化身松樹 The Pine-Tree Transformation
一日，春歸夏至，大眾都在松樹下會講多時。大眾道：「悟空，你是那世修來的緣法？前日老師父附耳低言，傳與你的躲三災變化之法，可都會麼？」悟空笑道：「不瞞諸兄長說，一則是師父傳授，二來也是我晝夜殷勤，那幾般兒都會了。」大眾道：「趁此良時，你試演演，讓我等看看。」悟空聞說，抖擻精神，賣弄手段道：「眾師兄請出個題目。要我變化甚麼？」大眾道：「就變棵松樹罷。」悟空捻著訣，念動咒語，搖身一變，就變做一棵松樹。真個是：一日，春归夏至，大众都在松树下会讲多时。大众道：「悟空，你是那世修来的缘法？前日老师父附耳低言，传与你的躲三灾变化之法，可都会么？」悟空笑道：「不瞒诸兄长说，一则是师父传授，二来也是我昼夜殷勤，那几般儿都会了。」大众道：「趁此良时，你试演演，让我等看看。」悟空闻说，抖擞精神，卖弄手段道：「众师兄请出个题目。要我变化甚么？」大众道：「就变棵松树罢。」悟空捻着诀，念动咒语，摇身一变，就变做一棵松树。真个是：
大眾見了鼓掌，呵呵大笑，都道：「好猴兒，好猴兒！」不覺的嚷鬧，驚動了祖師。大众见了鼓掌，呵呵大笑，都道：「好猴儿，好猴儿！」不觉的嚷闹，惊动了祖师。
逐句解 Line by line
One day, as spring gave way to summer, the assembly were all gathered under the pines, discoursing for a good while.
春歸夏至 — spring departs, summer arrives. The disciples are gathered under the pines talking, which matters more than it looks: the tree standing over the scene is about to become the subject of it. (一日 is yí rì.)
The others said: "Wukong, from what lifetime's cultivation comes your karmic luck? The other day the old master whispered in your ear and passed you the transformations for evading the Three Calamities — have you mastered them all?"
那世修來的緣法 — from which past life did you earn this luck? 緣法 is karmic affinity, and the question takes reincarnation entirely for granted. Note also that they know about the whispered transmission. The secret was not as secret as all that. 那 is nǎ, which; the 可…麼 frame carries the question.
Wukong laughed: "I won't hide it from you, brothers — for one thing the master taught me, and for another I worked at it day and night; those several kinds I have all mastered."
不瞞諸兄長說 is "I won't hide it from you, brothers" — and then he splits the credit neatly between his teacher and his own hard work, which manages to be modest and a boast at the same time. 長 is zhǎng, elder; 殷勤 is diligent; and 那幾般兒 takes 那 as nà, "those," the demonstrative, against the interrogative nǎ one line above. (不瞞 keeps bù; 一則 is yì zé.)
The others said: "While the time is good, give us a demonstration — let us have a look."
趁此良時, while the moment is good. 試演演, doubled, is "give us a little demonstration." This is the request that ends his apprenticeship, and it is made in perfect innocence.
Wukong, hearing this, braced his spirit and, showing off his skill, said: "Elder brothers, set me a subject. What shall I transform into?"
抖擻精神 is to brace up, to rouse oneself. But the word to watch is 賣弄 (mài nòng), to show off, to parade — the narrator has already named the fault, and it is the exact word the master's rebuke will land on. 題目 is a subject, as set for an examination or a poem. He is asking for requests.
The others said: "Just turn into a pine tree."
They pick the tree they happen to be sitting under. 棵 (kē) is the measure word for trees.
Wukong made the hand-sign, recited the spell, gave his body a shake and transformed — and turned into a pine tree. Truly it was:
搖身一變, a shake of the body and the change is done — a phrase so bound up with this novel that it is now simply the Chinese for a sudden transformation, used of politicians and companies as readily as of monkeys. (一變 is yí biàn; 一棵 is yì kē.)
Lush and wreathed in mist, it spans the four seasons;
鬱鬱 (yù yù) is lush and dense, 含煙 is wreathed in mist, and 貫四時 is spanning all four seasons — the pine's defining quality, being green when nothing else is.
soaring cloudward, straight up, it shows its chaste form.
凌雲 is soaring cloudward and 秀貞姿 is showing an upright, chaste form. 貞 is the word used of unwavering integrity, and it is about to turn quietly ironic.
Not a trace of the demon-monkey's look remains;
全無一點妖猴像 — not a trace of the demon-monkey's look left in it. The transformation is technically flawless, which is exactly the problem. (一點 is yì diǎn.)
all of it frost-tried, snow-enduring branches.
經霜耐雪, frost-tried and snow-enduring. The pine is China's standing emblem of steadfastness, one of the 歲寒三友, the Three Friends of Winter, alongside bamboo and plum. Of everything they might have asked him to become, they picked the one thing that stands for keeping your nature through every season.
Seeing it, the others clapped and roared with laughter, all crying: "Good monkey! Good monkey!"
好猴兒，好猴兒 — the applause is warm and completely genuine. This is the last moment in the book at which Wukong belongs to a company of equals.
Their uproar, all unawares, disturbed the Patriarch.
不覺的, without anyone noticing — and the noise carries. (不覺 keeps bù.)
This is the hinge of the chapter. The seventy-two transformations, sought as a way to hide from the wrath of Heaven, make their first appearance as the exact opposite — a performance for applause. Egged on by the other disciples, Wukong 賣弄手段, shows off his skill, and turns himself into a pine. The transformation is flawless: the verse marvels that there is 全無一點妖猴像, not a trace of the demon-monkey's look left in it. But that very flawlessness, displayed to a clapping crowd, is the fault that undoes him — the master's coming rebuke falls precisely on the word 賣弄, the parading of one's attainment in front of others. The power has been turned from survival to vanity, and the noise carries straight to the Patriarch's ear.
There is a quiet irony in the choice of tree. The pine is the standard emblem of steadfast integrity — 經霜耐雪, frost-tried and snow-enduring, upright through every season, which is what the poem dwells on. Set beside the restless, applause-hungry monkey who has taken its shape, the image rebukes him even as it praises the disguise: the pine holds one nature through all weathers, while Wukong cannot hold his powers to himself for a single idle afternoon. The camaraderie of the scene — the brothers under the pines, the shouted 好猴兒 — is real and warm, which is exactly what will make the coming rupture sting. This is the last time Wukong belongs to a community of fellow-students before he is sent away alone.