闔家姓孫 A Nest of Suns
好猴王，念聲咒語，駕陣狂風，雲頭落下。叫：「孩兒們睜眼。」眾猴腳躧實地，認得是家鄉，個個歡喜，都奔洞門舊路。那在洞眾猴，都一齊簇擁同入，分班序齒，禮拜猴王。安排酒果，接風賀喜，啟問降魔救子之事。悟空備細言了一遍，眾猴稱揚不盡道：「大王去到那方，不意學得這般手段。」悟空又道：「我當年別汝等，隨波逐流，飄過東洋大海，到西牛賀洲地界，徑至南贍部洲，學成人像，著此衣，穿此履，擺擺搖搖，雲遊了八九年馀，更不曾有道。又渡西洋大海，到西牛賀洲地界，訪問多時，幸遇一老祖，傳了我與天同壽的真功果，不死長生的大法門。」眾猴稱賀，都道：「萬劫難逢也！」悟空又笑道：「小的們，又喜我這一門皆有姓氏。」眾猴道：「大王姓甚？」悟空道：「我今姓孫，法名悟空。」眾猴聞說，鼓掌忻然道：「大王是老孫，我們都是二孫、三孫、細孫、小孫……一家孫、一國孫、一窩孫矣！」都來奉承老孫，大盆小碗的椰子酒、葡萄酒、仙花、仙果，真個是合家歡樂。咦！貫通一姓身歸本，只待榮遷仙籙名。畢竟不知怎生結果，居此界終始如何，且聽下回分解。好猴王，念声咒语，驾阵狂风，云头落下。叫：「孩儿们睁眼。」众猴脚躧实地，认得是家乡，个个欢喜，都奔洞门旧路。那在洞众猴，都一齐簇拥同入，分班序齿，礼拜猴王。安排酒果，接风贺喜，启问降魔救子之事。悟空备细言了一遍，众猴称扬不尽道：「大王去到那方，不意学得这般手段。」悟空又道：「我当年别汝等，随波逐流，飘过东洋大海，到西牛贺洲地界，径至南赡部洲，学成人像，著此衣，穿此履，摆摆摇摇，云游了八九年馀，更不曾有道。又渡西洋大海，到西牛贺洲地界，访问多时，幸遇一老祖，传了我与天同寿的真功果，不死长生的大法门。」众猴称贺，都道：「万劫难逢也！」悟空又笑道：「小的们，又喜我这一门皆有姓氏。」众猴道：「大王姓甚？」悟空道：「我今姓孙，法名悟空。」众猴闻说，鼓掌忻然道：「大王是老孙，我们都是二孙、三孙、细孙、小孙……一家孙、一国孙、一窝孙矣！」都来奉承老孙，大盆小碗的椰子酒、葡萄酒、仙花、仙果，真个是合家欢乐。咦！贯通一姓身归本，只待荣迁仙箓名。毕竟不知怎生结果，居此界终始如何，且听下回分解。
逐句解 Line by line
The fine Monkey King recited a spell, rode a gust of wild wind, and brought his cloud down. “Open your eyes, children,” he called.
念聲咒語 (niàn shēng zhòu yǔ): "recited a spell"; 咒 = zhòu. 駕陣狂風 (jià zhèn kuáng fēng): "rode a blast of wild wind"; 陣 = zhèn, a measure word for a gust. 睜眼 (zhēng yǎn): "open the eyes"; 睜 = zhēng.
The monkeys' feet touched solid ground; recognizing their home, every one of them rejoiced and ran for the old paths to the cave-gate.
腳躧實地 (jiǎo xǐ shí dì): "feet treading solid ground"; 躧 = xǐ "to step on, tread." 認得 (rèn de): "recognized." 家鄉 (jiā xiāng): "home." 都奔 (dōu bēn): "all rushed."
The monkeys who had stayed in the cave all thronged in together, ranged themselves by age, and did obeisance to the Monkey King.
一齊 (yì qí): "all together"; sandhi 一 → yì. 簇擁 (cù yōng): "to throng around." 分班序齒 (fēn bān xù chǐ): "to range in ranks by seniority"; 序齒 = "by age"; 齒 = chǐ.
They set out wine and fruit, held a welcome feast and offered congratulations, and asked about the subduing of the demon and the rescue of the young.
接風賀喜 (jiē fēng hè xǐ): "a welcome feast and congratulations." 啟問 (qǐ wèn): "to ask." 降魔 (xiáng mó): "to subdue the demon"; 多音字 降 = xiáng "to subdue, vanquish" (not jiàng "to descend"). 救子 (jiù zǐ): "rescuing the young"; 子 = zǐ.
Wukong told it through in detail, and the monkeys praised him without end: “To think the Great King, going off to that far place, learned such arts!”
備細 (bèi xì): "in detail." 言了一遍 (yán le yí biàn): "told it through once"; sandhi 一 → yí. 稱揚不盡 (chēng yáng bú jìn): "praised endlessly"; sandhi 不 → bú. 那方 (nà fāng): "that place"; 那 = nà. 不意 (bú yì): "unexpectedly"; sandhi 不 → bú.
Wukong went on: “In that year I parted from you, drifted with the waves across the Eastern Ocean to the borders of the Western Continent, went straight on to the Southern Continent, learned to take human form, put on this robe and these shoes, and went swaggering along — wandering eight or nine years and more, yet never finding the Way.
隨波逐流 (suí bō zhú liú): "to drift with the current." 西牛賀洲 (Xī niú hè zhōu): Aparagodānīya, the Western Continent (the text's continental geography here is loose). 南贍部洲 (Nán shàn bù zhōu): Jambudīpa, the Southern Continent. 著此衣 (zhuó cǐ yī): "put on this robe"; 多音字 著 = zhuó "to wear" (not zhe). 擺擺搖搖 (bǎi bǎi yáo yáo): "swaggering along." Sandhi: 不曾 → bù.
