原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
顯顯神通
He Is Whetting It For You
手裡拿著一條鐵棒，就似碗來粗細的一根大杠子，在那石崖上抄一把水，磨一磨，口裡又念著：『杠子啊，這一向不曾拿你出來顯顯神通，這一去就有十萬妖精，也都替我打死，等我殺了那三個魔頭祭你。』手里拿着一条铁棒，就似碗来粗细的一根大杠子，在那石崖上抄一把水，磨一磨，口里又念着：『杠子啊，这一向不曾拿你出来显显神通，这一去就有十万妖精，也都替我打死，等我杀了那三个魔头祭你。』
逐句解 Line by line
手裡拿著一條鐵棒，就似碗來粗細的一根大杠子，在那石崖上抄一把水，磨一磨，口裡又念著：『杠子啊，這一向不曾拿你出來顯顯神通，這一去就有十萬妖精，也都替我打死，等我殺了那三個魔頭祭你。』
手里拿着一条铁棒，就似碗来粗细的一根大杠子，在那石崖上抄一把水，磨一磨，口里又念着：『杠子啊，这一向不曾拿你出来显显神通，这一去就有十万妖精，也都替我打死，等我杀了那三个魔头祭你。』
In his hand he has an iron cudgel, like a great pole as thick as a bowl, and he is scooping up a handful of water on that stone cliff and grinding away at it, and saying to himself: 'Pole, my pole! Not this long while have I taken you out to show what you can do. On this trip, if there are a hundred thousand demons, kill every one of them for me, and let me slaughter those three demon chiefs to make you an offering.'"
Seventy-nine characters in one unit — the longest in the chapter. Two durative 著. 碗來粗細 is thick as a bowl, the same way of giving a dimension by household object that the chapter used for the pestle and the fan. And 祭你 is the cruellest touch: to sacrifice to a thing, to make an offering before it. Pilgrim has invented a version of himself who talks to his weapon and promises it three kings as a blood offering.
總評 Commentary
The longest sentence in the chapter is a lie told about the person telling it, and it works because every word of it is nearly true.
The invented detail is the whetting. A man sharpening a weapon by a stream, muttering to it, is a picture of patient intention — far more frightening than a monster in a rage, because it has not begun yet and is taking its time.
And the promise to the pole is the part a demon would repeat to another demon. Not I will kill them, but I will offer them to you — which makes the weapon the one being served, and its owner merely the priest.