第八十五回 · 裡面乾淨 Tie Him Up and Starve Him Clean — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

裡面乾淨 Tie Him Up and Starve Him Clean

老lǎo怪guài道dào：「先xiān鋒fēng，憑píng你nǐ有yǒu何hé高gāo見jiàn？」先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「依yī著zhe我wǒ，把bǎ唐táng僧sēng送sòng在zài後hòu園yuán，綁bǎng在zài樹shù上shàng，兩liǎng三sān日rì不bú要yào與yǔ他tā飯fàn吃chī：一yì則zé圖tú他tā裡lǐ面miàn乾gān淨jìng；老lǎo怪guài道dào：「先xiān锋fēng，凭píng你nǐ有yǒu何hé高gāo见jiàn？」先xiān锋fēng道dào：「依yī着zhe我wǒ，把bǎ唐táng僧sēng送sòng在zài后hòu园yuán，绑bǎng在zài树shù上shàng，两liǎng三sān日rì不bú要yào与yǔ他tā饭fàn吃chī：一yì则zé图tú他tā里lǐ面miàn干gān净jìng；

逐句解 Line by line

老lǎo怪guài道dào：「先xiān鋒fēng，憑píng你nǐ有yǒu何hé高gāo見jiàn？」老lǎo怪guài道dào：「先xiān锋fēng，凭píng你nǐ有yǒu何hé高gāo见jiàn？」

The old fiend said, "Vanguard, what better notion have you?"

高見 — your lofty view — is a courtesy for another person's opinion, and the commander is now formally consulting the imp he promoted an hour ago. He has stopped having plans and started commissioning them.

先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「依yī著zhe我wǒ，把bǎ唐táng僧sēng送sòng在zài後hòu園yuán，綁bǎng在zài樹shù上shàng，兩liǎng三sān日rì不bú要yào與yǔ他tā飯fàn吃chī：一yì則zé圖tú他tā裡lǐ面miàn乾gān淨jìng；先xiān锋fēng道dào：「依yī着zhe我wǒ，把bǎ唐táng僧sēng送sòng在zài后hòu园yuán，绑bǎng在zài树shù上shàng，两liǎng三sān日rì不bú要yào与yǔ他tā饭fàn吃chī：一yì则zé图tú他tā里lǐ面miàn干gān净jìng；

The vanguard said, "Do as I say. Put the Tang Monk in the back garden, tie him to a tree, and give him nothing to eat for two or three days. For one thing, it makes him clean inside;

著 is zhe in 依著我, going along with me. 乾 is gān in 乾淨, clean — and clean here means emptied out, the way an animal is starved before slaughter. It is the same word the master will use in a moment about dying, in a completely different sense.

總評 Commentary

The plan is to starve him for two or three days, and the reason given first is hygiene. The novel lets a demon apply ordinary butchery practice to a man without comment.

That word for clean is about to do a great deal of work. Tripitaka will use it four times in the next scene about his own death, and never once about his digestion.