第八十四回 · 十字街 Lamplight at the Crossroads — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

十字街 Lamplight at the Crossroads

看kàn一yí會huì，漸jiàn漸jiàn天tiān昏hūn，又yòu見jiàn那nà：看kàn一yí会huì，渐jiàn渐jiàn天tiān昏hūn，又yòu见jiàn那nà：

十shí字zì街jiē燈dēng光guāng燦càn爛làn，九jiǔ重chóng殿diàn香xiāng藹ǎi鐘zhōng鳴míng。十shí字zì街jiē灯dēng光guāng灿càn烂làn，九jiǔ重chóng殿diàn香xiāng蔼ǎi钟zhōng鸣míng。

七qī點diǎn皎jiǎo星xīng照zhào碧bì漢hàn，八bā方fāng客kè旅lǚ卸xiè行xíng蹤zōng。七qī点diǎn皎jiǎo星xīng照zhào碧bì汉hàn，八bā方fāng客kè旅lǚ卸xiè行xíng踪zōng。

六liù軍jūn營yíng，隱yǐn隱yǐn的de畫huà角jiǎo才cái吹chuī；六liù军jūn营yíng，隐yǐn隐yǐn的de画huà角jiǎo才cái吹chuī；

五wǔ鼓gǔ樓lóu，點diǎn點diǎn的de銅tóng壺hú初chū滴dī。五wǔ鼓gǔ楼lóu，点diǎn点diǎn的de铜tóng壶hú初chū滴dī。

逐句解 Line by line

看kàn一yí會huì，漸jiàn漸jiàn天tiān昏hūn，又yòu見jiàn那nà：看kàn一yí会huì，渐jiàn渐jiàn天tiān昏hūn，又yòu见jiàn那nà：

He watched a while, and by degrees the sky darkened, and then he saw this:

A second cue, a second set piece. The first verse showed the season; this one shows the hour.

At the crossroads the lamplight blazes; in the nine-tiered hall the incense hangs and the bell sounds.

Here is the trick the whole poem is built on, and once you see it you cannot unsee it. Every line opens on a number, and the numbers count down — this pair starts at ten and nine. 重 is chóng, a layer or a tier, so 九重殿 is the nine-tiered hall, the palace.

Seven bright stars light the blue-green vault; travellers from the eight directions lay down their tracks.

And here the count stumbles on purpose: seven comes before eight. Neither phrase can be moved — 七點 is the seven stars of the Dipper and 八方 is the eight directions of the compass, both fixed, and neither means anything with the other number in it. The poet kept the phrases and let the sequence take the hit. 碧漢 is the blue-green river, one of the old names for the night sky.

六liù軍jūn營yíng，隱yǐn隱yǐn的de畫huà角jiǎo才cái吹chuī；六liù军jūn营yíng，隐yǐn隐yǐn的de画huà角jiǎo才cái吹chuī；

In the camps of the six armies, faintly, the painted horn has only just sounded;

畫角 is the painted horn, the army's watch-signal — a lacquered instrument blown to mark the hours in camp. The count is at six.

五wǔ鼓gǔ樓lóu，點diǎn點diǎn的de銅tóng壺hú初chū滴dī。五wǔ鼓gǔ楼lóu，点diǎn点diǎn的de铜tóng壶hú初chū滴dī。

In the five drum-towers, drop by drop, the bronze vessel begins to fall.

銅壺 is the bronze pot of a water clock, which measures the night by dripping at a fixed rate. Both this line and the one before it are telling the time by ear rather than by sight, which is the point once the sky has gone dark.

總評 Commentary

A descending-number poem, ten down to one, and it is a genuine parlour trick — the kind of thing that gets applause in performance and looks like decoration on the page. Read it aloud and count.

It also does something the prose could not. Ten lamps and bells and horns and water clocks arrive in a fixed order that ends at a single moon, so the city narrows from a whole population down to one object in the sky. The reader is brought quietly from the crowd to the silence, which is exactly the transition Pilgrim needs before he can go down and start stealing.