第八十三回 · 事無三不成 Nothing Succeeds Without Three Tries — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

事無三不成 Nothing Succeeds Without Three Tries

八bā戒jiè見jiàn他tā垂chuí淚lèi，不bù禁jīn仰yǎng天tiān大dà笑xiào。行xíng者zhě罵mà道dào：「你nǐ這zhè個gè夯hāng貨huò，又yòu是shì要yào散sàn火huǒ哩li？」八bā戒jiè又yòu笑xiào道dào：「哥gē啊a，不bú是shì這zhè話huà，師shī父fù一yí定dìng又yòu被bèi妖yāo精jīng攝shè進jìn洞dòng去qù了le。常cháng言yán道dào：『事shì無wú三sān不bù成chéng。』八bā戒jiè见jiàn他tā垂chuí泪lèi，不bù禁jīn仰yǎng天tiān大dà笑xiào。行xíng者zhě骂mà道dào：「你nǐ这zhè个gè夯hāng货huò，又yòu是shì要yào散sàn火huǒ哩li？」八bā戒jiè又yòu笑xiào道dào：「哥gē啊a，不bú是shì这zhè话huà，师shī父fù一yí定dìng又yòu被bèi妖yāo精jīng摄shè进jìn洞dòng去qù了le。常cháng言yán道dào：『事shì无wú三sān不bù成chéng。』

逐句解 Line by line

八bā戒jiè見jiàn他tā垂chuí淚lèi，不bù禁jīn仰yǎng天tiān大dà笑xiào。八bā戒jiè见jiàn他tā垂chuí泪lèi，不bù禁jīn仰yǎng天tiān大dà笑xiào。

Bajie saw him in tears and could not help roaring with laughter at the sky.

不禁 is cannot help it, and 禁 takes jīn, to withstand or hold back — not the jìn of a prohibition. Bajie laughing at his brother's grief is not cruelty exactly; it is that he has no idea what else to do with the sight.

行xíng者zhě罵mà道dào：「你nǐ這zhè個gè夯hāng貨huò，又yòu是shì要yào散sàn火huǒ哩li？」行xíng者zhě骂mà道dào：「你nǐ这zhè个gè夯hāng货huò，又yòu是shì要yào散sàn火huǒ哩li？」

Pilgrim swore at him. "You great oaf, are you looking to break up the company again?"

夯貨 is a lump of a thing, a great clod — 夯 is the rammer used to pound earth, so the insult is roughly you lump of tamped clay. 散火 is to scatter the fire, the standing phrase for a band breaking up and going home, Bajie proposes it at five low points across the journey, which is why Pilgrim reaches for the word first.

八bā戒jiè又yòu笑xiào道dào：「哥gē啊a，不bú是shì這zhè話huà，師shī父fù一yí定dìng又yòu被bèi妖yāo精jīng攝shè進jìn洞dòng去qù了le。八bā戒jiè又yòu笑xiào道dào：「哥gē啊a，不bú是shì这zhè话huà，师shī父fù一yí定dìng又yòu被bèi妖yāo精jīng摄shè进jìn洞dòng去qù了le。

Bajie laughed again. "Brother, that is not it at all. The master has certainly been carried off into the cave by the fiend again.

For once Bajie has read the situation correctly and nobody is in a mood to notice.

常cháng言yán道dào：『事shì無wú三sān不bù成chéng。』常cháng言yán道dào：『事shì无wú三sān不bù成chéng。』

As the old saying goes: nothing is done in fewer than three tries.

事無三不成 is a real proverb and still in circulation — no undertaking comes off in fewer than three attempts. Bajie is quoting folk wisdom to talk his brother into a third trip down the hole, which is the same rhetorical move Sha Monk used on him with the wind and the fart. Proverbs in this novel are almost never decorative; they are how characters get their way.

總評 Commentary

Bajie's laughter looks heartless and is really helplessness. What follows it is the single most useful thing anyone says in the passage, which is very much this novel's way with him.

Three tries is also a promise to the reader about structure. Pilgrim has been down twice; the proverb guarantees a third descent, and the rest of the chapter has to deliver it.