第八十二回 · 蟭蟟蟲兒 A Gnat Under the Wine Bubble — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

蟭蟟蟲兒 A Gnat Under the Wine Bubble

只zhǐ要yào斟zhēn得de急jí些xiē兒ér，斟zhēn起qǐ一yí個gè喜xǐ花huā兒ér來lái，等děng我wǒ變biàn作zuò個gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo蟲chóng兒ér，飛fēi在zài酒jiǔ泡pào之zhī下xià。他tā把bǎ我wǒ一yì口kǒu吞tūn下xià肚dù去qù，我wǒ就jiù捻niǎn破pò他tā的de心xīn肝gān，扯chě斷duàn他tā的de腸cháng肚dù，弄nòng死sǐ那nà妖yāo精jīng，你nǐ才cái得dé脫tuō身shēn出chū去qù。」只zhǐ要yào斟zhēn得de急jí些xiē儿ér，斟zhēn起qǐ一yí个gè喜xǐ花huā儿ér来lái，等děng我wǒ变biàn作zuò个gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo虫chóng儿ér，飞fēi在zài酒jiǔ泡pào之zhī下xià。他tā把bǎ我wǒ一yì口kǒu吞tūn下xià肚dù去qù，我wǒ就jiù捻niǎn破pò他tā的de心xīn肝gān，扯chě断duàn他tā的de肠cháng肚dù，弄nòng死sǐ那nà妖yāo精jīng，你nǐ才cái得dé脱tuō身shēn出chū去qù。」

逐句解 Line by line

只zhǐ要yào斟zhēn得de急jí些xiē兒ér，斟zhēn起qǐ一yí個gè喜xǐ花huā兒ér來lái，等děng我wǒ變biàn作zuò個gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo蟲chóng兒ér，飛fēi在zài酒jiǔ泡pào之zhī下xià。只zhǐ要yào斟zhēn得de急jí些xiē儿ér，斟zhēn起qǐ一yí个gè喜xǐ花huā儿ér来lái，等děng我wǒ变biàn作zuò个gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo虫chóng儿ér，飞fēi在zài酒jiǔ泡pào之zhī下xià。

"Only pour it a little quickly, so as to raise a bubble on the surface, and I will change into a gnat and fly in under the froth."

The plan turns on a piece of ordinary observation: pour fast and the wine foams. 喜花兒 is the joy-flower, the vernacular name for the ring of bubbles on poured wine and a lucky sign at a wedding. In the phrase for pouring quickly, 得 is de, the light syllable hooking the verb to how it is done. A 蟭蟟蟲 is a gnat or midge — smaller even than the fly he is currently wearing.

他tā把bǎ我wǒ一yì口kǒu吞tūn下xià肚dù去qù，我wǒ就jiù捻niǎn破pò他tā的de心xīn肝gān，扯chě斷duàn他tā的de腸cháng肚dù，弄nòng死sǐ那nà妖yāo精jīng，你nǐ才cái得dé脫tuō身shēn出chū去qù。」他tā把bǎ我wǒ一yì口kǒu吞tūn下xià肚dù去qù，我wǒ就jiù捻niǎn破pò他tā的de心xīn肝gān，扯chě断duàn他tā的de肠cháng肚dù，弄nòng死sǐ那nà妖yāo精jīng，你nǐ才cái得dé脱tuō身shēn出chū去qù。」

"She will swallow me down in one mouthful, and then I shall pinch her heart and liver to pieces, tear her guts and bowels apart, kill the fiend outright, and you will get free."

The plan is delivered as butchery and the verbs are chosen for it: 捻 is to pinch or twist between the fingers, 扯斷 is to tear right through. In the closing phrase 得 is dé, the full reading after the adverb for only-then. Pilgrim is describing this to a monk who has just wept.

總評 Commentary

The stomach attack is one of Pilgrim's signature moves and this is its most elaborate setting. He has used it before and will again, but the delivery system here — a gnat riding a bubble on a wedding cup — is the most ingenious in the book.

The lucky bubble is the detail that makes it. Wine poured fast throws up a ring of froth, and Ming custom read it as a good omen at a wedding. Pilgrim has spotted that the bride will want to see one, and has turned her own superstition into a vehicle.

Note the two scales running side by side. Outside, a rescue requiring three hundred lǐ of vertical rock to be defeated. Inside, a plan that depends on a gnat and the surface tension of a cup of wine. This chapter keeps solving enormous problems with very small things.