第八十四回 · 一條金箍棒 Back to a Gold Banded Staff — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

一條金箍棒 Back to a Gold Banded Staff

將jiāng剃tì頭tóu刀dāo總zǒng捻niǎn成chéng真zhēn，依yī然rán認rèn了le本běn性xìng，還hái是shì一yì條tiáo金jīn箍gū棒bàng，收shōu來lái些xiē小xiǎo之zhī形xíng，藏cáng於yú耳ěr內nèi。復fù翻fān身shēn還hái做zuò螻lóu蟻yǐ，鑽zuān入rù櫃guì內nèi，現xiàn了le本běn相xiàng，與yǔ唐táng僧sēng守shǒu困kùn不bù題tí。将jiāng剃tì头tóu刀dāo总zǒng捻niǎn成chéng真zhēn，依yī然rán认rèn了le本běn性xìng，还hái是shì一yì条tiáo金jīn箍gū棒bàng，收shōu来lái些xiē小xiǎo之zhī形xíng，藏cáng于yú耳ěr内nèi。复fù翻fān身shēn还hái做zuò蝼lóu蚁yǐ，钻zuān入rù柜guì内nèi，现xiàn了le本běn相xiàng，与yǔ唐táng僧sēng守shǒu困kùn不bù题tí。

逐句解 Line by line

將jiāng剃tì頭tóu刀dāo總zǒng捻niǎn成chéng真zhēn，依yī然rán認rèn了le本běn性xìng，還hái是shì一yì條tiáo金jīn箍gū棒bàng，收shōu來lái些xiē小xiǎo之zhī形xíng，藏cáng於yú耳ěr內nèi。将jiāng剃tì头tóu刀dāo总zǒng捻niǎn成chéng真zhēn，依yī然rán认rèn了le本běn性xìng，还hái是shì一yì条tiáo金jīn箍gū棒bàng，收shōu来lái些xiē小xiǎo之zhī形xíng，藏cáng于yú耳ěr内nèi。

He pinched all the razors back into their real form, and it knew its own nature again and was a gold-banded staff as before; he took it back to its small size and stored it in his ear.

認了本性 is to have acknowledged one's own nature — the language of religious realisation, applied here to a piece of iron remembering that it is a cudgel. The novel uses the vocabulary of awakening for a staff and means it lightly and not only lightly.

復fù翻fān身shēn還hái做zuò螻lóu蟻yǐ，鑽zuān入rù櫃guì內nèi，現xiàn了le本běn相xiàng，與yǔ唐táng僧sēng守shǒu困kùn不bù題tí。复fù翻fān身shēn还hái做zuò蝼lóu蚁yǐ，钻zuān入rù柜guì内nèi，现xiàn了le本běn相xiàng，与yǔ唐táng僧sēng守shǒu困kùn不bù题tí。

He turned over again, became an ant once more, bored into the chest, took his own true shape, and stayed shut in with the Tang Monk — and no more of that.

本相 is the true appearance, and 守困 is to keep watch in confinement, to sit out a trap. 不題 sets the thread down.

總評 Commentary

He goes back into the box. Having shaved a kingdom and walked out through a hole he drilled himself, Pilgrim climbs back inside and waits to be found there in the morning.

That is the whole plan and it has been the plan since he promised Tripitaka an answer. The four of them must be discovered exactly where they were left, under an unbroken official band, while the government wakes up bald.