第八十回 · 青磚砌就 Green Brick and Glazed Tile — Journey to the West

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

青磚砌就 Green Brick and Glazed Tile

那nà道dào人rén引yǐn定dìng唐táng僧sēng，直zhí至zhì三sān層céng門mén裡lǐ看kàn處chù，比bǐ外wài邊biān甚shèn是shì不bù同tóng。但dàn見jiàn那nà：那nà道dào人rén引yǐn定dìng唐táng僧sēng，直zhí至zhì三sān层céng门mén里lǐ看kàn处chù，比bǐ外wài边biān甚shèn是shì不bù同tóng。但dàn见jiàn那nà：

青qīng磚zhuān砌qì就jiù彩cǎi雲yún牆qiáng，綠lǜ瓦wǎ蓋gài成chéng琉liú璃lí殿diàn。青qīng砖zhuān砌qì就jiù彩cǎi云yún墙qiáng，绿lǜ瓦wǎ盖gài成chéng琉liú璃lí殿diàn。

黃huáng金jīn裝zhuāng聖shèng像xiàng，白bái玉yù造zào階jiē臺tái。黄huáng金jīn装zhuāng圣shèng像xiàng，白bái玉yù造zào阶jiē台tái。

逐句解 Line by line

那nà道dào人rén引yǐn定dìng唐táng僧sēng，直zhí至zhì三sān層céng門mén裡lǐ看kàn處chù，比bǐ外wài邊biān甚shèn是shì不bù同tóng。那nà道dào人rén引yǐn定dìng唐táng僧sēng，直zhí至zhì三sān层céng门mén里lǐ看kàn处chù，比bǐ外wài边biān甚shèn是shì不bù同tóng。

The attendant led the Tang Monk right through into the third gate, and when he looked about it was altogether unlike the outside.

Here 甚 is not the question word but the adverb shèn, very — very much unlike. It is the same character that was shén, "what," half a dozen times earlier in the chapter, and only the sentence tells you which.

但dàn見jiàn那nà：但dàn见jiàn那nà：

And this is what he saw:

The last of the chapter's four rhapsody tags.

Green brick laid up into cloud-painted walls, / green tiles roofing halls of glazed ware.

琉璃 is glazed earthenware, the coloured roofing tile reserved for temples and palaces. The word came into Chinese from Sanskrit and originally meant lapis lazuli.

黃huáng金jīn裝zhuāng聖shèng像xiàng，白bái玉yù造zào階jiē臺tái。黄huáng金jīn装zhuāng圣shèng像xiàng，白bái玉yù造zào阶jiē台tái。

Yellow gold dressing the holy images, / white jade making the steps and terraces.

Gold on the statues and jade underfoot. Every material in this rhapsody is the opposite of the one two blocks back, where the gold had gone off the Buddha and the walls were down.

總評 Commentary

The fourth and last rhapsody of chapter 80 opens, and it is the exact negative of the third. Same form, same courtyard, forty paces apart — and where one listed broken tile and clay Guanyin, this one lists gold, jade and glaze.

The structure is worth naming because it is the chapter's whole argument in architecture. Front half ruined, back half immaculate, and the reason for the arrangement is about to be explained by a caretaker in four sentences.