Canonical Classics ← 第八十八回
第八十八回
禪chán到dào玉yù華huá施shī法fǎ會huì
心xīn猿yuán木mù土tǔ授shòu門mén人rén

Chan Reaches Yuhua and a Dharma Assembly Is Held · The Mind-Ape and the Wood and the Earth Take Disciples

即刻俱完
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

即刻俱完 One Word and It Is Done

王wáng子zǐ聽tīng言yán,十shí分fēn歡huān喜xǐ。隨suí命mìng大dà排pái筵yán宴yàn,就jiù於yú本běn府fǔ正zhèng堂táng擺bǎi列liè。噫yī!一yì聲shēng旨zhǐ意yì,即jí刻kè俱jù完wán。王wáng子zǐ听tīng言yán,十shí分fēn欢huān喜xǐ。随suí命mìng大dà排pái筵yán宴yàn,就jiù于yú本běn府fǔ正zhèng堂táng摆bǎi列liè。噫yī!一yì声shēng旨zhǐ意yì,即jí刻kè俱jù完wán。


逐句解 Line by line

王wáng子zǐ聽tīng言yán,十shí分fēn歡huān喜xǐ。 王wáng子zǐ听tīng言yán,十shí分fēn欢huān喜xǐ。

The prince heard this and was greatly pleased.

十分, ten parts out of ten, is the chapter's standard measure of pleasure and this is the fourth time it has been used. The prince is pleased at being refused money, which is a rarer thing than it sounds.

隨suí命mìng大dà排pái筵yán宴yàn,就jiù於yú本běn府fǔ正zhèng堂táng擺bǎi列liè。 随suí命mìng大dà排pái筵yán宴yàn,就jiù于yú本běn府fǔ正zhèng堂táng摆bǎi列liè。

He at once ordered a great banquet laid out, arranged in the main hall of the palace itself.

正堂, the main hall, is where a ruler receives on formal occasions, and it is a marked upgrade: the pilgrims were fed in a garden pavilion this morning. The banquet is the ceremony that makes the teaching arrangement public.

噫yī!一yì聲shēng旨zhǐ意yì,即jí刻kè俱jù完wán。 噫yī!一yì声shēng旨zhǐ意yì,即jí刻kè俱jù完wán。

Ah! One word of command, and in a moment the whole thing was done.

噫 is a bare exclamation — the storyteller himself whistling at the speed of it. What follows is a small joke about power: the prince says one word and a full banquet materialises. 旨意 is a ruler's expressed will, the same word used earlier for the order summoning the disciples, and 即刻俱完 means it was complete on the instant.


總評 Commentary

The narrator interrupts himself with a single exclamation, which is the closest this novel comes to a stage direction. He is impressed, and he wants you to be.

The joke underneath is about what rank actually buys. The prince has just been told his money is no good for the one thing he wants, and here is what his money does buy: a banquet, instantly, from a single word.