第七十四回 · 筆插在架 A Peak Like A Writing Brush — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

筆插在架 A Peak Like A Writing Brush

不bú數shù里lǐ，忽hū見jiàn一yí座zuò筆bǐ峰fēng。何hé以yǐ謂wèi之zhī筆bǐ峰fēng？那nà山shān頭tóu上shàng長zhǎng出chū一yì條tiáo峰fēng來lái，約yuē有yǒu四sì五wǔ丈zhàng高gāo，如rú筆bǐ插chā在zài架jià上shàng一yì般bān，故gù以yǐ為wéi名míng。不bú数shù里lǐ，忽hū见jiàn一yí座zuò笔bǐ峰fēng。何hé以yǐ谓wèi之zhī笔bǐ峰fēng？那nà山shān头tóu上shàng长zhǎng出chū一yì条tiáo峰fēng来lái，约yuē有yǒu四sì五wǔ丈zhàng高gāo，如rú笔bǐ插chā在zài架jià上shàng一yì般bān，故gù以yǐ为wéi名míng。

逐句解 Line by line

不bú數shù里lǐ，忽hū見jiàn一yí座zuò筆bǐ峰fēng。不bú数shù里lǐ，忽hū见jiàn一yí座zuò笔bǐ峰fēng。

Not a few lǐ on, they suddenly saw a Brush Peak.

不數里 is the same not-a-few-lǐ that opened the old man's appearance much earlier, and it does the same work: a short distance, and then something.

何hé以yǐ謂wèi之zhī筆bǐ峰fēng？何hé以yǐ谓wèi之zhī笔bǐ峰fēng？

Why is it called a Brush Peak?

Six characters of the storyteller asking his own question. This is a performance habit — set the audience wondering, then answer at once — and the novel uses it whenever a name needs explaining.

那nà山shān頭tóu上shàng長zhǎng出chū一yì條tiáo峰fēng來lái，約yuē有yǒu四sì五wǔ丈zhàng高gāo，如rú筆bǐ插chā在zài架jià上shàng一yì般bān，故gù以yǐ為wéi名míng。那nà山shān头tóu上shàng长zhǎng出chū一yì条tiáo峰fēng来lái，约yuē有yǒu四sì五wǔ丈zhàng高gāo，如rú笔bǐ插chā在zài架jià上shàng一yì般bān，故gù以yǐ为wéi名míng。

On that mountain top a single spur has grown up, some four or five zhàng high, standing like a brush set in its stand; and that is how it came by the name.

長出 keeps 長 as zhǎng, to grow. A 丈 is about three metres, so the spur stands somewhere between twelve and sixteen metres. 筆插在架上 is a writing brush stood upright in its rack, which is exactly what a scholar's desk looked like. 為 is wéi, to serve as.

總評 Commentary

Three units and the novel has invented a place, explained its name and moved on. This is scene-setting at its most economical.

The comparison is worth noticing for what it says about the audience. A mountain spur is likened to a writing brush in its stand — an image that assumes everybody listening knows what a brush rack looks like, which by the Ming everybody did.

And the storyteller's own question in the middle is the seam where a written novel shows its spoken ancestry. Why is it called that? Because it looks like this. The audience is being talked to.