原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
含詞賦 With rhapsody
流沙河鬥
The Battle at the River
那怪物手執一根寶杖，走上岸就捉菩薩，卻被惠岸掣渾鐵棒擋住，喝聲：「休走！」那怪物就持寶杖來迎。兩個在流沙河邊這一場惡殺，真個驚人：那怪物手执一根宝杖，走上岸就捉菩萨，却被惠岸掣浑铁棒挡住，喝声：「休走！」那怪物就持宝杖来迎。两个在流沙河边这一场恶杀，真个惊人：
木吒渾鐵棒，護法顯神通；怪物降妖杖，努力逞英雄。木咤浑铁棒，护法显神通；怪物降妖杖，努力逞英雄。
雙條銀蟒河邊舞，一對神僧岸上沖。双条银蟒河边舞，一对神僧岸上冲。
那一個威鎮流沙施本事，這一個力保觀音建大功。那一个威镇流沙施本事，这一个力保观音建大功。
那一個翻波躍浪，這一個吐霧噴風。那一个翻波跃浪，这一个吐雾喷风。
翻波躍浪乾坤暗，吐霧噴風日月昏。翻波跃浪干坤暗，吐雾喷风日月昏。
那個降妖杖，好便似出山的白虎；這個渾鐵棒，卻就如臥道的黃龍。那个降妖杖，好便似出山的白虎；这个浑铁棒，却就如卧道的黄龙。
那個使將來，尋蛇撥草；這個丟開去，撲鷂分松。那个使将来，寻蛇拨草；这个丢开去，扑鹞分松。
只殺得昏漠漠，星辰燦爛；霧騰騰，天地朦朧。只杀得昏漠漠，星辰灿烂；雾腾腾，天地朦胧。
那個久住弱水惟他狠，這個初出靈山第一功。那个久住弱水惟他狠，这个初出灵山第一功。
逐句解 Line by line
那怪物手執一根寶杖，走上岸就捉菩薩，卻被惠岸掣渾鐵棒擋住，喝聲：「休走！」那怪物就持寶杖來迎。
那怪物手执一根宝杖，走上岸就捉菩萨，却被惠岸掣浑铁棒挡住，喝声：「休走！」那怪物就持宝杖来迎。
The monster, gripping a treasure-staff, came up the bank to seize the Bodhisattva, but Huian whipped out his solid-iron rod and blocked him, shouting, "Hold!" The monster then raised his staff to meet him.
In 一根 the 一 takes yì before the level tone of 根. 寶杖 is the demon's weapon, which later chapters and every illustrator since have made a crescent-moon monk's spade.
兩個在流沙河邊這一場惡殺，真個驚人：
两个在流沙河边这一场恶杀，真个惊人：
The two of them, on the bank of the Flowing-Sands River, fought a fearsome battle, truly a sight to dismay:
In 一場 the 一 takes yì before the rising tone of 場. 真個驚人, truly enough to frighten you, is the cue for the fight set-piece.
木吒渾鐵棒，護法顯神通；怪物降妖杖，努力逞英雄。
木咤浑铁棒，护法显神通；怪物降妖杖，努力逞英雄。
Moksa's solid-iron rod shows forth a guardian's spirit-power; the monster's demon-quelling staff strains to play the hero.
降妖 is subduing demons, 降 read xiáng.
雙條銀蟒河邊舞，一對神僧岸上沖。
双条银蟒河边舞，一对神僧岸上冲。
A pair of silver pythons dance at the river's edge; a brace of divine monks clash upon the bank.
In 一對 the 一 takes yí before the falling tone of 對.
那一個威鎮流沙施本事，這一個力保觀音建大功。
那一个威镇流沙施本事，这一个力保观音建大功。
That one, lord of the Flowing Sands, plies his arts; this one, guarding Guanyin, achieves great merit.
Each 一個 takes yí before the falling tone of 個.
那一個翻波躍浪，這一個吐霧噴風。
那一个翻波跃浪，这一个吐雾喷风。
That one churns the waves and leaps the billows; this one belches fog and spews wind.
那 is nà. The verse runs on 那一個 against 這一個 — that one, this one — the pattern the novel keeps for fighters too evenly matched to separate. Neither is named.
翻波躍浪乾坤暗，吐霧噴風日月昏。
翻波跃浪干坤暗，吐雾喷风日月昏。
Churning waves and leaping billows, heaven and earth go dark; belching fog and spewing wind, the sun and moon grow dim.
乾 is qián in 乾坤. Each half of the line repeats its own opening phrase and then states the damage, so between the two of them they darken heaven and earth.
那個降妖杖，好便似出山的白虎；這個渾鐵棒，卻就如臥道的黃龍。
那个降妖杖，好便似出山的白虎；这个浑铁棒，却就如卧道的黄龙。
That demon-quelling staff is just like a white tiger come down from the hills; this solid-iron rod is like a yellow dragon couched across the road.
降妖 again, 降 read xiáng; 好便似 is just like, with 似 as sì.
那個使將來，尋蛇撥草；這個丟開去，撲鷂分松。
那个使将来，寻蛇拨草；这个丢开去，扑鹞分松。
That one wields his weapon forth, parting the grass to seek the snake; this one sweeps his clear, splitting the pine to strike the hawk.
尋蛇撥草 and 撲鷂分松 are stock phrases for the wide sweeping arcs a staff makes in a fight — beating the grass for the snake, splitting the pine at the hawk.
只殺得昏漠漠，星辰燦爛；霧騰騰，天地朦朧。
只杀得昏漠漠，星辰灿烂；雾腾腾，天地朦胧。
They battle till all turns dim and dark, the stars ablaze; the fog rolls thick, and heaven and earth grow hazy.
得 is the light de joining the verb to what follows, and 爛 is làn. 昏漠漠 and 霧騰騰 carry the whole result: nothing has been settled, only obscured.
那個久住弱水惟他狠，這個初出靈山第一功。
那个久住弱水惟他狠，这个初出灵山第一功。
That one, long dwelling in the Weak Water, is the fiercer; this one, newly come from the Spirit Mountain, wins the first great merit.
第一功 is the first merit. The counting 一 stays plain yī here, since a rank does not shift its tone.
總評 Commentary
The demon attacks and Moksa meets him: the chapter's first proper fight, written as a battle 賦 of matched pairs. The verse runs almost entirely on 那一個 against 這一個, that one and this one, the two of them balanced clause against clause.
The pictures climb from animals — silver pythons, a white tiger, a yellow dragon — into weather and then into cosmology, until the churning and belching have darkened heaven and earth and dimmed the sun and moon. This is the standard shape of the novel's fight-verse: a scrap between two weapons swelling until the elements themselves come apart.
Yu draws attention to the closing pair. The demon is the fiercer, by long residence in the weak water; Moksa, newly down from the Spirit Mountain, takes the first great merit. The verse frames the fight not as a contest of strength but as the opening move in a conversion, which Guanyin completes in the passages that follow.