第九十四回 · 豈有貴人不坐之理 There Is No Such Thing as a Lord Who Stands — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

豈有貴人不坐之理 There Is No Such Thing as a Lord Who Stands

長zhǎng老lǎo恐kǒng他tā村cūn魯lǔ驚jīng駕jià，便biàn起qǐ身shēn叫jiào道dào：「徒tú弟dì啊a，陛bì下xià問wèn你nǐ來lái因yīn，你nǐ即jí奏zòu上shàng。」行xíng者zhě見jiàn他tā那nà師shī父fù在zài傍páng侍shì立lì，忍rěn不bú住zhù大dà叫jiào一yì聲shēng道dào：「陛bì下xià輕qīng人rén輕qīng己jǐ。既jì招zhāo我wǒ師shī為wéi駙fù馬mǎ，如rú何hé教jiào他tā侍shì立lì？世shì間jiān稱chēng女nǚ夫fū謂wèi之zhī貴guì人rén，豈qǐ有yǒu貴guì人rén不bú坐zuò之zhī理lǐ。」國guó王wáng聽tīng說shuō，大dà驚jīng失shī色sè，欲yù退tuì殿diàn，恐kǒng失shī了le觀guān瞻zhān。只zhǐ得dé硬yìng著zhe膽dǎn，教jiào近jìn侍shì的de取qǔ繡xiù墩dūn來lái，請qǐng唐táng僧sēng坐zuò了le。长zhǎng老lǎo恐kǒng他tā村cūn鲁lǔ惊jīng驾jià，便biàn起qǐ身shēn叫jiào道dào：「徒tú弟dì啊a，陛bì下xià问wèn你nǐ来lái因yīn，你nǐ即jí奏zòu上shàng。」行xíng者zhě见jiàn他tā那nà师shī父fù在zài傍páng侍shì立lì，忍rěn不bú住zhù大dà叫jiào一yì声shēng道dào：「陛bì下xià轻qīng人rén轻qīng己jǐ。既jì招zhāo我wǒ师shī为wéi驸fù马mǎ，如rú何hé教jiào他tā侍shì立lì？世shì间jiān称chēng女nǚ夫fū谓wèi之zhī贵guì人rén，岂qǐ有yǒu贵guì人rén不bú坐zuò之zhī理lǐ。」国guó王wáng听tīng说shuō，大dà惊jīng失shī色sè，欲yù退tuì殿diàn，恐kǒng失shī了le观guān瞻zhān。只zhǐ得dé硬yìng着zhe胆dǎn，教jiào近jìn侍shì的de取qǔ绣xiù墩dūn来lái，请qǐng唐táng僧sēng坐zuò了le。

逐句解 Line by line

長zhǎng老lǎo恐kǒng他tā村cūn魯lǔ驚jīng駕jià，便biàn起qǐ身shēn叫jiào道dào：「徒tú弟dì啊a，陛bì下xià問wèn你nǐ來lái因yīn，你nǐ即jí奏zòu上shàng。」长zhǎng老lǎo恐kǒng他tā村cūn鲁lǔ惊jīng驾jià，便biàn起qǐ身shēn叫jiào道dào：「徒tú弟dì啊a，陛bì下xià问wèn你nǐ来lái因yīn，你nǐ即jí奏zòu上shàng。」

The elder, afraid their coarseness would startle His Majesty, rose and called out, "Disciples! His Majesty is asking how you come to be here. Report to him at once."

Tripitaka is doing what he always does, which is to get in front of his disciples before they can embarrass him. 村魯 is a blunt little word for rough and unpolished — country manners. Note that he rose to say it. He has been standing all along, and that is the detail Pilgrim is about to seize on.

