第八十三回 · 這牌子要人 Only Ask This Tablet For Him — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

這牌子要人 Only Ask This Tablet For Him

八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng聽tīng見jiàn，掣chè放fàng洞dòng口kǒu，迎yíng著zhe行xíng者zhě道dào：「哥gē哥ge這zhè等děng歡huān喜xǐ，想xiǎng是shì救jiù出chū師shī父fù也yě？」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「不bù消xiāo我wǒ們men救jiù，只zhǐ問wèn這zhè牌pái子zi要yào人rén。」八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē啊a，這zhè牌pái子zi不bú是shì妖yāo精jīng，又yòu不bú會huì說shuō話huà，怎zěn麼me問wèn他tā要yào人rén？」八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng听tīng见jiàn，掣chè放fàng洞dòng口kǒu，迎yíng着zhe行xíng者zhě道dào：「哥gē哥ge这zhè等děng欢huān喜xǐ，想xiǎng是shì救jiù出chū师shī父fù也yě？」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「不bù消xiāo我wǒ们men救jiù，只zhǐ问wèn这zhè牌pái子zi要yào人rén。」八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē啊a，这zhè牌pái子zi不bú是shì妖yāo精jīng，又yòu不bú会huì说shuō话huà，怎zěn么me问wèn他tā要yào人rén？」

逐句解 Line by line

八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng聽tīng見jiàn，掣chè放fàng洞dòng口kǒu，迎yíng著zhe行xíng者zhě道dào：「哥gē哥ge這zhè等děng歡huān喜xǐ，想xiǎng是shì救jiù出chū師shī父fù也yě？」八bā戒jiè、沙shā僧sēng听tīng见jiàn，掣chè放fàng洞dòng口kǒu，迎yíng着zhe行xíng者zhě道dào：「哥gē哥ge这zhè等děng欢huān喜xǐ，想xiǎng是shì救jiù出chū师shī父fù也yě？」

Bajie and Sha Monk heard him, pulled back from the cave mouth and came to meet him. "Brother, you are as pleased as all that — you must have got the master out?"

著 is zhe, the marker of action under way — they come out to meet him and are still coming as they speak. 這等歡喜 is as pleased as this, and they are reading his face from a distance, which is how the joke is set up: he is delighted, and not for the reason they assume.

行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「不bù消xiāo我wǒ們men救jiù，只zhǐ問wèn這zhè牌pái子zi要yào人rén。」行xíng者zhě笑xiào道dào：「不bù消xiāo我wǒ们men救jiù，只zhǐ问wèn这zhè牌pái子zi要yào人rén。」

Pilgrim laughed. "There is no need for us to rescue anybody. We only ask this tablet for him."

不消 is there is no need — a Ming vernacular word that has faded out of the standard language but is still alive in the south. 牌子 keeps 子 at the unstressed zi of ordinary objects: a board, a sign, a bit of painted wood. Three passages on he calls it 牌位 instead, a spirit tablet, and the difference in dignity between the two words is the whole of Pilgrim's plan.

八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē啊a，這zhè牌pái子zi不bú是shì妖yāo精jīng，又yòu不bú會huì說shuō話huà，怎zěn麼me問wèn他tā要yào人rén？」八bā戒jiè道dào：「哥gē啊a，这zhè牌pái子zi不bú是shì妖yāo精jīng，又yòu不bú会huì说shuō话huà，怎zěn么me问wèn他tā要yào人rén？」

Bajie said, "Brother, this tablet is not the fiend, and it cannot talk either. How are you going to ask it for anybody?"

Bajie's objection is perfectly sensible and completely beside the point, which is his usual position. He is thinking about interrogation; Pilgrim is thinking about evidence.

總評 Commentary

The comedy of this exchange is that everyone is right. The disciples are right that the master has not been rescued; Pilgrim is right that the thing in his hands is worth more than a rescue.

Watch the vocabulary shift over the next few passages. What Bajie calls a signboard, Pilgrim will call a spirit tablet, and by the time the case reaches heaven it will be called evidence.