辭金受餅 高才得賞 The Gold Refused, and a Fistful Taken
師徒們宴罷，老高將一紅漆丹盤，拿出二百兩散碎金銀，奉三位長老為途中之費；又將三領綿布褊衫為上蓋之衣。三藏道：「我們是行腳僧，遇莊化飯，逢處求齋，怎敢受金銀財帛？」行者近前，掄開手抓了一把，叫：「高才，昨日累你引我師父，今日招了一個徒弟，無物謝你，把這些碎金碎銀，權作帶領錢，拿了去買草鞋穿。以後但有妖精，多作成我幾個，還有謝你處哩。」高才接了，叩頭謝賞。老高又道：「師父們既不受金銀，望將這粗衣笑納，聊表寸心。」三藏又道：「我出家人，若受了一絲之賄，千劫難修。只是把席上吃不了的餅果，帶些去做乾糧足矣。」师徒们宴罢，老高将一红漆丹盘，拿出二百两散碎金银，奉三位长老为途中之费；又将三领绵布褊衫为上盖之衣。三藏道：「我们是行脚僧，遇庄化饭，逢处求斋，怎敢受金银财帛？」行者近前，抡开手抓了一把，叫：「高才，昨日累你引我师父，今日招了一个徒弟，无物谢你，把这些碎金碎银，权作带领钱，拿了去买草鞋穿。以后但有妖精，多作成我几个，还有谢你处哩。」高才接了，叩头谢赏。老高又道：「师父们既不受金银，望将这粗衣笑纳，聊表寸心。」三藏又道：「我出家人，若受了一丝之贿，千劫难修。只是把席上吃不了的饼果，带些去做干粮足矣。」
逐句解 Line by line
When master and disciples had done feasting, old Gao brought out on a red lacquer tray two hundred taels of loose gold and silver, and offered them to the three elders for the expenses of the road;
散碎金銀, broken silver by weight rather than coin. 為途中之費: 為 is wéi, "as." Two hundred taels is a great sum — a year's income for a substantial household.
and he brought out three cotton over-robes for outer garments as well.
褊衫, an over-robe of the kind worn by monks; 上蓋之衣, an outer garment. The offer of cloth is a fallback from the offer of money, and will fail too.
Sanzang said: "We are mendicant monks. At a village we beg our rice, wherever we come we ask a meal. How should we dare take gold and silver and goods?"
行腳僧, a monk who travels on foot; 化飯, to beg one's rice. Sanzang's refusal is doctrinally impeccable and comes one line before his senior disciple does the opposite.
The Pilgrim stepped up, swept out his hand and took a fistful, and called: "Gao Cai! Yesterday you put yourself to the trouble of bringing my master here;
掄開手抓了一把 — he swings his arm and takes a handful. The novel does not pause. 累你 takes 累 as lèi, to trouble.
today we have gained a disciple, and I have nothing to thank you with.
Gao Cai is the servant who guided Sanzang to the farm in chapter eighteen, and who bore the brunt of Wukong's teasing.
Take this odd gold and silver for your guide's fee, and buy yourself a pair of straw sandals.
帶領錢, a guide's fee. 買草鞋穿 — the sum in Wukong's fist would buy several thousand pairs.
Hereafter, whenever there are monsters, put a few more of them my way, and I shall have more to thank you with." Gao Cai took it, knocked his head, and gave thanks for the gift.
多作成我幾個: "make me a few more" — as though monsters were commissions. 哩 is lī. The joke is that Gao Cai kneels and thanks him for money that was not Wukong's to give.
Old Gao said again: "If the masters will not have gold and silver, I beg they will accept this coarse cloth with a smile, as a poor token of my heart."
笑納, "accept with a smile," the formula for pressing a gift. 聊表寸心, a poor token of an inch of heart.
Sanzang said again: "We who have left the household, if we take so much as a thread by way of bribe, must labour a thousand kalpas to make it good.
一絲之賄, a bribe the size of a thread; 千劫難修, a thousand kalpas of cultivation to expiate it. Sanzang means every word, and has not noticed the fistful of silver.
Only let us take a few of the cakes and fruit left over from the table, to serve as dry provision on the way, and that will be enough."
吃不了的餅果: 了 is liǎo, the potential complement — what could not be eaten. 乾糧 takes 乾 as gān. The Tang monk accepts leftovers, and the pilgrimage is provisioned.
Two hundred taels on a red lacquer tray; a refusal of exemplary correctness; and then, without any transition whatever, Wukong reaching in and taking a handful. He gives it to Gao Cai, the servant, as a guide's fee, and tells him to buy straw sandals — a sum that would buy several thousand pairs — and asks him to send more monsters his way in future. Nobody objects. Sanzang, four graphs later, is explaining that a bribe the size of a thread costs a thousand kalpas of cultivation.
The novel does not moralise the contradiction and does not need to. Sanzang refuses on principle and eats the leftovers; Wukong takes what is offered and passes it to the man who did the work. What the pilgrims leave the Gao Farm with is a bundle of cold cakes, and Bajie is carrying it.