原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
金箍勒頸 童子皈依
The Gold Fillet Bites; the Boy Submits
卻說那菩薩念了幾遍，卻才住口，那妖精就不疼了。又正性起身看處，頸項裡與手足上都是金箍，勒得疼痛，便就除那箍兒時，莫想褪得動分毫。這寶貝已此是見肉生根，越抹越痛。行者笑道：「我那乖乖，菩薩恐你養不大，與你戴個頸圈鐲頭哩。」那童子聞此言，又生煩惱，就此綽起槍來，望行者亂刺。行者急閃身，立在菩薩後面，叫：「念咒，念咒。」那菩薩將楊柳枝兒蘸了一點甘露，灑將去，叫聲：「合！」只見他丟了槍，一雙手合掌當胸，再也不能開放。至今留了一個觀音扭，即此意也。那童子開不得手，拿不得槍，方知是法力深微，沒奈何，才納頭下拜。却说那菩萨念了几遍，却才住口，那妖精就不疼了。又正性起身看处，颈项里与手足上都是金箍，勒得疼痛，便就除那箍儿时，莫想褪得动分毫。这宝贝已此是见肉生根，越抹越痛。行者笑道：「我那乖乖，菩萨恐你养不大，与你戴个颈圈镯头哩。」那童子闻此言，又生烦恼，就此绰起枪来，望行者乱刺。行者急闪身，立在菩萨后面，叫：「念咒，念咒。」那菩萨将杨柳枝儿蘸了一点甘露，洒将去，叫声：「合！」只见他丢了枪，一双手合掌当胸，再也不能开放。至今留了一个观音扭，即此意也。那童子开不得手，拿不得枪，方知是法力深微，没奈何，才纳头下拜。
逐句解 Line by line
卻說那菩薩念了幾遍，卻才住口，那妖精就不疼了。
却说那菩萨念了几遍，却才住口，那妖精就不疼了。
Now the Bodhisattva recited the words several times over and only then fell silent, whereupon the fiend's pain at once subsided.
又正性起身看處，頸項裡與手足上都是金箍，勒得疼痛，便就除那箍兒時，莫想褪得動分毫。
又正性起身看处，颈项里与手足上都是金箍，勒得疼痛，便就除那箍儿时，莫想褪得动分毫。
Coming to himself and rising to look, he found gold fillets clasped about his neck and upon his hands and feet, biting into him so that they hurt; yet when he set to strip the rings away, he could not budge them so much as a hair's breadth.
這寶貝已此是見肉生根，越抹越痛。
这宝贝已此是见肉生根，越抹越痛。
For once these treasures met the flesh they took root there, and the more he clawed at them the more they pained him.
行者笑道：「我那乖乖，菩薩恐你養不大，與你戴個頸圈鐲頭哩。」
行者笑道：「我那乖乖，菩萨恐你养不大，与你戴个颈圈镯头哩。」
Pilgrim laughed and said, 'My dear little darling — the Bodhisattva feared you might not be reared to full growth, and so has fitted you with a neck-ring and a pair of bracelets!'
那童子聞此言，又生煩惱，就此綽起槍來，望行者亂刺。
那童子闻此言，又生烦恼，就此绰起枪来，望行者乱刺。
Hearing this, the boy fell again into a rage, snatched up his spear, and thrust wildly at Pilgrim.
行者急閃身，立在菩薩後面，叫：「念咒，念咒。」
行者急闪身，立在菩萨后面，叫：「念咒，念咒。」
Pilgrim dodged aside in haste and, taking his stand behind the Bodhisattva, cried out, 'Recite the spell! Recite the spell!'
那菩薩將楊柳枝兒蘸了一點甘露，灑將去，叫聲：「合！」
那菩萨将杨柳枝儿蘸了一点甘露，洒将去，叫声：「合！」
The Bodhisattva dipped her willow spray in a drop of sweet dew, flicked it toward him, and called aloud, 'Join!'
「合！」 snaps his palms together; it puns on 合掌, the palms-joined gesture of reverence (añjali).
只見他丟了槍，一雙手合掌當胸，再也不能開放。
只见他丢了枪，一双手合掌当胸，再也不能开放。
At once he let fall the spear, and his two hands pressed palm to palm against his breast, never again to be opened.
至今留了一個觀音扭，即此意也。
至今留了一个观音扭，即此意也。
To this day there remains the pose called the Guanyin clasp, and this is the meaning of it.
觀音扭 — the 'Guanyin clasp,' a devotional hand-pose; the line offers a mock-etiology for it.
那童子開不得手，拿不得槍，方知是法力深微，沒奈何，才納頭下拜。
那童子开不得手，拿不得枪，方知是法力深微，没奈何，才纳头下拜。
The boy, unable to part his hands or to take up his spear, knew at last how deep and subtle was her power; and having no help for it, he bowed his head to the ground in obeisance.
總評 Commentary
The chapter opens where 42 ended, with Guanyin sealing the golden bands on the Red Boy. Pilgrim's mockery — recasting the instruments of restraint as a fond parent's 頸圈鐲頭 (neck-ring and bracelets) — is the novel's characteristic pivot from menace to domestic comedy. The command 「合！」 literalizes the Buddhist añjali (合掌), and the etiological aside on the 觀音扭 folds a devotional hand-pose into the narrative.