將計就計 Meeting a Stratagem with a Stratagem
行者見了，笑道：「造化，造化，老孫也是便益，菩薩也是省力。這怪叫做不打自招，那怪教他今日了劣。」菩薩說道：「悟空，這教怎麼說？」行者道：「菩薩，我悟空有一句話兒，叫做將計就計，不知菩薩可肯依我？」菩薩道：「你說。」行者說道：「菩薩，你看這盤兒中是兩粒仙丹，便是我們與那妖魔的贄見；這盤兒後面刻的四個字，說『凌虛子製』，便是我們與那妖魔的勾頭。菩薩若要依得我時，我好替你作個計較，也就不須動得干戈，也不須勞得征戰，妖魔眼下遭瘟，佛衣眼下出現；菩薩要不依我時，菩薩往西，我悟空往東，佛衣只當相送，唐三藏只當落空。」菩薩笑道：「這猴熟嘴。」行者道：「不敢，倒是一個計較。」菩薩說：「你這計較怎說？」行者道：「這盤上刻那『凌虛子製』，想這道人就叫做凌虛子。菩薩，你要依我時，可就變做這個道人，我把這丹吃了一粒，變上一粒，略大些兒。菩薩，你就捧了這個盤兒、兩粒仙丹，去與那妖上壽，把這丸大些的讓與那妖。待那妖一口吞之，老孫便於中取事：他若不肯獻出佛衣，老孫將他肚腸就也織將一件出來。」菩薩沒法，只得也點點頭兒依他。行者笑道：「如何？」行者见了，笑道：「造化，造化，老孙也是便益，菩萨也是省力。这怪叫做不打自招，那怪教他今日了劣。」菩萨说道：「悟空，这教怎么说？」行者道：「菩萨，我悟空有一句话儿，叫做将计就计，不知菩萨可肯依我？」菩萨道：「你说。」行者说道：「菩萨，你看这盘儿中是两粒仙丹，便是我们与那妖魔的贽见；这盘儿后面刻的四个字，说『凌虚子制』，便是我们与那妖魔的勾头。菩萨若要依得我时，我好替你作个计较，也就不须动得干戈，也不须劳得征战，妖魔眼下遭瘟，佛衣眼下出现；菩萨要不依我时，菩萨往西，我悟空往东，佛衣只当相送，唐三藏只当落空。」菩萨笑道：「这猴熟嘴。」行者道：「不敢，倒是一个计较。」菩萨说：「你这计较怎说？」行者道：「这盘上刻那『凌虚子制』，想这道人就叫做凌虚子。菩萨，你要依我时，可就变做这个道人，我把这丹吃了一粒，变上一粒，略大些儿。菩萨，你就捧了这个盘儿、两粒仙丹，去与那妖上寿，把这丸大些的让与那妖。待那妖一口吞之，老孙便于中取事：他若不肯献出佛衣，老孙将他肚肠就也织将一件出来。」菩萨没法，只得也点点头儿依他。行者笑道：「如何？」
逐句解 Line by line
The Pilgrim saw it and laughed. "Good fortune, good fortune! It is a convenience for old Sun and a saving of labour for the Bodhisattva.
造化 is a stroke of luck. 便益 and 省力, a convenience and a saving of effort — the Pilgrim totals up the corpse on the road as a labour saved for both of them.
This one is what they call a confession without a beating; and as for that fiend, let him be done for this very day."
不打自招, a confession that needed no beating, is the same phrase he used of the bear's birthday chatter. 了劣 — 了 reads liǎo, to finish off, and 劣 is standing in for 帳, an account: settled, done for. The automatic reading of the first character would be le.
The Bodhisattva said, "Wukong, what do you mean by this?"
這教怎麼說: 教 is writing 叫 and reads jiào — what is this to be called?
The Pilgrim said, "Bodhisattva, I, Wukong, have a word to say — what is called meeting a stratagem with a stratagem. I do not know whether the Bodhisattva will be willing to follow me."
將計就計, to meet a plot by falling in with it — still a live idiom, roughly turning the tables using the other side's own scheme. 將 reads jiāng. 話兒 carries the toneless diminutive er.
