餓鷹叼食無功 The Hawk-Stoop Fails
卻說行者見他不肯上岸，急得他心焦性爆，恨不得一把捉來。行者道：「師父，你自坐下，等我與他個『餓鷹叼食』。」就縱觔斗，跳在半空，刷的落下來，要抓那妖。那妖正與八戒嚷鬧，忽聽得風響，急回頭，見是行者落下雲來，卻又收了那杖，一頭淬下水，隱跡潛蹤，渺然不見。行者佇立岸上，對八戒說：「兄弟呀，這妖也弄得滑了，他再不肯上岸，如之奈何？」八戒道：「難，難，難，戰不勝他。就把吃奶的氣力也使盡了，只繃得個手平。」行者道：「且見師父去。」却说行者见他不肯上岸，急得他心焦性爆，恨不得一把捉来。行者道：「师父，你自坐下，等我与他个『饿鹰叼食』。」就纵觔斗，跳在半空，刷的落下来，要抓那妖。那妖正与八戒嚷闹，忽听得风响，急回头，见是行者落下云来，却又收了那杖，一头淬下水，隐迹潜踪，渺然不见。行者伫立岸上，对八戒说：「兄弟呀，这妖也弄得滑了，他再不肯上岸，如之奈何？」八戒道：「难，难，难，战不胜他。就把吃奶的气力也使尽了，只绷得个手平。」行者道：「且见师父去。」
逐句解 Line by line
Now the Pilgrim, seeing that he would not come up onto the bank, grew so frantic that his temper blazed, and he longed to snatch the demon up in a single grab.
心焦性爆 ('heart scorched, temper exploding'; 得 de twice) and 恨不得一把捉來 ('wished he could seize him at one grasp') — the monkey's impatience, the very fault at issue, boils over.
The Pilgrim said: 'Master, sit you down, and let me give him a "hungry hawk snatching its prey."' He turned a somersault,
餓鷹叼食 ('a starving hawk seizing its food') names the swooping strike he attempts; 觔斗 (斗 dǒu) — the monkey resorts to a diving attack from the air.
sprang into mid-air, and came dropping down with a rush to seize the fiend.
刷的落下來 ('came plunging down with a swish'; 那 nà) — the hawk-stoop rendered in a single onomatopoeic vernacular gesture.
The fiend, just then wrangling with Bajie, heard of a sudden the rush of wind, turned his head sharply, and saw the Pilgrim dropping down out of the cloud;
聽得風響 ('heard the sound of wind'; 那 nà, 得 de) — the demon is warned, as ever, by the disturbance of the monkey's descent, and dives before the blow can land.
so he drew in his staff again, plunged headlong into the water, hid every trace, and vanished utterly.
一頭淬下水 ('plunged headfirst into the water'; 那 nà) and 隱跡潛蹤 ('concealed his tracks, sank out of sight') — the same futile end: the demon safely gone.
The Pilgrim stood on the bank and said to Bajie: 'Brother, this fiend has grown slippery too — he won't come up on the bank again. What's to be done?'
弄得滑了 ('has become slippery, sly'; 得 de) — the monkey now admits what Bajie saw: the demon has learned the game and cannot be provoked ashore.
Bajie said: 'Hard, hard, hard — I can't beat him. Even if I put out the strength I sucked in at the breast, I'd only fight him to a draw.'
The tripled 難 ('hard, hard, hard'; 難 nán) and 吃奶的氣力 ('the strength one had at the breast,' one's very utmost); 使盡了 (盡 jìn) and 繃得個手平 ('brace out only a stalemate'; 得 de) — Bajie concedes the fight is unwinnable.
The Pilgrim said: 'Let's go and see the master, then.'
且見師父去 ('let us go to the master for now') — the monkey breaks off, and the failure is carried back to Sanzang, whose despair opens the turn to Guanyin.
The monkey now tries in his own person what Bajie could not — a hawk-like plunge from the air to seize the demon outright. But the attempt founders on the same rock as every other: the rush of his descent warns the fiend, who dives and vanishes before the blow can fall. The scene is a near-exact replay, and its repetition is the point — even the Great Sage's direct assault cannot reach a foe whose element is the water.
The exchange that follows is a double admission of defeat. The monkey concedes the demon has 'grown slippery'; Bajie, with his tripled 'hard, hard, hard,' grants that his utmost strength wins only a draw. Neither the ruse nor open force has served, and the disciples have nothing left to try. The curt 且見師父去 ('let's go see the master') carries the impasse back to Sanzang — and it is the master's tears, in the next passage, that finally prompt the appeal to the Bodhisattva.