護教伽藍點化仙莊 The Guardian Spirits Conjured the Farm
行者道：「這夥強神，自換了龍馬，一向不曾點他，他倒又來弄虛頭。」八戒道：「哥哥莫扯架子，他怎麼伏你點札？」行者道：「兄弟，你還不知哩。這護教伽藍、六丁六甲、五方揭諦、四值功曹奉菩薩的法旨，暗保我師父者。自那日報了名，只為這一向有了你，再不曾用他們，故不曾點札罷了。」八戒道：「哥哥，他既奉法旨暗保師父，所以不能現身明顯，故此點化仙莊。你莫怪他，昨日也虧他與你點眼，又虧他管了我們一頓齋飯，亦可謂盡心矣。你莫怪他，我們且去救師父來。」行者道：「兄弟說得是。此處到那黃風洞口不遠，你且莫動身，只在林子裡看馬守擔。等老孫去洞裡打聽打聽，看師父下落如何，再與他爭戰。」八戒道：「正是這等，討一個死活的實信。假若師父死了，各人好尋頭幹事；若是未死，我們好竭力盡心。」行者道：「莫亂談，我去也。」行者道：「这伙强神，自换了龙马，一向不曾点他，他倒又来弄虚头。」八戒道：「哥哥莫扯架子，他怎么伏你点札？」行者道：「兄弟，你还不知哩。这护教伽蓝、六丁六甲、五方揭谛、四值功曹奉菩萨的法旨，暗保我师父者。自那日报了名，只为这一向有了你，再不曾用他们，故不曾点札罢了。」八戒道：「哥哥，他既奉法旨暗保师父，所以不能现身明显，故此点化仙庄。你莫怪他，昨日也亏他与你点眼，又亏他管了我们一顿斋饭，亦可谓尽心矣。你莫怪他，我们且去救师父来。」行者道：「兄弟说得是。此处到那黄风洞口不远，你且莫动身，只在林子里看马守担。等老孙去洞里打听打听，看师父下落如何，再与他争战。」八戒道：「正是这等，讨一个死活的实信。假若师父死了，各人好寻头干事；若是未死，我们好竭力尽心。」行者道：「莫乱谈，我去也。」
逐句解 Line by line
Said the Pilgrim, "These are that crowd of stubborn spirits. Ever since they gave us the dragon-horse I have not once called their names, and now here they are playing their empty tricks again."
這夥強神 — 強 is qiáng, "stubborn, headstrong." 弄虛頭, to play an empty trick, as at P2. 他倒又來 takes 倒 as the concessive dào.
Said Bajie, "Brother, do not give yourself airs. What should make them answer to your roll-call?" Said the Pilgrim, "Little brother, there is much you do not know.
扯架子, "to put on airs." 點札 is to muster and call the roll of subordinate spirits — a military verb, and the Pilgrim uses it because he was once a heavenly officer.
These dharma-guarding Saṃghārāma, the Six Ding and Six Jia, the Guardians of the Five Quarters and the Sentinels of the Four Watches all serve under the Bodhisattva's command, and guard our master in secret.
伽藍 is qié lán; 護教 takes jiào. 六丁六甲 are the twelve calendrical spirits; 五方揭諦 (jiē dì) the guardians of the five quarters; 四值功曹 the sentinels of the year, month, day and hour. All were assigned in chapter 15.
From the day they reported their names, I have had you with me all this while, and I have not once had need of them; and that is why I have not called the roll."
只為 takes 為 as wèi, "because." The compliment is buried and unmistakable: with Bajie beside him, the Pilgrim has never needed to call up heaven.
Said Bajie, "Brother, if they have orders to protect our master in secret, then of course they cannot show themselves openly, and so they conjured up that farmstead for us.
點化仙莊 — the same verb as the gāthā uses. Bajie, who two hundred graphs ago was accusing his hosts of tax evasion, now explains the theology of the thing correctly and at once.
Do not take it ill of them. Yesterday it was they who put the medicine in your eyes, and they too who saw us fed with a meal of fasting food; that is bending the whole heart, I should say.
盡心, 盡 as jìn, taken straight out of the gāthā's last line. 虧他, "we owe it to him" — and Bajie is the one keeping the account.
Do not take it ill of them. Let us go and rescue our master." Said the Pilgrim, "Little brother, you speak well.
說得是 takes 得 as de. The Pilgrim concedes the point, which he does perhaps three times in the whole novel.
It is not far from here to the mouth of the Yellow Wind Cave. Do not stir yourself, but stay here in the wood, watch the horse, and keep the luggage.
看馬守擔: 擔 is dàn, the load. Bajie is given the horse and the baggage again, which is his part.
Let old Monkey go into the cave and listen for news, and find out what has become of our master; then I will fight him again."
打聽打聽, verb reduplication: to go and have a listen. The Pilgrim does not say he will fight; he says he will listen first, which is new.
Said Bajie, "That is just it. Get us a sure word of it, dead or alive.
討一個死活的實信 — "get a sure word, dead or alive." Bajie is thinking about the disposal of the party.
If our master is dead, each of us can go and seek his own fortune; and if he is not dead, we can put out our whole strength and give him all our hearts." Said the Pilgrim, "Enough of this loose talk. I am going."
各人好尋頭幹事: each to go and look for his own living. Bajie says aloud what he has said before and will say again — that if Sanzang dies the company dissolves. 竭力盡心 pairs with it, and both halves are meant.
Bajie gets the better of this exchange twice. He punctures the Pilgrim's claim to command heaven — 他怎麼伏你點札, "what should make them answer to your roll-call?" — and then, having heard the explanation, draws the right conclusion faster than his brother does: the spirits are under orders to work unseen, so they built a farm. He even quotes the gāthā back at him, 亦可謂盡心矣.
And then he spoils it. 假若師父死了，各人好尋頭幹事 — if the master is dead, we each go and find work. This is the sentence Bajie keeps making, in chapter after chapter, and the novel neither punishes him for it nor lets it pass. The Pilgrim's reply is three graphs: 莫亂談. Do not talk nonsense. He goes off alone to look for a man he has been told to assume is alive.