第八十八回 · 面容改色 Why Does Father Look So Shaken — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

面容改色 Why Does Father Look So Shaken

卻què說shuō那nà王wáng子zǐ退tuì殿diàn進jìn宮gōng，宮gōng中zhōng有yǒu三sān個gè小xiǎo王wáng子zǐ，見jiàn他tā面miàn容róng改gǎi色sè，即jí問wèn道dào：「父fù王wáng今jīn日rì為wèi何hé有yǒu此cǐ驚jīng恐kǒng？」王wáng子zǐ道dào：「適shì才cái有yǒu東dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng差chāi來lái拜bài佛fó取qǔ經jīng的de一yí個gè和hé尚shàng倒dǎo換huàn關guān文wén，卻què一yì表biǎo非fēi凡fán。却què说shuō那nà王wáng子zǐ退tuì殿diàn进jìn宫gōng，宫gōng中zhōng有yǒu三sān个gè小xiǎo王wáng子zǐ，见jiàn他tā面miàn容róng改gǎi色sè，即jí问wèn道dào：「父fù王wáng今jīn日rì为wèi何hé有yǒu此cǐ惊jīng恐kǒng？」王wáng子zǐ道dào：「适shì才cái有yǒu东dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng差chāi来lái拜bài佛fó取qǔ经jīng的de一yí个gè和hé尚shàng倒dǎo换huàn关guān文wén，却què一yì表biǎo非fēi凡fán。

逐句解 Line by line

卻què說shuō那nà王wáng子zǐ退tuì殿diàn進jìn宮gōng，宮gōng中zhōng有yǒu三sān個gè小xiǎo王wáng子zǐ，見jiàn他tā面miàn容róng改gǎi色sè，即jí問wèn道dào：「父fù王wáng今jīn日rì為wèi何hé有yǒu此cǐ驚jīng恐kǒng？」却què说shuō那nà王wáng子zǐ退tuì殿diàn进jìn宫gōng，宫gōng中zhōng有yǒu三sān个gè小xiǎo王wáng子zǐ，见jiàn他tā面miàn容róng改gǎi色sè，即jí问wèn道dào：「父fù王wáng今jīn日rì为wèi何hé有yǒu此cǐ惊jīng恐kǒng？」

Now the prince withdrew from the hall and went into the inner apartments, where his three young sons were. Seeing that the colour had changed in his face, they asked at once, "Father, why are you so alarmed today?"

The chapter moves indoors and the vocabulary moves with it. 宮 is the private residential quarter, where the wife and children live, as against the 府 that names the whole official establishment — and this chapter uses both, correctly and in the right places. 小王子, the young princes, is how the text names the three sons throughout, and 父王, royal father, is how they address him.

王wáng子zǐ道dào：「適shì才cái有yǒu東dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng差chāi來lái拜bài佛fó取qǔ經jīng的de一yí個gè和hé尚shàng倒dǎo換huàn關guān文wén，卻què一yì表biǎo非fēi凡fán。王wáng子zǐ道dào：「适shì才cái有yǒu东dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng差chāi来lái拜bài佛fó取qǔ经jīng的de一yí个gè和hé尚shàng倒dǎo换huàn关guān文wén，却què一yì表biǎo非fēi凡fán。

The prince said, "Just now a monk dispatched from the Great Tang in the Eastern Land to bow before the Buddha and seek scriptures came to have his papers stamped, and a most uncommon figure he cut too.

差 is chāi again, dispatched, and 倒 is dǎo again in the papers-exchanging compound — the chapter's two most reliable traps, both here in one sentence. 一表非凡 is a set phrase of admiration for someone's bearing: an appearance out of the common run. He is praising Tripitaka before he gets to the part that frightened him.

總評 Commentary

The scene shifts from the public hall to the private apartments, and the shift is marked in the vocabulary rather than announced. The novel knows the difference between the office and the home and expects the reader to as well.

The three sons arrive fully formed in a single clause and immediately do the thing children do, which is notice that a parent is upset before the parent has said anything.

Notice how the prince opens his account: with a compliment. Whatever happened next, the monk himself made an excellent impression, and the prince is scrupulous enough to say so first.