第八十五回 · 哽哽咽咽 Three Sobs and Three Laughs — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

哽哽咽咽 Three Sobs and Three Laughs

說shuō不bù了liǎo，班bān部bù叢cóng中zhōng閃shǎn上shàng一yí個gè小xiǎo妖yāo，對duì老lǎo妖yāo哽gěng哽gěng咽yè咽yè哭kū了le三sān聲shēng，又yòu嘻xī嘻xī哈hā哈hā的de笑xiào了le三sān聲shēng。老lǎo妖yāo喝hè道dào：「你nǐ又yòu哭kū又yòu笑xiào，何hé也yě？」说shuō不bù了liǎo，班bān部bù丛cóng中zhōng闪shǎn上shàng一yí个gè小xiǎo妖yāo，对duì老lǎo妖yāo哽gěng哽gěng咽yè咽yè哭kū了le三sān声shēng，又yòu嘻xī嘻xī哈hā哈hā的de笑xiào了le三sān声shēng。老lǎo妖yāo喝hè道dào：「你nǐ又yòu哭kū又yòu笑xiào，何hé也yě？」

逐句解 Line by line

說shuō不bù了liǎo，班bān部bù叢cóng中zhōng閃shǎn上shàng一yí個gè小xiǎo妖yāo，對duì老lǎo妖yāo哽gěng哽gěng咽yè咽yè哭kū了le三sān聲shēng，又yòu嘻xī嘻xī哈hā哈hā的de笑xiào了le三sān聲shēng。说shuō不bù了liǎo，班bān部bù丛cóng中zhōng闪shǎn上shàng一yí个gè小xiǎo妖yāo，对duì老lǎo妖yāo哽gěng哽gěng咽yè咽yè哭kū了le三sān声shēng，又yòu嘻xī嘻xī哈hā哈hā的de笑xiào了le三sān声shēng。

Before he had finished speaking, an imp slipped forward out of the ranks, sobbed three times before the old fiend with a choking in his throat, and then laughed three times, all giggles.

咽 is yè at both places in 哽哽咽咽 — a throat closing on a sob, not the yàn of swallowing. 班部 is the ranks a court or a household stands in, the same word used of the kingdom's officials at the top of the chapter. Three sobs, three laughs, counted out — this imp has planned his entrance.

老lǎo妖yāo喝hè道dào：「你nǐ又yòu哭kū又yòu笑xiào，何hé也yě？」老lǎo妖yāo喝hè道dào：「你nǐ又yòu哭kū又yòu笑xiào，何hé也yě？」

The old fiend shouted, "You weep and then you laugh. Why is that?"

喝 is hè, to shout. And the fiend asks, which is exactly what the performance was for. He has been played by his own subordinate in eleven characters.

總評 Commentary

The imp does not report. He performs, and he performs a riddle — three sobs, three laughs, and a pause for the question.

It is the same technique Bajie used on the fiend with the dyer joke, and the same technique Pilgrim used on Bajie with the refusal. Everybody in this chapter gets what they want by making somebody else ask.