築頭不動 爐火之功 The Rake Cannot Dent His Head
行者聞言，收了鐵棒道：「獃子不要說嘴，老孫把這頭伸在那裡，你且築一下兒，看可能魂消氣泄？」那怪真個舉起鈀，著氣力築將來，撲的一下，鑽起鈀的火光焰焰，更不曾築動一些兒頭皮。諕得他手麻腳軟，道聲：「好頭！好頭！」行者道：「你是也不知。老孫因為鬧天宮，偷了仙丹，盜了蟠桃，竊了御酒，被小聖二郎擒住，押在斗牛宮前，眾天神把老孫斧剁鎚敲，刀砍劍刺，火燒雷打，也不曾損動分毫。又被那太上老君拿了我去，放在八卦爐中，將神火鍛煉，煉做個火眼金睛，銅頭鐵臂。不信，你再築幾下，看看疼與不疼？」那怪道：「你這猴子，我記得你鬧天宮時，家住在東勝神洲傲來國花果山水簾洞裡，到如今久不聞名，你怎麼來到這裡，上門子欺我？莫敢是我丈人去那裡請你來的？」行者道：「你丈人不曾去請我。因是老孫改邪歸正，棄道從僧，保護一個東土大唐駕下御弟，叫做三藏法師，往西天拜佛求經，路過高莊借宿，那高老兒因話說起，就請我救他女兒，拿你這饢糠的夯貨。」行者闻言，收了铁棒道：「呆子不要说嘴，老孙把这头伸在那里，你且筑一下儿，看可能魂消气泄？」那怪真个举起钯，著气力筑将来，扑的一下，钻起钯的火光焰焰，更不曾筑动一些儿头皮。諕得他手麻脚软，道声：「好头！好头！」行者道：「你是也不知。老孙因为闹天宫，偷了仙丹，盗了蟠桃，窃了御酒，被小圣二郎擒住，押在斗牛宫前，众天神把老孙斧剁锤敲，刀砍剑刺，火烧雷打，也不曾损动分毫。又被那太上老君拿了我去，放在八卦炉中，将神火锻炼，炼做个火眼金睛，铜头铁臂。不信，你再筑几下，看看疼与不疼？」那怪道：「你这猴子，我记得你闹天宫时，家住在东胜神洲傲来国花果山水帘洞里，到如今久不闻名，你怎么来到这里，上门子欺我？莫敢是我丈人去那里请你来的？」行者道：「你丈人不曾去请我。因是老孙改邪归正，弃道从僧，保护一个东土大唐驾下御弟，叫做三藏法师，往西天拜佛求经，路过高庄借宿，那高老儿因话说起，就请我救他女儿，拿你这馕糠的夯货。」
逐句解 Line by line
Hearing this, the Pilgrim put away his iron rod. "Idiot, do not boast.
說嘴, to brag. 獃子, "Idiot," is used here for the first time by Wukong of Bajie, and will remain his name for eighty chapters.
Old Sun will stretch out this head of his right there. Strike it a blow and see whether the soul goes and the spirit leaks away."
伸在那裡 — demonstrative 那, nà, "out there." 築一下兒: the diminutive suffix 兒 is er, and it makes the invitation casual, almost affectionate.
The fiend did indeed raise his rake, put his strength into the stroke, and brought it down with a thud;
著氣力: 著 is the lexical zhuó, to apply, to put forth. 築將來 takes 將 as the directional jiāng. 撲的一下 is onomatopoeia.
and the rake struck fire, spark upon spark, and had not shifted so much as a fraction of the scalp.
火光焰焰 — the rake strikes sparks off the skull as off a flint. 一些兒 takes 兒 as er.
It so unnerved him that his hands went numb and his feet went weak. "What a head!" he cried. "What a head!"
諕 (U+8AD5) writes 嚇 and is read xià; 諕得 takes 得 as de. The doubled 好頭 is admiration and terror at once.
The Pilgrim said: "There is something you do not know.
The whole of chapters five to seven is about to be recited by its protagonist as a curriculum vitae, in a single breath.
