黑風洞前 黑漢出門 At the Gate of Black Wind Cave
行者到於門首，又見那兩扇石門關得甚緊。門上有一橫石板，明書六個大字，乃「黑風山黑風洞」。即便掄棒，叫聲：「開門！」那裡面有把門的小妖，開了門出來，問道：「你是何人，敢來擊吾仙洞？」行者罵道：「你個作死的孽畜！甚麼個去處，敢稱仙洞？『仙』字是你稱的？快進去報與你那黑漢，教他快送老爺的袈裟出來，饒你一窩性命。」小妖急急跑到裡面，報道：「大王，佛衣會做不成了，門外有一個毛臉雷公嘴的和尚來討袈裟哩。」那黑漢被行者在芳草坡前趕將來，卻才關了門，坐還未穩，又聽得那話，心中暗想道：「這廝不知是那裡來的，這般無禮，他敢嚷上我的門來。」教取披掛，隨結束了，綽一桿黑纓槍，走出門來。這行者閃在門外，執著鐵棒，睜睛觀看，只見那怪果生得兇險：行者到于门首，又见那两扇石门关得甚紧。门上有一横石板，明书六个大字，乃「黑风山黑风洞」。即便抡棒，叫声：「开门！」那里面有把门的小妖，开了门出来，问道：「你是何人，敢来击吾仙洞？」行者骂道：「你个作死的孽畜！甚么个去处，敢称仙洞？『仙』字是你称的？快进去报与你那黑汉，教他快送老爷的袈裟出来，饶你一窝性命。」小妖急急跑到里面，报道：「大王，佛衣会做不成了，门外有一个毛脸雷公嘴的和尚来讨袈裟哩。」那黑汉被行者在芳草坡前赶将来，却才关了门，坐还未稳，又听得那话，心中暗想道：「这厮不知是那里来的，这般无礼，他敢嚷上我的门来。」教取披挂，随结束了，绰一杆黑缨枪，走出门来。这行者闪在门外，执著铁棒，睁睛观看，只见那怪果生得凶险：
逐句解 Line by line
The Pilgrim came to the gate and saw that the two leaves of stone were shut very fast.
關得甚緊: 得 is the manner-marking de and 甚 the intensifier shèn, "very," not the interrogative shén of 甚麼. Both readings occur within this passage.
Above them lay a slab set crosswise, plainly inscribed with six great graphs: BLACK WIND MOUNTAIN, BLACK WIND CAVE. At once he swung his rod and cried, "Open the gate!"
Six graphs on a lintel-slab: 黑風山黑風洞. The doubling of the name is not carelessness but the convention of such inscriptions, mountain and cave alike claimed.
Within there was a little demon on gate duty, who opened up and came out, demanding, "Who are you, that you dare come battering at our immortal cave?"
那裡面 is locative nà. 把門, to hold the gate, is the porter's office. 吾 in a small demon's mouth is comically grand.
The Pilgrim cursed him: "You death-courting beast! What manner of place is this, to be styled an immortal cave?
孽畜, niè chù — a beast of evil karma. 作死 is to court death by acting. 稱 reads chēng, to style or name.
Is the graph 'immortal' yours to use? Get inside quickly and report to that black fellow of yours.
The single corner brackets 『 』 cite the graph 仙 as a graph, not as a word: the Pilgrim is disputing the porter's right to the inscription itself. It is a philological quarrel conducted with a cudgel.
Tell him to send out this venerable one's cassock at once, and I will spare the whole nest of your lives."
教 is the causative jiào. 老爺, "the venerable one," is what the Pilgrim calls himself; 一窩, one nest, is what he calls them.
The little demon ran headlong within and reported, "Great King, the Buddha-Robe Feast cannot be held.
佛 is fixed globally at fó. The demon reports the collapse of the party before he reports the intruder — the order of his priorities, and the household's.
Outside the gate there is a hairy-faced, thunder-god-snouted monk come to demand the cassock."
毛臉雷公嘴, hairy of face and snouted like the Thunder Duke, is the standard description of the Pilgrim in the mouths of those who meet him. 哩 is the sentence-final particle, read lī per the ruling carried from ch16.
The black fellow, whom the Pilgrim had driven from the slope of fragrant grass, had only just barred the gate and was not yet settled in his seat
趕將來: 將 is the verbal particle jiāng. 坐還未穩 — 還 is the adverb hái, "yet," not the verb huán of 還我 above.
when he heard this speech. He thought within himself, "There is no knowing where this creature has come from.
Two occurrences of 那, two readings: 那話 is demonstrative nà, 那裡來的 interrogative nǎ. They fall in one segment and must be pinned by position. 聽得 takes de.
To be so lacking in manners that he dares come bawling up to my gate!"
這般 reads bān. The fiend is offended less by the demand than by the manners: 嚷上我的門來, to come bawling up to a man's own gate.
He called for his armour, harnessed himself accordingly, snatched up a black-tasselled spear, and came out at the gate.
綽 is read chāo, to snatch up — the reading proper to weapons taken in haste, as at 綽了朴刀; pypinyin gives chuò. 結束 here retains its old sense, to gird oneself.
The Pilgrim, dodging aside beyond the gate, held his iron rod and opened his eyes wide to look; and the fiend was indeed of a fearful aspect:
執著 takes zhe: a state maintained while a second verb, 觀看, is performed. Contrast 尋著 and 撞著, where the goal is attained and the reading is zháo. 生得 takes the manner-marking de.
A bowl-shaped iron helm with the sheen of lacquered fire; black-gold mail agleam and dazzling bright.
碗子 — the 子 is the toneless suffix — names the helmet by its shape, a bowl inverted. 火漆 is sealing-lac, and the comparison is to its hard black gloss.
A black gauze gown drawn over wind-hooded sleeves; a dark-green silken sash, its tassels drooping long.
軃, duǒ, is to hang slack. 長 must read cháng: it is the rhyme-word, binding 光 · 煌 · 雙 · 王 in -ang, and the zhǎng of 長老 would ruin both sense and sound.
In his hand he grips one black-tasselled spear; upon his feet he treads a pair of black leather boots.
一桿 and 一雙 both take 一 before a first-tone graph, and both sandhi to yì. The couplet is pure inventory; the poem is a description of armour and nothing more.
His eyes flash golden pupils like a stroke of lightning: this is none other than the Black Wind King of the mountain.
掣電 is lightning drawn out like a blade. The final line names him, and the name is the mountain's: he is a wind, and black, before he is a bear. The reader learns he is a bear only from the chapter title.
The quarrel at the gate is conducted over a single graph. The porter calls the place 仙洞; the Pilgrim denies him the word — 『仙』字是你稱的？ — and the whole scene turns on who is entitled to the vocabulary of the immortals. It is a philologist's objection delivered by a monkey with an iron rod, and it is not frivolous: the chapter is about creatures laying claim to titles they have not earned, and the Pilgrim, who was once the Great Sage Equal to Heaven by the same method, is uniquely qualified to notice.
The little demon's report is a small masterpiece of household priorities: the feast is off, and by the way there is a monk at the door. The bear-fiend, for his part, is affronted not by the theft imputed to him but by the noise. He arms himself with the deliberation of a gentleman answering an insult, and the poem that follows him out is an inventory of his gear — helm, mail, gown, sash, spear, boots, and last of all the eyes. Nothing in it says bear. The title of the chapter has told us; the text will not, for many pages yet.