這部十六世紀的經典小說可能是遠東史上最受歡迎的書籍，它融合了流浪漢小說和民間史詩的風格，將諷刺、寓言和歷史融入一場歡鬧的冒險之中。它講述了淘氣的孫悟空與大小精靈、神靈、半神、魔鬼、食人魔、怪物和仙女的遭遇。這部由傑出學者Arthur Waley翻譯的譯本是第一個準確的英文版本；它為西方讀者提供了忠實地再現原文精神和意義的機會。
紐約時報書介
Monkey": A Chinese Folk Novel; " The Arm and the Darkness" and Other Novels of the Week MONKEY. By Wu Ch'eng-en. Translated from the Chinese by Arthur Waley. With an introduction by Hu Shih. 305 pp. New York: John Day Company. $2.75.
HERE are very few non- Chinese writers who have the art of conveying colorful Chinese thought in the Eng- lish language. Arthur Waley is one of these. He is, in fact, unique, because he not only cap- tures the delicate form made pos- sible only by the use of our ideo- graphic language but he success- fully weaves it into the tapestry- like pattern of his own writing. China and the Chinese are indeed lucky to have been so well served by Mr. Waley, whose numerous translations are known wherever the English language is read and enjoyed.
To read "Monkey," the transla- tion of our prodigious work “Hsi Yu Ki" has given me infinite pleasure. As a child I could never refrain from chuckling with laughter and thrilling with pleas- ure when I read the original. I used to wish that I could have some of the cleverness and impishness of the monkey. I felt the same way reading this book. "Monkey" is the type of story that will enchant many people, even those who have no conception of Chinese literature. It is the kind of book that you can pick up at any time and dip into for a quiet chuckle. It is not the must kind of book that is ordered for the earnest student of litera- ture. It was just that way with us in China; there if you wanted to read it, and never forced on you if you did not want to read it. It remains today, both in the original Chinese and in English, a good story. Yet I will admit to having read "Monkey" with an increasing sense of regret as I passed from chapter to chapter, because Mr. Waley has only been able to use some, thirty of the original one hundred chapters. The original story deals with the pilgrimage of a Buddhist priest, Hsuan Tsang, who with his three disciples, Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy, journeyed to India in search of the scriptures.
Hsuan Tsang, whose other name was Tripitaka, was mortal ac- cording to the Chinese legend, but his disciples had already achieved "illumination to an extraordinary degree." The Monkey was a kind of superman able to travel ten thousand and eighty leagues in the clouds in one hop. He could also pluck his hair from his body and turn each hair into his own image to protect himself. He had a legion of other tricks, and, while mischievous, was never wicked. In Chinese legend he was the king of his own tribe of monkeys, both big and small, who live on the Mountain of Flower and Fruit. It was related that he had spent many years acquiring his magic powers and that his only failing was that he became proud, giving himself the title of "The Great Sage equal of Heaven." When he did arrive in heaven and asked for recognition he was given a position as the groom in the stables. Because he objected strenuously to this indignity he was imprisoned for five hundred years in the Mountain of the Five Elements. From here he was re- leased when Tripitaka was chosen for the arduous task of making the journey from Chang-An, the capital of China, to India in order to bring back the holy writings of Buddha. Although he was mortal, Tripitaka, with the assistance of his disciples, en- dured eighty-one calamities before he arrived at his destination and achieved his mission. Monkey, Pigsy and Sandy would all fly, swim under water and extri- cate their lord and master by be- wildering feats of magic. Both Pigsy and Sandy had previously blotted their copy- books and were assigned with Monkey to undertake this journey to expiate their sins. Pigsy had once been Marshal of the Watery Hosts of Heaven, but one night at a banquet he is reported to have drunk too much peach liquor and to have seduced a heavenly maiden. His punishment was to be born into the common world as a pig, or rather, as the Chinese author so delicately puts it, with a shape near to that of an animal. Sandy had been the Chief Captain of the Spirits, but he too had joined Pigsy in the carouse. His fault was that he had broken the sacred crystal dish and his punishment that he should be banished into the common world. Despite their banishment, all three of the sinners seemed to have had a very amusing time. You will agree, too, when you have read of their adventures that humanity would have missed a great deal if they had been exemplary characters. Mr. Waley has included the lighter side of the story in his thirty chapters and has omitted the calamities and trials of this Chinese "Pilgrim's Progress.” Those who have read the orig- inal version of the book will probably agree that the stories of the calamities which are indi- vidual episodes are equally interesting. Some will recall the story of the mischievous monkey posing as a doctor in the Vermilion-Purple Kingdom, or the story of the Red Boy. Even before my teens, and being on the distaff side of life, I was enchanted by the adventures of Tripitaka and his party. One of them unfortunately is not included in this translation.
