第七十二回 · 築倒他這 Knock The House Down — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

築倒他這 Knock The House Down

弟dì兄xiōng們men復fù來lái前qián面miàn，請qǐng唐táng僧sēng上shàng馬mǎ。八bā戒jiè道dào：「你nǐ們men扶fú師shī父fù走zǒu著zhe，等děng老lǎo豬zhū一yí頓dùn鈀pá築zhù倒dǎo他tā這zhè房fáng子zi，教jiào他tā來lái時shí沒méi處chù安ān身shēn。」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「築zhù還hái費fèi力lì，不bú若ruò尋xún些xiē柴chái來lái，與yǔ他tā個gè斷duàn根gēn罷bà。」弟dì兄xiōng们men复fù来lái前qián面miàn，请qǐng唐táng僧sēng上shàng马mǎ。八bā戒jiè道dào：「你nǐ们men扶fú师shī父fù走zǒu着zhe，等děng老lǎo猪zhū一yí顿dùn钯pá筑zhù倒dǎo他tā这zhè房fáng子zi，教jiào他tā来lái时shí没méi处chù安ān身shēn。」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「筑zhù还hái费fèi力lì，不bú若ruò寻xún些xiē柴chái来lái，与yǔ他tā个gè断duàn根gēn罢bà。」

逐句解 Line by line

弟dì兄xiōng們men復fù來lái前qián面miàn，請qǐng唐táng僧sēng上shàng馬mǎ。弟dì兄xiōng们men复fù来lái前qián面miàn，请qǐng唐táng僧sēng上shàng马mǎ。

The brothers came back round to the front and asked the Tang monk to mount.

復來 — came back again. Twelve characters of ordinary business: the party is reassembling itself into a travelling shape.

八bā戒jiè道dào：「你nǐ們men扶fú師shī父fù走zǒu著zhe，等děng老lǎo豬zhū一yí頓dùn鈀pá築zhù倒dǎo他tā這zhè房fáng子zi，教jiào他tā來lái時shí沒méi處chù安ān身shēn。」八bā戒jiè道dào：「你nǐ们men扶fú师shī父fù走zǒu着zhe，等děng老lǎo猪zhū一yí顿dùn钯pá筑zhù倒dǎo他tā这zhè房fáng子zi，教jiào他tā来lái时shí没méi处chù安ān身shēn。」

Eight Rules said, "You help the master along. Let old Pig knock this house of theirs down with a few strokes of the rake, so there is nowhere for them to settle when they come back."

倒 is dǎo here, to topple — not dào, inverted, which is what the base gives and what all six earlier 倒 in this chapter took. 著 is zhe in 走著, the durative. 老豬 is what he calls himself, old Pig.

行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「築zhù還hái費fèi力lì，不bú若ruò尋xún些xiē柴chái來lái，與yǔ他tā個gè斷duàn根gēn罷bà。」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「筑zhù还hái费fèi力lì，不bú若ruò寻xún些xiē柴chái来lái，与yǔ他tā个gè断duàn根gēn罢bà。」

Pilgrim laughed and said, "Knocking it down is hard work. Better to fetch some firewood and give them a root-and-branch job."

還 is hái, comparatively. 斷根 — cut the root — is the phrase Eight Rules used to argue for killing the seven, and Pilgrim now applies it to a building. The argument he lost is being settled on the furniture.

總評 Commentary

Eight Rules wants to knock the house down with his rake; Pilgrim points out that burning it would be less effort. That is the whole of the strategic discussion.

The phrase Pilgrim reaches for is the one Eight Rules built his entire argument on forty passages ago — cut the root, finish it so it cannot come back. Then it meant killing seven creatures. Here it means burning an empty building. The chapter lets the words survive the argument they were made for.

One reading turns here that has turned nowhere else in the chapter. The character for toppling something is the same one that has meant upside-down six times already — in the Yellow-River trick, in throwing the master to the ground, in the exhausted swimmers, in the upended leek. Seventh appearance, first time it means what it means here.