第八十六回 · 破梢竹 Broken Bamboo and Dead Pine — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

破梢竹 Broken Bamboo and Dead Pine

那nà樵qiáo子zi聞wén言yán，即jí引yǐn八bā戒jiè去qù東dōng凹āo裡lǐ尋xún了le些xiē破pò梢shāo竹zhú、敗bài葉yè松sōng、空kōng心xīn柳liǔ、斷duàn根gēn藤téng、黃huáng蒿hāo、老lǎo荻dí、蘆lú葦wěi、乾gān桑sāng，挑tiāo了le若ruò干gān，送sòng入rù後hòu門mén裡lǐ。行xíng者zhě點diǎn上shàng火huǒ，八bā戒jiè兩liǎng耳ěr搧shān起qǐ風fēng。那nà樵qiáo子zi闻wén言yán，即jí引yǐn八bā戒jiè去qù东dōng凹āo里lǐ寻xún了le些xiē破pò梢shāo竹zhú、败bài叶yè松sōng、空kōng心xīn柳liǔ、断duàn根gēn藤téng、黄huáng蒿hāo、老lǎo荻dí、芦lú苇wěi、干gān桑sāng，挑tiāo了le若ruò干gān，送sòng入rù后hòu门mén里lǐ。行xíng者zhě点diǎn上shàng火huǒ，八bā戒jiè两liǎng耳ěr扇shān起qǐ风fēng。

逐句解 Line by line

那nà樵qiáo子zi聞wén言yán，即jí引yǐn八bā戒jiè去qù東dōng凹āo裡lǐ尋xún了le些xiē破pò梢shāo竹zhú、敗bài葉yè松sōng、空kōng心xīn柳liǔ、斷duàn根gēn藤téng、黃huáng蒿hāo、老lǎo荻dí、蘆lú葦wěi、乾gān桑sāng，挑tiāo了le若ruò干gān，送sòng入rù後hòu門mén裡lǐ。那nà樵qiáo子zi闻wén言yán，即jí引yǐn八bā戒jiè去qù东dōng凹āo里lǐ寻xún了le些xiē破pò梢shāo竹zhú、败bài叶yè松sōng、空kōng心xīn柳liǔ、断duàn根gēn藤téng、黄huáng蒿hāo、老lǎo荻dí、芦lú苇wěi、干gān桑sāng，挑tiāo了le若ruò干gān，送sòng入rù后hòu门mén里lǐ。

The woodcutter heard this, and at once led Bajie off to the eastern hollow to gather some split-tipped bamboo, dead-needled pine, hollow-hearted willow, cut-root creeper, yellow wormwood, old reed-grass, common reed and dry mulberry. They carried a quantity of it and sent it in through the back door.

Eight kinds of fuel, named with a woodcutter's precision — this is the one thing in the world the rescued man is expert in, and the novel gives him the whole list. 乾桑, dry mulberry, takes 乾 as gān, the dry reading, and not the reading it takes as one of the eight three-line figures of the changing signs, which is how the same character sounds in the phrase for heaven and earth. Note also 斷根 reappearing here as an actual plant — cut-root creeper — one line after Wukong used it as a figure for wiping out a household.

行xíng者zhě點diǎn上shàng火huǒ，八bā戒jiè兩liǎng耳ěr搧shān起qǐ風fēng。行xíng者zhě点diǎn上shàng火huǒ，八bā戒jiè两liǎng耳ěr扇shān起qǐ风fēng。

Pilgrim set the fire going, and Bajie fanned up a wind with his two ears.

Twelve characters, and the joke is entirely physical. Bajie's ears are enormous and he uses them as bellows. The novel has spent a whole chapter on his grief and his decency, and it will still stop to point out that he fans a fire with his head.

總評 Commentary

The woodcutter's contribution to the destruction of the cave is his trade. He knows which wood catches, where to find it and how much to bring, and he supplies all of it within a page of being untied.

The novel is quietly setting up its ending here. This man will feed the pilgrims a meal of wild greens in a few passages, named with the same exactness, and the two lists rhyme with each other — what the hillside gives you to burn, and what it gives you to eat.