莊門告借一宵 Asking a Night's Lodging at the Farm Gate
他兩個不敢擅入，只得叫一聲：「開門，開門！」那裡有一老者，帶幾個年幼的農夫，叉鈀掃帚齊來，問道：「甚麼人？甚麼人？」行者躬身道：「我們是東土大唐聖僧的徒弟。因往西方拜佛求經，路過此山，被黃風大王拿了我師父去了，我們還未曾救得。天色已晚，特來府上告借一宵，萬望方便方便。」那老者答禮道：「失迎，失迎。此間乃雲多人少之處，卻才聞得叫門，恐怕是妖狐、老虎及山中強盜等類，故此小介愚頑，多有衝撞，不知是二位長老。請進，請進。」他两个不敢擅入，只得叫一声：「开门，开门！」那里有一老者，带几个年幼的农夫，叉钯扫帚齐来，问道：「甚么人？甚么人？」行者躬身道：「我们是东土大唐圣僧的徒弟。因往西方拜佛求经，路过此山，被黄风大王拿了我师父去了，我们还未曾救得。天色已晚，特来府上告借一宵，万望方便方便。」那老者答礼道：「失迎，失迎。此间乃云多人少之处，却才闻得叫门，恐怕是妖狐、老虎及山中强盗等类，故此小介愚顽，多有冲撞，不知是二位长老。请进，请进。」
逐句解 Line by line
The two of them did not dare to walk in unbidden, and could only call out, "Open the gate! Open the gate!"
只得 takes 得 as dé, "could only." 擅入 is to go in without being asked. The Pilgrim is on his very best behaviour, which is itself a symptom — he is on his best behaviour because he cannot see.
Within there was an old man, and with him several young farmhands, who came out together with pitchforks and rakes and brooms, asking, "Who is there? Who is there?"
那裡有一老者: 那 is the pointing nà, "in there," as ruled in chapters 19 and 20 — not the questioning reading it can also carry. And 鈀 reads pá (the automatic tool offers bǎ): it is the same character as Bajie's nine-toothed muckrake, doing duty here as an ordinary farm implement.
The Pilgrim bowed and said, "We are disciples of a holy monk from the Land of the East, the Great Tang.
躬身 is to bend from the waist. 東土大唐, "the Great Tang in the Land of the East," is the pilgrims' fixed way of introducing themselves, and it always comes before they ask for anything.
We were going west to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures, and passing this mountain we had our master taken from us by the Great King of Yellow Wind; we have not yet been able to rescue him.
還 is hái, and 得 the "able to" dé. He states the loss of his master plainly, with no excuse attached to it.
The day is late, and we have come to beg the loan of a night's shelter of your house. We ask this kindness of you."
告借一宵 is to beg the loan of a single night — the verb is the one you would use for borrowing money. 萬望方便 is a set formula of humble request, and doubling 方便 softens it further still.
The old man returned the bow. "Forgive us for meeting you so ill.
失迎, "we failed to come out and meet you properly," is the host's formula. The old man is courteous in exactly the register of a Ming gentleman-farmer, which is precisely the thing he is pretending to be.
This is a place of many clouds and few people, and hearing a knocking just now we feared it might be a fiend-fox, a tiger, or bandits from the hills;
處 is chù, place; 聞得 hangs its perception off de; 山中強盜 takes zhōng and qiáng. 雲多人少 — clouds many, people few — is a phrase for high remote country, and it is doing double work here, since this particular place has no people at all.
and so my foolish lads were rough with you, not knowing that it was two reverend elders. Come in, come in."
介 reads jiè, a servant — the same word written 价 in chapter 18. 長老, "reverend elder," takes zhǎng.
Everything in this exchange is done correctly. The pilgrims do not walk in; they call out. The old man does not fling the gate open; he comes out with what a farmer would come out with, and apologises for it afterwards. The formulae are exact — 告借一宵, 萬望方便, 失迎, 請進 — and they are exact because the spirits staging this scene know how such a scene is staged.
The pitchforks repay a second look. 叉鈀 uses the same character as the nine-toothed muckrake Bajie carries. The guardian spirits have furnished their imaginary farm with the tools of the disciple who is about to sleep in it. The middle of chapter 21 is built on this sort of quiet doubling, and the pilgrims notice none of it — one because he is an idiot, and the other because he is blind.