定風樁上綁著唐僧 Sanzang Bound to the Wind-Stilling Post
行者聽說，又飛過那廳堂，徑來後面，但見一層門關得甚緊。行者漫門縫兒鑽將進去，原來是個大空園子，那壁廂定風樁上繩纏索綁著唐僧哩。那師父紛紛淚落，心心只念著悟空、悟能，不知都在何處。行者停翅，叮在他光頭上，叫聲：「師父。」那長老認得他的聲音，道：「悟空啊，想殺我也。你在那裡叫我哩？」行者道：「師父，我在你頭上哩。你莫要心焦，少得煩惱。我們務必拿住妖精，方才救得你的性命。」唐僧道：「徒弟啊，幾時才拿得妖精麼？」行者道：「拿你的那虎怪，已被八戒打死了。只是老妖的風勢利害，料著只在今日，管取拿他。你放心莫哭，我去啞。」行者听说，又飞过那厅堂，径来后面，但见一层门关得甚紧。行者漫门缝儿钻将进去，原来是个大空园子，那壁厢定风桩上绳缠索绑著唐僧哩。那师父纷纷泪落，心心只念著悟空、悟能，不知都在何处。行者停翅，叮在他光头上，叫声：「师父。」那长老认得他的声音，道：「悟空啊，想杀我也。你在那里叫我哩？」行者道：「师父，我在你头上哩。你莫要心焦，少得烦恼。我们务必拿住妖精，方才救得你的性命。」唐僧道：「徒弟啊，几时才拿得妖精么？」行者道：「拿你的那虎怪，已被八戒打死了。只是老妖的风势利害，料著只在今日，管取拿他。你放心莫哭，我去哑。」
逐句解 Line by line
Hearing this, the Pilgrim flew on across the hall and came round to the back, where he found an inner door shut very fast.
關得甚緊: 得 the resultative de, 甚 the adverb shèn ("very"). This is the first of five occurrences of 甚 in this batch, and it alternates with shén throughout.
He crawled in through the crack of the door, and found beyond it a great empty garden, and on one side of it the Wind-Stilling Post, and the Tang monk bound to it with cord and rope.
漫門縫兒 — to go the length of the door-crack. 定風樁, the Wind-Stilling Post, is the fiend's own instrument; he has tied the monk to the thing that keeps his wind from blowing him away. 綁著 takes 著 as zhe.
The master's tears were falling thick, and his heart was full of nothing but Awakened to Emptiness and Awakened to Power, and where they might be he did not know.
心心只念著: 著 again zhe, a state maintained. Sanzang does not pray, and does not think of the scriptures. He thinks of his two disciples by their religious names — 悟空 and 悟能 — and weeps.
The Pilgrim folded his wings, alighted on the bald crown of his head, and called out, "Master."
停翅, to fold the wings. 光頭, the shaved crown of a monk. The Great Sage of Heaven, having come to comfort his master, lands on his bald head as an insect.
The elder knew his voice. "Wukong," he said, "how I have longed for you! Where are you, that you call to me?"
Two readings of 那, requiring a positional fixspec: 那長老 is demonstrative nà, and 你在那裡叫我 is interrogative nǎ ("where"). 想殺我也 — the intensifier 殺, "I have thought of you to death."
Said the Pilgrim, "Master, I am on your head. Do not fret, and do not vex yourself.
少得煩惱: 得 is the potential dé, in the prohibitive idiom of 休得 — "do not." Sanzang cannot see him, and the Pilgrim does not change back.
We shall certainly take this fiend, and then and only then can we save your life."
救得 takes the potential dé. Note the order of the clauses: the fiend must be taken before the master can be saved. The Pilgrim will not offer to untie him.
Said the Tang monk, "Disciple, when will you take the fiend?"
幾時才拿得妖精麼 — a question with both 幾時 and the final particle 麼. Sanzang is not asking for information; he is asking to be reassured.
Said the Pilgrim, "That tiger-fiend who carried you off is already beaten to death by Bajie.
拿你的那虎怪 — the Tiger Vanguard of ch20, and the Pilgrim mentions him first, because it is the one thing he has certainly done.
It is only the old fiend's wind that is so terrible. I reckon it will be today. Depend upon it, we shall take him. Set your heart at rest and do not weep. I am going."
料著: 著 as zhe. 管取, vernacular for "depend upon it." 我去啞 — the particle again written 啞 for 呀.
This is the chapter's quietest passage and its cruellest. Sanzang, roped to a post in an empty garden, is weeping and thinking of his disciples; the Pilgrim is standing on his head, and cannot be seen. The exchange between them is conducted entirely by voice, the master calling into the air — 你在那裡叫我哩, "where are you, that you call to me?" — and getting the reply that he is being spoken to from his own scalp.
What the Pilgrim actually says is worth reading closely. He does not promise to free his master; he explains the sequence. 我們務必拿住妖精，方才救得你的性命 — the fiend must be taken first, and only then can the life be saved. And having said so, he leaves. Sanzang is tied to the 定風樁, the post that stills the wind, which is to say the safest object in the cave.