眾僧還願 The Monks Fulfil Their Vow
行者道：「莫忙，莫忙。今日將晚，不是走路的時候，且待明日早行。」眾僧們一齊跪下道：「孫老爺說得是。一則天晚，二來我等有些願心兒，今幸平安，有了寶貝，待我還了願，請老爺散了福，明早再送西行。」行者道：「正是，正是。」你看那些和尚都傾囊倒底，把那火裡搶出的餘資，各出所有，整頓了些齋供，燒了些平安無事的紙，念了幾卷消災解厄的經。當晚事畢。行者道：「莫忙，莫忙。今日将晚，不是走路的时候，且待明日早行。」众僧们一齐跪下道：「孙老爷说得是。一则天晚，二来我等有些愿心儿，今幸平安，有了宝贝，待我还了愿，请老爷散了福，明早再送西行。」行者道：「正是，正是。」你看那些和尚都倾囊倒底，把那火里抢出的余资，各出所有，整顿了些斋供，烧了些平安无事的纸，念了几卷消灾解厄的经。当晚事毕。
逐句解 Line by line
The Pilgrim said, "No hurry, no hurry. The day is drawing on; this is no hour to be taking the road. Wait until tomorrow, and set out early."
莫忙, doubled, is the vernacular for hold on, hold on — still exactly what you would say. 將 is jiāng here, meaning about to: the day is about to be late. The monkey who has just set fire to a mountain is the one urging caution about travelling after dark.
The monks all knelt together and said, "His reverence Sun speaks justly. For one thing, night is falling; for another, we have a vow or two upon us.
說得是: this 得 is the unstressed de that hangs a judgement on a verb — speaks rightly. 願心兒 is a vow taken on oneself, and its 兒 is the little softening suffix, read er, not the full ér of 兒子, son. 一則…二來 is the standard pair for counting reasons off: in the first place, in the second.
Now that we are safe, and the treasure recovered, let us pay off our vow, and beg your reverences to share out the blessed food with us. Tomorrow morning we shall see you west again."
還 is huán, to repay — because a vow is a debt. You promise the god something in advance, the god delivers, and now the bill falls due. 散福, scattering the blessing, is the technical name for what happens next: the food set before the god has had its essence taken, and the worshippers eat what is left and so share in the blessing. 散 is sàn, to scatter and share out.
The Pilgrim said, "Just so, just so." And you should have seen those monks empty their purses and turn them out to the very bottom — whatever poor remnant they had snatched from the fire, each brought forth all he had:
你看 is the storyteller leaning out of the page at his audience: and you should have seen them. 傾囊倒底 is to upend the purse and tip out the bottom of it. And 餘資, the remnant, is what was left after the fire — the fire these same monks started.
they set out a vegetarian offering, burned paper for peace and freedom from harm, and chanted a few scrolls to dissolve calamity and undo misfortune. So the evening's business ended.
齋供 is the vegetarian offering, with 供 read gòng. What follows is a small warding rite in two halves: 平安無事的紙, spirit-money burned for peace and safety, and 消災解厄的經, scriptures chanted to dissolve calamity. 厄 is è, misfortune — the kind that has already happened to them.
The arithmetic of the scene is exact. These monks burned their own monastery down out of greed for the cassock; what they raked out of the ashes they now spend on a thanksgiving for having survived the fire they set. 傾囊倒底 is not generosity, it is restitution — and the narrator's 你看那些和尚, look at those monks, invites us to watch a performance rather than join one.
散福 is worth a pause. Scattering the blessing means eating the offering once the god has taken the essence out of it: the god gets the steam, the congregation gets the dumpling. It is a Daoist and popular practice, grafted onto a Buddhist house here without anyone blinking. The 世德堂本 never pauses over this anywhere — the monks discharge a vow, burn spirit-money and chant sutras in one breath, and the Pilgrim's entire contribution is 正是，正是, just so, just so.