第八十六回 · 出去看看 Let Me Go Out and Look — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

出去看看 Let Me Go Out and Look

先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「莫mò怕pà，等děng我wǒ出chū去qù看kàn看kàn。」那nà小xiǎo妖yāo奔bēn至zhì前qián門mén，從cóng那nà打dǎ破pò的de窟kū窿lóng處chù，歪wāi著zhe頭tóu，往wǎng外wài張zhāng，見jiàn是shì個gè長cháng嘴zuǐ大dà耳ěr朵duo，即jí回huí頭tóu高gāo叫jiào：「大dà王wáng莫mò怕pà他tā，這zhè是shì個gè豬zhū八bā戒jiè，沒méi甚shén本běn事shì，不bù敢gǎn無wú理lǐ。先xiān锋fēng道dào：「莫mò怕pà，等děng我wǒ出chū去qù看kàn看kàn。」那nà小xiǎo妖yāo奔bēn至zhì前qián门mén，从cóng那nà打dǎ破pò的de窟kū窿lóng处chù，歪wāi着zhe头tóu，往wǎng外wài张zhāng，见jiàn是shì个gè长cháng嘴zuǐ大dà耳ěr朵duo，即jí回huí头tóu高gāo叫jiào：「大dà王wáng莫mò怕pà他tā，这zhè是shì个gè猪zhū八bā戒jiè，没méi甚shén本běn事shì，不bù敢gǎn无wú理lǐ。

逐句解 Line by line

先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「莫mò怕pà，等děng我wǒ出chū去qù看kàn看kàn。」先xiān锋fēng道dào：「莫mò怕pà，等děng我wǒ出chū去qù看kàn看kàn。」

The vanguard said, "Do not be afraid. Let me go out and take a look."

The vanguard is the same officer who proposed the plum blossom stratagem last chapter, and he keeps his nerve for exactly as long as it takes him to peer through the hole. 看看 doubled is the standard way of making a verb casual — have a quick look, no commitment.

那nà小xiǎo妖yāo奔bēn至zhì前qián門mén，從cóng那nà打dǎ破pò的de窟kū窿lóng處chù，歪wāi著zhe頭tóu，往wǎng外wài張zhāng，見jiàn是shì個gè長cháng嘴zuǐ大dà耳ěr朵duo，即jí回huí頭tóu高gāo叫jiào：「大dà王wáng莫mò怕pà他tā，這zhè是shì個gè豬zhū八bā戒jiè，沒méi甚shén本běn事shì，不bù敢gǎn無wú理lǐ。那nà小xiǎo妖yāo奔bēn至zhì前qián门mén，从cóng那nà打dǎ破pò的de窟kū窿lóng处chù，歪wāi着zhe头tóu，往wǎng外wài张zhāng，见jiàn是shì个gè长cháng嘴zuǐ大dà耳ěr朵duo，即jí回huí头tóu高gāo叫jiào：「大dà王wáng莫mò怕pà他tā，这zhè是shì个gè猪zhū八bā戒jiè，没méi甚shén本běn事shì，不bù敢gǎn无wú理lǐ。

The little fiend ran to the front gate, put his head sideways to the hole that had been smashed through, and peered out. Seeing a creature with a long snout and great ears, he turned his head back at once and called up, "Great King, do not be afraid of him. This is only Zhu Bajie. He has no real skill and he will not dare do anything.

The comedy of this line is entirely in the geometry: he has to tilt his head sideways to get an eye to the hole Bajie punched. 長嘴 is a long snout, and 長 is cháng for length — the reading the machinery misses at five sites in this chapter, because the same character far more often means senior. 沒甚本事 takes 甚 as shén, no what-skill, meaning no skill worth the name.

總評 Commentary

The reconnaissance report is accurate and it is also fatally incomplete, which is the shape of most intelligence failures. The scout correctly identifies Bajie, correctly rates him as manageable, and is about to name the one thing that would change the assessment entirely.

Note that the little fiend has to look through the hole rather than open the door. The novel has already told us the doors are shut fast, and it now quietly shows us that they intend to keep them that way — the whole second half of the chapter is about doors being blocked and back ways being found.