Canonical Classics ← 第八十五回
第八十五回
心xīn猿yuán妒dù木mù母mǔ
魔mó主zhǔ計jì吞tūn禪chán

The Mind-Ape Envies the Wood Mother · The Fiend Lord Plots to Swallow the Chan

撥雲見日
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

撥雲見日 The Clouds Part

今jīn得dé見jiàn陛bì下xià龍lóng顏yán,所suǒ謂wèi撥bō雲yún見jiàn日rì。望wàng陛bì下xià赦shè放fàng貧pín僧sēng,海hǎi深shēn恩ēn便biàn也yě。」國guó王wáng道dào:「老lǎo師shī是shì天tiān朝cháo上shàng國guó高gāo僧sēng,朕zhèn失shī迎yíng迓yà。今jīn得dé见jiàn陛bì下xià龙lóng颜yán,所suǒ谓wèi拨bō云yún见jiàn日rì。望wàng陛bì下xià赦shè放fàng贫pín僧sēng,海hǎi深shēn恩ēn便biàn也yě。」国guó王wáng道dào:「老lǎo师shī是shì天tiān朝cháo上shàng国guó高gāo僧sēng,朕zhèn失shī迎yíng迓yà。


逐句解 Line by line

今jīn得dé見jiàn陛bì下xià龍lóng顏yán,所suǒ謂wèi撥bō雲yún見jiàn日rì。 今jīn得dé见jiàn陛bì下xià龙lóng颜yán,所suǒ谓wèi拨bō云yún见jiàn日rì。

Today I am granted sight of Your Majesty's dragon countenance, which is what men mean by parting the clouds to see the sun.

撥雲見日 — push the clouds aside and there is the sun — is still in daily use for a situation that suddenly comes clear, and Tripitaka is using it as a compliment: you are the sun, I have been in cloud. The 得 here is dé, to be granted or to get to, not the de that hangs a result off a verb.

望wàng陛bì下xià赦shè放fàng貧pín僧sēng,海hǎi深shēn恩ēn便biàn也yě。」 望wàng陛bì下xià赦shè放fàng贫pín僧sēng,海hǎi深shēn恩ēn便biàn也yě。」

I beg Your Majesty to pardon and release this poor monk, and the kindness will be deep as the sea."

He asks for exactly one thing and asks for it last, after the flattery and the full account. 海深恩, kindness deep as the sea, is conventional and none the less well judged — the king has spent the morning discovering he is not the man he thought he was, and here is someone offering him a way to be generous.

國guó王wáng道dào:「老lǎo師shī是shì天tiān朝cháo上shàng國guó高gāo僧sēng,朕zhèn失shī迎yíng迓yà。 国guó王wáng道dào:「老lǎo师shī是shì天tiān朝cháo上shàng国guó高gāo僧sēng,朕zhèn失shī迎yíng迓yà。

The king said, "Master, you are an eminent monk of the celestial court and the superior kingdom, and I failed to come out and receive you.

迎迓 is a formal doubled word for going out to meet an arriving guest, and failing to do it is a real breach — the same family of fault as the 失儀 the court apologised for at the top of the chapter. 天朝上國 is how a smaller state names China to a Chinese visitor.


總評 Commentary

Tripitaka is a better courtier than he is given credit for. Praise, full disclosure, a single modest request: it is the structure of a well-made memorial, delivered aloud by a man who was in a box twenty lines ago.

The king answers by apologising for his manners. He has a vow to kill ten thousand monks on his conscience and what he raises is that he did not come out to the gate. The novel lets that sit without comment.