第七十二回 · 如雪又亮 Like Snow Brighter Than Snow — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

如雪又亮 Like Snow Brighter Than Snow

行xíng者zhě用yòng手shǒu指zhǐ道dào：「你nǐ看kàn那nà莊zhuāng院yuàn如rú何hé？」八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng共gòng目mù視shì之zhī，那nà一yí片piàn如rú雪xuě又yòu亮liàng如rú雪xuě，似sì銀yín又yòu光guāng似sì銀yín。行xíng者zhě用yòng手shǒu指zhǐ道dào：「你nǐ看kàn那nà庄zhuāng院yuàn如rú何hé？」八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng共gòng目mù视shì之zhī，那nà一yí片piàn如rú雪xuě又yòu亮liàng如rú雪xuě，似sì银yín又yòu光guāng似sì银yín。

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě用yòng手shǒu指zhǐ道dào：「你nǐ看kàn那nà莊zhuāng院yuàn如rú何hé？」行xíng者zhě用yòng手shǒu指zhǐ道dào：「你nǐ看kàn那nà庄zhuāng院yuàn如rú何hé？」

Pilgrim pointed with his hand and said, "Look at that farmstead — what do you make of it?"

看 is kàn, to look. He does not announce what he thinks; he makes the other two look first, which is how he usually opens.

八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng共gòng目mù視shì之zhī，那nà一yí片piàn如rú雪xuě又yòu亮liàng如rú雪xuě，似sì銀yín又yòu光guāng似sì銀yín。八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng共gòng目mù视shì之zhī，那nà一yí片piàn如rú雪xuě又yòu亮liàng如rú雪xuě，似sì银yín又yòu光guāng似sì银yín。

Eight Rules and Sha Monk turned their eyes on it together: that sheet was like snow and brighter than snow, like silver and more lustrous than silver.

Both halves use the same trick — 如雪又亮如雪, like snow and then brighter than snow. The comparison is made and then beaten, twice, so the thing described ends up outside the reach of both images.

總評 Commentary

He does not tell them what he thinks. He points and asks them what they make of it, which is how he opens almost every investigation in this book.

The description they give back is built on a small trick used twice: like snow, and then brighter than snow; like silver, and then more lustrous than silver. Each comparison is offered and immediately beaten, so the thing ends up outside the reach of both. It is a way of describing something the describer has no word for.