悟淨出水歸依 Awakened to Purity Comes Forth
卻說那怪懼怕猴王，回於水底，正在窩中歇息，只聽得叫他法名。情知是觀音菩薩；又聞得說「取經人在此」：他也不懼斧鉞，急翻波伸出頭來，又認得是木吒行者。你看他笑盈盈，上前作禮道：「尊者失迎。菩薩今在何處？」木吒道：「我師未來，先差我來吩咐你早跟唐僧做個徒弟。叫把你項下掛的骷髏與這個葫蘆，按九宮結做一隻法船，渡他過此弱水。」悟淨道：「取經人卻在那裡？」木吒用手指道：「那東岸上坐的不是？」悟淨看見了八戒道：「他不知是那裡來的個潑物，與我整鬥了這兩日，何曾言著一個取經的字兒？」又看見行者，道：「這個主子，是他的幫手，好不利害，我不去了。」木吒道：「那是豬八戒，這是孫行者，俱是唐僧的徒弟，俱是菩薩勸化的，怕他怎的？我且和你見唐僧去。」却说那怪惧怕猴王，回于水底，正在窝中歇息，只听得叫他法名。情知是观音菩萨；又闻得说「取经人在此」：他也不惧斧钺，急翻波伸出头来，又认得是木咤行者。你看他笑盈盈，上前作礼道：「尊者失迎。菩萨今在何处？」木咤道：「我师未来，先差我来吩咐你早跟唐僧做个徒弟。叫把你项下挂的骷髅与这个葫芦，按九宫结做一只法船，渡他过此弱水。」悟净道：「取经人却在那里？」木咤用手指道：「那东岸上坐的不是？」悟净看见了八戒道：「他不知是那里来的个泼物，与我整斗了这两日，何曾言着一个取经的字儿？」又看见行者，道：「这个主子，是他的帮手，好不利害，我不去了。」木咤道：「那是猪八戒，这是孙行者，俱是唐僧的徒弟，俱是菩萨劝化的，怕他怎的？我且和你见唐僧去。」
逐句解 Line by line
Now the monster, in dread of the Monkey King, had gone back to the bottom of the water and was resting in his lair, when he heard someone call his religious name.
懼怕猴王, 'in dread of the Monkey King' (那 nà, 中 zhōng, 得 de). Note who he is hiding from. Not Bajie, whom he fought to three draws — the monkey, whose stroke he could not face even once. Then, mid-nap, he hears somebody using his religious name.
He knew at once it was the Bodhisattva Guanyin, and heard besides the words 'The scripture-seekers are here':
情知 — 'knew in his heart,' immediately and without being told (得 de). Nobody in the world uses that name but one person, so the summons identifies its sender. And then the five characters the pilgrims never thought to say.
Fearing no axe or halberd now, he swiftly stirred the waves, thrust out his head, and saw that it was Mokṣa the Pilgrim.
不懼斧鉞, 'fearing neither axe nor halberd' — the 斧鉞 are the executioner's weapons, and the phrase means going out to meet whatever is coming, including death. A moment ago he was hiding at the bottom of a river. One name has changed the whole calculation (認得, 得 de; 行 xíng).
See how, all smiles, he came forward and made his bow: 'Reverend one, forgive my not receiving you. Where is the Bodhisattva now?' Mokṣa said:
笑盈盈, 'brimful of smiles,' and 失迎 — 'I failed to come out and meet you,' the standard apology of a host caught unprepared by a guest. The creature who was promising to mince Bajie into fish-paste is now embarrassed about his hospitality.
'My mistress has not come; she sent me ahead to tell you to follow the Tang Monk at once and become his disciple.'
先差我來, 'sent me on ahead' (差 chāi, to dispatch, not chà). Mokṣa delivers the instruction plainly: go and be his disciple. No negotiation, no test of strength.
'She bids you take the skulls hung at your neck, together with this gourd, and bind them by the Nine Palaces into a dharma-boat, to ferry them across this Weak Water.'
項下掛的骷髏, 'the skulls hung at your neck' (的 de). The order comes as a matter of course, but stop and consider what is being asked. The trophies of his man-eating years are to become the vehicle that carries a monk to safety. His past is not being erased; it is being put to work.
Wujing said: 'And where are the scripture-seekers?' Mokṣa pointed with his hand: 'Isn't that them, seated on the eastern bank?'
那裡, 'where?' (那 nǎ, asking), answered immediately by 那東岸, 'that eastern bank' (那 nà, pointing). The same character doing both jobs inside a single exchange, question and answer, is as neat a demonstration of the split as the chapter offers.
Wujing looked and, seeing Bajie, said: 'I don't know where that vile creature came from —
那裡來的, 'come from where?' (那 nǎ). He is converted but not yet reconciled. Bajie is still, as far as he is concerned, an unidentified ruffian who turned up and started swinging a rake.
'he battled me these two whole days, and never once uttered a single word about fetching scriptures!'
何曾言著, 'when did he ever say' (著 zháo) — and the complaint is the Bodhisattva's diagnosis, word for word, from the other side. Two whole days of fighting, and not one syllable about fetching scriptures. He is entirely within his rights.
Then, catching sight of the Pilgrim, he said: 'That master there is his helper — terribly fierce; I won't go.'
好不利害, 'how very formidable' (行 xíng, 子 the light zi) — the construction is one of the traps of vernacular Chinese, since 好不 means emphatically yes, not no. And then, flatly: I won't go. The old dread of the monkey outlasts the conversion by a good few lines.
Mokṣa said: 'That is Zhu Bajie, and this is Sun Wukong,
那是, 'that one is' (那 nà). Mokṣa simply performs the introduction that two days of combat never managed. That is Zhu Bajie; this is Sun Wukong.
'both disciples of the Tang Monk, and both converts of the Bodhisattva — why fear them? Come, let me take you to meet the Tang Monk.'
俱是菩薩勸化的, 'both of them won over by the Bodhisattva' (的 de). One sentence, and three enemies become three colleagues with the same employer. 怕他怎的 — what is there to be afraid of? Nothing, it turns out, and there never was.
The transformation is instantaneous and complete, and the narrative is careful about what causes it: the name and the message, not any show of force. Hiding in dread of the monkey's cudgel, he hears his religious name and the words 'the scripture-seekers are here,' and at once fears neither axe nor halberd, surfaces all smiles, and apologises for not having come out to greet his visitor properly. The fiend who spat cannibal threats is, at a word from Guanyin's envoy, a decorous disciple-in-waiting.
His two objections are quietly telling. The complaint against Bajie — that they fought two whole days and he never once uttered a word about fetching scriptures — confirms the Bodhisattva's diagnosis exactly, and from the other side of the fight. And his lingering dread of the monkey, still 'terribly fierce,' shows the fear was always of the Great Sage alone; it takes Mokṣa's assurance that both are Guanyin's converts to settle it. What the passage completes is the chapter's argument that this barrier was never a matter for force at all, but for recognition among people the Bodhisattva had already claimed.