They arrived on an island inhabited only by women. These ladies had an engaging way of keeping up the population without the presence or inconvenience of male company. There was on the island a well that had certain life- giving properties. The women made a great fete of the arival of Tripitaka, and all his efforts to get away were fruitless. Finally when he was exhausted they revived him by giving him a glass of the water that served the lonely ladies so well-with exceedingly distressing results. Again it was Monkey who got him out of the difficulty. There are many other such incidents. The whole of this great book is rather like a collection of Tchaikovsky's symphonies and concertos, from which popular songs and melodies can be ex- tracted. It also resembles ancient Greek drama. Although the story of Monkey is fantastic and luminous nonsense, it is sparkling en- tertainment, and there is a profound teaching in every single incident, the teaching of sanctity and purity and simplicity of heart and soul. Mr. Waley has done a remark- able job with his translation. He has even brought the fantastic proper names of persons and places to Western readers with the same musical cadence that we find in the Chinese text.
It is delightful to come across names like “Thousand-League-Eye" for the character who can see a thou- sand leagues away. Then we have such picturesque localities as the Hall of Magic, and the Hall of Mists. The character Monkey is called by his religious name in the Chinese text, which gave him a profound significance even though he was perpetually impish. We considered Aware of - His - One- Emptiness always as a human being working out his salvation. - The underlying motive of the book is the Buddhist belief in reincarnation, your punishment for sin in a previous life being that you shall take the form of an animal in your next.
Although "Monkey," as you will read it, is free from the allegorical oriental interpretation, which might be difficult for the West- ern world to understand without lengthy explanation, as Mr. Waley presents it the story is fascinatingly alive. I see in this book another hon- est and worth while contribution to the exchange of literature be- tween China and the West. The more America reads about China and China's part the better for the two worlds now brought so close together by the urgency of war and the shriveling of space. With its rich beauty and lilting gayety "Monkey” is one of those books that should be read for pleasure as well as for instruction. Those who read it once will probably find themselves dipping into it at odd moments-for it is a very desirable bedside com- panion.
"The Arm and the Darkness" and Other Novels of the Week
