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圈滅火焰
The Ring Quenches the Flames
卻說那金兜洞裡火焰紛紛，諕得個兕大王魂不附體，急欠身開了房門，雙手拿著圈子，東推東火滅，西推西火消，滿空中冒煙突火，執著寶貝跑了一遍，四下裡煙火俱熄。急忙收救群妖，已此燒殺大半，男男女女，收不上百十餘丁；又查看藏兵之內，各件皆無。又去後面看處，見八戒、沙僧與長老還綑住未解，白龍馬還在槽上，行李擔亦在屋裡。妖魔遂恨道：「不知是那個小妖不仔細，失了火，致令如此。」傍有近侍的告道：「大王，這火不干本家之事。多是個偷營劫寨之賊，放了那火部之物，盜了神兵去也。」老魔方然省悟道：「沒有別人，斷乎是孫悟空那賊。怪道我臨睡時不得安穩。想是那賊猴變化進來，在我這肐膊叮了兩口。一定是要偷我的寶貝，見我抹勒得緊，不能下手，故此盜了兵器，縱著火龍，放此狠毒之心，意欲燒殺我也。賊猴啊！你枉使機關，不知我的本事。我但帶了這件寶貝，就是入大海而不能溺，赴火池而不能焚哩。這番若拿住那賊，只把刮了點垛，方趁我心。」却说那金兜洞里火焰纷纷，諕得个兕大王魂不附体，急欠身开了房门，双手拿着圈子，东推东火灭，西推西火消，满空中冒烟突火，执着宝贝跑了一遍，四下里烟火俱熄。急忙收救群妖，已此烧杀大半，男男女女，收不上百十余丁；又查看藏兵之内，各件皆无。又去后面看处，见八戒、沙僧与长老还捆住未解，白龙马还在槽上，行李担亦在屋里。妖魔遂恨道：「不知是那个小妖不仔细，失了火，致令如此。」傍有近侍的告道：「大王，这火不干本家之事。多是个偷营劫寨之贼，放了那火部之物，盗了神兵去也。」老魔方然省悟道：「没有别人，断乎是孙悟空那贼。怪道我临睡时不得安稳。想是那贼猴变化进来，在我这肐膊叮了两口。一定是要偷我的宝贝，见我抹勒得紧，不能下手，故此盗了兵器，纵着火龙，放此狠毒之心，意欲烧杀我也。贼猴啊！你枉使机关，不知我的本事。我但带了这件宝贝，就是入大海而不能溺，赴火池而不能焚哩。这番若拿住那贼，只把刮了点垛，方趁我心。」
逐句解 Line by line
卻說那金兜洞裡火焰紛紛，諕得個兕大王魂不附體，急欠身開了房門，雙手拿著圈子，東推東火滅，西推西火消，滿空中冒煙突火，執著寶貝跑了一遍，四下裡煙火俱熄。
却说那金兜洞里火焰纷纷，諕得个兕大王魂不附体，急欠身开了房门，双手拿着圈子，东推东火灭，西推西火消，满空中冒烟突火，执着宝贝跑了一遍，四下里烟火俱熄。
Now in the Golden Helm Cave the flames were flying thick, and the Rhinoceros King was frightened out of his wits. He got up in haste, opened the chamber door, took the ring in both hands, and pushed — east, and the fire on the east died; west, and the fire on the west went out. Through all that smoke-filled, flame-shot space he ran once round holding the treasure, and on every side the smoke and fire were extinguished.
Deictic 那金兜洞: 那 = nà. 諕得: 諕 = xià ("to frighten"; pypinyin gives háo every time), 得 = de, complement. Both 了 (開了, 跑了) and both 著 (拿著, 執著, durative zhe) are positional; 圈子: 子 = zi; 空中: 中 = zhōng.
急忙收救群妖，已此燒殺大半，男男女女，收不上百十餘丁；又查看藏兵之內，各件皆無。
急忙收救群妖，已此烧杀大半，男男女女，收不上百十余丁；又查看藏兵之内，各件皆无。
He hurried to gather and rescue his imps, but the greater part were already burnt to death; of males and females together he could muster no more than a hundred-odd head. He looked next into the weapon store, and every single item was gone.
The two units are joined at the ；, which falls inside one sentence. 查看: 看 = kàn; 藏兵: 藏 = cáng ("stored"), not the zàng of 三藏. 丁 is the head-count word for able-bodied persons.
又去後面看處，見八戒、沙僧與長老還綑住未解，白龍馬還在槽上，行李擔亦在屋裡。
又去后面看处，见八戒、沙僧与长老还捆住未解，白龙马还在槽上，行李担亦在屋里。
He went round to the back to look, and found Eight Rules, Sha Monk and the elder still bound and not yet loosed, the white dragon-horse still at its trough, and the baggage poles still in the room.
看處: 看 = kàn, 處 = chù (the …處 frame, "on looking"). 長老: 長 = zhǎng; both 還 = hái ("still"), positional; 未解: 解 = jiě; 行李擔: 行 = xíng (pypinyin returns háng here), 擔 = dàn, the load-noun.
