圯橋進履 The Sandal at the Bridge
茶畢，行者回頭一看，見後壁上掛著一幅「圯橋進履」的畫兒。行者道：「這是甚麼景致？」龍王道：「大聖在先，此事在後，故你不認得。這叫做『圯橋三進履』。」行者道：「怎的是『三進履』？」龍王道：「此仙乃是黃石公，此子乃是漢世張良，石公坐在圯橋上，忽然失履於橋下，遂喚張良取來。此子即忙取來，跪獻於前。如此三度，張良略無一毫倨傲怠慢之心，石公遂愛他勤謹，夜授天書，著他扶漢。後果然運籌帷幄之中，決勝千里之外。太平後，棄職歸山，從赤松子遊，悟成仙道。大聖，你若不保唐僧，不盡勤勞，不受教誨，到底是個妖仙，休想得成正果。」悟空聞言，沉吟半晌不語。龍王道：「大聖自當裁處，不可圖自在，誤了前程。」悟空道：「莫多話，老孫還去保他便了。」龍王忻喜道：「既如此，不敢久留，請大聖早發慈悲，莫要疏久了你師父。」茶毕，行者回头一看，见后壁上挂着一幅「圯桥进履」的画儿。行者道：「这是甚么景致？」龙王道：「大圣在先，此事在后，故你不认得。这叫做『圯桥三进履』。」行者道：「怎的是『三进履』？」龙王道：「此仙乃是黄石公，此子乃是汉世张良，石公坐在圯桥上，忽然失履于桥下，遂唤张良取来。此子即忙取来，跪献于前。如此三度，张良略无一毫倨傲怠慢之心，石公遂爱他勤谨，夜授天书，着他扶汉。后果然运筹帷幄之中，决胜千里之外。太平后，弃职归山，从赤松子游，悟成仙道。大圣，你若不保唐僧，不尽勤劳，不受教诲，到底是个妖仙，休想得成正果。」悟空闻言，沉吟半晌不语。龙王道：「大圣自当裁处，不可图自在，误了前程。」悟空道：「莫多话，老孙还去保他便了。」龙王忻喜道：「既如此，不敢久留，请大圣早发慈悲，莫要疏久了你师父。」
逐句解 Line by line
When the tea was done, the Pilgrim turned his head and looked, and saw on the back wall a painting called "Presenting the Sandal at the Yi Bridge."
Tea finished, the guest looks round the room — and the Dragon King has hung exactly the right picture on his back wall. 行者 reads 行 as xíng; 掛著 uses the ongoing-action 著 (zhe).
The Pilgrim said, "What scene is this?"
What is that scene? He asks, which is what the painting is there for. 行者 reads 行 as xíng; 甚麼 reads 甚 as shén.
The Dragon King said, "Great Sage, you belong to an earlier age and this matter to a later; that is why you do not know it. It is called 'Thrice Presenting the Sandal at the Yi Bridge.'"
A neat piece of bookkeeping: the story happened after your imprisonment, so of course you have not heard it. Five hundred years under a rock leaves gaps in a man's general knowledge. 不認得 reads 得 as de.
The Pilgrim said, "How is it 'thrice presenting the sandal'?"
And he asks for it, which means the lecture is now his own idea. 行者 reads 行 as xíng.
The Dragon King said, "This immortal is the Duke of Yellow Stone, and this youth is Zhang Liang of the Han age. The Duke was sitting on the Yi Bridge when suddenly his sandal fell beneath it, and he bade Zhang Liang fetch it back.
The two figures are the immortal 黃石公, the Duke of Yellow Stone, and a young man who would grow up to be Zhang Liang, the strategist who put the Han dynasty on the throne. The old man drops his shoe off the bridge and tells the boy to fetch it. 此子, 'this youth', reads 子 as zǐ.
The youth fetched it at once and presented it kneeling. This happened three times, and Zhang Liang showed not the least trace of arrogance or negligence;
Down he goes, and up he comes on his knees to hand it over. Three times. The point of the story is that nothing crosses his face — no impatience, no injured dignity, not a flicker. 此子 again reads 子 as zǐ.
so the Duke, taken with his diligence and care, bestowed on him by night a book of Heaven, and charged him to uphold the Han.
And that is what he is paid for: a book of heavenly strategy handed over at night, and a charge to prop up the Han. Humility in, empire out. 著他扶漢 reads 著 as zhuó, the sense of setting someone to a task.
Afterward, sure enough, he 'planned strategy within the tent and decided victory a thousand li away.'
運籌帷幄之中，決勝千里之外 — laying plans inside the command tent and deciding victories a thousand 里 away. The phrase is Sima Qian's, spoken by the Han founder about Zhang Liang himself, and it is still the standard Chinese compliment for someone who wins from behind a desk. 帷幄之中 reads 中 as zhōng.
When peace had come, he resigned his office and returned to the mountains, roamed with Master Red Pine, and awakened to the way of immortality.
And the coda that makes the story usable here: with peace won he resigned his office, went back to the mountains, wandered with the immortal Master Red Pine and attained the Way. Service first, immortality after — the exact order Wukong has just reversed. 赤松子 reads 子 as zǐ.
Great Sage, if you do not protect the Tang monk, do not give your full labour, do not accept instruction, you will remain in the end a mere goblin-immortal — never dream of attaining the true fruit."
Then the application, and it is not subtle: no protection, no hard work, no taking instruction — and you stay a 妖仙, a goblin with powers, for ever. It is the one insult that lands on this particular creature. 不盡勤勞 reads 盡 as jìn; 教誨 reads 教 as jiào; 得成 takes 得 as dé.
Wukong, hearing this, brooded a long while and said nothing.
And it lands. He broods a long while and says nothing — a rare and rather touching sight, this creature with no answer ready.
The Dragon King said, "Great Sage, you must judge for yourself; do not covet your ease and ruin your future."
The Dragon King leaves the decision to him instead of pressing, which is why it works: do not buy your comfort at the price of your future.
Wukong said, "Say no more — old Sun will go back and protect him, and there's an end of it."
'Say no more' — the closest thing to a gracious surrender he is capable of. He has been argued back onto the road, and persuasion has now done as much as it can do. 還去 reads 還 as hái.
The Dragon King said gladly, "If that is so, I dare not detain you long; may the Great Sage show mercy soon, and not keep your master waiting."
Delighted, and shrewd enough to get him out of the door before he changes his mind.
The Dragon King's admonition comes as a parable hanging on his wall: the celebrated story of Zhang Liang and the Duke of Yellow Stone at the Yi Bridge. The old immortal drops his sandal off the bridge and orders the young man to fetch it and present it kneeling, three times over; Zhang Liang's unresentful humility earns him a book of heavenly strategy, and with it both worldly glory as the Han dynasty's great tactician and, in the end, immortality.
The application is transparent and pointed. Wukong, like Zhang Liang, must accept humble service and instruction if he is ever to reach the true fruit; pride and self-will leave him a goblin-immortal and nothing more. The novel is drawing here on real cultural memory — the Yi Bridge is one of the standard Chinese illustrations of deference to a teacher — and bending it to the purposes of its own allegory.
What matters is that this is persuasion, and that it half works. The proud monkey falls silent, broods, and decides on his own account to go back. But the narrative has already shown that persuasion could not keep him — Sanzang's scolding drove him off — and is about to show that his submission is still incomplete. The parable moves Wukong toward the road; the band waiting in Sanzang's bundle will fix him to it.