第八十七回 · 那方來者 Where Are You From — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

那方來者 Where Are You From

諕xià得de那nà簷yán下xià冠guān帶dài者zhě戰zhàn兢jīng兢jīng躬gōng身shēn問wèn道dào：「那nǎ方fāng來lái者zhě？」三sān藏zàng恐kǒng他tā們men闖chuǎng禍huò，一yí力lì當dāng先xiān，對duì眾zhòng道dào：「貧pín僧sēng乃nǎi東dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng駕jià下xià拜bài天tiān竺zhú國guó大dà雷léi音yīn寺sì佛fó祖zǔ求qiú經jīng者zhě。諕xià得de那nà簷yán下xià冠guān带dài者zhě战zhàn兢jīng兢jīng躬gōng身shēn问wèn道dào：「那nǎ方fāng来lái者zhě？」三sān藏zàng恐kǒng他tā们men闯chuǎng祸huò，一yí力lì当dāng先xiān，对duì众zhòng道dào：「贫pín僧sēng乃nǎi东dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng驾jià下xià拜bài天tiān竺zhú国guó大dà雷léi音yīn寺sì佛fó祖zǔ求qiú经jīng者zhě。

逐句解 Line by line

諕xià得de那nà簷yán下xià冠guān帶dài者zhě戰zhàn兢jīng兢jīng躬gōng身shēn問wèn道dào：「那nǎ方fāng來lái者zhě？」諕xià得de那nà簷yán下xià冠guān带dài者zhě战zhàn兢jīng兢jīng躬gōng身shēn问wèn道dào：「那nǎ方fāng来lái者zhě？」

So badly frightened were the capped and belted men under the eaves that they bowed, trembling, and asked, "Where might you gentlemen be from?"

Two different words share one shape in this line. 諕 is xià, an old way of writing the ordinary verb to frighten. And 那 is nǎ here, the question word which — not the nà that means that, which is how the same character is read at sixty-five of its seventy-three appearances in this chapter. 得 is neutral de, the little hinge that links a verb to how far it went: frightened to the point of trembling.

三sān藏zàng恐kǒng他tā們men闖chuǎng禍huò，一yí力lì當dāng先xiān，對duì眾zhòng道dào：「貧pín僧sēng乃nǎi東dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng駕jià下xià拜bài天tiān竺zhú國guó大dà雷léi音yīn寺sì佛fó祖zǔ求qiú經jīng者zhě。三sān藏zàng恐kǒng他tā们men闯chuǎng祸huò，一yí力lì当dāng先xiān，对duì众zhòng道dào：「贫pín僧sēng乃nǎi东dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng驾jià下xià拜bài天tiān竺zhú国guó大dà雷léi音yīn寺sì佛fó祖zǔ求qiú经jīng者zhě。

Tripitaka, afraid his disciples would cause trouble, pushed to the front by himself and addressed them all: "This poor monk is sent from the Great Tang in the Land of the East, to seek scriptures from the Buddha at the Great Thunderclap Monastery in India.

一力當先 is to step out in front on one's own strength, taking the whole weight of the moment. 貧僧, this poor monk, is the standard humble self-reference for a Buddhist cleric — no more literally about poverty than yours truly is about ownership.

總評 Commentary

The officials are terrified, and their terror comes out as excruciating politeness. They bow. They tremble. They ask, in effect, may one enquire where the gentlemen have come from.

Tripitaka's response is the one thing he is genuinely good at. He cannot fight, he cannot judge distances, and he cannot tell a demon from a farmer — but he can deliver a formal credential in flawless official register, and he does it here to keep his disciples from making things worse. His fear that they will cause trouble is well founded; one of them has just caused it.