Then I crossed the Western Ocean to the borders of the Western Continent, inquired for a long while, and was lucky enough to meet an old patriarch, who passed me the true attainment that is long-lived as Heaven, the great dharma-gate of deathless immortality.”
幸遇一老祖 (xìng yù yì lǎo zǔ): "luckily met an old patriarch"; sandhi 一 → yì. 與天同壽 (yǔ tiān tóng shòu): "long-lived as Heaven." 真功果 (zhēn gōng guǒ): "the true attainment." 不死長生: "deathless and long-living"; sandhi 不 → bù. 大法門 (dà fǎ mén): "the great dharma-gate."
The monkeys offered congratulations, all crying: “A thing hardly met in ten thousand kalpas!”
稱賀 (chēng hè): "to congratulate." 萬劫難逢 (wàn jié nán féng): "hard to encounter in ten thousand kalpas."
Wukong laughed again: “Little ones — and here's another joy, that this clan of ours now all has a surname.”
小的們 (xiǎo de men): "little ones." 這一門 (zhè yì mén): "this clan"; sandhi 一 → yì. 皆有姓氏 (jiē yǒu xìng shì): "all have a surname."
The monkeys asked: “What is the Great King's surname?”
姓甚 (xìng shèn): "what surname."
Wukong said: “My surname now is Sun, and my dharma-name Wukong.”
姓孫 (xìng sūn): "surnamed Sun." 法名 (fǎ míng): "dharma-name."
Hearing this, the monkeys clapped and said joyfully: “The Great King is Old Sun, and we are all Second Sun, Third Sun, Fine Sun, Little Sun — a household of Suns, a nation of Suns, a whole nestful of Suns!”
忻然 (xīn rán): "joyfully"; 忻 = xīn, a variant of 欣. 老孫 (lǎo sūn): "Old Sun." 一窩孫 (yì wō sūn): "a nestful of Suns"; sandhi 一 → yì throughout (一家／一國／一窩). The monkeys gleefully turn the surname 孫 (which also means "grandson") into a generational joke.
All came waiting upon Old Sun, with big basins and small bowls of coconut wine and grape wine, immortal flowers and immortal fruits — truly the whole household made merry. Ah!
奉承 (fèng cheng): "to wait upon, attend." 椰子酒 (yē zi jiǔ): "coconut wine." 葡萄酒 (pú táo jiǔ): "grape wine." 合家歡樂 (hé jiā huān lè): "the whole household rejoicing." 咦 (yí): an exclamation introducing the closing verse.
Joined through into a single surname, the self returns to its root;
貫通一姓 (guàn tōng yí xìng): "joined through into one surname"; sandhi 一 → yí. 身歸本 (shēn guī běn): "the self returns to its root."
only awaiting glad promotion — a name on the immortals' roll.
榮遷 (róng qiān): "glorious advancement." 仙籙名 (xiān lù míng): "a name on the immortals' register"; 籙 = lù, the Daoist register where the names of the perfected are recorded.
After all, there is no knowing how it will turn out, or how his dwelling in this realm will begin and end — so listen to the telling in the next chapter.
畢竟 (bì jìng): "after all." 怎生結果 (zěn shēng jié guǒ): "how it will turn out." 終始如何 (zhōng shǐ rú hé): "how it begins and ends." 且聽下回分解 (qiě tīng xià huí fēn jiě): "listen to the explanation in the next chapter" — the conventional chapter-closing formula of the 章回小說. Sandhi: 不知 → bù.
The chapter ends where it is happiest, in a homecoming feast, and its last comedy is a pun. When Wukong announces that he is now surnamed 孫, Sun, his monkeys seize on the word with delight — for 孫 also means "grandson" — and run riot with it: he is 老孫, Old Sun, and they are Second Sun, Third Sun, Little Sun, 一家孫、一國孫、一窩孫, "a household of Suns, a nation of Suns, a whole nestful of Suns." The surname that Patriarch Subodhi conferred on a single nameless creature in the first chapter is here handed out to the whole tribe, and the long naming-arc of these opening chapters — from stone egg to Stone Monkey to Handsome Monkey King to Sun Wukong — closes in this shared, joyful christening.
Wukong's own recap to the assembled monkeys folds the two chapters into a single sentence — the parting, the raft across the ocean, the years learning to wear clothes and walk like a man, the meeting with the old patriarch, the gift of deathless life — and so rounds off the origin story before the novel's real machinery begins. (The continental geography he recites is characteristically loose, the seas and lands of the Buddhist cosmography invoked more for music than for the map.) And the closing couplet quietly states the chapter's deeper claim. 貫通一姓身歸本, "joined through into a single surname, the self returns to its root": the scattered is unified, the wanderer comes home, in exact fulfillment of the chapter-title's promise to 斷魔歸本合元神 — to cut down the demon, return to the root, and unite the original spirit. The 混世魔王, the force of "havoc," has been cut down; the self has come back to its source.
But the very last line looks forward, not back. 只待榮遷仙籙名, "only awaiting glad promotion — a name on the immortals' roll": the attainment of these two chapters is not an end but a threshold, and the register named here is the one Wukong will shortly go and rewrite by force, striking his own name from the ledgers of death. With the customary 且聽下回分解, "listen to the telling in the next chapter," the 章回 form hands us on. The seeker has become a sage and then a slayer; the monkey who left to escape death has mastered it, named himself, and come home a king — and the trouble the patriarch foresaw is only just beginning.