How the Monkey King escaped the underworld - Shunan Teng

翻译人员: Ethan Huang 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

In the depths of their underwater kingdom,

在水底龙宫的深处，

the mighty Dragon Lords quaked with fear.

法力强大的龙王们害怕地颤抖着。

Before them pranced Sun Wukong, the Monkey King.

美猴王孙悟空在他们面前 趾高气昂地走着。

The legendary troublemaker been hatched from a stone, schooled in divine magic,

这个从石头中孕育并学会了 神仙法术的传奇惹祸精

and was currently brandishing the Dragon Lord’s most treasured weapon.

现在正挥舞着龙王最珍视的兵器。

This magical staff,

这根金箍棒，

originally large enough to measure the depth of a great flood,

最开始大到足够可以衡量大禹治水时 大洪水的深度，

now obeyed the Monkey King’s will and shrank at his touch.

现在遵从于美猴王的意愿而 在触碰之后缩小了。

Terrified of this bewildering power,

惊恐于这意想不到的力量，

the Dragons graciously allowed Sun Wukong to keep the staff.

龙王们只能客气地允许孙悟空 保留着这根金箍棒。

The Monkey King stowed the weapon away,

美猴王收起了这件武器，

and gleefully sped back to his kingdom to show this treasure

然后兴高采烈地快速回到了他的 地盘去向他的猴子勇士们

展示他的宝贝。

to his tribe of warrior monkeys.

After a lavish celebration, Sun Wukong fell into a deep sleep.

在一场盛大的庆祝以后， 孙悟空陷入深睡之中。

But just as he began to dream,

但是就在他开始做梦时，

the Monkey King quickly realized two things.

美猴王很快意识到了两件事情。

The first was that this was no ordinary slumber.

第一件事是这不仅仅是普通的睡眠。

The second was that he wasn’t alone.

第二件事情是在他梦中的， 不仅仅是他一个。

Suddenly, he found himself caught in the clutches of two grisly figures.

突然，他发现现自己被两个 瘆人的身影紧紧抓住。

At first the Monkey King didn’t know who his captors were.

一开始，美猴王并不知道 这些抓他的人是谁。

But as they dragged him toward their city’s gates,

当他们把他抓到他们的城市大门时，

Sun Wukong realized his deathly predicament.

孙悟空意识到了他的致命处境。

These were soul collectors tasked with transporting mortals

他们是黑白无常负责

to the Realm of the Dead.

把凡人送往冥间。

This was the domain of the Death Lords,

这里就是阎王的领地

who mercilessly sorted souls and designed gruesome punishments.

它无情地把灵魂进行分类 并且制定了可怕的惩罚。

From here, the kingdom of death was laid out before him.

在这里，死者之地就在他的面前呈现了。

He could see the Death Lord’s palaces,

他可以看到阎王的宫殿，

and the fabled bridge across the river Nai He.

还有传说中在奈何河之上的桥。

Manning the bridge was an old woman who offered worthy souls a bowl of soup.

守护着这座桥的是一位老妇人，她会为 合格的灵魂提供一碗汤。

After drinking, the spirits forgot their previous life,

在喝下这碗汤以后，灵魂 会忘记他的前生，

and were sent back to the world of the living in a new form.

然后他会被送回人间重新开始新的生活。

Further below were the souls not worthy of reincarnation.

在这之下是不能合格转生的灵魂。

In this twisting maze of chambers,

在这些扭曲的迷宫般的房间中，

unfortunate spirits endured endless rooms of punishment—

不幸的灵魂忍受着无尽的惩罚——

from mountains spiked with sharp blades, to pools of blood and vats of boiling oil.

从上刀山到下血池和油锅。

But Sun Wukong was not about to accept torture or reincarnation.

但是孙悟空不准备接受惩罚或者转生。

As the soul collectors attempted to drag him through the gates,

当黑白无常试着拖拽他通过大门时，

the Monkey King whipped out his staff and swung himself out of their clutches.

美猴王挥出了他的武器并且 脱离了他们的束缚。

His battle cries and the clang of weapons echoed throughout the underworld.

他的战斗声和武器的敲击声 回响在亡者世界。

Sensing a disturbance, the ten Death Lords swooped upon him.

感知到了动乱，十阎王对他 发起来猛然袭击。

But they had never met such resistance from a mortal soul.

但是他们从来没有从凡人的灵魂身上 遇到过如此的抵抗。

What was this unusual creature?

这个不寻常的生物是什么？

And was he a mortal, a god— or something else?

他是凡人、神仙——还是其他什么？

The Lords consulted the Book of Death and Life—

阎王们查询着生死簿——

a tome which showed the time of every living soul’s death.

这本巨著可以展示所有生灵的死亡时间。

Not knowing what category this strange being was under,

不知道这个奇怪生物是在那个种类之下，

the Death Lords struggled to find Sun Wukong at first;

阎王们刚开始很难找到孙悟空的名字；

but the Monkey King knew just where to look.

但是美猴王知道在哪里可以找到。

Unfortunately, the records confirmed the Death Lord’s claim—

不幸的是，记录证实了阎王们所说的——

Sun Wukong was scheduled to die this very night.

孙悟空就是被设定在今晚死去。

But the Monkey King was not afraid.

但是美猴王不害怕这一点。

This was far from the first time he’d defied destiny

这离他第一次反抗他的命运去 寻求智慧和力量

in his quest for wisdom and power.

的时候已经过去了很久。

His past rebellions had earned him the power to transfigure his body,

他过去的反叛让他获取了法力诸如 变换身形，

ride clouds at dizzying speeds, and govern his tribe with magic and martial arts.

腾云急行，以及用法力 和武术管理他的部族。

In this crisis, he saw yet another opportunity.

在这次危机当中，他发现了另外一个机遇。

With a flash of his nimble fingers,

用他灵活的手指一划，

the Monkey King struck his own name from the Book.

美猴王便把他的名字从生死簿上删去。

Before the Death Lords could respond,

在阎王们反应过来之前，

he found the names of his monkey tribe and swept them away as well.

他找到了他部落中猴子的名字然后把 这些名字也清除干净。

Liberated from the bonds of death,

从死亡的束缚中解脱开来，

Sun Wukong began to battle his way out of the underworld.

孙悟空开始打出一条离开亡者世界的路。

He deftly defeated endless swarms of angry spirits—

他灵活地击败了无数群愤怒的灵魂——

before tripping on his way out of the kingdom.

在开启离开冥间的旅程之前。

Just before he hit the ground, Sun Wukong suddenly awoke in his bed.

就在他刚要触及地面时，孙悟空 突然从床上惊醒。

At first he thought the journey might have been a dream,

刚开始他认为这趟旅途可能是一场梦，

but the Monkey King felt his new immortality surging

但是美猴王从头至尾地感受到了

from the top of his head to the tip of his tail.

他新获得的不死之力。

With a cry of triumph, he woke his warriors to share his latest adventure—

在胜利的叫喊中，他唤醒了他的勇士们 并且分享了最近的这次冒险——

and commence another round of celebration.

然后开始了另一轮的庆祝。