原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
拿這妖精 The Lama Counsels Delay
只有那喇嘛僧道：「且住。你老師父貴恙，你拿這妖精不至緊。只有那喇嘛僧道：「且住。你老师父贵恙，你拿这妖精不至紧。
逐句解 Line by line
只有那喇嘛僧道：「且住。
只有那喇嘛僧道：「且住。
Only that lama monk said, "Hold on.
那 is nà, pointing back at the abbot from the opening scene — the same man who knelt to ask where a girl should sleep.
你老師父貴恙，你拿這妖精不至緊。
你老师父贵恙，你拿这妖精不至紧。
Your old master is gravely unwell. Your catching this fiend is not the urgent thing.
不至緊, not reaching to urgent, is a vernacular way of saying it can wait. The abbot is the only person in the building doing triage.
The abbot alone declines to join the chorus. He has spent the chapter being careful about other people, and he is careful again here.
His priority is startling and correct: the sick guest matters more than the fiend eating his monks. He has lost six brothers and he is still thinking about the man in his own room.
This is also the third time the novel has used him to slow a scene down. He knelt to raise the sleeping question, he waited until after dinner to speak, and now he interrupts a boast to point out that the timing is wrong.