第八十回 · 想人肉吃 How Can You Know a Demon — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

想人肉吃 How Can You Know a Demon

三sān藏zàng喝hè道dào：「你nǐ這zhè潑pō猴hóu，又yòu來lái胡hú說shuō了le，怎zěn麼me這zhè等děng一yí個gè女nǚ子zǐ，就jiù認rèn得dé他tā是shì個gè妖yāo怪guài？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「師shī父fù原yuán來lái不bù知zhī，這zhè都dōu是shì老lǎo孫sūn幹gàn過guò的de買mǎi賣mài，想xiǎng人rén肉ròu吃chī的de法fǎ兒ér，你nǐ那nǎ裡lǐ認rèn得dé？」三sān藏zàng喝hè道dào：「你nǐ这zhè泼pō猴hóu，又yòu来lái胡hú说shuō了le，怎zěn么me这zhè等děng一yí个gè女nǚ子zǐ，就jiù认rèn得dé他tā是shì个gè妖yāo怪guài？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「师shī父fù原yuán来lái不bù知zhī，这zhè都dōu是shì老lǎo孙sūn干gàn过guò的de买mǎi卖mài，想xiǎng人rén肉ròu吃chī的de法fǎ儿ér，你nǐ那nǎ里lǐ认rèn得dé？」

逐句解 Line by line

三sān藏zàng喝hè道dào：「你nǐ這zhè潑pō猴hóu，又yòu來lái胡hú說shuō了le，怎zěn麼me這zhè等děng一yí個gè女nǚ子zǐ，就jiù認rèn得dé他tā是shì個gè妖yāo怪guài？」三sān藏zàng喝hè道dào：「你nǐ这zhè泼pō猴hóu，又yòu来lái胡hú说shuō了le，怎zěn么me这zhè等děng一yí个gè女nǚ子zǐ，就jiù认rèn得dé他tā是shì个gè妖yāo怪guài？」

Tripitaka shouted at him, "You wretched ape, here you come talking nonsense again! How is it that with a girl like this you can tell at once that she is a demon?"

喝 is hè, to shout somebody down — a different word from the hē of drinking, though they share a character. It appears three times in this chapter and always in anger.

行xíng者zhě道dào：「師shī父fù原yuán來lái不bù知zhī，這zhè都dōu是shì老lǎo孫sūn幹gàn過guò的de買mǎi賣mài，想xiǎng人rén肉ròu吃chī的de法fǎ兒ér，你nǐ那nǎ裡lǐ認rèn得dé？」行xíng者zhě道dào：「师shī父fù原yuán来lái不bù知zhī，这zhè都dōu是shì老lǎo孙sūn干gàn过guò的de买mǎi卖mài，想xiǎng人rén肉ròu吃chī的de法fǎ儿ér，你nǐ那nǎ里lǐ认rèn得dé？」

Pilgrim said, "Master, you would not know. This is all business I have been in myself. The trick of wanting human flesh to eat — how would you recognise it?"

Here 那裡 is the question word, 那 as nǎ, used for a rhetorical "how would you." 買賣 is literally buying and selling — Pilgrim calls demon work a trade he used to be in.

總評 Commentary

This is the strongest argument Pilgrim has and it is also the one that damns him. He can recognise the trick because he used to run it. Before the pilgrimage he was a mountain demon among mountain demons, and man-eating was the trade.

Tripitaka's question is genuinely reasonable, which is what makes the scene painful. He is looking at a weeping girl tied to a tree and being told, without evidence, that she is a monster. Any reasonable person would ask how his disciple could possibly know.

And the answer is unanswerable in both directions. Pilgrim knows because of what he used to be, which is exactly the thing that makes his master distrust his judgement about monsters. The better his qualification, the worse his character reference.