Journey up is easy, journey down is difficult

“Going up the mountain is easy; coming down is difficult” is an expression Shen Tang applies to the mountain journey when she learns that a cable car is available for the descent. Its immediate significance is practical: climbing upward has been manageable, but climbing down step by step would be exhausting, so the cable car transforms her apprehension into reassurance.

Meaning in the Mountain Scene

The expression contrasts ascent with descent rather than treating the journey as uniformly difficult. Shen Tang has already reached the mountain, yet the prospect of returning on foot troubles her more than the climb itself. The cable car therefore matters because it removes the specific obstacle she fears: a laborious descent after the upward journey has been completed.

Her relief is explicitly physical and emotional. She feels much more assured once she knows that she will not have to descend step by step, and the expression gives language to that practical judgment. The mountain is not merely a scenic setting; it is a test whose two directions demand different forms of endurance.

Shen Tang’s Cautious Response

Before dealing with the descent, Shen Tang has a moment of nervousness, stroking her chest while noticing that her heart is beating quickly, as though she has done something illegal. She then places a booklet in her bag, intending to study it carefully at home. These actions frame the mountain episode as a mixture of unease, private preparation, and logistical calculation rather than simple travel.

The cable car allows her to solve the immediate physical problem without denying it. Instead of forcing herself through an arduous descent, she accepts the available aid and chooses the safer, easier route. The expression consequently accompanies a small but revealing act of self-preservation: Shen Tang recognizes that the return journey has its own cost and plans around it.

Return and Narrative Function

After taking the cable car down, Shen Tang reaches the mountain base, where Gu Qingan approaches her with concern and asks how things went. The descent thus ends not in a renewed ordeal but in a return to human contact. The cable car marks the transition between the secluded mountain experience and the worried reception awaiting her below.

Within the scene, the expression serves as both commentary and foreshadowing of consequence. It makes the asymmetry between going up and coming down concrete, while the cable car provides the device that resolves it. Its force comes from the way an apparently ordinary proverb is attached to Shen Tang’s heartbeat, her reluctance to descend, and her eventual safe arrival at the mountain base.