魔王披掛 The Demon King Arms
那小妖聽說，疾忙跑入洞裡報道：「大王，禍事了！」魔王道：「有甚禍事？」小妖道：「洞外有猴頭稱為花果山水簾洞洞主，他說你屢次欺他兒孫，特來尋你，見個上下哩。」魔王笑道：「我常聞得那些猴精說他有個大王，出家修行去，想是今番來了。你們見他怎生打扮？有甚器械？」小妖道：「他也沒甚麼器械，光著個頭，穿一領紅色衣，勒一條黃絛，足下踏一對烏靴，不僧不俗，又不像道士、神仙，赤手空拳，在門外叫哩。」魔王聞說：「取我披掛、兵器來。」那小妖即時取出。那魔王穿了甲胄，綽刀在手，與眾妖出得門來，即高聲叫道：「那個是水簾洞洞主？」悟空急睜睛觀看，只見那魔王：頭戴烏金盔，映日光明；身掛皂羅袍，迎風飄蕩。下穿著黑鐵甲，緊勒皮條；足踏著花褶靴，雄如上將。腰廣十圍，身高三丈。手執一口刀，鋒刃多明亮。稱為混世魔，磊落凶模樣。那小妖听说，疾忙跑入洞里报道：「大王，祸事了！」魔王道：「有甚祸事？」小妖道：「洞外有猴头称为花果山水帘洞洞主，他说你屡次欺他儿孙，特来寻你，见个上下哩。」魔王笑道：「我常闻得那些猴精说他有个大王，出家修行去，想是今番来了。你们见他怎生打扮？有甚器械？」小妖道：「他也没甚么器械，光著个头，穿一领红色衣，勒一条黄绦，足下踏一对乌靴，不僧不俗，又不像道士、神仙，赤手空拳，在门外叫哩。」魔王闻说：「取我披挂、兵器来。」那小妖即时取出。那魔王穿了甲胄，绰刀在手，与众妖出得门来，即高声叫道：「那个是水帘洞洞主？」悟空急睁睛观看，只见那魔王：头戴乌金盔，映日光明；身挂皂罗袍，迎风飘荡。下穿著黑铁甲，紧勒皮条；足踏著花褶靴，雄如上将。腰广十围，身高三丈。手执一口刀，锋刃多明亮。称为混世魔，磊落凶模样。
逐句解 Line by line
The little demons, hearing this, scrambled into the cave to report: “Great King, there's trouble!”
疾忙 (jí máng): "hastily." 跑入洞裡 (pǎo rù dòng lǐ): "ran into the cave." 報道 (bào dào): "reported." 禍事 (huò shì): "trouble, calamity."
The Demon King said: “What trouble?”
有甚禍事: "what calamity is there?"
The little demons said: “Outside the cave is a monkey-fellow who calls himself lord of the Water-Curtain Cave on Flower-Fruit Mountain; he says you have bullied his children again and again, and has come on purpose to seek you out and settle which of you is the better.”
猴頭 (hóu tóu): "a monkey-fellow" (slightly contemptuous). 稱為 (chēng wéi): "calls himself." 屢次 (lǚ cì): "again and again." 見個上下: "settle who is superior."
The Demon King laughed: “I have often heard those monkey-spirits speak of a king of theirs who left home to cultivate the Way — so he has come at last. How did you see him got up? What weapons has he?”
那些猴精 (nà xiē hóu jīng): "those monkey-spirits"; 那 = nà. 出家修行 (chū jiā xiū xíng): "to leave home and cultivate." 今番 (jīn fān): "this time." 怎生打扮 (zěn shēng dǎ ban): "how got up, dressed"; 打扮 = dǎ ban, 扮 neutral. 器械 (qì xiè): "weapons."
The little demons said: “He has no weapons at all — bareheaded, in a red robe cinched with a yellow sash, a pair of black boots on his feet, neither monk nor layman, nor yet like a Daoist or an immortal, bare-handed and empty-fisted, shouting at the gate.”
