第四十五回 · 徑到壇門 To the Altar Gate — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

徑到壇門 To the Altar Gate

大dà仙xiān拽zhuài開kāi步bù進jìn前qián，三sān藏zàng等děng隨suí後hòu，徑jìng到dào了le壇tán門mén外wài。擡tái頭tóu觀guān看kàn，那nà裡lǐ有yǒu一yí座zuò高gāo臺tái，約yuē有yǒu三sān丈zhàng多duō高gāo。臺tái左zuǒ右yòu插chā著zhe二èr十shí八bā宿xiù旗qí號hào。大dà仙xiān拽zhuài开kāi步bù进jìn前qián，三sān藏zàng等děng随suí后hòu，径jìng到dào了le坛tán门mén外wài。擡tái头tóu观guān看kàn，那nà里lǐ有yǒu一yí座zuò高gāo台tái，约yuē有yǒu三sān丈zhàng多duō高gāo。台tái左zuǒ右yòu插chā着zhe二èr十shí八bā宿xiù旗qí号hào。

逐句解 Line by line

大dà仙xiān拽zhuài開kāi步bù進jìn前qián，三sān藏zàng等děng隨suí後hòu，徑jìng到dào了le壇tán門mén外wài。大dà仙xiān拽zhuài开kāi步bù进jìn前qián，三sān藏zàng等děng随suí后hòu，径jìng到dào了le坛tán门mén外wài。

The immortal strode out ahead, with Sanzang and the rest behind, and came straight to the outside of the altar gate.

拽開步: 拽 = zhuài, “to stride, drag one's steps forward” (pypinyin mis-defaults zhuāi). 三藏: 藏 = zàng.

擡tái頭tóu觀guān看kàn，那nà裡lǐ有yǒu一yí座zuò高gāo臺tái，約yuē有yǒu三sān丈zhàng多duō高gāo。擡tái头tóu观guān看kàn，那nà里lǐ有yǒu一yí座zuò高gāo台tái，约yuē有yǒu三sān丈zhàng多duō高gāo。

Raising their heads to look, they saw there a high platform, some three zhàng and more in height.

觀看: 觀 = guān. Locative 那裡有: 那 = nà, “there was.” 三丈: the measure 丈 (zhàng) left untranslated — roughly ten feet each.

臺tái左zuǒ右yòu插chā著zhe二èr十shí八bā宿xiù旗qí號hào。台tái左zuǒ右yòu插chā着zhe二èr十shí八bā宿xiù旗qí号hào。

To left and right of the platform were planted the banners of the twenty-eight lunar mansions.

Durative 插著: 著 = zhe. 二十八宿: 宿 = xiù, the twenty-eight 宿 (lunar lodges). 旗號 “standards, banners.”

總評 Commentary

The narrative pauses for a set-piece description of the Daoist rain-altar — a convention of the genre, cataloguing the ritual apparatus before the ceremony proper. The twenty-eight-mansion banners announce a full astral-magical rite, and the mounting inventory (censer, tablets, vats, stakes) builds an impression of formidable machinery, all of which Wukong is about to render irrelevant with a word to the gods above.