Canonical Classics ← 第八十一回
第八十一回
鎮zhèn海hǎi寺sì心xīn猿yuán知zhī怪guài
黑hēi松sōng林lín三sān眾zhòng尋xún師shī

At the Sea-Calming Monastery the Mind-Ape Knows the Fiend · In the Black Pine Wood the Three Seek Their Master

三生有幸
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拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

三生有幸 Three Lifetimes Of Good Fortune

老lǎo爺yé,你nǐ莫mò怪guài我wǒ們men說shuō:你nǐ若ruò拿ná得de他tā住zhù哩li,便biàn與yǔ我wǒ荒huāng山shān除chú這zhè條tiáo禍huò根gēn,正zhèng是shì三sān生shēng有yǒu幸xìng了le;若ruò還hái拿ná他tā不bú住zhù啊a,卻què有yǒu好hǎo些xiē兒ér不bú便biàn處chù。」老lǎo爷yé,你nǐ莫mò怪guài我wǒ们men说shuō:你nǐ若ruò拿ná得de他tā住zhù哩li,便biàn与yǔ我wǒ荒huāng山shān除chú这zhè条tiáo祸huò根gēn,正zhèng是shì三sān生shēng有yǒu幸xìng了le;若ruò还hái拿ná他tā不bú住zhù啊a,却què有yǒu好hǎo些xiē儿ér不bú便biàn处chù。」


逐句解 Line by line

老lǎo爺yé,你nǐ莫mò怪guài我wǒ們men說shuō:你nǐ若ruò拿ná得de他tā住zhù哩li,便biàn與yǔ我wǒ荒huāng山shān除chú這zhè條tiáo禍huò根gēn,正zhèng是shì三sān生shēng有yǒu幸xìng了le; 老lǎo爷yé,你nǐ莫mò怪guài我wǒ们men说shuō:你nǐ若ruò拿ná得de他tā住zhù哩li,便biàn与yǔ我wǒ荒huāng山shān除chú这zhè条tiáo祸huò根gēn,正zhèng是shì三sān生shēng有yǒu幸xìng了le;

"Your reverence, do not take it amiss that we say so: if you can lay hold of him and hold him, and rid our barren mountain of this root of calamity, that is three lifetimes of good fortune indeed;

得 is the unstressed de of a can-you-manage-it construction — seize him, and get the seizing done. 三生有幸, fortune across three lifetimes, is still the ordinary Chinese for a great honour, and the three lives are the Buddhist past, present and future.

若ruò還hái拿ná他tā不bú住zhù啊a,卻què有yǒu好hǎo些xiē兒ér不bú便biàn處chù。」 若ruò还hái拿ná他tā不bú住zhù啊a,却què有yǒu好hǎo些xiē儿ér不bú便biàn处chù。」

but if you cannot hold him after all, then there are a good many inconvenient consequences."

還 is hái here, the ordinary still or after all, against the huán of repaying that the same character took a few passages back. 不便處, inconvenient places, echoes the abbot's awkward matter from the opening scene.


總評 Commentary

The monks put a conditional in front of Pilgrim, and it is the politest possible way of saying that if he fails they are all dead.

The word for inconvenience is the same one the abbot used on the first night about where the girl should sleep. The novel is closing a loop: the small social awkwardness that opened the chapter and the prospect of a hundred monks being eaten are described with the same mild word.

It is also a good piece of characterisation of a religious community. They will not say you might lose. They say there would be inconveniences, and then spend eight passages explaining what those are.