第八十二回 · 飛入喜花 Flying in Beneath the Froth — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

飛入喜花 Flying in Beneath the Froth

行xíng者zhě變biàn作zuò個gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo蟲chóng兒ér，輕qīng輕qīng的de飛fēi入rù喜xǐ花huā之zhī下xià。那nà妖yāo精jīng接jiē在zài手shǒu，且qiě不bù吃chī，把bǎ杯bēi兒ér放fàng住zhù，與yǔ唐táng僧sēng拜bài了le兩liǎng拜bài，口kǒu裡lǐ嬌jiāo嬌jiāo怯qiè怯qiè，敘xù了le幾jǐ句jù情qíng話huà。行xíng者zhě变biàn作zuò个gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo虫chóng儿ér，轻qīng轻qīng的de飞fēi入rù喜xǐ花huā之zhī下xià。那nà妖yāo精jīng接jiē在zài手shǒu，且qiě不bù吃chī，把bǎ杯bēi儿ér放fàng住zhù，与yǔ唐táng僧sēng拜bài了le两liǎng拜bài，口kǒu里lǐ娇jiāo娇jiāo怯qiè怯qiè，叙xù了le几jǐ句jù情qíng话huà。

逐句解 Line by line

行xíng者zhě變biàn作zuò個gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo蟲chóng兒ér，輕qīng輕qīng的de飛fēi入rù喜xǐ花huā之zhī下xià。行xíng者zhě变biàn作zuò个gè蟭jiāo蟟liáo虫chóng儿ér，轻qīng轻qīng的de飞fēi入rù喜xǐ花huā之zhī下xià。

Pilgrim turned himself into a gnat and flew lightly in under the joy-flower.

Eighteen characters and the trap is set. He has gone from a fly to a 蟭蟟蟲, a gnat — smaller again, because the hiding place is a bubble on the surface of a cup of wine.

那nà妖yāo精jīng接jiē在zài手shǒu，且qiě不bù吃chī，把bǎ杯bēi兒ér放fàng住zhù，與yǔ唐táng僧sēng拜bài了le兩liǎng拜bài，口kǒu裡lǐ嬌jiāo嬌jiāo怯qiè怯qiè，敘xù了le幾jǐ句jù情qíng話huà。那nà妖yāo精jīng接jiē在zài手shǒu，且qiě不bù吃chī，把bǎ杯bēi儿ér放fàng住zhù，与yǔ唐táng僧sēng拜bài了le两liǎng拜bài，口kǒu里lǐ娇jiāo娇jiāo怯qiè怯qiè，叙xù了le几jǐ句jù情qíng话huà。

The fiend took it in her hand, and did not drink; she set the cup down, made Tripitaka two bows, and murmured a few soft words of love, all shyness and tenderness.

And she does not drink. The delay is not suspicion — she is performing the ceremony, and the two bows are the ones a bride makes. 嬌嬌怯怯 is a doubled pair meaning tender and shy, and 情話 is talk between lovers. The scene has become a wedding and Pilgrim is sitting in the wine getting nowhere.

總評 Commentary

The plan meets its first obstacle and the obstacle is etiquette. She has the cup in her hand with Pilgrim inside it, and she puts it down to observe the proper forms. The danger to him is not being detected; it is being kept waiting.

There is something genuinely disquieting about her behaviour here. She is shy. She bows twice and speaks softly and takes her time, and every gesture is the gesture of someone who believes a wedding is happening. The chapter keeps refusing to let her be simply a monster.