第八十三回 · 天上一日 One Day Here A Year Below — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

天上一日 One Day Here A Year Below

金jīn星xīng道dào：「一yí日rì官guān事shì十shí日rì打dǎ。你nǐ告gào了le御yù狀zhuàng，說shuō妖yāo精jīng是shì天tiān王wáng的de女nǚ兒ér，天tiān王wáng說shuō不bú是shì，你nǐ兩liǎng個gè只zhǐ管guǎn在zài御yù前qián折zhé辨biàn，反fǎn復fù不bù已yǐ。我wǒ說shuō天tiān上shàng一yí日rì，下xià界jiè就jiù是shì一yì年nián。金jīn星xīng道dào：「一yí日rì官guān事shì十shí日rì打dǎ。你nǐ告gào了le御yù状zhuàng，说shuō妖yāo精jīng是shì天tiān王wáng的de女nǚ儿ér，天tiān王wáng说shuō不bú是shì，你nǐ两liǎng个gè只zhǐ管guǎn在zài御yù前qián折zhé辨biàn，反fǎn复fù不bù已yǐ。我wǒ说shuō天tiān上shàng一yí日rì，下xià界jiè就jiù是shì一yì年nián。

逐句解 Line by line

金jīn星xīng道dào：「一yí日rì官guān事shì十shí日rì打dǎ。金jīn星xīng道dào：「一yí日rì官guān事shì十shí日rì打dǎ。

The Gold Star said, "One day of official business, ten days of trouble.

一日官事十日打 is a proverb about litigation, and it is the fourth time in this chapter that somebody has won an argument by quoting one. A day in court costs ten days of grief; the case is never the whole cost.

你nǐ告gào了le御yù狀zhuàng，說shuō妖yāo精jīng是shì天tiān王wáng的de女nǚ兒ér，天tiān王wáng說shuō不bú是shì，你nǐ兩liǎng個gè只zhǐ管guǎn在zài御yù前qián折zhé辨biàn，反fǎn復fù不bù已yǐ。你nǐ告gào了le御yù状zhuàng，说shuō妖yāo精jīng是shì天tiān王wáng的de女nǚ儿ér，天tiān王wáng说shuō不bú是shì，你nǐ两liǎng个gè只zhǐ管guǎn在zài御yù前qián折zhé辨biàn，反fǎn复fù不bù已yǐ。

You have laid your accusation before the throne. You say the fiend is the Heavenly King's daughter and he says she is not, and the two of you will go on arguing it back and forth in front of the Emperor with no end to it.

反復不已 is going over and over without stopping, and 折辨 is to argue a case out point by point. Venus is describing litigation to somebody who has never been in any.

我wǒ說shuō天tiān上shàng一yí日rì，下xià界jiè就jiù是shì一yì年nián。我wǒ说shuō天tiān上shàng一yí日rì，下xià界jiè就jiù是shì一yì年nián。

And I tell you: one day up here is a year in the world below.

Here is the blade. 天上一日 against 下界就是一年 is the standing rule this cosmology, and it has been sitting quietly in the background since Pilgrim arrived. The reader was told about rice and tea; Venus is about to convert them.

總評 Commentary

Venus's argument is not about who is right, and he never touches that question. It is about what the process will cost while it runs.

The last line is the one that ends the case. Everything Pilgrim has built — the plaint, the tablets, the summons — was designed for a court, and a court takes time, and time is precisely what he cannot spend.