第七十七回 · 與他送行 Not A Binding But A Send Off — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

與他送行 Not A Binding But A Send Off

變biàn小xiǎo些xiē兒ér，他tā又yòu揝zǎn緊jǐn了le撾zhuā住zhù。復fù拿ná了le徑jìng回huí城chéng內nèi，放fàng了le手shǒu，捽zuó下xià塵chén埃āi，吩fēn咐fu群qún妖yāo，也yě照zhào八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng綑kǔn在zài一yí處chù。那nà老lǎo魔mó、二èr魔mó俱jù下xià來lái迎yíng接jiē，三sān個gè魔mó頭tóu同tóng上shàng寶bǎo殿diàn。噫yī！這zhè一yì番fān倒dào不bú是shì綑kǔn住zhù行xíng者zhě，分fēn明míng是shì與yǔ他tā送sòng行xíng。变biàn小xiǎo些xiē儿ér，他tā又yòu揝zǎn紧jǐn了le挝zhuā住zhù。复fù拿ná了le径jìng回huí城chéng内nèi，放fàng了le手shǒu，捽zuó下xià尘chén埃āi，吩fēn咐fu群qún妖yāo，也yě照zhào八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng捆kǔn在zài一yí处chù。那nà老lǎo魔mó、二èr魔mó俱jù下xià来lái迎yíng接jiē，三sān个gè魔mó头tóu同tóng上shàng宝bǎo殿diàn。噫yī！这zhè一yì番fān倒dào不bú是shì捆kǔn住zhù行xíng者zhě，分fēn明míng是shì与yǔ他tā送sòng行xíng。

逐句解 Line by line

變biàn小xiǎo些xiē兒ér，他tā又yòu揝zǎn緊jǐn了le撾zhuā住zhù。变biàn小xiǎo些xiē儿ér，他tā又yòu揝zǎn紧jǐn了le挝zhuā住zhù。

and when he made himself smaller, the fiend gripped the tighter.

揝, to clench, is the rarer partner to the 撾 of the line before, and the pairing is deliberate: loosen and clench, the two halves of a hand that is thinking.

復fù拿ná了le徑jìng回huí城chéng內nèi，放fàng了le手shǒu，捽zuó下xià塵chén埃āi，吩fēn咐fu群qún妖yāo，也yě照zhào八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng綑kǔn在zài一yí處chù。复fù拿ná了le径jìng回huí城chéng内nèi，放fàng了le手shǒu，捽zuó下xià尘chén埃āi，吩fēn咐fu群qún妖yāo，也yě照zhào八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng捆kǔn在zài一yí处chù。

He carried him straight back into the city, let go his hand, flung him down in the dust, and ordered the host of demons to bind him in one place along with Bajie and Sha Monk.

捽下塵埃, thrown down into the dust, is the language of a public humiliation rather than a capture. And 綑在一處, bound in one place, closes the set: the three who were paired off two by two in the poem are now a single bundle.

那nà老lǎo魔mó、二èr魔mó俱jù下xià來lái迎yíng接jiē，三sān個gè魔mó頭tóu同tóng上shàng寶bǎo殿diàn。那nà老lǎo魔mó、二èr魔mó俱jù下xià来lái迎yíng接jiē，三sān个gè魔mó头tóu同tóng上shàng宝bǎo殿diàn。

The old fiend and the second fiend both came down to meet him, and the three chiefs went up together into the treasure hall.

迎接 is the verb for receiving an honoured guest at the door. The monsters are throwing themselves a small ceremony.

噫yī！這zhè一yì番fān倒dào不bú是shì綑kǔn住zhù行xíng者zhě，分fēn明míng是shì與yǔ他tā送sòng行xíng。噫yī！这zhè一yì番fān倒dào不bú是shì捆kǔn住zhù行xíng者zhě，分fēn明míng是shì与yǔ他tā送sòng行xíng。

Alas! This time it was not so much a binding of Pilgrim as, plainly, a send-off for him.

The narrator's aside, and the sting is in 送行 — the word for seeing a traveller off with gifts and good wishes. It is the last thing you expect after 綑住, tied up. Note also 倒, read dào, the adverb that means on the contrary; the whole line turns on it.

總評 Commentary

The single character of exclamation that opens the last line is the storyteller leaning in. It is bare, it carries its own punctuation, and everything after it is commentary rather than event.

The joke needs unpacking because it is a good one. A send-off is what you give someone setting out on a journey, and here it means the fiends have not imprisoned Wukong at all — they have handed him the one thing he needed, which is a reason and an excuse to go to the Buddha. Everything from here to the end of the chapter follows from a rope.

It is also a promise to the reader, made at the exact moment the story looks hopeless. Three pilgrims are tied in a heap on a stolen throne-room floor and the narrator, who knows how this ends, cannot resist telling you it is going to be all right. Hold that thought; the chapter keeps the promise, though not before it has made everyone believe the opposite.