第七十四回 · 心問口 Heart Asking Mouth — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

心問口 Heart Asking Mouth

心xīn問wèn口kǒu，口kǒu問wèn心xīn，思sī量liáng此cǐ計jì，敲qiāo著zhe梆bāng，搖yáo著zhe鈴líng，徑jìng直zhí闖chuǎng到dào獅shī駝tuó洞dòng口kǒu。早zǎo被bèi前qián營yíng上shàng小xiǎo妖yāo擋dǎng住zhù道dào：「小xiǎo鑽zuān風fēng來lái了le？」行xíng者zhě不bú應yìng，低dī著zhe頭tóu就jiù走zǒu。心xīn问wèn口kǒu，口kǒu问wèn心xīn，思sī量liáng此cǐ计jì，敲qiāo着zhe梆bāng，摇yáo着zhe铃líng，径jìng直zhí闯chuǎng到dào狮shī驼tuó洞dòng口kǒu。早zǎo被bèi前qián营yíng上shàng小xiǎo妖yāo挡dǎng住zhù道dào：「小xiǎo钻zuān风fēng来lái了le？」行xíng者zhě不bú应yìng，低dī着zhe头tóu就jiù走zǒu。

逐句解 Line by line

心xīn問wèn口kǒu，口kǒu問wèn心xīn，思sī量liáng此cǐ計jì，敲qiāo著zhe梆bāng，搖yáo著zhe鈴líng，徑jìng直zhí闖chuǎng到dào獅shī駝tuó洞dòng口kǒu。心xīn问wèn口kǒu，口kǒu问wèn心xīn，思sī量liáng此cǐ计jì，敲qiāo着zhe梆bāng，摇yáo着zhe铃líng，径jìng直zhí闯chuǎng到dào狮shī驼tuó洞dòng口kǒu。

Heart asked mouth and mouth asked heart, and turning this plan over he beat his clapper and shook his bell and went straight in to the mouth of the Lion Camel Cave.

心問口，口問心 is a set phrase for turning something over alone — the heart questions the mouth and the mouth questions the heart, a debate with nobody else in it. 思量 is to weigh in the mind, and its second character is liáng, the verb of measuring, not the liàng of a quantity. Two more durative 著.

早zǎo被bèi前qián營yíng上shàng小xiǎo妖yāo擋dǎng住zhù道dào：「小xiǎo鑽zuān風fēng來lái了le？」早zǎo被bèi前qián营yíng上shàng小xiǎo妖yāo挡dǎng住zhù道dào：「小xiǎo钻zuān风fēng来lái了le？」

He was stopped at once by a little demon of the forward camp. "Is that the Little Borer of the Wind come back?"

前營 is the forward camp — the army has an outpost line. The challenge is routine and friendly, and it is addressed to a dead man.

行xíng者zhě不bú應yìng，低dī著zhe頭tóu就jiù走zǒu。行xíng者zhě不bú应yìng，低dī着zhe头tóu就jiù走zǒu。

Pilgrim did not answer, but lowered his head and walked on.

不應 takes 應 as yìng, to answer — and because that ruling lifts the character into the fourth tone, the 不 in front of it moves too. 低著頭就走 is head down and keep walking, which is what anybody does at a checkpoint they would rather not talk to.

總評 Commentary

The phrase for his deliberation is one of the best in the language. Heart asks mouth and mouth asks heart — a conversation conducted entirely inside one person, which is exactly what he has been doing since he came down off the peak.

Then the challenge, and it is friendly. Somebody recognises the uniform and calls out a greeting to a colleague who is lying flattened on the ridge behind them.

And Pilgrim's answer is the most human thing in the chapter. Having planned to talk big and frighten ten thousand demons with the sound of his own name, he puts his head down and walks past.