六賊攔路 The Six Robbers Appear
師徒們正走多時，忽見路傍唿哨一聲，闖出六個人來，各執長槍短劍，利刃強弓，大咤一聲道：「那和尚那裡走！趕早留下馬匹，放下行李，饒你性命過去。」諕得那三藏魂飛魄散，跌下馬來，不能言語。行者用手扶起道：「師父放心，沒些兒事，這都是送衣服送盤纏與我們的。」三藏道：「悟空，你想有些耳閉。他說教我們留馬匹、行李，你倒問他要甚麼衣服、盤纏。」行者道：「你管守著衣服、行李、馬匹，待老孫與他爭持一場，看是何如。」三藏道：「好手不敵雙拳，雙拳不如四手。他那裡六條大漢，你這般小小的一個人兒，怎麼敢與他爭持？」师徒们正走多时，忽见路傍唿哨一声，闯出六个人来，各执长枪短剑，利刃强弓，大咤一声道：「那和尚那里走！赶早留下马匹，放下行李，饶你性命过去。」諕得那三藏魂飞魄散，跌下马来，不能言语。行者用手扶起道：「师父放心，没些儿事，这都是送衣服送盘缠与我们的。」三藏道：「悟空，你想有些耳闭。他说教我们留马匹、行李，你倒问他要甚么衣服、盘缠。」行者道：「你管守著衣服、行李、马匹，待老孙与他争持一场，看是何如。」三藏道：「好手不敌双拳，双拳不如四手。他那里六条大汉，你这般小小的一个人儿，怎么敢与他争持？」
逐句解 Line by line
Master and disciple had been going along a good while when suddenly, from the roadside, a whistle sounded and six men burst out, each gripping a long spear or short sword, keen blade or strong bow.
The chapter's central trial arrives without warning: six armed men spring from the roadside. 長槍 ("long spear") reads 長 as cháng; 強弓 reads 強 as qiáng.
With a great shout they cried, "Where are you off to, monk! Leave your horse this instant and set down your baggage, and we will spare your life to pass."
Their demand is the standard threat of highwaymen — horse, baggage, or your life. 那和尚那裡走 ("where are you off to, monk!") reads the first 那 as demonstrative nà and the second (那裡, "where") as interrogative nǎ.
This so terrified Sanzang that his soul flew off and his spirits scattered; he tumbled from the horse, unable to speak.
The monk collapses in terror — 魂飛魄散, "soul flown, spirits scattered" — and falls speechless from the horse. 諕得 reads 諕 as xià, 得 as de; 那三藏 reads 那 as nà.
The Pilgrim raised him with his hand and said, "Set your mind at rest, Master — it is nothing at all; these are people come to give us clothes and travelling-money."
The monkey, unmoved, reads the robbers absurdly as porters come to supply clothes and money. 這都是 reads 都 as dōu.
Sanzang said, "Wukong, you must be a little hard of hearing. He tells us to leave the horse and baggage, and you go asking him for clothes and money instead."
Sanzang, taking Wukong's bravado for deafness, corrects him earnestly — a further comic beat on the gulf between master and disciple. 教 ("tells") reads jiào; 甚麼 reads 甚 as shén.
The Pilgrim said, "You just keep watch over the clothes, the baggage, and the horse, and let old Sun have a bout with them, to see how it goes."
Wukong's plan is simply to fight them all. 守著 ("keep watch over") reads 著 as durative zhe.
Sanzang said, "Even a good hand is no match for two fists, and two fists are no match for four hands.
Sanzang's proverb of the odds — one hand against many — voices his fear for his small disciple. 三藏 reads 藏 as zàng.
There are six big fellows on his side, and you such a small, small little person — how dare you contend with them?"
He counts the disparity plainly: six big men against one small figure. 他那裡 ("there on his side") reads 那 as nà. These six are the 六賊 of the chapter's title — the "Six Robbers," who will presently name themselves as an allegory of the six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, mind, body).
The chapter's title-episode begins. On the wintry, lonely road six armed men leap out with the classic highwayman's demand — horse, goods, or life. But these are no ordinary bandits: they are the 六賊, the "Six Robbers," a Buddhist allegory of the six senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, mind, and body) that plunder a person's tranquillity, and their vanishing at Wukong's hand is the 六賊無蹤 promised in the chapter's second title-line.
For now the scene plays as comedy and characterisation. Sanzang collapses from his horse in speechless terror; Wukong, unmoved, reads the robbers as porters come to supply clothes and money, and proposes cheerfully to fight all six. The monk, mistaking bravado for deafness, corrects him and frets over the odds against his small disciple.
The gulf between the two — the master's timid literalism, the disciple's fearless swagger — is by now a settled comic rhythm. But it also sets up the chapter's moral crux: Wukong's response to these robbers will be lethal and unhesitating, testing at once his power and the restraint Guanyin required of him, and precipitating the crisis that brings the fillet down upon his head.