When old Sun made his uproar in Heaven, and stole the elixir, and pilfered the peaches, and made away with the imperial wine,
Four crimes in four parallel clauses: 鬧天宮, 偷仙丹, 盜蟠桃, 竊御酒. 因為 takes 為 as wèi.
he was taken by the Little Sage Erlang and haled before the Dipper-and-Bull Palace,
小聖二郎, the Little Sage Erlang, who alone could match him. 斗牛宮 takes 斗 as dǒu: the palace of the Dipper and the Herdboy.
where the assembled gods hewed at old Sun with axes and beat him with hammers, hacked at him with blades and stabbed at him with swords, burned him with fire and struck him with thunder — and never shifted a hair of him.
The catalogue of failed executions from chapter seven, compressed into six four-graph feet. 分毫, a fraction of a hair.
Then that Most High Lord Lao had me taken and put into the eight-trigram furnace and refined in the divine fire,
八卦爐, the eight-trigram furnace. 將神火鍛煉: 將 is the disposal marker, jiāng.
and refined me into fiery eyes and golden pupils, a head of bronze and arms of iron.
火眼金睛 — the fiery eyes and golden pupils that were meant to destroy him and instead became his most useful faculty. The furnace is the source of everything Wukong can now do.
If you doubt it, strike a few more, and see whether it hurts or does not hurt."
不信, "if you do not believe it." The invitation to strike again is delivered as though it were evidence at law: the Pilgrim is still arguing his case.
The fiend said: "You monkey — I remember when you made your uproar in Heaven,
猴子 — the fiend drops to plain abuse, and with it the recognition. 記得 takes 得 as de.
your house was in the Water-Curtain Cave, on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, in the Land of Aolai, in the Eastern Continent of Superior Body.
The full ceremonial address of Wukong's birthplace, recited from chapter one: 東勝神洲 (Pūrvavideha), 傲來國, 花果山, 水簾洞. The fiend gives it complete, and the completeness is a mark of respect.
For years now your name has not been heard. How do you come to be here, bullying me on my own threshold?
上門子, to come to a man's door; 子 is the neutral suffix zi. There is real grievance in the phrase: Wukong is the intruder here.
Can it be my father-in-law who went and fetched you?"
莫敢是, "can it be that —?" 去那裡請你: interrogative 那, nǎ, "went where to fetch you."
The Pilgrim said: "Your father-in-law did not go and fetch me.
The denial is exact and, in the letter, true. Squire Gao did not fetch him; Gao Cai did, and Wukong was already lodging in the house.
It is that old Sun has mended his ways and turned from the Dao to the Buddhist order,
改邪歸正 and 棄道從僧 — the two formulas of conversion, the second startling in a novel so saturated with Daoist alchemy. He has left the Dao and followed the monks.
and guards an imperial younger brother of the Great Tang of the Eastern Land, one called the Master of the Law Sanzang, bound west to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures.
The full title, delivered with the same ceremony the fiend gave to the Water-Curtain Cave: 東土大唐駕下御弟, the imperial younger brother; 三藏法師, the Master of the Law. 藏 is zàng.
We passed the Gao Farm and lodged there; that old man Gao, talking, let the thing out,
因話說起 — "in talking, the matter came up." 那高老兒 takes the diminutive 兒 as er; Wukong is not respectful.
and begged me to save his daughter and take you, you chaff-swilling lout."
And 女兒 takes 兒 as ér, lexical. The two graphs stand in adjacent segments with different readings — a reminder that the suffix and the noun are the same character.
Wukong answers a boast about a weapon by offering his skull. It is a piece of showmanship, but it is also the chapter's method in miniature: two creatures who have each recited a celestial curriculum vitae now test one against the other, and the test is decided by the eight-trigram furnace. Lord Lao's fire, applied to destroy the Monkey King, made him unkillable; Lord Lao's hammer, applied to make the muckrake, made an implement that a hired hand uses to dig turnips. The same forge, two histories.
What follows the blow is recognition. The fiend recites Wukong's address in full — Eastern Continent of Superior Body, Land of Aolai, Mountain of Flowers and Fruit, Water-Curtain Cave — and the recitation is a courtesy, the acknowledgement of an equal. From here the fight is over; the negotiation begins. Note that Wukong's account of himself has changed since chapter seven. He no longer says he is the Great Sage. He says he has 改邪歸正，棄道從僧 — mended his ways, left the Dao, and followed the monks — and identifies himself by whom he guards.