外国人知道西游记吗（外国人迷上西游记）

I rarely left my sofa in recent weeks, except to go to work, but this had nothing to do with the heat wave.

最近几周里，除了出去工作，剩余时间我几乎是粘在沙发上，然而这并不是因为外面的滚滚热浪。

I was in a rapt state because, to use a Western expression for an addiction that can’t be shaken, I had “a monkey on my back”.

我现在处于一种入迷的状态，因为，用一个西方谚语来形容我这种上瘾且不可戒断的状态，那就是我已经“染上毒瘾”了（a monkey on my back）。

The Monkey King, that is — the impish lead character from Journey to the West, the Chinese television series with English subtitles that was launched in 1986 (and rebroadcast about 2,000 times since).

孙悟空（the Monkey King）是《西游记》（Journey to the West）中的主角，性格十分顽皮，中国电视剧版《西游记》于1986年上映（此后已重播了2000余次）。

Equal parts fantasy and philosophy, Journey to the Westis based on the novel of the same name by Wu Cheng’en. The series, like the book (one of the four great classics of Chinese literature), depicts the adventures of a traveling monk sent by the Tang Emperor of the East on a long trek to the Western Heaven to seek the “true scriptures”. He’s accompanied by three disciples, including the Monkey King and a gluttonous bodyguard with a pig’s head.

电视剧《西游记》改编自吴承恩的同名小说，作者将自己的想象和哲学思想均衡地写入其中。原著乃是中国文学四大名著之一，《西游记》相关作品描绘了一位来自东土大唐由唐朝皇帝派遣的僧人一路长途跋涉到西天寻求“真经”的冒险故事。唐僧有三个徒弟，有齐天大圣孙悟空、长着猪头的贪吃八戒。

The cunning and courageous talking monkey, played to perfection by Zhang Jinlai (stage name Liu Xiao Ling Tong), can fly into the heavens and return in a flash, change shape at will, execute backflips and kung fu moves with ease, and expertly use a range of weapons in insanely imaginative ways — all to protect his master.

在《西游记》电视剧中，演员章金莱（艺名六小龄童）将这个灵巧勇敢又会说话的猴子演的活灵活现，这猴子能飞到天庭又瞬间返回，可以任意改变自身形状，轻松做出后空翻和其他中国功夫动作，还能以疯狂而富有想象力的方式熟练使用各种武器——他所会的这一切都是为了保护他的师傅。

Chinese know the beloved Monkey King as Sun Wu Kong, who has a range of magical powers and 72 transformations.

中国人称这个可爱的猴子为孙悟空，他有一系列神奇的力量，还会七十二变。

Whether avoiding temptation in the Womanland of Western Liang or rescuing a stolen wife from the demon of Horndog Cave, Wukong and his three cohorts are beset by fiends and misfortune just about every step of the way.

无论是在西梁女儿国抵制美色的诱惑，还是从麒麟山獬豸洞的妖怪手中救走被掳的王妃金圣宫娘娘，一路行来，孙悟空和他的三个同伴每走一步都伴随着妖怪和灾厄。

The show’s bare-bones budget and hilariously cheesy effects are just part of its charm, as are the bad guys’ schlocky costumes (reminiscent of the space aliens’ god-awful getups on the 1960s US television series Star Trek).

这版电视剧拍摄经费捉襟见肘，特效也十分滑稽蹩脚，但这正是它的魅力所在。例如反派们粗制滥造的戏服也是其中魅力之一（让人想起1960年代美国电视连续剧《星际迷航》中的外星人那糟糕的戏服套装）。

Magic and heavenly intervention play a large part in the westward romp, as do “treasures”, the secret weapons, ranging from embroidery needles to golden bells, that give their holders — usually demons who co-opted them — invincibility or special powers.

师徒四人西行过程中取得的胜利十分富有魔幻与神圣的色彩，同时，妖怪们使用的秘密武器也十分多样，范围广泛到从绣花针到金铃应有尽有，而这些武器使得它们的使用者——那些妖怪——拥有了无敌或特殊的力量。

And long before “green” was an environmental buzzword, Journey to the West embraced all aspects of nature, from gorgeous mountain peaks and meadows to gurgling brooks and raging rivers, as well as vine demons and tree monsters. (In one episode that recalls the 1939 US film classic The Wizard of Oz, Wukong frees one of his fellow disciples in an enchanted forest from the captive bearhug of a huge, sinister tree by tickling its trunk.)

长久以来，“绿色”已经成为一个广为人知的环保口号，《西游记》这部电视剧处处贴近自然，从美丽的山峰、草地到潺潺的小溪、汹涌的河流，还有以藤曼为原型的妖怪和树木成精，这些都是自然的体现。（其中一集里，悟空在一个幻境树林中用挠树干的方法从一个巨大而邪恶树妖的缠绕中救下了他的同伴之一，这让我回忆起了1939年上映的美国经典电影《绿野仙踪》。）

You might be tempted to think that the holy monk and his not-always-upright companions are an allegory for the conflicting parts of our personality that, only through teamwork, can get us through the adventures of this mortal realm.

你可能会忍不住想，圣僧和他并不总是正直的三个徒弟的故事只是一个寓言，是为了使我们性格中相互矛盾的部分明白，只有通过团队合作，我们才能突破尘世的困境。

Or, you could ignore such nonsense and just enjoy the magic-carpet ride of Journey to the West, which, though hobbled by the technological limitations of the 1980s, continues to cast its spell on viewers — including hapless foreigners like myself who cannot budge from the sofa.

或者，你可以无视这些荒谬的东西，尽情享受《西游记》的神奇旅程，尽管它受限于1980年代的技术，但它仍在吸引着观众——包括像我这样倒霉的完全粘在沙发上的外国人。

译者：刘子安

About the author & broadcaster

James Healy is from the United States and has been a copy editor at China Daily since 2014. He is an advanced student of Chen style tai chi and enjoys Chinese culture, food, and carvings.

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