Canonical Classics ← 第四十五回
第四十五回
sānqīngguànshèngliúmíng
chēchíguóhóuwángxiǎn

At the Abbey of the Three Pure Ones the Great Sage leaves his name; in the Kingdom of Cart-Slow the Monkey King displays his magic.

虎力強辯
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字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

虎力強辯 Tiger-Power's Argument

xiāndào:「shàngtánlewénshūshāolelelìngpáilóngwángshuígǎnláixiǎngshìbiéfāngzhàoqǐngfēngyúnléizàiwénlìngsuígǎnérláishìzháoxiàshàngshízhuàngzháozhèhuìsuǒjiùcónggēnsuànláiháishìqǐngdelóngxiàdezěnmesuànzuòdegōngguǒ?」xiāndào:「shàngtánlewénshūshāolelelìngpáilóngwángshuígǎnláixiǎngshìbiéfāngzhàoqǐngfēngyúnléizàiwénlìngsuígǎnérláishìzháoxiàshàngshízhuàngzháozhèhuìsuǒjiùcónggēnsuànláiháishìqǐngdelóngxiàdezěnmesuànzuòdegōngguǒ?」


逐句解 Line by line

xiāndào:「shàngtánlewénshūshāolelelìngpáilóngwángshuígǎnlái xiāndào:「shàngtánlewénshūshāolelelìngpáilóngwángshuígǎnlái

Tiger-Power the Immortal said, “I went up to the altar, sent up a document, burned a talisman-writ, and struck the command-tablet — what Dragon King would dare not come?

Deictic 那龍王: = . 發了、燒了、擊了: = le. 誰敢不來: = before (2nd tone).

xiǎngshìbiéfāngzhàoqǐngfēngyúnléizàiwénlìngsuígǎnérláishìzháoxiàshàngshízhuàngzháozhèhuìsuǒjiù xiǎngshìbiéfāngzhàoqǐngfēngyúnléizàiwénlìngsuígǎnérláishìzháoxiàshàngshízhuàngzháozhèhuìsuǒjiù

It must be that they had been summoned elsewhere, and the five bureaus of wind, cloud, thunder and rain were all away; at one hearing of my order they came rushing over, and it happened I was coming down just as he was going up — for a moment the two chanced to meet, and so it rained.

五司俱不在: = before (4th tone). 一聞 / 一時: = . 適遇著 / 撞著: = zháo (resultative, “to meet, run into”).

cónggēnsuànláiháishìqǐngdelóngxiàdezěnmesuànzuòdegōngguǒ?」 cónggēnsuànláiháishìqǐngdelóngxiàdezěnmesuànzuòdegōngguǒ?」

Reckoning from the root, it was still I who called the dragons and I who brought the rain — how can it be counted as his achievement?”

從根算來 “reckoning from the source.” 還是: = hái, “after all.” 算作 “to reckon as.”


總評 Commentary

Tiger-Power's argument is a masterpiece of face-saving casuistry: the gods came for his summons, and the monk merely happened to be on the altar when they arrived. It is nonsense — the reader knows the dragons obeyed Wukong — but it is plausible enough to sway the muddle-headed king, and clever enough to require not a denial but a decisive test to refute, which is exactly what Wukong will now propose.