, and wiped the place clean.

乾 is gān, dry — 乾淨 is clean, swept bare. The base offers the hexagram reading, which belongs to a different word. 盡情 is to the full, holding nothing back.

直zhí至zhì宮gōng中zhōng，請qǐng聖shèng宮gōng娘niáng娘niang回huí國guó。直zhí至zhì宫gōng中zhōng，请qǐng圣shèng宫gōng娘niáng娘niang回huí国guó。

Then he went straight to the inner palace and invited the Queen of the Sage Palace to return to her kingdom.

請 is the polite verb — he invites her, having just killed everybody in the building. 中 is zhōng, inside.

那nà娘niáng娘niang頂dǐng禮lǐ不bú盡jìn。那nà娘niáng娘niang顶dǐng礼lǐ不bú尽jìn。

The Queen bowed her thanks without end.

頂禮 is the full prostration, forehead to the ground. 不 drops to bú: the tone of 盡 is raised by a house rule after the automatic change has already run, so the pair has to be corrected by hand.

總評 Commentary

The mercy stops at the door. Guanyin has just carried her animal away unpunished and Wukong has been talked out of twenty strokes — and his next act is to go back into the cave and kill every creature in it. 盡情打死，剿除乾淨: to the full, and swept clean. The text does not comment.

獬豸 is worth knowing. It is a one-horned beast of legend that could tell truth from falsehood and would butt the guilty party in a lawsuit; judges' caps were named after it. The monster's headquarters is named for the emblem of impartial justice, and the joke is not pointed out.

Then, in the same breath, 請 — he invites the queen to come home. Politeness and massacre in adjacent sentences, and the narrative moves between them without changing its tone at all.