定風樁上 Bound to the Wind-Stilling Post
那洞主聞得此言，吃了一驚道：「我聞得前者有人傳說：三藏法師乃大唐奉旨意取經的神僧；他手下有一個徒弟，名喚孫行者，神通廣大，智力高強。你怎麼能夠捉得他來？」先鋒道：「他有兩個徒弟：先來的使一柄九齒釘鈀，他生得嘴長耳大；又一個使一根金箍鐵棒，他生得火眼金睛。正趕著小將爭持，被小將使一個金蟬脫殼之計，撤身得空，把這和尚拿來，奉獻大王，聊表一餐之敬。」洞主道：「且莫吃他哩。」先鋒道：「大王，見食不食，呼為劣蹶？」洞主道：「你不曉得。吃了他不打緊，只恐怕他那兩個徒弟上門吵鬧，未為穩便。且把他綁在後園定風樁上，待三五日，他兩個不來攪擾，那時節，一則圖他身子乾淨，二來不動口舌，卻不任我們心意？或煮或蒸，或煎或炒，慢慢的自在受用不遲。」先鋒大喜道：「大王深謀遠慮，說得有理。」教：「小的們，拿了去。」那洞主闻得此言，吃了一惊道：「我闻得前者有人传说：三藏法师乃大唐奉旨意取经的神僧；他手下有一个徒弟，名唤孙行者，神通广大，智力高强。你怎么能够捉得他来？」先锋道：「他有两个徒弟：先来的使一柄九齿钉钯，他生得嘴长耳大；又一个使一根金箍铁棒，他生得火眼金睛。正赶着小将争持，被小将使一个金蝉脱壳之计，撤身得空，把这和尚拿来，奉献大王，聊表一餐之敬。」洞主道：「且莫吃他哩。」先锋道：「大王，见食不食，呼为劣蹶？」洞主道：「你不晓得。吃了他不打紧，只恐怕他那两个徒弟上门吵闹，未为稳便。且把他绑在后园定风桩上，待三五日，他两个不来搅扰，那时节，一则图他身子干净，二来不动口舌，却不任我们心意？或煮或蒸，或煎或炒，慢慢的自在受用不迟。」先锋大喜道：「大王深谋远虑，说得有理。」教：「小的们，拿了去。」
逐句解 Line by line
The lord of the cave, hearing this, was startled. "I have heard it said before now,
聞得 twice, both times toneless de. The demon king's first reaction to the name Sanzang is fright, and the fright is on account of a servant.
that Sanzang the Master of the Law is a holy monk of the Tang, gone for the scriptures by imperial command;
奉旨意取經的神僧 — a holy monk travelling under imperial warrant. The demons of this cave have better intelligence about the pilgrimage than the peasants of the last village had.
and that under him is a disciple called Sun the Pilgrim, whose magic arts are vast and whose wit and strength are high. How were you able to take him?"
神通廣大，智力高強: two four-character formulas, and the second is not quite a compliment — 智力, wit and force together, is what you credit an opponent with. 捉得他來 takes 得 as the "managed it" reading dé.
The Vanguard said, "He has two disciples. The one who came up first wields a nine-toothed muckrake, and is long of snout and large of ear;
生得嘴長耳大: 得 is toneless de, and 長 is cháng. Notice the order of the report — the Vanguard describes Bajie first and at greater length, because Bajie is the one who fought him.
the other wields a gold-banded iron rod, and has fiery eyes and golden pupils.
火眼金睛, the fiery eyes and golden pupils the Pilgrim came out of Laozi's crucible with in chapter 7.
They were pressing your officer hard, when your officer used the stratagem of the golden cicada that sheds its shell, drew himself out and got his opening,
小將 twice, both jiàng. 撤身得空, "drew himself back and got a gap": 得 is dé. The Vanguard's account is accurate in every particular and omits only that he ran away first.
and took this monk and brought him, and offers him to the Great King as a poor mark of respect, worth one meal."
聊表一餐之敬, a mark of respect worth one meal — the second time in two passages that the prisoner has been valued in courses.
The lord of the cave said, "Do not eat him yet." The Vanguard said, "Great King, to see food and not eat it — is that not what men call a balking mule?"
見食不食，呼為劣蹶: 為 is wéi, "to call something." A 劣蹶 is a balky, stubborn beast, and the proverb runs roughly "the mule that will not eat what is put in front of it." The Vanguard is arguing with his king about dinner.
The lord of the cave said, "You do not understand. To eat him is no great matter; but I fear those two disciples of his will come to the door and raise a clamor, and that would hardly be safe.
不打緊, of no great consequence. 曉得 takes toneless de; 未為穩便 takes 為 as wéi. The Great King is the first creature in the chapter to reason about the Pilgrim correctly.
Let him rather be bound to the Wind-Stilling Post in the back garden. Wait three days or five; and if the two of them do not come to trouble us, why then,
定風樁, the Wind-Stilling Post — and remember the name, because in the next chapter wind is the demon king's only weapon. 那時節, "at that season, then."
first, we shall have him with his body clean; and second, there will be no wagging of tongues; and shall we not then do just as we please?
身子乾淨: 乾 is gān. The reasoning is entirely practical — a monk starved for three days will be cleaner meat — and it is delivered with the calm of a man planning a banquet.
Boiled or steamed, fried or seared, there will be time enough to enjoy him at our leisure."
或煮或蒸，或煎或炒 — four verbs of cookery inside eight characters, in perfect parallel. The novel does not flinch, and neither does the King.
The Vanguard was delighted. "The Great King plans deep and looks far. What he says is reason itself." And he called, "You there, take him away."
深謀遠慮, "plans deep and looks far," comes from Jia Yi's essay on the fall of Qin and is still in daily use for genuine strategic foresight. Here it is applied to a scheme for keeping a monk fresh. 說得有理 takes toneless de.
The Great King of Yellow Wind is the first intelligence the pilgrims have met on this mountain. He knows who Sanzang is; he knows the Pilgrim by name and reputation; and having been handed the prize, he declines to eat it. His reasoning is exact. The meal is trivial, the disciples are not, and a demon who eats a monk on Monday has two immortals at his door on Tuesday. Wait five days. If nobody comes, the meat will keep — and improve.
Against him the Tiger Vanguard argues for dinner, and does it with a proverb about a mule that will not eat what is put in front of it. The comedy is exact and cold. Two paragraphs of military protocol give way to two of menu-planning — 或煮或蒸，或煎或炒 — and the Tang Monk, who is standing there throughout, is not addressed once. Note the name of the post they tie him to, as well: 定風樁, the Wind-Stilling Post. In a cave whose master's single weapon is a wind, the prisoner is bound to the one thing that can hold it.