第八十六回 · 難得性命 Bound to a Tree Like Me — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

難得性命 Bound to a Tree Like Me

樵qiáo子zi叩kòu頭tóu道dào：「母mǔ親qīn，兒ér已yǐ被bèi山shān主zhǔ拿ná去qù，綁bǎng在zài樹shù上shàng，實shí是shì難nán得dé性xìng命mìng，幸xìng虧kuī這zhè幾jǐ位wèi老lǎo爺yé。這zhè老lǎo爺yé是shì東dōng土tǔ唐táng朝cháo往wǎng西xī天tiān取qǔ經jīng的de羅luó漢hàn。樵qiáo子zi叩kòu头tóu道dào：「母mǔ亲qīn，儿ér已yǐ被bèi山shān主zhǔ拿ná去qù，绑bǎng在zài树shù上shàng，实shí是shì难nán得dé性xìng命mìng，幸xìng亏kuī这zhè几jǐ位wèi老lǎo爷yé。这zhè老lǎo爷yé是shì东dōng土tǔ唐táng朝cháo往wǎng西xī天tiān取qǔ经jīng的de罗luó汉hàn。

逐句解 Line by line

樵qiáo子zi叩kòu頭tóu道dào：「母mǔ親qīn，兒ér已yǐ被bèi山shān主zhǔ拿ná去qù，綁bǎng在zài樹shù上shàng，實shí是shì難nán得dé性xìng命mìng，幸xìng虧kuī這zhè幾jǐ位wèi老lǎo爺yé。樵qiáo子zi叩kòu头tóu道dào：「母mǔ亲qīn，儿ér已yǐ被bèi山shān主zhǔ拿ná去qù，绑bǎng在zài树shù上shàng，实shí是shì难nán得dé性xìng命mìng，幸xìng亏kuī这zhè几jǐ位wèi老lǎo爷yé。

The woodcutter knocked his head on the ground and said, "Mother, your child was taken off by the master of the mountain and tied to a tree, and truly there was no hope of my life — I owe it to these several reverend gentlemen.

難得性命 is that a life was hard to come by, meaning there was no getting out alive. 叩頭, to knock the head on the ground, is the full formal obeisance, and he is performing it to his own mother in the yard.

這zhè老lǎo爺yé是shì東dōng土tǔ唐táng朝cháo往wǎng西xī天tiān取qǔ經jīng的de羅luó漢hàn。这zhè老lǎo爷yé是shì东dōng土tǔ唐táng朝cháo往wǎng西xī天tiān取qǔ经jīng的de罗luó汉hàn。

This reverend gentleman is an arhat of the Tang court in the eastern land, going to the Western Heaven to fetch the scriptures.

羅漢 is an arhat, one who has reached the far end of the Buddhist path — the woodcutter is promoting Tripitaka considerably, out of gratitude and out of not knowing the technical vocabulary. It is the kind of generous inaccuracy a grateful person produces.

總評 Commentary

The son's account is a piece of formal reporting, delivered on his knees, and it is structured the way a witness statement is: what happened to me, who these people are, what they did.

Calling Tripitaka an arhat is wrong and it is the highest word the woodcutter has. He is reaching for the largest available term of respect for a man who got him off a tree, and the novel finds that touching rather than funny.