Canonical Classics ← 第七十三回
第七十三回
qíngyīnjiùhènshēngzāi
xīnzhǔzāoxìngguāng

Passion from an Old Grudge Breeds a Venomous Calamity · The Mind-Lord Meets a Demon and Is Saved by the Breaking Light

救不得你了
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拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

救不得你了 I Cannot Save You

guàishēnggāojiàodào:「shīxiōnghuántángsēngjiùmìng。」dàoshìcóngbiānpǎochūdào:「mèimeiyàochītángsēnglijiùdele。」guàishēnggāojiàodào:「shīxiōnghuántángsēngjiùmìng。」dàoshìcóngbiānpǎochūdào:「mèimeiyàochītángsēnglijiùdele。」


逐句解 Line by line

guàishēnggāojiàodào:「shīxiōnghuántángsēngjiùmìng。」 guàishēnggāojiàodào:「shīxiōnghuántángsēngjiùmìng。」

The monsters cried out shrilly, "Elder brother! Give him back his Tang Monk and save our lives!"

還他唐僧 — give him back the Tang Monk — takes as huán again. 厲聲, a harsh or piercing voice, is the same phrase used of Tripitaka hailing the Daoist from the courtyard 2,860 characters earlier, when this was still a story about manners.

dàoshìcóngbiānpǎochūdào:「mèimeiyàochītángsēnglijiùdele。」 dàoshìcóngbiānpǎochūdào:「mèimeiyàochītángsēnglijiùdele。」

The Daoist came running out from inside. "Sisters — I mean to eat the Tang Monk. I cannot save you."

救不得 is the potential negative, and the drops to de because the character in front of is a full verb, , to save. That is the rule: V-plus-bu-plus-de means cannot manage to. This chapter has eight of them and every single one turns this way.


總評 Commentary

Eleven characters and the alliance collapses. They ask him to trade the monk for their lives; he says he wants to eat the monk; therefore he cannot save them. The logic is stated as a simple consequence, which is what makes it appalling.

It also settles what has been ambiguous since the back-room scene. He did not poison four travellers out of loyalty to his fellow students. He agreed to it, listened to their grievance, promised to deal with it — and the moment the two aims separate, he takes the monk and lets the sisters go. 同窗之雅, the bond of the same window, was worth exactly as much as it cost him.

And 妹妹 — sisters — is still how he addresses them while saying it. The register never breaks. This chapter's particular cruelty is that nobody in it is ever impolite while doing anything terrible.