第八十回 · 昧心拜佛 A Voice on a Fair Wind — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

昧心拜佛 A Voice on a Fair Wind

妖yāo精jīng不bú動dòng繩shéng索suǒ，把bǎ幾jǐ聲shēng善shàn言yán善shàn語yǔ，用yòng一yí陣zhèn順shùn風fēng，嚶yīng嚶yīng的de吹chuī在zài唐táng僧sēng耳ěr內nèi。你nǐ道dào叫jiào的de甚shén麼me？他tā叫jiào道dào：「師shī父fù啊a，你nǐ放fàng著zhe活huó人rén的de性xìng命mìng還hái不bú救jiù，昧mèi心xīn拜bài佛fó取qǔ何hé經jīng？」妖yāo精jīng不bú动dòng绳shéng索suǒ，把bǎ几jǐ声shēng善shàn言yán善shàn语yǔ，用yòng一yí阵zhèn顺shùn风fēng，嘤yīng嘤yīng的de吹chuī在zài唐táng僧sēng耳ěr内nèi。你nǐ道dào叫jiào的de甚shén么me？他tā叫jiào道dào：「师shī父fù啊a，你nǐ放fàng着zhe活huó人rén的de性xìng命mìng还hái不bú救jiù，昧mèi心xīn拜bài佛fó取qǔ何hé经jīng？」

逐句解 Line by line

妖yāo精jīng不bú動dòng繩shéng索suǒ，把bǎ幾jǐ聲shēng善shàn言yán善shàn語yǔ，用yòng一yí陣zhèn順shùn風fēng，嚶yīng嚶yīng的de吹chuī在zài唐táng僧sēng耳ěr內nèi。妖yāo精jīng不bú动dòng绳shéng索suǒ，把bǎ几jǐ声shēng善shàn言yán善shàn语yǔ，用yòng一yí阵zhèn顺shùn风fēng，嘤yīng嘤yīng的de吹chuī在zài唐táng僧sēng耳ěr内nèi。

The demon did not stir the ropes at all, but took a few words of kind and gentle speech and, on a following wind, blew them thinly into the Tang Monk's ear.

She never moves. The whole of her second attack is carried out with a breath of wind and a few well-chosen words, aimed at one ear out of four.

你nǐ道dào叫jiào的de甚shén麼me？你nǐ道dào叫jiào的de甚shén么me？

And what did she call?

The storyteller turns to the audience again, the same move as the earlier "and what was he calling out for?"

他tā叫jiào道dào：「師shī父fù啊a，你nǐ放fàng著zhe活huó人rén的de性xìng命mìng還hái不bú救jiù，昧mèi心xīn拜bài佛fó取qǔ何hé經jīng？」他tā叫jiào道dào：「师shī父fù啊a，你nǐ放fàng着zhe活huó人rén的de性xìng命mìng还hái不bú救jiù，昧mèi心xīn拜bài佛fó取qǔ何hé经jīng？」

She called, "Master! You leave a living person's life unsaved, and go with a darkened heart to worship the Buddha — what scripture do you think you will get?"

The 著 in 放著 is the sustained zhe: leaving a life lying there and going on leaving it. 昧心 is to act against your own conscience with your eyes shut to it. This is the sharpest sentence anyone speaks in the chapter, and a demon speaks it.

總評 Commentary

Everything about this is expertly aimed. She does not plead, she does not weep, and she does not ask again to be untied. She attacks the one thing Tripitaka cannot bear to have questioned, which is whether he is a good monk.

The argument she makes is also, on its face, unanswerable. A man who walks past a dying person on his way to fetch holy books has not understood the books. Every reader recognises the reasoning because it is correct, and it is being used as a weapon by something that intends to consume him.

The chapter has now put its real question on the table. It is not whether Tripitaka can tell a demon from a girl — the narrator settled that with a line about eyes of flesh. It is what compassion is worth when it can be operated from outside, by anyone who knows which sentence to say.