第五十九回 · 貧僧求經 A Poor Monk Seeking Scriptures — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

貧僧求經 A Poor Monk Seeking Scriptures

那nà老lǎo者zhě猛měng擡tái頭tóu，看kàn見jiàn行xíng者zhě，吃chī了le一yì驚jīng，拄zhǔ著zhe竹zhú杖zhàng，喝hè道dào：「你nǐ是shì那nǎ裡lǐ來lái的de怪guài人rén？在zài我wǒ這zhè門mén首shǒu何hé幹gàn？」行xíng者zhě答dá禮lǐ道dào：「老lǎo施shī主zhǔ休xiū怕pà我wǒ，我wǒ不bú是shì甚shén麼me怪guài人rén。貧pín僧sēng是shì東dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng欽qīn差chāi上shàng西xī方fāng求qiú經jīng者zhě。師shī徒tú四sì人rén，適shì至zhì寶bǎo方fāng，見jiàn天tiān氣qì蒸zhēng熱rè，一yī則zé不bù解jiě其qí故gù，二èr來lái不bù知zhī地dì名míng，特tè拜bài問wèn指zhǐ教jiào一yī二èr。」那nà老lǎo者zhě猛měng擡tái头tóu，看kàn见jiàn行xíng者zhě，吃chī了le一yì惊jīng，拄zhǔ着zhe竹zhú杖zhàng，喝hè道dào：「你nǐ是shì那nǎ里lǐ来lái的de怪guài人rén？在zài我wǒ这zhè门mén首shǒu何hé干gàn？」行xíng者zhě答dá礼lǐ道dào：「老lǎo施shī主zhǔ休xiū怕pà我wǒ，我wǒ不bú是shì甚shén么me怪guài人rén。贫pín僧sēng是shì东dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng钦qīn差chāi上shàng西xī方fāng求qiú经jīng者zhě。师shī徒tú四sì人rén，适shì至zhì宝bǎo方fāng，见jiàn天tiān气qì蒸zhēng热rè，一yī则zé不bù解jiě其qí故gù，二èr来lái不bù知zhī地dì名míng，特tè拜bài问wèn指zhǐ教jiào一yī二èr。」

逐句解 Line by line

那nà老lǎo者zhě猛měng擡tái頭tóu，看kàn見jiàn行xíng者zhě，吃chī了le一yì驚jīng，拄zhǔ著zhe竹zhú杖zhàng，喝hè道dào：「你nǐ是shì那nǎ裡lǐ來lái的de怪guài人rén？在zài我wǒ這zhè門mén首shǒu何hé幹gàn？」那nà老lǎo者zhě猛měng擡tái头tóu，看kàn见jiàn行xíng者zhě，吃chī了le一yì惊jīng，拄zhǔ着zhe竹zhú杖zhàng，喝hè道dào：「你nǐ是shì那nǎ里lǐ来lái的de怪guài人rén？在zài我wǒ这zhè门mén首shǒu何hé干gàn？」

The old man jerked his head up, saw Pilgrim, and started with fright. Propping himself on his bamboo staff, he shouted, 'What sort of monster are you, and where have you come from? What is your business at my door?'

The two 那 in this segment take opposite readings four graphs apart: 那老者 is deictic nà, 那裡來 is interrogative nǎ. 著 in 拄著 is the durative zhe. 喝 is hè, to shout, not the hē of drinking.

行xíng者zhě答dá禮lǐ道dào：「老lǎo施shī主zhǔ休xiū怕pà我wǒ，我wǒ不bú是shì甚shén麼me怪guài人rén。行xíng者zhě答dá礼lǐ道dào：「老lǎo施shī主zhǔ休xiū怕pà我wǒ，我wǒ不bú是shì甚shén么me怪guài人rén。

Pilgrim returned the bow and said, 'Old benefactor, do not be afraid of me. I am no monster of any kind.'

施主 'benefactor, donor' is the standing term by which a monk addresses a lay householder, and Pilgrim uses it to establish at once that he is clergy. 甚麼 takes 甚 as shén.

貧pín僧sēng是shì東dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng欽qīn差chāi上shàng西xī方fāng求qiú經jīng者zhě。贫pín僧sēng是shì东dōng土tǔ大dà唐táng钦qīn差chāi上shàng西xī方fāng求qiú经jīng者zhě。

'This poor monk is one commissioned by the Great Tang in the Land of the East to go westward and seek the scriptures.'

欽差 qīnchāi is 'imperially commissioned', a formal bureaucratic term; 差 is chāi 'to dispatch on commission'. This is the third distinct reading of 差 in the chapter — chā at 差別, chāi here and at 差人 — and pypinyin defaults to chà at all of them.

師shī徒tú四sì人rén，適shì至zhì寶bǎo方fāng，見jiàn天tiān氣qì蒸zhēng熱rè，一yī則zé不bù解jiě其qí故gù，二èr來lái不bù知zhī地dì名míng，特tè拜bài問wèn指zhǐ教jiào一yī二èr。」师shī徒tú四sì人rén，适shì至zhì宝bǎo方fāng，见jiàn天tiān气qì蒸zhēng热rè，一yī则zé不bù解jiě其qí故gù，二èr来lái不bù知zhī地dì名míng，特tè拜bài问wèn指zhǐ教jiào一yī二èr。」

'We are four, master and disciples together, newly arrived in your honoured district. Seeing the weather so steaming hot, we neither understand the cause, in the first place, nor know the name of the region, in the second; and so we make bold to ask that you instruct us in a thing or two.'

Two lexical 一 stand in this one segment and neither takes sandhi. 一則…二來 is an enumerative frame, 'in the first place… in the second', and 指教一二 is 'instruct me in one or two things' — both ordinal rather than numeral, so both hold yī. Neither is visible to the sandhi watch.

總評 Commentary

The old man's reaction is the correct one and the novel knows it. Pilgrim has just spent a paragraph composing himself into a respectable exterior, and it has made no difference whatever: the first thing the householder does on seeing him is shout and reach for his stick. The comedy depends on the reader having watched the preparation fail in real time.

Pilgrim's reply is a careful piece of self-presentation in three moves. He returns the bow, denies being a monster, and then produces his credentials — commissioned by the Great Tang, bound west for scriptures. The register shifts sharply upward at 貧僧, the humble self-designation of a monk, and 欽差, a term of imperial bureaucracy. He is claiming the protection of two institutions at once.

The request itself is a model of indirection. He does not ask why it is hot; he says that he does not understand the cause and does not know the place-name, sets the two out as an ordered pair, and then asks only to be instructed 'in a thing or two'. Every element is formulaic, and the formulas are doing real work: an unknown creature at the gate has converted itself into a guest with a question.