巢邊下樹 禪師迎僧 The Crow's Nest Chan Master Comes Down from His Tree
那師父在馬上遙觀，見香檜樹前有一柴草窩，左邊有麋鹿啣花，右邊有山猴獻果，樹梢頭有青鸞、彩鳳齊鳴，玄鶴、錦雞咸集。八戒指道：「那不是烏巢禪師？」三藏縱馬加鞭，直至樹下。卻說那禪師見他三眾前來，即便離了巢穴，跳下樹來。三藏下馬奉拜，那禪師用手攙道：「聖僧請起。失迎，失迎。」八戒道：「老禪師，作揖了。」禪師驚問道：「你是福陵山豬剛鬣，怎麼有此大緣，得與聖僧同行？」八戒道：「前年蒙觀音菩薩勸善，願隨他做個徒弟。」禪師大喜道：「好，好，好！」又指定行者，問道：「此位是誰？」行者笑道：「這老禪怎麼認得他，倒不認得我？」禪師道：「因少識耳。」三藏道：「他是我的大徒弟孫悟空。」禪師陪笑道：「欠禮，欠禮。」那师父在马上遥观，见香桧树前有一柴草窝，左边有麋鹿啣花，右边有山猴献果，树梢头有青鸾、彩凤齐鸣，玄鹤、锦鸡咸集。八戒指道：「那不是乌巢禅师？」三藏纵马加鞭，直至树下。却说那禅师见他三众前来，即便离了巢穴，跳下树来。三藏下马奉拜，那禅师用手搀道：「圣僧请起。失迎，失迎。」八戒道：「老禅师，作揖了。」禅师惊问道：「你是福陵山猪刚鬣，怎么有此大缘，得与圣僧同行？」八戒道：「前年蒙观音菩萨劝善，愿随他做个徒弟。」禅师大喜道：「好，好，好！」又指定行者，问道：「此位是谁？」行者笑道：「这老禅怎么认得他，倒不认得我？」禅师道：「因少识耳。」三藏道：「他是我的大徒弟孙悟空。」禅师陪笑道：「欠礼，欠礼。」
逐句解 Line by line
That master, gazing from horseback into the distance, saw before a fragrant juniper a nest of sticks and grass;
香檜, the fragrant juniper; 柴草窩, a nest of sticks and grass. The Chan Master lives in a bird's nest in a tree, which is what his name says.
on the left were elk and deer with flowers in their mouths, on the right mountain monkeys offering fruit;
麋鹿啣花 and 山猴獻果 — deer bearing flowers, monkeys offering fruit: the standing iconography of a sage in retreat, whom the animals serve. Wukong, a mountain monkey, is about to arrive and offer nothing.
and in the treetops blue simurghs and painted phoenixes sang together, while black cranes and brocade pheasants gathered in a company.
青鸞, the blue simurgh; 錦雞, the golden pheasant. 咸集 is classical: "all are assembled."
Bajie pointed and said: "Is that not the Crow's Nest Chan Master?"
那不是烏巢禪師？ — demonstrative 那, nà. Bajie recognises him at a distance and points, which is not a courteous way to introduce a hermit.
Sanzang put the whip to his horse and rode straight to the foot of the tree.
縱馬加鞭, to give the horse its head and use the whip. Sanzang, who a moment ago wanted to proceed carefully, is at a gallop.
Now the Chan Master, seeing the three of them coming on, left his nest at once and came down from the tree.
卻說 resumes with the master's point of view. He does not wait to be summoned: 即便離了巢穴，跳下樹來.
Sanzang dismounted and bowed to him, and the Chan Master raised him with his hand. "Holy monk, rise. Forgive me for not coming to meet you, forgive me."
攙, to raise someone by the arm. 失迎 — "I failed to come out and meet you," the same formula Bajie used to Sanzang two passages ago.
Bajie said: "Old Chan Master, I make my bow."
作揖了 — Bajie salutes with folded hands, and the 了 makes it perfunctory. They are old acquaintances.
The Chan Master asked in surprise: "Are you not Zhu Ganglie of Fuling Mountain? What great destiny is this, that you should be travelling with a holy monk?"
得與聖僧同行: 得 is dé, and 同行 takes 行 as xíng — pypinyin defaults here to háng, the recurring trap of this pipeline. 大緣, a great karmic affinity.
Bajie said: "The year before last the Bodhisattva Guanyin exhorted me to good, and I asked to follow him as a disciple."
前年, the year before last — chapter eight, in the novel's reckoning. The Chan Master is being told that the hog he declined to convert has been converted by Guanyin.
The Chan Master was greatly pleased. "Good, good, good!" Then, pointing at the Pilgrim, he asked: "And who is this?"
Three 好 in a row, and then he turns to the Pilgrim and has to ask.
The Pilgrim laughed. "How is it that this old Chan knows him, and does not know me?"
認得 takes 得 as de, twice. 倒 is dào, "on the contrary." Wukong is affronted, and his affront is exactly the vanity of a creature who was, until recently, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
The Chan Master said: "Because I have not had the acquaintance." Sanzang said: "He is my eldest disciple, Sun Wukong."
因少識耳 — "because I have but little acquaintance": three graphs of classical Chinese, perfectly courteous and perfectly deflating. 少 is shǎo.
The Chan Master laughed politely: "Pardon my discourtesy, pardon my discourtesy."
陪笑, an apologetic smile. 欠禮, "I have been remiss in courtesy." The Crow's Nest Chan Master has just declined to be impressed, and is now apologising for it.
The hermit is introduced by his household: a nest of sticks in a juniper, deer with flowers in their mouths, monkeys bearing fruit, cranes and pheasants in the branches. It is the whole iconography of the sage whom nature serves — and into it rides a monk on a horse, followed by a hog with a rake and a mountain monkey who is offering nothing.
The comedy of the meeting is entirely at Wukong's expense, and it is done in three graphs. The Chan Master knows Bajie and greets him; he has to ask who the Pilgrim is. 這老禪怎麼認得他，倒不認得我？ — how is it that he knows him and not me? And the answer, in classical Chinese: 因少識耳, "because I have not had the acquaintance." The Great Sage who shook Heaven has met a man to whom he is nobody. Note that 同行 in this passage is one of the two places in the chapter where pypinyin defaults to háng; the sweep catches it.