The Monk And The Priest

Poetic foreshadowing of the entire book

The Monk And The Priest

We follow the path of the useless stone that was carelessly discarded. In this passage, the stone encounters a Buddhist monk and a Taoist priest, who foreshadow the entire book.

Chinese Text

一日，正當嗟悼之際，俄見一僧一道，遠遠而來，生得骨格不凡，丰神迥異。來到這青埂峰下，席地坐談，見著這塊鮮瑩明潔的石頭，且又縮成扇墜一般，甚屬可愛。那僧託於掌上，笑道：「形體倒也是個靈物了，只是沒有實在的好處；須得再鐫上幾個字，使人人見了，便知你是件奇物，然後攜你到那昌明隆盛之邦、詩禮簪纓之族、花柳繁華之地、溫柔富貴之鄉那裡去走一遭。」石頭聽了大喜，因問：「不知可鐫何字？攜到何方？望乞明示。」那僧笑道：「你且莫問，日後自然明白。」說畢，便袖了，同那道人飄然而去，竟不知投向何方。

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Translation Notes

嗟悼 means 嗟傷哀悼. This is a combination of “sighing” and “morning,” meaning “deep sorrow.” For example, take this sentence from the 文選 (Selections of Refined Literature): 聖王嗟悼，寵贈衾襚, or “the sage king lamented with deep sorrow, bestowing a shroud and garments as a posthumous honor [to the deceased].”

靈物 means “supernatural being.” Here it literally says “Although you indeed look like a supernatural object,” though I’ve simplified this a bit in my translation.

昌明隆盛之邦、詩禮簪纓之族、花柳繁華之地、溫柔富貴之鄉 is the first example of a purely poetic description that we’ve seen. It literally means: