Canonical Classics ← 第八十六回
第八十六回
zhùwēizhēngguài
jīngōngshīmièyāoxié

The Wood Mother Lends His Strength to Fight the Monster · The Metal Lord Works His Art to Destroy the Fiend

有個真假
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

有個真假 Is There a False Head

menshījìnnòngzuòzhèmenshīchūlái。」xíngzhědào:「dāiziqiěrènrènshìzhēnshìjiǎjiù。」jièdào:「xiūréntóuyǒuzhēnjiǎde?」menshījìnnòngzuòzhèmenshīchūlái。」xíngzhědào:「dāiziqiěrènrènshìzhēnshìjiǎjiù。」jièdào:「xiūréntóuyǒuzhēnjiǎde?」


逐句解 Line by line

menshījìnnòngzuòzhèmenshīchūlái。」 menshījìnnòngzuòzhèmenshīchūlái。」

Such a master went in, and this is the sort of master that comes out again!"

The line works by putting the same word at both ends with different pointing words in front of it — that-sort of master going in, this-sort coming out. It is a shape English can catch with the demonstratives, and the grief is in the symmetry.

xíngzhědào:「dāiziqiěrènrènshìzhēnshìjiǎjiù。」 xíngzhědào:「dāiziqiěrènrènshìzhēnshìjiǎjiù。」

Pilgrim said, "Idiot, take a proper look and see whether it is real or false before you start crying."

認認 doubles the verb for identifying something, making it casual and immediate — have a proper look at it. Wukong is still refusing to accept an object as a fact, and it is about to save the whole expedition.

jièdào:「xiūréntóuyǒuzhēnjiǎde?」 jièdào:「xiūréntóuyǒuzhēnjiǎde?」

Bajie said, "Shame on you. Is there such a thing as a false human head?"

不羞 is have-you-no-shame, thrown at Wukong for quibbling over his master's remains. The question that follows is a reasonable one and it is exactly wrong, which is the most interesting kind of mistake a character can make.


總評 Commentary

Bajie's objection is sensible, humane, and completely mistaken. Of course there is no such thing as a false human head — except that there is one lying on the ground in front of him, and he is standing over it accusing his brother of coldness.

The novel keeps arranging its scenes so that the character with the warmer heart reaches the wrong answer and the character with the colder eye reaches the right one. It does not resolve this. It just keeps putting it in front of the reader.