眾僧慶幸 中途截帖 The Monks Rejoice; the Errand-Demon Slain
眾僧聞言，合掌的合掌，磕頭的磕頭，都念聲：「南無阿彌陀佛！今日尋著下落，我等方有了性命矣。」行者道：「你且休喜歡暢快，我還未曾到手，師父還未曾出門哩。只等有了袈裟，打發得我師父好好的出門，才是你們的安樂處；若稍有些須不虞，老孫可是好惹的主子！可曾有好茶飯與我師父吃？可曾有好草料喂馬？」眾僧俱滿口答應道：「有，有，有，更不曾一毫待怠慢了老爺。」三藏道：「自你去了這半日，我已吃過了三次茶湯，兩餐齋供了，他俱不曾敢慢我。但只是你還盡心竭力去尋取袈裟回來。」行者道：「莫忙，既有下落，管情拿住這廝，還你原物。放心，放心。」正說處，那上房院主又整治素供，請孫老爺吃齋。行者卻吃了些須，復駕祥雲，又去找尋。正行間，只見一個小妖，左脅下夾著一個花梨木匣兒，從大路而來。行者度他匣內必有甚麼柬札，舉起棒，劈頭一下，可憐不禁打，就打得似個肉餅一般。卻拖在路傍，揭開匣兒觀看，果然是一封請帖。帖上寫著：众僧闻言，合掌的合掌，磕头的磕头，都念声：「南无阿弥陀佛！今日寻着下落，我等方有了性命矣。」行者道：「你且休喜欢畅快，我还未曾到手，师父还未曾出门哩。只等有了袈裟，打发得我师父好好的出门，才是你们的安乐处；若稍有些须不虞，老孙可是好惹的主子！可曾有好茶饭与我师父吃？可曾有好草料喂马？」众僧俱满口答应道：「有，有，有，更不曾一毫待怠慢了老爷。」三藏道：「自你去了这半日，我已吃过了三次茶汤，两餐斋供了，他俱不曾敢慢我。但只是你还尽心竭力去寻取袈裟回来。」行者道：「莫忙，既有下落，管情拿住这厮，还你原物。放心，放心。」正说处，那上房院主又整治素供，请孙老爷吃斋。行者却吃了些须，复驾祥云，又去找寻。正行间，只见一个小妖，左胁下夹着一个花梨木匣儿，从大路而来。行者度他匣内必有甚么柬札，举起棒，劈头一下，可怜不禁打，就打得似个肉饼一般。却拖在路傍，揭开匣儿观看，果然是一封请帖。帖上写着：
逐句解 Line by line
Hearing this, the monks joined palm to palm or knocked their heads upon the ground, and all together chanted, "Namo Amitabha!
南無: the second character takes its transliterating reading mó, from Sanskrit namo, homage — not the ordinary wú. 佛 is fixed at fó. And the doubled construction 合掌的合掌，磕頭的磕頭 gives you a courtyard of monks each doing whichever of the two he is able to.
This day the trail is found, and only now have we our lives again."
尋著 reports that the thing was actually found, so 著 is zháo. 方有了性命 — only now do they have their lives, which of course they had never lost.
The Pilgrim said, "Do not be glad and easy yet. I have not got it in my hand, nor has my master yet passed out of your gate.
Two instances of 還, both the adverb hái, not yet. 哩 is the final particle, li.
Only when the cassock is here, and my master is sent well out of your door, will you have your ease;
打發得 takes the manner-marking de. In 安樂, 樂 reads lè, ease — not the yuè of music.
and should there be the least mischance, old Sun is no master to be trifled with!
不虞 is the unlooked-for, a mishap. 好惹的主子 is a master who is easy to provoke; the 子 is the toneless suffix.
Has there been good tea and rice for my master to eat? Has there been good fodder for the horse?"
Having just threatened the entire community with death, the Pilgrim asks whether his master has been given tea. The horse is remembered second. The monks are asked about nothing else at all.
The monks answered him with one full mouth: "There has, there has, there has. We have not slighted the venerable one by a hair's weight."
答應: 應 reads yìng, to answer. 更 is the adverb gèng, moreover. The 一 before second-tone 毫 comes out yì.
Sanzang said, "In this half day since you left, I have taken tea three times over and two meatless meals, and not one of them has dared to slight me.
齋供: 供 reads gòng, an offering set out. Sanzang answers a question about hospitality with an itemised list, and the reader is quietly invited to notice that the monastery has spent the morning burying its abbot.
Only do you go and spend heart and strength to the last, and bring back the cassock."
盡心竭力, heart spent and strength exhausted; 盡 is fixed at jìn throughout the chapter. This is the only instruction Sanzang gives in the entire chapter, and it concerns the robe.
The Pilgrim said, "Do not fret. The trail is found. I shall certainly lay hold of the creature and return your property to you. Be easy, be easy."
管情 means assuredly, depend on it. 還你原物 takes 還 as the verb huán, hand back — its fifth appearance in the chapter, and every time the object is the same garment.
Just as they were speaking, the prior of the upper hall had a plain repast made ready afresh and begged the venerable Sun to take his meal.
上房院主 is the prior of the upper hall. 素供, a plain offering, is 供 as gòng again. The monks are feeding him for the second time in a page.
The Pilgrim ate a little of it, then rode his auspicious cloud again and went off to search.
些須 is a trifling amount. The Pilgrim, who has just cross-examined them about food, does not stay to eat it.
As he went he saw a small demon coming along the highroad, a little rosewood casket tucked under his left arm.
夾著 takes zhe, a state kept up while walking. 花梨木 is rosewood, and this casket is the first sign in the chapter that the bear-fiend keeps a correspondence in the proper style.
The Pilgrim reckoned there must be some written matter within the casket.
度 here is duó, to reckon or size up — not the dù of measuring or degrees. 柬札 is written matter, a note.
He raised his rod and struck full on the head. The poor thing could not bear a blow, and was beaten flat as a meat pasty.
不禁打: 禁 reads jīn, to bear or withstand. The tone of 不 is nonetheless computed from that character's dictionary tone jìn, fourth, and comes out bú. Note who says 可憐, poor thing — it is the narrator, not the Pilgrim.
He dragged it to the roadside, lifted the lid of the casket, and looked. It was indeed an invitation card. Upon the card was written:
路傍: 傍 is writing 旁, beside, and reads páng. 請帖 and 帖上 both take tiě, a written card.
The monks chant Amitabha's name for the recovery of a robe they stole, and before they have finished the Pilgrim tells them their lives are still forfeit. He then asks whether his master has been fed. The whole exchange is conducted at the pitch of a protection racket, and Sanzang joins in without a murmur, answering the question about hospitality with a tally of three teas and two meals. Nobody in the room mentions the man they buried that morning.
Then the chapter turns, in a single sentence, on a small demon walking down a road with a rosewood box under his arm. He gets no name, no line of dialogue and no chance: 可憐不禁打, the poor thing could not stand a blow. The pity is the narrator's, offered in four characters and withdrawn immediately. What is inside the box will do more for the Pilgrim's cause than anything his rod has achieved so far.