虎先鋒賭鬥 The Tiger Vanguard Gives Battle
喊道：「慢來，慢來。吾當不是別人，乃是黃風大王部下的前路先鋒。今奉大王嚴命，在山巡邏，要拿幾個凡夫去做案酒。你是那裡來的和尚，敢擅動兵器傷我？」八戒罵道：「我把你這個孽畜！你是認不得我。我等不是那過路的凡夫，乃東土大唐御弟三藏之弟子，奉旨上西方拜佛求經者。你早早的遠避他方，讓開大路，休驚了我師父，饒你性命；若似前猖獗，鈀舉處，卻不留情。」那妖精那容分說，急近步，丟一個架子，望八戒劈臉來抓；這八戒忙閃過，掄鈀就築。那怪手無兵器，回身就走；八戒隨後趕來；那怪到了山坡下亂石叢中，取出兩口赤銅刀，急掄起，轉身來迎。兩個在這坡前一往一來，一衝一撞的賭鬥。喊道：「慢来，慢来。吾当不是别人，乃是黄风大王部下的前路先锋。今奉大王严命，在山巡逻，要拿几个凡夫去做案酒。你是那里来的和尚，敢擅动兵器伤我？」八戒骂道：「我把你这个孽畜！你是认不得我。我等不是那过路的凡夫，乃东土大唐御弟三藏之弟子，奉旨上西方拜佛求经者。你早早的远避他方，让开大路，休惊了我师父，饶你性命；若似前猖獗，钯举处，却不留情。」那妖精那容分说，急近步，丢一个架子，望八戒劈脸来抓；这八戒忙闪过，抡钯就筑。那怪手无兵器，回身就走；八戒随后赶来；那怪到了山坡下乱石丛中，取出两口赤铜刀，急抡起，转身来迎。两个在这坡前一往一来，一冲一撞的赌斗。
逐句解 Line by line
It shouted, "Softly, softly! I am no common person. I am the Vanguard of the Forward Road, under the Great King of Yellow Wind.
吾當不是別人: 吾當 is the first person of Yuan and Ming drama, and 當 takes dāng. The same phrase was flagged in chapter 19, in Bajie's mouth — 惟有吾當鈀最切. 前路先鋒, the vanguard of the forward road.
Today, by the King's strict command, I patrol this mountain, to take a few common mortals to serve up with the wine.
案酒 is the food set out to go with wine. The Vanguard's errand, in other words, is catering — and from here to the end of the episode the demons will talk about the Tang Monk in kitchen terms and nothing else.
What manner of monk are you, that you dare lift a weapon unbidden and wound me?"
那裡來的和尚 takes the question-word 那, nǎ, "from where." 擅動兵器, to raise a weapon without warrant — the fiend, who came out hunting men for the table, is standing on procedure.
Bajie cursed him. "Confound you for a cursed beast! It seems you do not know me.
孽畜 takes 畜 as chù. 認不得 is the "cannot" pattern and takes dé; the 不 in front of it is the plain bù, since the base tone of 得 is rising.
We are none of your passing mortals. We are disciples of Sanzang, Imperial Younger Brother of the Great Tang in the Land of the East, and we go west by decree to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures.
御弟, the emperor's sworn younger brother, is Taizong's title for Xuanzang in chapter 12. 弟子 takes 子 as the full noun zǐ — set that against the toneless suffix zi in 架子 a few lines further on.
Get you off betimes to some other quarter; clear the high road; do not startle my master, and your life is spared.
Bajie offers terms before he strikes, which is more courtesy than the Pilgrim ever shows a demon.
But if you rage on as before, then where this rake comes down there will be no mercy in it."
若似前猖獗: 似 is sì, "as, like." 鈀舉處 — where the rake comes down — and 鈀 takes pá. The whole threat scans in four-character units, and it is the closest the pig comes to eloquence.
The fiend would hear no explaining. He stepped in close, threw himself into a posture, and clawed straight at Bajie's face;
那容分說 takes the question-word 那, nǎ: "how should he allow any explaining?" The first 那 of the line, in 那妖精, is the pointing nà, so a positional fixspec is needed to keep them apart. 丟一個架子, to throw oneself into a fighting stance.
and Bajie dodged it smartly and swung the rake down upon him.
掄鈀就築: 築, "to tamp, to pound," is the verb the novel always uses of the muckrake. Bajie is fighting alone, and has been since the first blow.
The monster had no weapon in his hands and turned to run; Bajie came after him;
手無兵器 — and there, in four characters, is why the Vanguard ran: he came out of the poem without his sabres.
and when the monster reached a jumble of rocks at the foot of the slope, he took out two red-copper sabres, whirled them up, and turned to meet him.
赤銅刀, sabres of red copper. Soft metal, and the detail gets paid off in the battle-poem two passages on, where copper meets the iron rod.
There before the slope the two of them went at it, thrust and counter-thrust, charge and countercharge, gaming their lives against each other.
一往一來，一衝一撞 — four of the character 一 inside eight characters, and its tone shifts across them, yì before level, rising and falling-rising tones and yí before 撞. 賭鬥, to stake your life on the fight.
The flayed thing introduces itself with a job title. He is not a king, nor a fiend of ancient lineage, but a 前路先鋒, a vanguard officer out on patrol, sent by his superior to pick up 幾個凡夫, a few ordinary mortals, for the wine-table. And he is aggrieved that a passing monk has drawn on him without warrant. The demons of this novel are frequently civil servants, and this one is middle management.
The whole fight is Bajie's. He curses, states the party's credentials, offers terms, and strikes; the Vanguard, weaponless, runs to a rockfall for his sabres and comes back; and the two of them trade blows on the slope while the Great Sage, who smelled the wind and pronounced upon it, stands by the road with a fainted monk. Note also that the Vanguard, who is a demon, is doing exactly what the pig is doing — obeying a master's orders, patrolling a road, and carrying home the dinner.