第七十八回 · 是個妖精 The Royal Father Is A Fiend Indeed — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

是個妖精 The Royal Father Is A Fiend Indeed

行xíng者zhě道dào：「自zì師shī父fù出chū朝cháo，老lǎo孫sūn回huí視shì，那nà國guó丈zhàng是shì個gè妖yāo精jīng。少shǎo頃qǐng，有yǒu五wǔ城chéng兵bīng馬mǎ來lái奏zòu冷lěng風fēng刮guā去qù小xiǎo兒ér之zhī事shì。國guó王wáng方fāng惱nǎo，他tā卻què轉zhuǎn教jiào喜xǐ歡huān，道dào：『這zhè是shì天tiān送sòng長cháng生shēng與yǔ你nǐ。』行xíng者zhě道dào：「自zì师shī父fù出chū朝cháo，老lǎo孙sūn回huí视shì，那nà国guó丈zhàng是shì个gè妖yāo精jīng。少shǎo顷qǐng，有yǒu五wǔ城chéng兵bīng马mǎ来lái奏zòu冷lěng风fēng刮guā去qù小xiǎo儿ér之zhī事shì。国guó王wáng方fāng恼nǎo，他tā却què转zhuǎn教jiào喜xǐ欢huān，道dào：『这zhè是shì天tiān送sòng长cháng生shēng与yǔ你nǐ。』

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě道dào：「自zì師shī父fù出chū朝cháo，老lǎo孫sūn回huí視shì，那nà國guó丈zhàng是shì個gè妖yāo精jīng。行xíng者zhě道dào：「自zì师shī父fù出chū朝cháo，老lǎo孙sūn回huí视shì，那nà国guó丈zhàng是shì个gè妖yāo精jīng。

Pilgrim said, "After the master left the court, old Monkey stayed to watch, and this Royal Father-in-Law is a fiend.

The report begins where Wukong's own knowledge begins, and it is orderly: what he saw, then what was reported, then what was decided. He is briefing, not panicking.

少shǎo頃qǐng，有yǒu五wǔ城chéng兵bīng馬mǎ來lái奏zòu冷lěng風fēng刮guā去qù小xiǎo兒ér之zhī事shì。少shǎo顷qǐng，有yǒu五wǔ城chéng兵bīng马mǎ来lái奏zòu冷lěng风fēng刮guā去qù小xiǎo儿ér之zhī事shì。

"A little later the five wards' troops came to report the business of the cold wind carrying off the children.

Wukong's own plan, arriving back to him as intelligence. He does not point out that it worked.

國guó王wáng方fāng惱nǎo，他tā卻què轉zhuǎn教jiào喜xǐ歡huān，道dào：『這zhè是shì天tiān送sòng長cháng生shēng與yǔ你nǐ。』国guó王wáng方fāng恼nǎo，他tā却què转zhuǎn教jiào喜xǐ欢huān，道dào：『这zhè是shì天tiān送sòng长cháng生shēng与yǔ你nǐ。』

"The king had just begun to be annoyed when the other turned him round to being pleased, saying, 'This is heaven sending you long life.'

長 is cháng, long — the last of the eight places in this chapter where the character is not the zhǎng of seniority. 轉教喜歡 — turned him into being pleased — is a good verb for what the reader watched happen.

總評 Commentary

The chapter has arranged for the reader to hear this scene twice: once as it happened, and now as Wukong reports it. The second telling is shorter and colder, and it strips out everything except the mechanism — a fiend, a report, a reframing, a decision.

What Wukong leaves out is himself. The cold wind was his; the report exists because he ordered the rescue; and he mentions neither. He simply describes the business of the cold wind as though it were weather, which is what he arranged for it to look like.