Canonical Classics ← 第八十三回
第八十三回
心xīn猿yuán識shí得dé丹dān頭tóu
姹chà女nǚ還hái歸guī本běn性xìng

The Mind-Ape Knows the Elixir Head · The Fair Girl Returns to Her Original Nature

玲瓏剔透
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

玲瓏剔透 A Pagoda Of Openwork Gold

天tiān王wáng無wú奈nài,告gào求qiú我wǒ佛fó如rú來lái。如rú來lái以yǐ和hé為wéi尚shàng,賜cì他tā一yí座zuò玲líng瓏lóng剔tī透tòu舍shè利lì子zǐ如rú意yì黃huáng金jīn寶bǎo塔tǎ。那nà塔tǎ上shàng層céng層céng有yǒu佛fó,豔yàn豔yàn光guāng明míng。喚huàn哪né吒zhā以yǐ佛fó為wéi父fù,解jiě釋shì了le冤yuān仇chóu。天tiān王wáng无wú奈nài,告gào求qiú我wǒ佛fó如rú来lái。如rú来lái以yǐ和hé为wéi尚shàng,赐cì他tā一yí座zuò玲líng珑lóng剔tī透tòu舍shè利lì子zǐ如rú意yì黄huáng金jīn宝bǎo塔tǎ。那nà塔tǎ上shàng层céng层céng有yǒu佛fó,艳yàn艳yàn光guāng明míng。唤huàn哪né咤zhā以yǐ佛fó为wéi父fù,解jiě释shì了le冤yuān仇chóu。


逐句解 Line by line

天tiān王wáng無wú奈nài,告gào求qiú我wǒ佛fó如rú來lái。 天tiān王wáng无wú奈nài,告gào求qiú我wǒ佛fó如rú来lái。

The Heavenly King, having no other course, went and begged our Buddha the Tathagata.

無奈 is with no alternative — the same phrase the Celestial Masters used when they had to let Pilgrim file his plaint. In this novel it is what everybody says just before doing the thing they did not want to do.

如rú來lái以yǐ和hé為wéi尚shàng,賜cì他tā一yí座zuò玲líng瓏lóng剔tī透tòu舍shè利lì子zǐ如rú意yì黃huáng金jīn寶bǎo塔tǎ。 如rú来lái以yǐ和hé为wéi尚shàng,赐cì他tā一yí座zuò玲líng珑lóng剔tī透tòu舍shè利lì子zǐ如rú意yì黄huáng金jīn宝bǎo塔tǎ。

The Tathagata, holding that peace is best, gave him a pagoda of yellow gold, openwork and translucent, made of relic-grains and answering to the will.

以和為尚 is to hold harmony as the highest thing, and 為 is wéi, to take as. 玲瓏剔透 is delicate and see-through, still a live compliment for fine workmanship. 舍利子 renders the Sanskrit śarīra, the hard grains found in the ashes of a cremated saint, and 子 takes zǐ because this is a term of art, not a household object. 如意 is as you wish — the pagoda does what its holder wants.

那nà塔tǎ上shàng層céng層céng有yǒu佛fó,豔yàn豔yàn光guāng明míng。 那nà塔tǎ上shàng层céng层céng有yǒu佛fó,艳yàn艳yàn光guāng明míng。

On every tier of that pagoda there were buddhas, in a dazzle of light.

層層 and 豔豔 are both doubled, and the doubling makes the tiers repeat and the light flicker. Chinese does with a repeated syllable what English does with tier upon tier.

喚huàn哪né吒zhā以yǐ佛fó為wéi父fù,解jiě釋shì了le冤yuān仇chóu。 唤huàn哪né咤zhā以yǐ佛fó为wéi父fù,解jiě释shì了le冤yuān仇chóu。

He told Nezha to take the Buddha as his father, and the feud was dissolved.

為 is wéi again, to take as — the third time in this passage the same word makes one thing stand in for another. 解釋 here means to dissolve or untie, its older sense; the modern meaning of explaining something grew out of it.


總評 Commentary

The Buddha's solution is not a judgement. Nobody is found right or wrong; a new father is simply supplied, and the old quarrel has nowhere to attach itself.

The pagoda is the settlement made into an object. Every time the Heavenly King raises it, buddhas look out of it at his son, and the son remembers who his father is now.