妖魔遂恨道：「不知是那個小妖不仔細，失了火，致令如此。」
妖魔遂恨道：「不知是那个小妖不仔细，失了火，致令如此。」
The fiend said in his rage: "I don't know which of the little imps was careless and let a fire start, to bring us to this."
那個小妖 is interrogative here — 那 = nǎ ("which") — since he does not yet know the fire was set. 仔細: 仔 = zǐ; 失了: 了 = le.
傍有近侍的告道：「大王，這火不干本家之事。多是個偷營劫寨之賊，放了那火部之物，盜了神兵去也。」
傍有近侍的告道：「大王，这火不干本家之事。多是个偷营劫寨之贼，放了那火部之物，盗了神兵去也。」
An attendant standing by reported: "Your Majesty, this fire is no affair of the household's. It must have been some thief raiding the camp and storming the stockade, who loosed those fire-department creatures and stole the divine weapons away."
傍有: 傍 = bàng. 不干本家之事: 干 = gān ("to concern"); because the licensed reading is a first tone against pypinyin's fourth-tone default, 不 takes bù where the mechanical rule would give bú — a §2(a) override. Both 了 = le, positional; deictic 那火部: 那 = nà.
老魔方然省悟道：「沒有別人，斷乎是孫悟空那賊。
老魔方然省悟道：「没有别人，断乎是孙悟空那贼。
The old fiend woke to it then: "There is no one else — it can only be that thief Sun Wukong.
沒有: 沒 = méi. Deictic 那賊: 那 = nà. 方然省悟 = "only then did he realize."
怪道我臨睡時不得安穩。
怪道我临睡时不得安稳。
"No wonder I could get no rest when I lay down.
不得安穩: 得 = dé ("to get"). 怪道 = "no wonder."
想是那賊猴變化進來，在我這肐膊叮了兩口。
想是那贼猴变化进来，在我这肐膊叮了两口。
"It must have been that thieving ape who changed shape and got in, and gave me two bites here on my arm.
Deictic 那賊猴: 那 = nà; 變化: 化 = huà; 叮了: 了 = le. The demon is reconstructing the flea's reconnaissance after the fact.
一定是要偷我的寶貝，見我抹勒得緊，不能下手，故此盜了兵器，縱著火龍，放此狠毒之心，意欲燒殺我也。
一定是要偷我的宝贝，见我抹勒得紧，不能下手，故此盗了兵器，纵着火龙，放此狠毒之心，意欲烧杀我也。
"Certainly he meant to steal my treasure, and seeing that I had it rolled tight he could get no hand to it — and so he stole the weapons instead, loosed the fire-dragon, set his mind to this savage stroke, and would have burnt me to death.
一定 is lexicalized ("certainly") and takes the mechanical yí before a fourth tone. 抹勒得緊: 得 = de, complement; 盜了: 了 = le; 縱著: durative 著 = zhe.
賊猴啊！你枉使機關，不知我的本事。
贼猴啊！你枉使机关，不知我的本事。
"Thieving ape! You have spent your contrivances for nothing — you do not know what I can do.
The bare interjection 賊猴啊！ carries its own terminal and is joined forward to the clause that follows it on the same source line. 枉使機關: 枉 = wǎng ("in vain"); 機關 = "contrivance, stratagem."
我但帶了這件寶貝，就是入大海而不能溺，赴火池而不能焚哩。
我但带了这件宝贝，就是入大海而不能溺，赴火池而不能焚哩。
"So long as I carry this treasure about me, I could go into the great ocean and not be drowned, or walk into a fire-pit and not be burnt."
帶了: 了 = le; sentence-final 哩 = li. The boast is a plot announcement: it forecasts the Water Earl's flood in the next movement of the chapter, and the reason it will fail.
這番若拿住那賊，只把刮了點垛，方趁我心。」
这番若拿住那贼，只把刮了点垛，方趁我心。」
"If I take that thief this time, I will simply flay him and stand him up for a target — that will suit my mind."
Deictic 那賊: 那 = nà; 刮了: 了 = le. 點垛 is the butt or bank of earth an archer shoots at; the threat is to skin him and use the skin for target practice.
總評 Commentary
The demon's counter-move settles what the ring is. Until now it has been a device for taking things — cudgel, weapons, fire-gear — and the reader could still suppose it a specialized snare. Here he holds it in both hands and pushes it east and west through a burning cave, and the fire goes out wherever it is pointed. Taking and quenching are the same operation: the ring absorbs whatever is directed at it, which is why nothing anyone throws at it works, and why the answer to it will have to come from outside the whole economy of throwing things.
The rest of the passage is a small masterpiece of delayed recognition. He rages at the servants first, exactly as he did over the unshaken quilt; an attendant has to tell him that the fire was not a household accident but a raid; and only then does he assemble the evidence, working backwards to the two bites on his arm and understanding what they were for. His conclusion — that the burglar found the ring rolled too tight to lift — is entirely correct, and it leads him to the boast that makes the rest of the chapter possible: water cannot drown him, fire cannot burn him. He is right about both, and the pilgrims' allies will spend the next several thousand words proving it at their own expense.