The Bodhisattva said, "Speak."
Two characters: speak. She has already lost the argument, and the brevity is where you can hear it.
The Pilgrim said, "Bodhisattva, you see that in this tray are two pellets of immortal elixir. These shall be our gift of introduction to the monster;
贄見 is the gift a guest carries to a first meeting — the correct and rather formal term, and the Pilgrim applies it to two stolen pills. 盤兒中: zhōng.
and the four graphs cut on the back of the tray, which say 'Made by Lingxuzi' — these shall be our warrant for his arrest.
勾頭 is a warrant of arrest. A maker's mark becomes a legal instrument inside a single clause. 凌虛子 takes the lexical 子, zǐ.
If the Bodhisattva will do as I say, I can lay a scheme for you,
依得 takes the potential dé. 計較 is a scheme.
and there will be no need to move shield and spear, nor any labour of battle. The monster shall have his plague this instant, and the Buddha-robe shall appear this instant.
Two more potentials, 動得 and 勞得, both dé. 遭瘟 is to catch the plague — the Pilgrim's chosen word for what a Bodhisattva is about to do to a living creature.
But if the Bodhisattva will not do as I say, then let the Bodhisattva go west and Wukong go east:
The threat is delivered with perfect courtesy and is entirely serious.
the Buddha-robe will count as a gift bestowed, and Sanzang of the Tang will count as come to nothing."
只當 — 當 reads dàng, to count as, to be reckoned as; not dāng. 相送: xiāng. He proposes to abandon both the robe and his master if he is not obeyed.
The Bodhisattva laughed. "This monkey has a ready mouth." The Pilgrim said, "I would not presume — but it is a scheme, for all that." The Bodhisattva said, "And how does this scheme of yours run?"
熟嘴 is a well-practised mouth. It is the only rebuke she offers him, and it is affectionate.
The Pilgrim said, "On this tray is cut 'Made by Lingxuzi.' I fancy this Taoist is called Lingxuzi.
Two instances of 凌虛子, both taking the lexical 子, zǐ.
Bodhisattva, if you will do as I say, you have only to change into this Taoist;
變做這個道人, change into this Taoist. He has just killed the Taoist, and is now assigning the man's face to the Bodhisattva.
and I will eat one of these pills and turn myself into another, a trifle larger.
略大些兒, a trifle bigger. The entire plan turns on one pill being slightly larger than the other, and on nobody looking too closely.
Bodhisattva, you shall then take up this tray with its two pellets, go and drink the fiend's health, and yield him the larger pill.
上壽 is to drink a birthday health. The bear has been waiting two days for exactly this.
Wait till the fiend has swallowed it at a gulp, and old Sun will do his business from within:
於中取事 is to do the business from the inside. It is the manoeuvre the Pilgrim becomes famous for, and this is the first time in the novel he uses it.
if he will not give up the Buddha-robe, old Sun will weave him one out of his very bowels."
織將一件出來: 將 is the verbal particle, jiāng. He offers to weave a cassock out of the bear's intestines, and the sentence is meant as a joke.
The Bodhisattva had no help for it, and could only nod her head and do as he said. The Pilgrim laughed. "How is that?"
沒法 is no way out; 只得 takes dé. 點點頭兒 is a small nod. The Bodhisattva of Great Compassion is manoeuvred into an assassination by a monkey, and consents to it by nodding.
The Pilgrim looks at a murdered stranger and sees an opportunity: 造化，造化, what luck. Within a hundred characters he has designed a poisoning, cast the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion as the poisoner, assigned her the face of the man he has just killed, and threatened to abandon his own master if she declines. 佛衣只當相送，唐三藏只當落空。 The threat is delivered in the courteous conditional, and it works.
What the passage will not let the reader forget is the vocabulary. The stolen pills are a 贄見, the gift a guest brings to a first meeting. The maker's mark is a 勾頭, a warrant of arrest. The whole thing is 將計就計, meeting a stratagem with a stratagem — although nobody has yet laid any stratagem against them. Every term is drawn from the world of law and ceremony, and every one of them is describing an ambush. Then: 菩薩沒法，只得也點點頭兒依他。 She had no way out, and could only nod.