原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
就如菜子 Small As A Cabbage Seed
小鑽風道：「長官原來不知。我大王會變化，要大能撐天堂，要小就如菜子。小钻风道：「长官原来不知。我大王会变化，要大能撑天堂，要小就如菜子。
逐句解 Line by line
小鑽風道：「長官原來不知。
小钻风道：「长官原来不知。
The Little Borer of the Wind said, "Your honour does not know, then.
原來不知 is so you did not know after all — a small, fatal condescension from a subordinate who has just been given permission to explain.
我大王會變化，要大能撐天堂，要小就如菜子。
我大王会变化，要大能撑天堂，要小就如菜子。
Our great king can transform himself. When he wants to be large he can prop up the halls of heaven, and when he wants to be small he is like a cabbage seed."
撐天堂 is to hold up the heavenly halls, a roof-beam image. 菜子 is a cabbage or rape seed, the standard Chinese figure for the smallest visible thing. The pairing is a formula for unlimited range, and it is the same range Pilgrim has.
The answer is the one Pilgrim was fishing for and it removes his objection entirely. Size is not a constraint on this creature any more than it is on him.
The two images are chosen for maximum distance. Propping up the roof of heaven at one end and a cabbage seed at the other — and the seed is the more frightening, because a thing that small can be anywhere.
And the demon's opening line is the sweetest touch. So your honour did not know. He has begun to enjoy explaining things to his new superior.