第八十五回 · 要打攪人家 The Horse Will Be a Nuisance — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

要打攪人家 The Horse Will Be a Nuisance

那nà獃dāi子zi吃chī嘴zuǐ的de見jiàn識shí偏piān有yǒu，走zǒu上shàng前qián，唱chàng個gè大dà喏rě道dào：「師shī父fù，適shì才cái師shī兄xiōng說shuō，前qián村cūn裡lǐ有yǒu人rén家jiā齋zhāi僧sēng。你nǐ看kàn這zhè馬mǎ，有yǒu些xiē要yào打dǎ攪jiǎo人rén家jiā，便biàn要yào草cǎo要yào料liào，卻què不bú費fèi事shì？那nà呆dāi子zi吃chī嘴zuǐ的de见jiàn识shí偏piān有yǒu，走zǒu上shàng前qián，唱chàng个gè大dà喏rě道dào：「师shī父fù，适shì才cái师shī兄xiōng说shuō，前qián村cūn里lǐ有yǒu人rén家jiā斋zhāi僧sēng。你nǐ看kàn这zhè马mǎ，有yǒu些xiē要yào打dǎ搅jiǎo人rén家jiā，便biàn要yào草cǎo要yào料liào，却què不bú费fèi事shì？

逐句解 Line by line

那nà獃dāi子zi吃chī嘴zuǐ的de見jiàn識shí偏piān有yǒu，走zǒu上shàng前qián，唱chàng個gè大dà喏rě道dào：「師shī父fù，適shì才cái師shī兄xiōng說shuō，前qián村cūn裡lǐ有yǒu人rén家jiā齋zhāi僧sēng。那nà呆dāi子zi吃chī嘴zuǐ的de见jiàn识shí偏piān有yǒu，走zǒu上shàng前qián，唱chàng个gè大dà喏rě道dào：「师shī父fù，适shì才cái师shī兄xiōng说shuō，前qián村cūn里lǐ有yǒu人rén家jiā斋zhāi僧sēng。

That blockhead has no shortage of cleverness where his mouth is concerned. He stepped forward, made a great bow with a shout, and said, "Master, my brother just now said there are households in the village ahead feeding monks.

喏 is rě — a 大喏 is a bow made with a loud formal cry, the sort of salute a soldier or a servant gives, and Bajie performing one is already overdoing it. 吃嘴的見識, cleverness of the mouth, is the narrator giving him credit for the one form of intelligence he reliably shows.

你nǐ看kàn這zhè馬mǎ，有yǒu些xiē要yào打dǎ攪jiǎo人rén家jiā，便biàn要yào草cǎo要yào料liào，卻què不bú費fèi事shì？你nǐ看kàn这zhè马mǎ，有yǒu些xiē要yào打dǎ搅jiǎo人rén家jiā，便biàn要yào草cǎo要yào料liào，却què不bú费fèi事shì？

Now look at this horse. He is bound to put the household out, wanting grass and wanting feed, and would that not be a trouble to them?

The excuse is a small masterpiece. It is about the horse, it is about being considerate to strangers, and it does not mention food once. 草 and 料 are grass and grain — the two things a horse is fed, itemised for realism.

總評 Commentary

Pilgrim challenged him to find a way and he has found a very good one. The lie is considerate, practical, and entirely about someone else's convenience.

The narrator's phrase for it is exact: cleverness where his mouth is concerned. Bajie is not stupid. He is intelligent in one direction only, and this is that direction working at full stretch.