第八十六回 · 魂飛魄散 Souls Flown and Spirits Scattered — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

魂飛魄散 Souls Flown and Spirits Scattered

那nà洞dòng裡lǐ大dà小xiǎo群qún妖yāo，一yí個gè個gè魂hún飛fēi魄pò散sàn，都dōu報bào怨yuàn先xiān鋒fēng的de不bú是shì。老lǎo妖yāo問wèn先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「這zhè些xiē和hé尚shàng打dǎ進jìn門mén來lái，卻què怎zěn處chǔ治zhì？」先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「古gǔ人rén說shuō得de好hǎo：『手shǒu插chā魚yú籃lán，避bì不bù得de腥xīng。』那nà洞dòng里lǐ大dà小xiǎo群qún妖yāo，一yí个gè个gè魂hún飞fēi魄pò散sàn，都dōu报bào怨yuàn先xiān锋fēng的de不bú是shì。老lǎo妖yāo问wèn先xiān锋fēng道dào：「这zhè些xiē和hé尚shàng打dǎ进jìn门mén来lái，却què怎zěn处chǔ治zhì？」先xiān锋fēng道dào：「古gǔ人rén说shuō得de好hǎo：『手shǒu插chā鱼yú篮lán，避bì不bù得de腥xīng。』

逐句解 Line by line

那nà洞dòng裡lǐ大dà小xiǎo群qún妖yāo，一yí個gè個gè魂hún飛fēi魄pò散sàn，都dōu報bào怨yuàn先xiān鋒fēng的de不bú是shì。那nà洞dòng里lǐ大dà小xiǎo群qún妖yāo，一yí个gè个gè魂hún飞fēi魄pò散sàn，都dōu报bào怨yuàn先xiān锋fēng的de不bú是shì。

Inside the cave the fiends, great and small, every one of them had their souls flown and their spirits scattered, and all laid the blame on the vanguard.

魂飛魄散 is one of the oldest terror phrases in the language and it rests on a real belief: a person carries two kinds of soul, the cloud-soul that rises and the white-soul that stays with the body, and a bad enough fright sends both out of the door. It is still in daily use for being scared witless.

老lǎo妖yāo問wèn先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「這zhè些xiē和hé尚shàng打dǎ進jìn門mén來lái，卻què怎zěn處chǔ治zhì？」老lǎo妖yāo问wèn先xiān锋fēng道dào：「这zhè些xiē和hé尚shàng打dǎ进jìn门mén来lái，却què怎zěn处chǔ治zhì？」

The old fiend asked the vanguard, "These monks have broken their way in. What are we to do about them?"

處治 is to deal with, to dispose of a matter, and 處 is chǔ there — the managing reading, which this chapter needs exactly once against eighteen where the character means a place. The king's first instinct is still to ask his strategist.

先xiān鋒fēng道dào：「古gǔ人rén說shuō得de好hǎo：『手shǒu插chā魚yú籃lán，避bì不bù得de腥xīng。』先xiān锋fēng道dào：「古gǔ人rén说shuō得de好hǎo：『手shǒu插chā鱼yú篮lán，避bì不bù得de腥xīng。』

The vanguard said, "The ancients put it well: put your hand in the fish basket and you will not avoid the smell.

手插魚籃 and then 避不得腥 is a proverb, and it is doing the same work as the English saying about being in for a penny — once you have reached into the basket the stink is on you and there is no point being fussy now. In 避不得, cannot avoid, 得 is de, the can-you-manage-it hinge.

總評 Commentary

The fiends have discovered blame, which is what an organisation does when a plan fails. Nobody in the cave suggests that eating a passing monk was a bad idea; they have simply worked out whose fault the consequences are.

The fish basket proverb is beautifully chosen for a cave full of cannibals. It is about handling something that leaves a smell on you, and its point is that having started, squeamishness is now pointless. The vanguard is arguing for a fight on the grounds that they are already dirty.