光著個頭 (guāng zhe gè tóu): "bareheaded." 一領紅色衣 (yì lǐng hóng sè yī): "a red robe"; 領 = lǐng, the measure word for clothing; sandhi 一 → yì. 勒一條黃絛 (lè yì tiáo huáng tāo): "cinched with a yellow sash"; 勒 = lè "to bind"; 絛 = tāo, a silk cord; sandhi 一 → yì. 一對烏靴 (yí duì wū xuē): "a pair of black boots"; sandhi 一 → yí. 不僧不俗: sandhi 不 → bù (twice). 又不像: sandhi 不 → bú. 赤手空拳 (chì shǒu kōng quán): "bare hands and empty fists."
The Demon King said: “Fetch me my armor and weapon!” and the little demons brought them out at once.
披掛 (pī guà): "armor, panoply." 兵器 (bīng qì): "weapon." 即時 (jí shí): "at once."
The Demon King donned helmet and armor, snatched up his sabre, came out the gate with his demons, and called aloud: “Which of you is the lord of the Water-Curtain Cave?”
甲胄 (jiǎ zhòu): "armor and helmet"; 胄 = zhòu. 綽刀 (chāo dāo): "to snatch up a sabre"; 多音字 綽 = chāo "to grab" (not chuò). 那個是 (nǎ ge shì): "which one is"; 那 = nǎ (interrogative).
Wukong quickly opened his eyes wide and looked, and saw the Demon King:
睜睛 (zhēng jīng): "to open the eyes wide"; 睜 = zhēng. 只見那魔王: introduces the descriptive verse.
On his head a black-gold helmet, gleaming in the sun;
烏金盔 (wū jīn kuī): "a black-gold helmet"; 盔 = kuī.
on his body a black gauze robe, billowing in the wind.
皂羅袍 (zào luó páo): "a black silk-gauze robe"; 皂 = zào "black," 羅 = luó "gauze." 飄蕩 (piāo dàng): "billowing"; 蕩 = dàng.
Below, black iron armor, tightly bound with leather thongs;
黑鐵甲 (hēi tiě jiǎ): "black iron armor." 緊勒皮條 (jǐn lè pí tiáo): "tightly bound with leather straps"; 勒 = lè. 多音字 著 = zhe (durative "wearing").
on his feet, patterned pleated boots, mighty as a general.
花褶靴 (huā zhě xuē): "patterned pleated boots"; 褶 = zhě "pleat." 上將 (shàng jiàng): "a high general"; 將 = jiàng.
His waist ten spans around,
腰廣十圍 (yāo guǎng shí wéi): "waist ten spans in girth"; 圍 = wéi, a girth-measure.
his body three zhàng tall.
身高三丈: zhàng, a Chinese unit (~3.3 m), left untranslated.
In his hand he held a sabre,
一口刀 (yì kǒu dāo): "a sabre"; 口 a measure word for blades; sandhi 一 → yì.
its blade-edge keen and bright.
鋒刃 (fēng rèn): "the blade-edge."
Called the Monstrous King of Havoc,
混世魔 (Hùn shì mó): "the Havoc-demon."
rugged and fierce of mien.
磊落 (lěi luò): "imposing, rugged." 凶模樣 (xiōng mú yàng): "a fierce appearance"; 模 = mú in 模樣 ("appearance").
The chapter sets its first duel as a study in contrasts, and the comedy is in the mismatch. The little demons' report is bewildered: this challenger has no weapon at all, goes bareheaded in a red robe and yellow sash, and is 不僧不俗，又不像道士、神仙 — "neither monk nor layman, nor yet like a Daoist or an immortal." Wukong fits no category they know; he is simply, anomalously, himself, 赤手空拳, "bare-handed and empty-fisted." Against this the Demon King arms himself to the teeth and is introduced in a full martial blazon — black-gold helmet, gauze robe, iron armor strapped with leather, pleated boots, a waist ten spans round and a body three 丈 tall, a bright sabre in hand.
That blazon is pure convention — the formulaic 頭戴…身掛…足踏…, "on his head… on his body… on his feet…," by which vernacular fiction outfits any warrior — and its very lavishness is the point. The demon's power is entirely external: it hangs on his body as armor and size and steel. Wukong carries nothing, because what he has acquired — the elixir, the transformations, the perfected body of the chapter's first half — cannot be worn or seen. The contest about to begin is thus rigged in advance by its imagery: ostentatious outward force against invisible inner attainment. The huge armored 混世魔王, 磊落凶模樣, "rugged and fierce of mien," looks every inch the victor — which in this novel is the surest sign that he is the first to fall.