第七十七回 · 死心塌地 He Will Go Away Heartbroken — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

死心塌地 He Will Go Away Heartbroken

卻què傳chuán出chū謠yáo言yán，說shuō唐táng僧sēng已yǐ被bèi我wǒ們men夾jiā生shēng吃chī了le，令lìng小xiǎo妖yāo滿mǎn城chéng講jiǎng說shuō。那nà行xíng者zhě必bì然rán來lái探tàn聽tīng消xiāo息xī，若ruò聽tīng見jiàn這zhè話huà，他tā必bì死sǐ心xīn塌tā地dì而ér去qù。待dài三sān五wǔ日rì不bù來lái攪jiǎo擾rǎo，卻què拿ná出chū來lái，慢màn慢màn受shòu用yòng。如rú何hé？」却què传chuán出chū谣yáo言yán，说shuō唐táng僧sēng已yǐ被bèi我wǒ们men夹jiā生shēng吃chī了le，令lìng小xiǎo妖yāo满mǎn城chéng讲jiǎng说shuō。那nà行xíng者zhě必bì然rán来lái探tàn听tīng消xiāo息xī，若ruò听tīng见jiàn这zhè话huà，他tā必bì死sǐ心xīn塌tā地dì而ér去qù。待dài三sān五wǔ日rì不bù来lái搅jiǎo扰rǎo，却què拿ná出chū来lái，慢màn慢màn受shòu用yòng。如rú何hé？」

逐句解 Line by line

卻què傳chuán出chū謠yáo言yán，說shuō唐táng僧sēng已yǐ被bèi我wǒ們men夾jiā生shēng吃chī了le，令lìng小xiǎo妖yāo滿mǎn城chéng講jiǎng說shuō。却què传chuán出chū谣yáo言yán，说shuō唐táng僧sēng已yǐ被bèi我wǒ们men夹jiā生shēng吃chī了le，令lìng小xiǎo妖yāo满mǎn城chéng讲jiǎng说shuō。

and put it about as a rumour that we have already eaten the Tang Monk raw, and have the little demons spread the word all over the city.

夾生, half-raw, is the word Bajie used of himself in the steamer — food cooked outside and raw within. The fiends now use it of eating a man without cooking him at all.

那nà行xíng者zhě必bì然rán來lái探tàn聽tīng消xiāo息xī，若ruò聽tīng見jiàn這zhè話huà，他tā必bì死sǐ心xīn塌tā地dì而ér去qù。那nà行xíng者zhě必bì然rán来lái探tàn听tīng消xiāo息xī，若ruò听tīng见jiàn这zhè话huà，他tā必bì死sǐ心xīn塌tā地dì而ér去qù。

That Pilgrim is bound to come and listen for news, and if he hears this, he will certainly go off with his heart quite dead in him.

死心塌地 is a lovely and much-used phrase — the heart dead and the ground fallen in — which normally means to give oneself over to something utterly, with no thought of turning back. Here it keeps the older and darker sense: to give up entirely.

待dài三sān五wǔ日rì不bù來lái攪jiǎo擾rǎo，卻què拿ná出chū來lái，慢màn慢màn受shòu用yòng。如rú何hé？」待dài三sān五wǔ日rì不bù来lái搅jiǎo扰rǎo，却què拿ná出chū来lái，慢màn慢màn受shòu用yòng。如rú何hé？」

Wait three to five days till he stops making trouble, and then we bring him out and enjoy him at our leisure. What do you say?"

三五日, three or five days, is how Chinese says a few days — the pairing of two numbers to mean an approximate span. The plan ends on a question put to the room.

總評 Commentary

The third fiend's plan is the best piece of thinking anyone does in this chapter, and what makes it good is that it targets the right thing. He does not try to beat Wukong. He tries to make him stop.

The rumour is aimed with real precision. Wukong will come to listen — the fiend knows that. He will believe what a whole city is saying — the fiend knows that too. And a rescuer with nothing left to rescue goes home. The plan works by understanding grief.

The phrase for what it will do to him has softened over the centuries into something almost admiring, used now of someone wholeheartedly committed. The older sense is the one meant here: the heart dead, the ground gone from under. It is worth knowing that the same four characters now mean devoted.