Chapter 4: Three Shi
4.3 Shi Number Two
Right after Xuanzang sets out on his journey in chapter 13, accompanied by two escorts, he encounters three demons—a buffalo demon, a bear demon, and a tiger demon. Xuanzang and his escorts are captured, held captive, and both his escorts are killed and devoured by the demons in the presence of Xuanzang. While left in the dungeon frightened and worried for his life, Xuangzang is rescued by a really old man walking with a cane. Upon arriving at a safe place, Xuanzang witnesses the elderly man flying away sitting on a white crane. A note flies down to Xuanzang and on it is a poem that reads:
吾乃西方太白星，特來搭救汝生靈。
前行自有神徒助，莫為艱難抱怨經。
《西遊記第十三回頁六》
The poem reveals the identity of Xuanzang’s rescuer as a Taoist deity named Taibaijinxing 太白金星 who has come for the sole purpose of saving Xuanzang’s life.
The poem also foretells the coming assistance of immortals and disciples in the remainder of Xuanzang’s journey. The possible problems in translating this shi is in the name of the Taoist deity and the phrase 神徒.
Chart 26
Shi Number 2: Timothy Richard’s Translation
吾乃西方太白星，
特來搭救汝生靈。
I am the bright star from the West, and I have come specially to save you.
94 前行自有神徒助，
莫為艱難抱怨經。
Further on you will be guided by a group of disciples.
Do not be discouraged on the journey.
(Richard, p.106)
Even though it is a little strange for an elderly man to introduce himself as “the bright star from the West,” in the story of Xiyouji it seems that anything is possible.
And a bright star turning into a man is no more out of the ordinary than seven spiders turning into seven charming sisters or a skeleton turning into a village girl.
Richard’s translation of this shi is smooth and easy to understand; nevertheless, several key factors in the verses are not translated properly.
The phrase 神徒助 in the third line of the shi is translated into “be guided by a group of disciples” and there are two issues to be discussed. For one thing, “a group of disciples” only translates the word 徒 but the word 神 is missing in the target text.
For another, “guided” is a mistranslation for 助 as Xuanzang is not going to be guided but rather protected or “guarded” by his disciples. Another problem is in the last line of Richard’s translation of the poem as “do not be discouraged on the journey”
appears to be a free translation for 莫為艱難抱怨經 and both 艱難 and 抱怨 are forgotten in Richard’s rendition.
Chart 27
Shi Number 2: Arthur Waley’s Translation
吾乃西方太白星，
特來搭救汝生靈。
前行自有神徒助，
I am the spirit of the Planet Venus, I came to earth on purpose to rescue you.
During the course of your journey you will at all times enjoy the assistance of spiritual beings,
95
莫為艱難抱怨經。 who will see to it that you do not succumb to the perils that will beset you on your path.
(Waley, p.121)
First thing first, Waley’s translation explains the fundamental details of the shi clearly. The only drawback of his strategy is that because he uses more words for explanation, the shi becomes kind of wordy. In Waley’s version of the poem, “the spirit of the Planet Venus” is a good translation for 西方太白星 although the meaning of west is lost and “came to earth” in the second line echoes Planet Venus nicely. The Taoist deity Taibaijinxing is the guardian of the West representing the star of Venus. He is also Jade Emperor’s consultant and messenger, and as revealed in the story of Xiyouji, he is very close friends with Sun Wukong. It is said that great poet Li Bai 李白 was named after Taibaijinxing for his mother dreamed of the deity during pregnancy.
The only minor problem in Waley’s translation is in the phrase “spiritual beings.”
His strategy is to incorporate both 神 and 徒 in his rendition of spiritual beings instead of using more words to describe the two groups independently. It makes sense in a way because one can argue that all of Xuanzang’s disciples, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing, are “spiritual beings” as well because they are converted to Buddhism. Whether Waley’s “spiritual beings” refers to those who have divine superpowers is in question. Waley uses the word “spirits” for his translation of
96
malevolent monsters and demons that endanger Xuanzang and his disciples. And here in this shi, Waley uses the phrase “spiritual beings” to translate benevolent deities and bodhisattvas that provide their assistance and protection. Without a more definite distinction, such similar terms may lead to a reader’s confusion.
