第八十八回 · 身著輕衣 An Old Man From the Trees — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

身著輕衣 An Old Man From the Trees

說shuō不bù了liǎo，忽hū見jiàn樹shù叢cóng裡lǐ走zǒu出chū一yí個gè老lǎo者zhě，手shǒu持chí竹zhú杖zhàng，身shēn著zhuó輕qīng衣yī，足zú踏tà一yí對duì棕zōng鞋xié，腰yāo束shù一yì條tiáo扁biǎn帶dài。慌huāng得de唐táng僧sēng滾gǔn鞍ān下xià馬mǎ，上shàng前qián道dào個gè問wèn訊xùn。说shuō不bù了liǎo，忽hū见jiàn树shù丛cóng里lǐ走zǒu出chū一yí个gè老lǎo者zhě，手shǒu持chí竹zhú杖zhàng，身shēn着zhuó轻qīng衣yī，足zú踏tà一yí对duì棕zōng鞋xié，腰yāo束shù一yì条tiáo扁biǎn带dài。慌huāng得de唐táng僧sēng滚gǔn鞍ān下xià马mǎ，上shàng前qián道dào个gè问wèn讯xùn。

逐句解 Line by line

說shuō不bù了liǎo，忽hū見jiàn樹shù叢cóng裡lǐ走zǒu出chū一yí個gè老lǎo者zhě，手shǒu持chí竹zhú杖zhàng，身shēn著zhuó輕qīng衣yī，足zú踏tà一yí對duì棕zōng鞋xié，腰yāo束shù一yì條tiáo扁biǎn帶dài。说shuō不bù了liǎo，忽hū见jiàn树shù丛cóng里lǐ走zǒu出chū一yí个gè老lǎo者zhě，手shǒu持chí竹zhú杖zhàng，身shēn着zhuó轻qīng衣yī，足zú踏tà一yí对duì棕zōng鞋xié，腰yāo束shù一yì条tiáo扁biǎn带dài。

Before he had finished speaking, an old man came out of a thicket: a bamboo staff in his hand, light clothes on his body, a pair of palm-fibre sandals on his feet, and a flat sash tied round his waist.

The old man is assembled from the feet up in four matched clauses, each naming a body part and what is on it — hand, body, foot, waist. This inventory style is how the novel introduces almost everyone, and the details are chosen to say countryman rather than official: bamboo, palm fibre, nothing dyed. 著 is zhuó here, the verb to be clothed in, which is a different job from the zhe that marks an action in progress; the same character does both and this chapter uses it both ways within a few lines.

慌huāng得de唐táng僧sēng滾gǔn鞍ān下xià馬mǎ，上shàng前qián道dào個gè問wèn訊xùn。慌huāng得de唐táng僧sēng滚gǔn鞍ān下xià马mǎ，上shàng前qián道dào个gè问wèn讯xùn。

The Tang Monk in his haste rolled from the saddle, went up to him and made a greeting.

得 is de here, the little hinge that links a verb to the state it produces — flustered to the point of tumbling off the horse. It is one of the most common words in the novel and it is read three different ways depending on the job it is doing, which is why it repays watching. 滾鞍下馬, to roll from the saddle, is a set phrase for dismounting in a hurry. 問訊 is the specific Buddhist greeting, palms together with a slight bow, and Tripitaka has just performed it to a farmer.

總評 Commentary

The old man walks out of a thicket at precisely the moment he is needed, which is how information arrives in this novel. There is no suggestion he is anything other than what he appears to be, and unusually for this book, he turns out not to be.

Tripitaka's scramble off the horse is characteristic and rather endearing. He is a man of enormous formal politeness and no physical dignity whatever, and the novel notices both every time.

Note who does the talking from here. Wukong proposed asking someone; Tripitaka is the one who actually asks, in the correct register, with the correct gesture. The division of labour between them is more finely drawn than either of them would admit.