第八十六回 · 人肉巴子 Strips of Human Flesh Drying — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

人肉巴子 Strips of Human Flesh Drying

探tàn著zhe頭tóu兒ér觀guān看kàn，只zhǐ見jiàn那nà向xiàng陽yáng處chù有yǒu個gè小xiǎo妖yāo，拿ná些xiē人rén肉ròu巴bā子zi，一yí塊kuài塊kuài的de理lǐ著zhe晒shài哩li。行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ的de兒ér啊a，那nà想xiǎng是shì師shī父fù的de肉ròu吃chī不bù了liǎo，晒shài乾gān巴bā子zi防fáng天tiān陰yīn的de。探tàn着zhe头tóu儿ér观guān看kàn，只zhǐ见jiàn那nà向xiàng阳yáng处chù有yǒu个gè小xiǎo妖yāo，拿ná些xiē人rén肉ròu巴bā子zi，一yí块kuài块kuài的de理lǐ着zhe晒shài哩li。行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ的de儿ér啊a，那nà想xiǎng是shì师shī父fù的de肉ròu吃chī不bù了liǎo，晒shài干gān巴bā子zi防fáng天tiān阴yīn的de。

逐句解 Line by line

探tàn著zhe頭tóu兒ér觀guān看kàn，只zhǐ見jiàn那nà向xiàng陽yáng處chù有yǒu個gè小xiǎo妖yāo，拿ná些xiē人rén肉ròu巴bā子zi，一yí塊kuài塊kuài的de理lǐ著zhe晒shài哩li。探tàn着zhe头tóu儿ér观guān看kàn，只zhǐ见jiàn那nà向xiàng阳yáng处chù有yǒu个gè小xiǎo妖yāo，拿ná些xiē人rén肉ròu巴bā子zi，一yí块kuài块kuài的de理lǐ着zhe晒shài哩li。

Poking his head out to look about, he saw in a sunny spot a little fiend with some strips of human flesh, laying them out lump by lump to dry.

探著頭兒 takes 著 as zhe for the head kept out while he looks. 巴子 is a dried strip, the same word used of dried meat, and 理著晒 again takes 著 as zhe — arranging while drying. The sunny spot is the same kind of place Bajie chose for the grave.

行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ的de兒ér啊a，那nà想xiǎng是shì師shī父fù的de肉ròu吃chī不bù了liǎo，晒shài乾gān巴bā子zi防fáng天tiān陰yīn的de。行xíng者zhě道dào：「我wǒ的de儿ér啊a，那nà想xiǎng是shì师shī父fù的de肉ròu吃chī不bù了liǎo，晒shài干gān巴bā子zi防fáng天tiān阴yīn的de。

Pilgrim said, "My child! That must be the master's flesh, more than they could eat, and they are drying it into strips against a spell of wet weather."

乾 is gān here, dry — not the reading it takes as one of the two figures for heaven and earth, which is where the machinery goes on its own. 吃不了 takes 了 as liǎo, to get to the end of. 我的兒啊 is not affection but a curse in the shape of one, the way English can turn my dear into a threat.

總評 Commentary

This is the most ordinary domestic scene in the chapter and the most horrible. Somebody is preserving surplus meat in the sun to see the household through bad weather. It is exactly what a farm would do.

Wukong's conclusion is wrong again, and the novel keeps letting him be wrong in the same direction. Every piece of evidence he meets he reads as confirmation that his master is dead, because the fiends really do eat people and the evidence really is human. He is right about the world and wrong about the case.