第八十四回 · 怕風羞亮 Afraid of Draughts Shy of Light — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

怕風羞亮 Afraid of Draughts Shy of Light

那nà女nǚ兒ér道dào：「他tā既jì吃chī了le飯fàn，不bù好hǎo往wǎng別bié人rén家jiā去qù，明míng日rì還hái好hǎo安ān排pái葷hūn酒jiǔ，如rú何hé賺zhuàn不bù得de他tā錢qián？」婦fù人rén又yòu道dào：「他tā都dōu有yǒu病bìng、怕pà風fēng、羞xiū亮liàng，都dōu要yào在zài黑hēi處chù睡shuì。那nà女nǚ儿ér道dào：「他tā既jì吃chī了le饭fàn，不bù好hǎo往wǎng别bié人rén家jiā去qù，明míng日rì还hái好hǎo安ān排pái荤hūn酒jiǔ，如rú何hé赚zhuàn不bù得de他tā钱qián？」妇fù人rén又yòu道dào：「他tā都dōu有yǒu病bìng、怕pà风fēng、羞xiū亮liàng，都dōu要yào在zài黑hēi处chù睡shuì。

逐句解 Line by line

那nà女nǚ兒ér道dào：「他tā既jì吃chī了le飯fàn，不bù好hǎo往wǎng別bié人rén家jiā去qù，明míng日rì還hái好hǎo安ān排pái葷hūn酒jiǔ，如rú何hé賺zhuàn不bù得de他tā錢qián？」那nà女nǚ儿ér道dào：「他tā既jì吃chī了le饭fàn，不bù好hǎo往wǎng别bié人rén家jiā去qù，明míng日rì还hái好hǎo安ān排pái荤hūn酒jiǔ，如rú何hé赚zhuàn不bù得de他tā钱qián？」

The daughter said: "Since they have eaten, they can hardly take themselves off to another house. Tomorrow you can lay on meat and wine — how can there be no money in them?"

The girl is thinking commercially and she is right. A guest who has eaten is a guest who has committed. 得 is de again in the same 賺不得 her mother used, handed straight back as a question.

婦fù人rén又yòu道dào：「他tā都dōu有yǒu病bìng、怕pà風fēng、羞xiū亮liàng，都dōu要yào在zài黑hēi處chù睡shuì。妇fù人rén又yòu道dào：「他tā都dōu有yǒu病bìng、怕pà风fēng、羞xiū亮liàng，都dōu要yào在zài黑hēi处chù睡shuì。

The woman said: "They are all ailing — afraid of draughts, shy of the light — and they all want to sleep in the dark.

羞亮 is shy of brightness, her plain-speech version of the more formal complaint Pilgrim gave her upstairs. She has taken four invented ailments at face value and is now repeating them to her daughter as facts about the guests.

總評 Commentary

Pilgrim's four excuses have travelled downstairs and become the household's working knowledge. That is how a good lie behaves: it stops being a claim and turns into information.

And it is about to solve his problem for him. He needed a dark, closed, unwatched place and could not ask for one directly. The requirement is now circulating in the family as a fact, and the daughter is about to think of somewhere.