行xíng者zhě見jiàn他tā那nà師shī父fù在zài傍páng侍shì立lì，忍rěn不bú住zhù大dà叫jiào一yì聲shēng道dào：「陛bì下xià輕qīng人rén輕qīng己jǐ。既jì招zhāo我wǒ師shī為wéi駙fù馬mǎ，如rú何hé教jiào他tā侍shì立lì？世shì間jiān稱chēng女nǚ夫fū謂wèi之zhī貴guì人rén，豈qǐ有yǒu貴guì人rén不bú坐zuò之zhī理lǐ。」行xíng者zhě见jiàn他tā那nà师shī父fù在zài傍páng侍shì立lì，忍rěn不bú住zhù大dà叫jiào一yì声shēng道dào：「陛bì下xià轻qīng人rén轻qīng己jǐ。既jì招zhāo我wǒ师shī为wéi驸fù马mǎ，如rú何hé教jiào他tā侍shì立lì？世shì间jiān称chēng女nǚ夫fū谓wèi之zhī贵guì人rén，岂qǐ有yǒu贵guì人rén不bú坐zuò之zhī理lǐ。」

Pilgrim, seeing his master standing there in attendance at the side, could not hold it in and shouted out, "Your Majesty, in slighting others you slight yourself! If you have taken my master as Prince Consort, how can you have him stand in attendance? Everywhere under heaven a daughter's husband is called a man of rank. Whoever heard of a man of rank who is not given a seat?"

Here is the trap closing. Pilgrim has spotted that the king wants two incompatible things: to keep a monk in his place, and to have acquired a son-in-law. 陛下輕人輕己 — in slighting others you slight yourself — is the hinge, and it is a genuinely good argument. If the Prince Consort is a nobody, then so is the marriage, and so is the king. The word 傍 is the old spelling of the ordinary word for beside, and this project reads it páng throughout. It appears four times in this chapter and every one is a person standing off to one side — which is exactly the indignity being complained about.

國guó王wáng聽tīng說shuō，大dà驚jīng失shī色sè，欲yù退tuì殿diàn，恐kǒng失shī了le觀guān瞻zhān。只zhǐ得dé硬yìng著zhe膽dǎn，教jiào近jìn侍shì的de取qǔ繡xiù墩dūn來lái，請qǐng唐táng僧sēng坐zuò了le。国guó王wáng听tīng说shuō，大dà惊jīng失shī色sè，欲yù退tuì殿diàn，恐kǒng失shī了le观guān瞻zhān。只zhǐ得dé硬yìng着zhe胆dǎn，教jiào近jìn侍shì的de取qǔ绣xiù墩dūn来lái，请qǐng唐táng僧sēng坐zuò了le。

When the king heard this he went pale with alarm. He wanted to withdraw from the hall, and was afraid of losing face if he did. So he screwed up his nerve, ordered his attendants to fetch an embroidered stool, and invited the Tang Monk to sit.

A beautifully observed sentence: the king would love to flee, and cannot, because fleeing would look worse than staying. 恐失了觀瞻 means roughly afraid of spoiling the view — of damaging how the thing looks to the watching court. 硬著膽 is literally to harden one's gall, and it is still the everyday way of saying somebody screwed up their courage. The 著 here is the small word that shows an action going on, and Chinese uses it here exactly as English uses the -ing in steeling himself. And so a stool is fetched. Pilgrim has won.

總評 Commentary

This is a small scene about a very large problem, and the novel knows it. A monk who has taken vows cannot be a son-in-law; a king who has married off his daughter cannot treat the groom as a servant. The two facts are standing in the same room and one of them has to give. What gives is the seating plan.

Pilgrim's argument works because it is not a monk's argument at all. He never says a word about the Buddha, or vows, or the pilgrimage. He argues from rank, in the king's own vocabulary, and he argues that the king is damaging his own dignity. It is the tactic of a courtier, not a pilgrim, and it lands in a single sentence.

The joke is that Tripitaka, who spends the chapter in misery about this marriage, is the one who ends up seated with honours while his disciples stand. He gets the stool he never wanted, fetched by a king he never wanted to meet, on the strength of a title he is desperate to lose.