Canonical Classics ← 第七十二回
第七十二回
pándòngqíngběn
zhuógòuquánjièwàngxíng

In Spiderweb Cave the Seven Passions Cloud the Root · At Filth-Cleansing Spring Eight Rules Forgets Himself

下回分解
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

下回分解 To Be Continued

jìngzhèzhīguàidexiōngqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiějìngzhèzhīguàidexiōngqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiě


逐句解 Line by line

jìngzhèzhīguàidexiōngqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiě jìngzhèzhīguàidexiōngqiětīngxiàhuífēnjiě

Ah! And in the end, going on from here, there is no telling whether those monsters will meet good fortune or ill: listen to the explanation in the next instalment.

is a syllable rather than a word — the storyteller catching his breath before the sign-off. is fēn and is jiě: 下回分解, the explaining that gets divided out into the next session, is how every chapter of this book ends. It is a performer's line, kept in the written text long after the performance stopped.


總評 Commentary

Every chapter of this book ends on the same formula, and it is worth knowing what it is. The explaining will be divided out into the next session — the words of somebody standing in a market square who wants the crowd to come back tomorrow. The novel was assembled out of that tradition and never lost the habit.

What is unusual here is the question left hanging. Ordinarily the chapter ends wondering what will happen to the pilgrims. This one ends wondering what will happen to the monsters — whether the seven will meet good fortune or ill. They were spared, they ran, and the book is following them.