第八十六回 · 瞌睡蟲兒 Sleep Insects on Every Face — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

瞌睡蟲兒 Sleep Insects on Every Face

即jí將jiāng毫háo毛máo拔bá了le一yì把bǎ，口kǒu中zhōng嚼jué碎suì，輕qīng輕qīng吹chuī出chū，暗àn念niàn咒zhòu語yǔ，都dōu教jiào變biàn做zuò瞌kē睡shuì蟲chóng兒ér，往wǎng那nà眾zhòng妖yāo臉liǎn上shàng拋pāo去qù。一yí個gè個gè鑽zuān入rù鼻bí中zhōng，小xiǎo妖yāo漸jiàn漸jiàn打dǎ盹dǔn，不bú一yì時shí都dōu睡shuì倒dǎo了le。即jí将jiāng毫háo毛máo拔bá了le一yì把bǎ，口kǒu中zhōng嚼jué碎suì，轻qīng轻qīng吹chuī出chū，暗àn念niàn咒zhòu语yǔ，都dōu教jiào变biàn做zuò瞌kē睡shuì虫chóng儿ér，往wǎng那nà众zhòng妖yāo脸liǎn上shàng抛pāo去qù。一yí个gè个gè钻zuān入rù鼻bí中zhōng，小xiǎo妖yāo渐jiàn渐jiàn打dǎ盹dǔn，不bú一yì时shí都dōu睡shuì倒dǎo了le。

逐句解 Line by line

即jí將jiāng毫háo毛máo拔bá了le一yì把bǎ，口kǒu中zhōng嚼jué碎suì，輕qīng輕qīng吹chuī出chū，暗àn念niàn咒zhòu語yǔ，都dōu教jiào變biàn做zuò瞌kē睡shuì蟲chóng兒ér，往wǎng那nà眾zhòng妖yāo臉liǎn上shàng拋pāo去qù。即jí将jiāng毫háo毛máo拔bá了le一yì把bǎ，口kǒu中zhōng嚼jué碎suì，轻qīng轻qīng吹chuī出chū，暗àn念niàn咒zhòu语yǔ，都dōu教jiào变biàn做zuò瞌kē睡shuì虫chóng儿ér，往wǎng那nà众zhòng妖yāo脸liǎn上shàng抛pāo去qù。

At once he pulled out a handful of his hairs, chewed them up in his mouth, blew them out lightly, silently recited a spell, and made them all change into sleep insects, which he threw at the faces of the crowd of fiends.

The hair trick again, but turned to a different use — an army last time, sleeping-draughts this time. 瞌睡蟲兒, sleep insects, are a standing item in Wukong's repertoire: small creatures that crawl into the nose and put a person out. It is a burglar's tool rather than a warrior's, and he is using it in a room full of enemies he could simply have killed.

一yí個gè個gè鑽zuān入rù鼻bí中zhōng，小xiǎo妖yāo漸jiàn漸jiàn打dǎ盹dǔn，不bú一yì時shí都dōu睡shuì倒dǎo了le。一yí个gè个gè钻zuān入rù鼻bí中zhōng，小xiǎo妖yāo渐jiàn渐jiàn打dǎ盹dǔn，不bú一yì时shí都dōu睡shuì倒dǎo了le。

One by one they bored into the noses, and the little fiends slowly began to nod, and in no time at all they had all fallen asleep.

不一時, in no time at all, is the second place in this chapter where the tone of 不 has to be worked out from the character after it — and the character after it is a 一 that itself shifts, so the answer cannot be read off the first pass. 睡倒 takes 倒 as dǎo, to go down flat.

總評 Commentary

Wukong has a room full of people who want to eat his teacher and he puts them to sleep. It is the most restrained thing he does in the chapter, and it is also the most effective — a fight would have brought the whole cave down on him.

The sleep insects are a lovely piece of invention because they are so unheroic. The Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who fought the armies of the sky, wins this room by putting bugs up people's noses.