第八十一回 · 眉目舒開 The Fever Falls By Half — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

眉目舒開 The Fever Falls By Half

行xíng者zhě見jiàn長zhǎng老lǎo精jīng神shén漸jiàn爽shuǎng，眉méi目mù舒shū開kāi，就jiù問wèn道dào：「師shī父fù，可kě吃chī些xiē湯tāng飯fàn麼me？」三sān藏zàng道dào：「這zhè涼liáng水shuǐ就jiù是shì靈líng丹dān一yì般bān，這zhè病bìng兒ér減jiǎn了le一yí半bàn，有yǒu湯tāng飯fàn也yě吃chī得de些xiē。」行xíng者zhě见jiàn长zhǎng老lǎo精jīng神shén渐jiàn爽shuǎng，眉méi目mù舒shū开kāi，就jiù问wèn道dào：「师shī父fù，可kě吃chī些xiē汤tāng饭fàn么me？」三sān藏zàng道dào：「这zhè凉liáng水shuǐ就jiù是shì灵líng丹dān一yì般bān，这zhè病bìng儿ér减jiǎn了le一yí半bàn，有yǒu汤tāng饭fàn也yě吃chī得de些xiē。」

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě見jiàn長zhǎng老lǎo精jīng神shén漸jiàn爽shuǎng，眉méi目mù舒shū開kāi，就jiù問wèn道dào：「師shī父fù，可kě吃chī些xiē湯tāng飯fàn麼me？」行xíng者zhě见jiàn长zhǎng老lǎo精jīng神shén渐jiàn爽shuǎng，眉méi目mù舒shū开kāi，就jiù问wèn道dào：「师shī父fù，可kě吃chī些xiē汤tāng饭fàn么me？」

Pilgrim saw that the Elder's spirits were gradually reviving and his brows and eyes had opened out, and asked, "Master, could you eat a little soup and rice?"

眉目舒開, brows and eyes unfurled, is a wonderfully exact description of a face relaxing after pain. 長 is zhǎng in the word for elder, seniority.

三sān藏zàng道dào：「這zhè涼liáng水shuǐ就jiù是shì靈líng丹dān一yì般bān，這zhè病bìng兒ér減jiǎn了le一yí半bàn，有yǒu湯tāng飯fàn也yě吃chī得de些xiē。」三sān藏zàng道dào：「这zhè凉liáng水shuǐ就jiù是shì灵líng丹dān一yì般bān，这zhè病bìng儿ér减jiǎn了le一yí半bàn，有yǒu汤tāng饭fàn也yě吃chī得de些xiē。」

Tripitaka said, "This cool water is just like an elixir of the spirits. The sickness is reduced by half. If there is soup and rice I could eat some."

得 is the unstressed de of a can-manage-it construction — eat, and get some eating done. 靈丹 is the numinous cinnabar pill of Daoist alchemy, the elixir Pilgrim boasted of stealing a few passages back.

總評 Commentary

Tripitaka reaches for the alchemists' word for the elixir of immortality to describe a drink of water, which is exactly the kind of hyperbole a man uses when a fever breaks.

The joke lands harder than he knows. The last person to mention that elixir was Pilgrim, boasting about biting two or three pills off Lord Lao's supply out of hunger. His master has now had the same effect from the kitchen tap.

The half is the honest part. Not cured, halved. The novel keeps its recovery on a realistic scale even while its characters reach for cosmic vocabulary.