原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
多生孽障 Long Years Of Bad Karma
即開口對佛應聲叫道：「如來，你怎麼使大法力困住我也？」如來道：「你在此處多生孽障，跟我去，有進益之功。」即开口对佛应声叫道：「如来，你怎么使大法力困住我也？」如来道：「你在此处多生孽障，跟我去，有进益之功。」
逐句解 Line by line
即開口對佛應聲叫道：「如來，你怎麼使大法力困住我也？」
即开口对佛应声叫道：「如来，你怎么使大法力困住我也？」
He opened his mouth and answered the Buddha aloud, "Tathagata! Why do you use your great power of the Law to hold me fast?"
應 is yìng, to answer. And the question is an aggrieved one — he asks why, as though there were an injustice in it.
如來道：「你在此處多生孽障，跟我去，有進益之功。」
如来道：「你在此处多生孽障，跟我去，有进益之功。」
The Tathagata said, "You have made much bad karma in this place. Come with me, and there will be merit gained in it."
孽障 is the obstruction created by evil deeds, the debt that has to be worked off. 進益之功, the merit of advancement, is the offer: come and work, and your account improves.
The roc's first words are a complaint about unfair treatment, delivered by a creature who has just eaten a kingdom. He does not deny anything. He objects to the force.
The Buddha's reply is not a judgement and not a threat. It is a job offer with the terms stated: you have run up a debt here, come and work it off. Nothing about punishment, nothing about remorse.
That is how this novel handles almost every monster that turns out to belong to somebody, and it is worth noticing how unlike a Western reckoning it is. The roc is not damned or forgiven. He is put on a payment plan.