第八十回 · 千株翠竹 Bamboo Sways the Meditation Couch — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

千株翠竹 Bamboo Sways the Meditation Couch

千qiān株zhū翠cuì竹zhú搖yáo禪chán榻tà，萬wàn種zhǒng青qīng松sōng映yìng佛fó門mén。千qiān株zhū翠cuì竹zhú摇yáo禅chán榻tà，万wàn种zhǒng青qīng松sōng映yìng佛fó门mén。

碧bì雲yún宮gōng裡lǐ放fàng金jīn光guāng，紫zǐ霧wù叢cóng中zhōng飄piāo瑞ruì靄ǎi。碧bì云yún宫gōng里lǐ放fàng金jīn光guāng，紫zǐ雾wù丛cóng中zhōng飘piāo瑞ruì霭ǎi。

朝zhāo聞wén四sì野yě香xiāng風fēng遠yuǎn，暮mù聽tīng山shān高gāo畫huà鼓gǔ鳴míng。朝zhāo闻wén四sì野yě香xiāng风fēng远yuǎn，暮mù听tīng山shān高gāo画huà鼓gǔ鸣míng。

逐句解 Line by line

A thousand stems of green bamboo swaying by the meditation couch, / ten thousand kinds of dark pine throwing their shade on the Buddha's gate.

A meditation couch under bamboo and a temple gate under pines. Both halves of the line put a place of practice inside something growing.

Golden light let loose in the Halls of the Blue Cloud, / lucky vapours drifting among the purple mists.

The auspicious vapour is the same stuff Pilgrim watched from the air over his master's head, and the same stuff the black gout put out. Here it is simply part of the scenery.

At dawn one hears the scented wind carried far across the fields, / at dusk one hears the painted drum sounding high on the hill.

This 朝 is zhāo, morning, because it is set against 暮, dusk, in the matching half of the line. The very next line uses the same character for something else entirely — see the passage that follows.

總評 Commentary

The rhapsody moves outdoors and slows down. Bamboo, pine, light, mist, and then the two ends of a day marked by a wind and a drum.

This is a place with a timetable, which is precisely what the ruin in front did not have. There the water-clock had been replaced by frogs. Here somebody beats a drum at dusk, and the whole difference between a monastery and a heap of bricks is in that one detail.