When Xuanzang and his human escorts first encounter the buffalo, bear, and tiger demons as mentioned earlier, they become surrounded by the demons’
entourage. It is also stated that the group of followers are all 妖邪 and consist of 山 精樹鬼 and 怪獸蒼狼 which Waley simply translates into animal-spirits altogether.
Chart 28
左右妖邪，盡都是山精樹鬼、怪獸蒼狼。《西遊記第十三回頁六》
Richard the evil spirits
Waley the other lesser ogres are all animal-spirits
Yu The various ogres are all demons of mountains and trees, spirits of strange beasts and wolves.
Jenner The fiends who serve him are mountain spirits, tree devils, monsters, and wolves.
Kherdian the ogres you saw are various spirits and demons
Richard’s translation of “the evil spirits” is concise and precise, but still based on his Christian and biblical terminology. The problem with the word “spirit” is that it is considered intangible and ethereal, almost like a shadow or ghostly figure. But these demons and their followers are all flesh and blood, they eat meat, drink wine, and have a good time. Yu’s translation is an upgrade of the previous two versions, but the association of ogres as demons of mountains and trees is imprecise, the
97
same goes for Kherdian’s condensed version based on Yu’s translation. Of the five versions, Jenner’s translation is the most impressive: “the fiends who serve him” is a great translation for 左右妖邪 and, on the other hand, mountain spirits, tree devils, monsters, and wolves are nice matches for 山精樹鬼 and 怪獸蒼狼. In conclusion, there are actually many words in English that can be used to translate the so many evildoers in the story of Xiyouji rather than the confusing indistinguishable terms of spirits and spiritual beings.
Chart 29
Shi Number 2: Anthony C. Yu’s Translation
吾乃西方太白星，
特來搭救汝生靈。
前行自有神徒助，
莫為艱難抱怨經。
I am the Planet Venus from the West, Who came to save you by special request, Some pupils divine will come to your aid.
Blame not the scriptures for hardships ahead.
(Yu, vol.1, p.287)
First of all, Yu succeeds in adding nice rhymes to his translation for this shi which is an extremely difficult task to achieve. However, in order to insert the poetic devices to create rhyme, Yu has to sacrifice a certain level of accuracy and
faithfulness in his translation. For example, “request” rhymes with west, but the word “request” is an over-translation explicating that a specific someone requests Taibaijinxing to save Xuanzang, and although it may be the case, such information is not explicit in the source text. Word order is also affected, like the translation
“ahead” for the first word in line 3 in the source text 前 is moved to the end of the
98
shi for the purpose of rhyme.
The “pupils divine” in line three is a strange translation for 神徒 and perhaps in reverse order “divine pupils” would make a little more sense though still incorrect.
Considering that Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, and Sha Wujing are all heavenly criminals convicted by the Jade Emperor and are trying to make amends for their crimes, there is hardly anything divine about any of them. Therefore, it is safe to conclude that Yu’s translation of “pupils divine” for 神徒 has left some room for improvement.
Chart 30
Shi Number 2: W.J.F. Jenner’s Translation
吾乃西方太白星，
特來搭救汝生靈。
前行自有神徒助，
莫為艱難抱怨經。
I am the Planet Venus of the Western Heaven, Who came to save your life.
In the journey ahead you will have divine disciples:
Do not in your troubles feel angry with the scriptures.
(Jenner, vol.1, p. 445)
Jenner’s translation fixes some of the problems in Yu’s translation. For example, the elimination of “by special request” and the movement of the word “ahead”
from the end of the poem to the third line both help Jenner’s translation stay closer to the source text at the expense of losing the rhyme. So the dilemma Yu and Jenner exhibit to us in their translations for this shi is the constant struggle between
choosing to create a beautiful target text or to stay faithful to the source text. In the third line, “you will have divine disciples” neglects to include the meaning of 助 and
“divine disciples” seems to mistake 神徒 for godly disciples in which 神 becomes an
99
adjective. Jenner’s translation of 西方太白星 may be a little problematic as “the Planet Venus of the Western Heaven” seems to imply that there are other Planet Venuses in the other Heavens. On the whole, Jenner’s translation is mostly accurate and explains the main concepts of the shi well, but the abundance of simple words such as “have,” “do not,” and “feel angry” lowers his translation’s level of
sophistication.
