黃風嶺黃風洞 Yellow Wind Cave on Yellow Wind Ridge
行者整一整直裰，束一束虎裙，掣了棒，撞至那門前，只見那門上有六個大字，乃「黃風嶺黃風洞」。卻便丁字腳站定，執著棒，高叫道：「妖怪，趁早兒送我師父出來，省得掀翻了你窩巢，屣平了你住處。」那小怪聞言，一個個害怕，戰兢兢的跑入裡面報道：「大王，禍事了。」那黃風怪正坐間，問：「有何事？」小妖道：「洞門外來了一個雷公嘴毛臉的和尚，手持著一根許大粗的鐵棒，要他師父哩。」那洞主驚張，即喚虎先鋒道：「我教你去巡山，只該拿些山牛、野彘、肥鹿、胡羊，怎麼拿那唐僧來，卻惹他那徒弟來此鬧吵，怎生區處？」先鋒道：「大王放心穩便，高枕勿憂。小將不才，願帶領五十個小校出去，把那甚麼孫行者拿來湊吃。」洞主道：「我這裡除了大小頭目，還有五七百名小校，憑你選擇，領多少去。只要拿住那行者，我們才自自在在吃那和尚一塊肉，情願與你拜為兄弟；但恐拿他不得，反傷了你，那時休得埋怨我也。」虎怪道：「放心，放心。等我去來。」行者整一整直裰，束一束虎裙，掣了棒，撞至那门前，只见那门上有六个大字，乃「黄风岭黄风洞」。却便丁字脚站定，执着棒，高叫道：「妖怪，趁早儿送我师父出来，省得掀翻了你窝巢，屣平了你住处。」那小怪闻言，一个个害怕，战兢兢的跑入里面报道：「大王，祸事了。」那黄风怪正坐间，问：「有何事？」小妖道：「洞门外来了一个雷公嘴毛脸的和尚，手持着一根许大粗的铁棒，要他师父哩。」那洞主惊张，即唤虎先锋道：「我教你去巡山，只该拿些山牛、野彘、肥鹿、胡羊，怎么拿那唐僧来，却惹他那徒弟来此闹吵，怎生区处？」先锋道：「大王放心稳便，高枕勿忧。小将不才，愿带领五十个小校出去，把那甚么孙行者拿来凑吃。」洞主道：「我这里除了大小头目，还有五七百名小校，凭你选择，领多少去。只要拿住那行者，我们才自自在在吃那和尚一块肉，情愿与你拜为兄弟；但恐拿他不得，反伤了你，那时休得埋怨我也。」虎怪道：「放心，放心。等我去来。」
逐句解 Line by line
The Pilgrim straightened his cassock, tightened his tiger-skin kilt, drew out his rod, and strode up to the gate;
整一整 and 束一束: a doubled verb with 一 tucked inside it, and the tone of that 一 differs across the two — yì before 整 in the third tone, yí before 束 in the fourth. 直裰 is the straight-cut monastic robe; 虎裙, the tiger-skin kilt he has worn since chapter 14.
and he saw upon it six great characters: YELLOW WIND CAVE ON YELLOW WIND RIDGE.
The six characters are 黃風嶺黃風洞. Demons in this novel sign their premises.
He planted his feet in the shape of the character 丁, held up the rod, and shouted, "Monster! Send my master out betimes,
丁字腳, feet planted in the shape of the character 丁 — one forward, one across — which is the standing guard of Chinese boxing. 趁早兒 takes the suffix er. 執著棒 is zhe.
and spare yourself the overturning of your nest and the trampling flat of your dwelling."
省得, "to save yourself from," takes toneless de. 屣平: 屣 is xǐ, per the ruling of chapter 17, "to tread on as with a slipper." 住處 takes chù.
The little fiends heard him, and every one of them was afraid; trembling, they ran within and reported, "Great King, there is trouble!"
一個個害怕 — every one of them afraid. The little fiends are given, in this chapter, precisely the reactions the peasants at Squire Wang's farm were given.
The Yellow Wind fiend was sitting at his ease. He asked, "What trouble?"
正坐間, "in the very middle of sitting." The Great King is at his ease, and will stay the calmest creature in the cave.
A little fiend said, "Outside the cave door there is come a monk with a Thunder God's beak and a hairy face,
雷公嘴毛臉 — a Thunder God's beak and a hairy face — is word for word the description Squire Wang produced, and it has travelled ahead of its owner.
holding in his hand an iron rod of such and such a thickness, and he is demanding his master."
許大粗, "of such a thickness," with a gesture implied. 手持著 is zhe; 哩 is li.
The lord of the cave was dismayed, and called for the Tiger Vanguard at once. "I sent you to patrol the mountain, and you should have taken no more than hill-oxen, wild boars, fat deer, and mountain sheep.
山牛、野彘、肥鹿、胡羊. The Great King's complaint is that his officer exceeded his brief: the standing order was for game. 教你去巡山 takes 教 as the causative jiào, "to have someone do something."
Why must you take that Tang monk, and bring these disciples of his down here to make an uproar? How is the business to be managed?"
區處 takes 處 as chǔ, "to dispose of, to manage," per the reading flagged in chapter 18. Two pointing 那 stand in this line, both nà.
The Vanguard said, "Great King, set your heart at rest and be easy: sleep high and have no care.
高枕勿憂, sleep on a high pillow and have no care, comes from the Zhanguo ce — and it is in the mouth of a tiger who has already run away once.
Your unworthy officer begs leave to take fifty of the little troopers out, and to fetch back this Sun the Pilgrim, or whatever they call him, to be eaten with the rest."
小將 is the noun, jiàng. 把那甚麼孫行者: 甚麼 is dismissive here — this Sun the Pilgrim, or whatever they call him. 湊吃, to be eaten in along with the rest, keeps the cave's culinary register unbroken.
The lord of the cave said, "Besides the captains great and small, I have five or seven hundred troopers here. Choose whom you please, and take as many as you will.
五七百名小校, five or seven hundred troopers; 校 is xiào. 領多少去 takes 少 as shǎo.
Only lay hold of that Pilgrim, and we shall eat that monk's flesh at our ease; and I will gladly swear brotherhood with you.
拜為兄弟 takes 為 as wéi, "to become." Sworn brotherhood is offered as a bonus for a successful capture, which tells you everything about the government of this cave.
But if you fail to take him, and take a hurt yourself instead, do not come at that time blaming me."
拿他不得 is the "cannot" pattern and 休得埋怨 the prohibition; both take 得 as dé. The Great King is covering himself, in advance, against a subordinate's death.
The Tiger fiend said, "Rest easy, rest easy. Only wait till I come again."
等我去來, "wait till I come again" — the last words the Tiger Vanguard speaks inside his own cave.
The Pilgrim arrives at the door and the novel cuts, without warning, to the inside of the cave. What is going on in there is a management problem. The Great King had issued a standing order — hill-oxen, boars, deer, mountain sheep — and his vanguard has come home with an imperial pilgrim and two immortal disciples attached. 怎生區處？ How is this to be handled?
The Vanguard's answer is a volunteer's: fifty troopers and a promise. The King's answer is a manager's: take as many as you like, and if you win I will swear brotherhood with you, and if you lose, 那時休得埋怨我也 — do not come round then blaming me. It is the coldest sentence in the chapter, and it is spoken to a subordinate who is about to die. The Tiger goes out saying 放心，放心, rest easy. He does not come in again.