第七十三回 · 豈敢相戲 I Would Not Dare Mock You — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

豈敢相戲 I Would Not Dare Mock You

所suǒ以yǐ進jìn退tuì兩liǎng難nán，才cái變biàn做zuò一yí個gè鯪líng鯉lǐ鱗lín，從cóng地dì下xià鑽zuān出chū來lái。正zhèng自zì悲bēi切qiè，忽hū聽tīng得dé你nǐ哭kū，故gù此cǐ相xiāng問wèn。因yīn見jiàn你nǐ為wèi丈zhàng夫fū有yǒu此cǐ紙zhǐ錢qián報bào答dá，我wǒ師shī父fù喪sàng身shēn，更gèng無wú一yí物wù相xiāng酬chóu，所suǒ以yǐ自zì怨yuàn生shēng悲bēi，豈qǐ敢gǎn相xiāng戲xì。」所suǒ以yǐ进jìn退tuì两liǎng难nán，才cái变biàn做zuò一yí个gè鲮líng鲤lǐ鳞lín，从cóng地dì下xià钻zuān出chū来lái。正zhèng自zì悲bēi切qiè，忽hū听tīng得dé你nǐ哭kū，故gù此cǐ相xiāng问wèn。因yīn见jiàn你nǐ为wèi丈zhàng夫fū有yǒu此cǐ纸zhǐ钱qián报bào答dá，我wǒ师shī父fù丧sàng身shēn，更gèng无wú一yí物wù相xiāng酬chóu，所suǒ以yǐ自zì怨yuàn生shēng悲bēi，岂qǐ敢gǎn相xiāng戏xì。」

逐句解 Line by line

所suǒ以yǐ進jìn退tuì兩liǎng難nán，才cái變biàn做zuò一yí個gè鯪líng鯉lǐ鱗lín，從cóng地dì下xià鑽zuān出chū來lái。所suǒ以yǐ进jìn退tuì两liǎng难nán，才cái变biàn做zuò一yí个gè鲮líng鲤lǐ鳞lín，从cóng地dì下xià钻zuān出chū来lái。

"So I could go neither forward nor back, and I turned into a scaly anteater and bored my way out through the ground."

進退兩難 — hard both to advance and to retreat — is a four-character idiom still in daily use for being stuck between bad options, and it is the exact summary of the five directions he refused one by one inside the light. 鑽 is zuān here, the verb.

正zhèng自zì悲bēi切qiè，忽hū聽tīng得dé你nǐ哭kū，故gù此cǐ相xiāng問wèn。正zhèng自zì悲bēi切qiè，忽hū听tīng得dé你nǐ哭kū，故gù此cǐ相xiāng问wèn。

"I was just there in my grief when I heard you weeping, and so I asked."

Another 聽得, another dé, and 相問 is xiāng — asked you, with the reciprocal marking the direction of the action rather than any mutuality. That is a real function of 相 in early vernacular: it can point a verb at the person you are talking to.

因yīn見jiàn你nǐ為wèi丈zhàng夫fū有yǒu此cǐ紙zhǐ錢qián報bào答dá，我wǒ師shī父fù喪sàng身shēn，更gèng無wú一yí物wù相xiāng酬chóu，所suǒ以yǐ自zì怨yuàn生shēng悲bēi，豈qǐ敢gǎn相xiāng戲xì。」因yīn见jiàn你nǐ为wèi丈zhàng夫fū有yǒu此cǐ纸zhǐ钱qián报bào答dá，我wǒ师shī父fù丧sàng身shēn，更gèng无wú一yí物wù相xiāng酬chóu，所suǒ以yǐ自zì怨yuàn生shēng悲bēi，岂qǐ敢gǎn相xiāng戏xì。」

"And seeing that you have this paper money to repay your husband with, while my master has lost his life and I have not one thing to offer him in return — that is why I fell to blaming myself and grieving. How should I dare to mock you?"

更無一物相酬 — not one further thing to repay him with — is the heart of it, and 相酬 is xiāng again, pointed at the master. 豈敢, how should I dare, is a formal disclaimer. Three 相 in this one passage and all three are xiāng; the only xiàng in the whole speech was 本相, true form.

總評 Commentary

The answer to her accusation is the best speech Pilgrim is given in this chapter, and it turns on a comparison he makes against himself. You have paper money to burn for your husband. My master is dead and I have nothing at all to give him. That is why I was crying.

It is also, technically, an apology for a social offence — he has been accused of 欺心, faking a feeling — and he answers it by explaining the feeling. The whole four-passage speech, credentials and monsters and golden light and all, exists to get to this sentence.

And it is worth holding on to 更無一物相酬 for what comes next. He has just told a stranger on a road that his master is dead and he has nothing to offer. He is wrong about the first part and about to find out, and the person he is telling is not a widow.