《西遊記》：一部中國民間小說。 《西遊記》。吳承恩著。 Arthur Waley譯自中文。胡適作序。 305頁。紐約：約翰戴公司。 2.75美元。
Helena Kuo著
1943年3月14日
很少有非華裔作家能夠用英語傳達豐富多彩的中國思想。 Arthur Waley就是其中之一。事實上，他獨樹一幟，因為他不僅捕捉到了只有使用我們表意文字才能呈現的精妙形式，而且成功地將其編織到他自己作品的織錦般圖案中。中國和中國人確實很幸運，能夠得到Waley先生如此出色的服務，他的眾多譯作在閱讀和欣賞英語的任何地方都廣為人知。
閱讀《西遊記》——我們鉅作《西遊記》帶給我無限的樂趣。小時候讀原著時，我總是忍不住咯咯笑，興奮不已。我曾經希望自己也能像猴子一樣機靈又頑皮。讀這本書時，我也有同樣的感受。 《西遊記》是那種能讓許多人著迷的故事，即使是對中國文學一無所知的人也能讀懂。它是那種你可以隨時拿起來，輕聲細語地笑一笑的書。它並非那種認真學習文學的人必讀的書。在我們中國，情況就是這樣；你想讀就讀，不想讀也不會被強迫。如今，無論是中文原著還是英文原著，它仍然是一個好故事。然而，我承認，隨著《西遊記》一章一章地閱讀，我越來越感到遺憾，因為韋利先生只用了原著中的一些章節，大概三十章。百回。原著講述了一位名叫玄奘的佛教僧侶的朝聖之旅。他帶著三個徒弟──孫悟空、豬八戒和沙僧──前往印度取經。
玄奘，又名三藏，根據中國傳說，他是凡人，但他的徒弟們已經「證得非凡的開悟」。孫悟空是一位超人，能夠一躍而上，躍上雲端一萬八千里。他還能拔掉身上的毛髮，把每一根毛髮變成自己的形象來保護自己。他還擁有許多其他的絕技，雖然調皮搗蛋，但從不做壞事。在中國傳說中，他是居住在花果山上大小猴群的王者。據說，他花費多年時間習得神通，唯一的缺點就是驕傲自大，自封為「齊天大聖」。當他抵達天庭，請求天庭認可時，他被賜予馬厩馬夫的職位。由於他強烈反對這種侮辱，他被囚禁在五行山五百年。後來，三藏被選中執行一項艱鉅的任務，從中國首都長安前往印度取回佛經，他才得以獲釋。雖然三藏是凡人，但在弟子的幫助下，歷經八十一難，最後到達目的地，完成了使命。孫悟空、豬八戒和沙僧都飛天遁地，潛入水中，並用令人眼花繚亂的法術解救他們的主人。豬八戒和沙僧都曾塗抹過自己的字帖，並被指派與孫悟空一起完成這趟旅程，以贖罪。豬八戒曾是天庭水軍的指揮官，但據說有一天晚上，他在一次宴會上喝得酩酊大醉。喝了太多桃酒，還勾引了一位天女。他的懲罰是投生凡間，成為一頭豬，或者更確切地說，用這位中國作家委婉的說法，是形似動物。桑迪曾是神靈的總管，但他也加入了豬八戒的狂歡。他的錯是打破了神聖的水晶盤，他的懲罰是被放逐到凡間。儘管被放逐，這三個罪人似乎都玩得很開心。讀過他們的冒險經歷後，你也會同意，如果他們是模範人物，人類將會錯過很多東西。韋利先生在三十章的篇幅中收錄了故事中較為輕鬆的一面，而省略了這部中國版《天路歷程》中的災難和考驗。讀過原著的人或許會同意，那些作為獨立事件的災難故事同樣引人入勝。有些人會想起《朱紫王國》裡那隻頑皮的猴子冒充醫生的故事，或是《紅孩兒》的故事。早在我十幾歲、處於人生的「女性化」階段之前，我就…
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吳承恩著《西遊記》…
Arthur Waley 將 16 世紀中國古典小說《西遊記》（又名《美猴王》或《猴子：一個中國民間故事》）翻譯成西方讀者閱讀，1942 年的初版由中國學者兼哲學家胡適撰寫序言。 Waley 的譯本被認為是具有奠基意義和影響力的英文譯本，它抓住了原著的精神和意義。
本書
《西遊記》，又名《美猴王》，是吳承恩於 16 世紀創作的一部中國古典小說。
它融合了流浪漢小說、民間史詩、諷刺小說和寓言故事的風格。
故事講述了淘氣的孫悟空和他的同伴們前往西天的冒險故事。
Arthur Waley 的貢獻
Arthur Waley（1889-1966）是一位傑出的英國學者，以將中國文學引入西方而聞名的翻譯家。
他翻譯的《西遊記》於1942年首次出版，堪稱里程碑式的成就，首次以英文準確翻譯了這部經典著作。
胡適的導言
胡適（1891-1962）是中國傑出的學者、歷史學家和哲學家。
他為韋利的英譯本撰寫了導言，為西方讀者提供了重要的背景和見解。
- Journey to the West , also known as Monkey, is a classic Chinese novel written by Wu Ch\'êng-ên in the 16th century.
- It is a combination of picaresque novel, folk epic, satire, and allegory.
- The story follows the adventures of the mischievous Monkey King, Sun Wukong, and his companions as they journey to the West.
- Arthur Waley (1889–1966) was a distinguished British scholar and translator known for bringing Chinese literature to the West.
- His translation of Monkey, first published in 1942, was a landmark achievement, providing the first accurate English rendition of the classic.
- Hu Shih (1891–1962) was a leading Chinese scholar, historian, and philosopher.
- He wrote the introduction to Waley's English translation, providing important context and insight for the Western audience.
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