第八十二回 · 扁毛畜生 That Flat Feathered Beast — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

扁毛畜生 That Flat Feathered Beast

妖yāo怪guài道dào：「我wǒ費fèi了le許xǔ多duō心xīn，安ān排pái這zhè個gè素sù宴yàn與yǔ你nǐ耍shuǎ耍shuǎ，卻què不bù知zhī這zhè個gè扁biǎn毛máo畜chù生sheng從cóng那nǎ裡lǐ飛fēi來lái，把bǎ我wǒ的de家jiā火huǒ打dǎ碎suì。」眾zhòng小xiǎo妖yāo道dào：「夫fū人rén，打dǎ碎suì家jiā火huǒ猶yóu可kě，將jiāng些xiē素sù品pǐn都dōu潑pō散sàn在zài地dì，穢huì了le怎zěn用yòng？」妖yāo怪guài道dào：「我wǒ费fèi了le许xǔ多duō心xīn，安ān排pái这zhè个gè素sù宴yàn与yǔ你nǐ耍shuǎ耍shuǎ，却què不bù知zhī这zhè个gè扁biǎn毛máo畜chù生sheng从cóng那nǎ里lǐ飞fēi来lái，把bǎ我wǒ的de家jiā火huǒ打dǎ碎suì。」众zhòng小xiǎo妖yāo道dào：「夫fū人rén，打dǎ碎suì家jiā火huǒ犹yóu可kě，将jiāng些xiē素sù品pǐn都dōu泼pō散sàn在zài地dì，秽huì了le怎zěn用yòng？」

逐句解 Line by line

妖yāo怪guài道dào：「我wǒ費fèi了le許xǔ多duō心xīn，安ān排pái這zhè個gè素sù宴yàn與yǔ你nǐ耍shuǎ耍shuǎ，卻què不bù知zhī這zhè個gè扁biǎn毛máo畜chù生sheng從cóng那nǎ裡lǐ飛fēi來lái，把bǎ我wǒ的de家jiā火huǒ打dǎ碎suì。」妖yāo怪guài道dào：「我wǒ费fèi了le许xǔ多duō心xīn，安ān排pái这zhè个gè素sù宴yàn与yǔ你nǐ耍shuǎ耍shuǎ，却què不bù知zhī这zhè个gè扁biǎn毛máo畜chù生sheng从cóng那nǎ里lǐ飞fēi来lái，把bǎ我wǒ的de家jiā火huǒ打dǎ碎suì。」

The fiend said, "I have gone to no end of trouble getting this plain banquet ready to amuse you with, and now who knows where this flat-feathered creature has flown in from and broken all my crockery."

The complaint is a housekeeper's. 扁毛畜生 — flat-haired beast — is the standard vernacular abuse for a bird, treating feathers as a poor sort of fur, and it is exactly what an exasperated Ming householder would say. 家火 is the household gear, the pots and dishes. Once again 那 is nǎ, the questioning where.

眾zhòng小xiǎo妖yāo道dào：「夫fū人rén，打dǎ碎suì家jiā火huǒ猶yóu可kě，將jiāng些xiē素sù品pǐn都dōu潑pō散sàn在zài地dì，穢huì了le怎zěn用yòng？」众zhòng小xiǎo妖yāo道dào：「夫fū人rén，打dǎ碎suì家jiā火huǒ犹yóu可kě，将jiāng些xiē素sù品pǐn都dōu泼pō散sàn在zài地dì，秽huì了le怎zěn用yòng？」

The little fiends said, "Madam, the crockery being smashed is one thing, but all the plain foods are spilt on the floor and filthy — how can they be used?"

The staff have their own priorities and they are practical ones. 猶可 means may still pass, is bearable; the real disaster, in their view, is the wasted food. 穢 is defiled or dirtied, which for a vegetarian feast prepared with such care is the end of it.

總評 Commentary

The scene after the wreckage is domestic comedy and it is very well observed. The mistress is upset about her dishes; the servants point out that the dinner is on the floor. Nobody in the room is behaving like a demon.

The insult for the bird is the sort of thing this project exists to point at. Calling a bird a flat-haired beast treats feathers as substandard fur, and it is still funny for the same reason a modern speaker might call a cat a furry idiot. The register is irritated householder, not supernatural adversary.

And the food is ruined not by being smashed but by touching the ground. For a feast assembled specifically to be ritually acceptable to a monk, defilement is the one damage that cannot be repaired.