Chart 31
Shi Number 2: David Kherdian’s Adaptation
吾乃西方太白星，
特來搭救汝生靈。
前行自有神徒助，
莫為艱難抱怨經。
The Planet Venus from the Western Heaven Came to rescue you by Holy Command.
In the course of your journey
You will be assisted by divine disciples.
Do not blame the scriptures For the hardships that lay ahead.
(Kherdian, p.105)
For the composition of the verses of this shi, Kherdian’s technique is to
combine components extracted from all the three previous translations by Waley, Yu, and Jenner. From Jenner’s translation, Kherdian borrows the three segments of
“Planet Venus from the Western Heaven,” “in the course of your journey,”
and ”divine disciples” in nearly exact facsimiles. Kherdian is also inspired by Yu’s translation as he changes Yu’s “by special request” into his own “by Holy Command,”
and he rewrites Yu’s “blame not the scriptures for the hardships ahead” into his version of “do not blame the scriptures for the hardships that lay ahead.” Finally, all
100
the elements of Kherdian’s shi are arranged into six lines which are identical to the structure of Waley’s version.
Through the act of borrowing components from previous translations, Kherdian’s version of the poem is infected with a few of the problems that have been examined before. For example, since Taibaijinxing is Jade Emperor’s messenger, Kherdian’s “by Holy Command” elucidates the participation of the Jade Emperor himself while the information is lacking in the source text. And the possible
problems with “divine disciples” have already been discussed in the section before this. With a minor revision, Kherdian’s adaptation of this shi may very well be the best version of all.
There are countless proper names of Taoist and Buddhist gods, goddesses, buddhas, bodhisattvas, immortals, and deities like Taibaijinxing throughout the entire story of Xiyouji, and many of these names can be tricky to translate. One proper name of an immortal in particular causes great disagreement among the translators of Xiyouji. Before Sun Wukong goes on his way to mess up the peach banquet in chapter five, he encounters an immortal by the name of 赤腳大仙 and what is special about him is that he wears no shoes. The other time the name 赤腳 大仙 is mentioned in the story is when Sha Wujing meets Xuanzang for the first time and he explains how he used to be a captain in Heaven but was sentenced to death
101
by the Jade Emperor after he dropped and broke a crystal cup at the peach banquet.
He was banished to the mortal world only after 赤腳大仙 pleaded with the Jade Emperor to spare Sha’s life.
The following is a chart of all the translations for his name:
Chart 32 赤腳大仙 Richard a bare footed Taoist (p.52)
Waley the Red-legged Immortal (p.56)
Yu the Great Immortal of Naked Feet (p.271) Jenner the Bare-foot Immortal (p.149)
Kherdian the Barefoot Immortal (p.58) &
the Red-legged Immortal (p.136)
Jenner’s “the Bare-foot Immortal” is an accurate translation based on the source text of 赤腳 and 大仙 whereas Richard’s “a bare footed Taoist” is somewhat ambiguous since a Taoist can be any ordinary human being who practices Taoism but not necessarily an immortal or a deity. Yu’s “the Great Immortal of Naked Feet”
is an explicit though correct translation in which the word “great” specifies his high status in Heaven as he is allowed to petition directly to the Jade Emperor, but the word “naked” can probably do with more consideration and a better replacement.
Waley’s rendition of “the Red-legged Immortal” probably comes from his
misinterpretation of 赤 and 腳 as two separate words where 赤 becomes a modifier of 腳 and his translation has been the target of much criticism. Though “the
102
Red-legged Immortal” is indeed a misinterpretation and mistranslation on Waley’s part, it does not affect a reader’s understanding of the story at all. And in the researcher’s opinion, it can be regarded as a free translation where Waley
attempted to be playful and comical. Lastly, Kherdian’s first “the Barefoot Immortal”
is obviously based on Jenner’s translation, while his second mentioning of the same character becomes “the Red-legged Immortal.” This is an irrefutable proof that Kherdian does refer to Waley’s translation for his adaptation although in the foreword only Yu and Jenner are acknowledged.