第八十六回 · 把前門堵了 The Front Gate Blocked Up — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

把前門堵了 The Front Gate Blocked Up

卻què說shuō那nà老lǎo怪guài逃táo了le命mìng回huí洞dòng，吩fēn咐fu小xiǎo妖yāo搬bān石shí塊kuài，挑tiāo土tǔ把bǎ前qián門mén堵dǔ了le。那nà些xiē得dé命mìng的de小xiǎo妖yāo，一yí個gè個gè戰zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de，把bǎ門mén都dōu堵dǔ了le，再zài不bù敢gǎn出chū頭tóu。却què说shuō那nà老lǎo怪guài逃táo了le命mìng回huí洞dòng，吩fēn咐fu小xiǎo妖yāo搬bān石shí块kuài，挑tiāo土tǔ把bǎ前qián门mén堵dǔ了le。那nà些xiē得dé命mìng的de小xiǎo妖yāo，一yí个gè个gè战zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de，把bǎ门mén都dōu堵dǔ了le，再zài不bù敢gǎn出chū头tóu。

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà老lǎo怪guài逃táo了le命mìng回huí洞dòng，吩fēn咐fu小xiǎo妖yāo搬bān石shí塊kuài，挑tiāo土tǔ把bǎ前qián門mén堵dǔ了le。却què说shuō那nà老lǎo怪guài逃táo了le命mìng回huí洞dòng，吩fēn咐fu小xiǎo妖yāo搬bān石shí块kuài，挑tiāo土tǔ把bǎ前qián门mén堵dǔ了le。

Now, that old fiend, having escaped with his life back to the cave, ordered the little fiends to haul stone blocks and carry earth and block the front gate up.

堵 is to dam or wall something off, and the fiend's answer to being beaten in the field is to stop having a field. He is not planning a counter-attack; he is planning to wait.

那nà些xiē得dé命mìng的de小xiǎo妖yāo，一yí個gè個gè戰zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de，把bǎ門mén都dōu堵dǔ了le，再zài不bù敢gǎn出chū頭tóu。那nà些xiē得dé命mìng的de小xiǎo妖yāo，一yí个gè个gè战zhàn兢jīng兢jīng的de，把bǎ门mén都dōu堵dǔ了le，再zài不bù敢gǎn出chū头tóu。

Those little fiends who had got away with their lives, every one of them trembling, blocked the gate up completely and dared not put their heads out again.

得命 for the third time in this chapter, and each time it has been somebody counting themselves lucky — Bajie in the opening scene, the king a moment ago, and now the survivors. 戰兢兢, trembling and quaking, doubles its second character, the same shape the panicking messenger took earlier.

總評 Commentary

The old fiend has found the one strategy that works against Wukong, and it is not fighting. It is masonry. Everything the Great Sage can do requires an opponent who is willing to be somewhere.

This is also the moment the chapter's title starts to make sense. The Wood Mother lends his strength and the Metal Lord works his art — but neither of those is a matter of hitting harder. What gets through this door is a change of shape and a back way in.