西游英语阅读 1 -石猴诞生 the birth of the stone monkey
the birth of the stone monkey
Let's start at the very beginning. On the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, right at the very top, stood a magical stone.
国近大海，海中有一座山，唤为花果山。那座山，正当顶上，有一块仙石。
This was no ordinary stone. It was thirty-six feet and five inches high — corresponding to the three hundred and sixty-five degrees of the heavens. And it was twenty-four feet around — corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms of the calendar.
其石有三丈六尺五寸高，按周天三百六十五度；二丈四尺围圆，按政历二十四气。
The stone had nine apertures and eight holes — corresponding to the Nine Palaces and the Eight Trigrams.
上有九窍八孔，按九宫八卦。
Since the beginning of time, this stone had been soaking up the essence of heaven and earth, the power of the sun and the moon.
盖自开辟以来，每受天真地秀，日精月华，感之既久，遂有灵通之意。
Deep inside, it grew a magical egg. Then one day — with a loud crack — the stone split open.
内育仙胞，一日迸裂，产一石卵，似圆球样大。
Out rolled a stone egg, round as a ball. And when the wind touched it, the egg transformed. A stone monkey appeared!
因见风，化作一个石猴。
He had all five senses — seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching. He had all four limbs — two arms and two legs.
五官俱备，四肢皆全。
Right away, he learned to crawl. Then to walk. Then to jump. He bowed to the four directions — north, south, east, and west.
便就学爬学走，拜了四方。
And then something amazing happened. From his eyes shot two beams of golden light. They flashed straight up into the night sky, all the way to the heavenly palace.
目运两道金光，射冲斗府。
The Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven, was sitting in his cloud palace when he saw the golden light.
惊动高天上圣大慈仁者玉皇大天尊玄穹高上帝，驾座金阙云宫灵霄宝殿，聚集仙卿，见有金光焰焰。
He sent his two generals, Thousand-Mile Eye and Wind-Accompanying Ear, to look down at the mortal world.
即命千里眼、顺风耳开南天门观看。
They soon returned and said, "Your Majesty, on Flower-Fruit Mountain in the Eastern Continent, a magical stone has given birth to a stone monkey. The golden light comes from his eyes. But once he eats and drinks mortal food, the light will fade."
二将果奉旨出门外，看的真，听的明。须臾回报道：“臣奉旨观听金光之处，乃东胜神洲海东傲来小国之界，有一座花果山，山上有一仙石，石产一卵，见风化一石猴，在那里拜四方，眼运金光，射冲斗府。如今服饵水食，金光将潜息矣。”
The Jade Emperor smiled and said, "He is born from the essence of heaven and earth. Let him be."
玉帝垂赐恩慈曰：“下方之物，乃天地精华所生，不足为异。”
And so, the stone monkey began his life in the wild. He ate grass, drank from streams, picked flowers, and searched for fruit.
那猴在山中，却会行走跳跃，食草木，饮涧泉，采山花，觅树果。
He ran with wolves, hung out with tigers and leopards, made friends with deer, and treated other monkeys as family.
与狼虫为伴，虎豹为群，獐鹿为友，猕猿为亲。
At night, he slept under stone cliffs. At dawn, he wandered through peaks and caves.
夜宿石崖之下，朝游峰洞之中。
As they say: "In the mountains, there's no calendar. When winter ends, you don't know the year."
真是“山中无甲子，寒尽不知年。”
And that was just the beginning. One day, he would become a king. But that… is a story for another time.
要知后事如何，且听下回分解。
