第七十一回 · 落鳳坡前 Two Peacocks On The Slope — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

落鳳坡前 Two Peacocks On The Slope

他tā率shuài領lǐng人rén馬mǎ，縱zòng放fàng鷹yīng犬quǎn，正zhèng來lái到dào落luò鳳fèng坡pō前qián，有yǒu西xī方fāng佛fó母mǔ孔kǒng雀què大dà明míng王wáng菩pú薩sà所suǒ生shēng二èr子zǐ，乃nǎi雌cí雄xióng兩liǎng個gè雀què雛chú，停tíng翅chì在zài山shān坡pō之zhī下xià，被bèi此cǐ王wáng弓gōng開kāi處chù，射shè傷shāng了le雄xióng孔kǒng雀què，那nà雌cí孔kǒng雀què也yě帶dài箭jiàn歸guī西xī。他tā率shuài领lǐng人rén马mǎ，纵zòng放fàng鹰yīng犬quǎn，正zhèng来lái到dào落luò凤fèng坡pō前qián，有yǒu西xī方fāng佛fó母mǔ孔kǒng雀què大dà明míng王wáng菩pú萨sà所suǒ生shēng二èr子zǐ，乃nǎi雌cí雄xióng两liǎng个gè雀què雏chú，停tíng翅chì在zài山shān坡pō之zhī下xià，被bèi此cǐ王wáng弓gōng开kāi处chù，射shè伤shāng了le雄xióng孔kǒng雀què，那nà雌cí孔kǒng雀què也yě带dài箭jiàn归guī西xī。

逐句解 Line by line

他tā率shuài領lǐng人rén馬mǎ，縱zòng放fàng鷹yīng犬quǎn，正zhèng來lái到dào落luò鳳fèng坡pō前qián，他tā率shuài领lǐng人rén马mǎ，纵zòng放fàng鹰yīng犬quǎn，正zhèng来lái到dào落luò凤fèng坡pō前qián，

"He led out his men and horses, loosed his hawks and hounds, and came to the foot of Fallen Phoenix Slope,

率 is shuài here, to lead troops — the third and last time this character appears in the chapter, and the other two were 兜率, which is a foreign name spelt out in Chinese sound. Same character, unrelated words. 落鳳坡, Fallen Phoenix Slope, names what is about to happen there.

有yǒu西xī方fāng佛fó母mǔ孔kǒng雀què大dà明míng王wáng菩pú薩sà所suǒ生shēng二èr子zǐ，乃nǎi雌cí雄xióng兩liǎng個gè雀què雛chú，有yǒu西xī方fāng佛fó母mǔ孔kǒng雀què大dà明míng王wáng菩pú萨sà所suǒ生shēng二èr子zǐ，乃nǎi雌cí雄xióng两liǎng个gè雀què雏chú，

"where the two offspring of the Peacock Great Illumination King Bodhisattva, Buddha-Mother of the West, a pair of fledglings, one hen and one cock,

子 is zǐ here, offspring — a full noun, not the light ending. 孔雀大明王 is Mahāmayūrī, the Peacock Wisdom King, a real figure of Buddhist iconography, and calling her 佛母 makes her the mother of Buddhas.

停tíng翅chì在zài山shān坡pō之zhī下xià，被bèi此cǐ王wáng弓gōng開kāi處chù，射shè傷shāng了le雄xióng孔kǒng雀què，停tíng翅chì在zài山shān坡pō之zhī下xià，被bèi此cǐ王wáng弓gōng开kāi处chù，射shè伤shāng了le雄xióng孔kǒng雀què，

"were resting their wings at the foot of the hill; and where this king drew his bow, he wounded the cock peacock,

處 is chù, turning the clause before it into a moment — at the point where he loosed. 停翅 is to rest the wings, to have settled.

那nà雌cí孔kǒng雀què也yě帶dài箭jiàn歸guī西xī。那nà雌cí孔kǒng雀què也yě带dài箭jiàn归guī西xī。

"and the hen peacock went west with an arrow in her too.

Nine characters, and 歸西 does double duty: to go west, and to die. The birds were the children of a Buddha-Mother of the West, so the phrase is literal and euphemistic at the same time.

總評 Commentary

Sixty-seven characters in one sentence, needing four segments to carry it — this is the answer to Wukong's question, and it is about something that happened before the king came to the throne. A prince went hunting with hawks and hounds and shot two birds resting on a hillside.

The birds were the children of Mahāmayūrī, the Peacock Wisdom King, who in Buddhist iconography is a Buddha-Mother — the figure from whom Buddhas are born. The prince had no way of knowing that, and the text does not suggest he did. He shot two peacocks.

歸西 in the last line is doing two things at once. Literally it means to go west; as a set phrase it means to die. The birds belonged to a Buddha-Mother of the West, so both readings are true of the same four characters, and the place they were shot was already called Fallen Phoenix Slope.