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Reader's edition
山門春聯
The Gate-Tower Couplet
三藏離鞍下馬，又見那山門左邊有一通碑，碑上有十個大字，乃是「萬壽山福地，五莊觀洞天」。長老道：「徒弟，真個是一座觀宇。」沙僧道：「師父，觀此景鮮明，觀裡必有好人居住。我們進去看看，若行滿東回，此間也是一景。」行者道：「說得好。」遂都一齊進去，又見那二門上有一對春聯：「長生不老神仙府；與天同壽道人家。」行者笑道：「這道士說大話諕人。我老孫五百年前大鬧天宮時，在那太上老君門首，也不曾見有此話說。」八戒道：「且莫管他，進去，進去，或者這道士有些德行，未可知也。」三藏离鞍下马，又见那山门左边有一通碑，碑上有十个大字，乃是「万寿山福地，五庄观洞天」。长老道：「徒弟，真个是一座观宇。」沙僧道：「师父，观此景鲜明，观里必有好人居住。我们进去看看，若行满东回，此间也是一景。」行者道：「说得好。」遂都一齐进去，又见那二门上有一对春联：「长生不老神仙府；与天同寿道人家。」行者笑道：「这道士说大话諕人。我老孙五百年前大闹天宫时，在那太上老君门首，也不曾见有此话说。」八戒道：「且莫管他，进去，进去，或者这道士有些德行，未可知也。」
逐句解 Line by line
三藏離鞍下馬，又見那山門左邊有一通碑，碑上有十個大字，乃是「萬壽山福地，五莊觀洞天」。
三藏离鞍下马，又见那山门左边有一通碑，碑上有十个大字，乃是「万寿山福地，五庄观洞天」。
Tripiṭaka left his saddle and dismounted, and saw, to the left of the mountain gate, a stone tablet bearing ten great characters: “Blessed Ground of the Mountain of Ten-Thousand Years; Grotto-Heaven of the Temple of the Five Villages.”
三藏 (Sānzàng), 藏 (zàng); 那 (nà); 一通碑 (yí tōng bēi) = a stone stele; 五莊觀 (Wǔzhuāng Guàn), temple 觀 (guàn); 洞天 (dòngtiān) = a ‘grotto-heaven,’ the Daoist term for a paradise-realm.
長老道：「徒弟，真個是一座觀宇。」
长老道：「徒弟，真个是一座观宇。」
The Elder said, “Disciples, it is indeed a Daoist abbey.”
長老 (zhǎnglǎo), 長 (zhǎng) ‘senior’ (the Elder); 觀宇 (guànyǔ) = a Daoist temple, 觀 (guàn).
沙僧道：「師父，觀此景鮮明，觀裡必有好人居住。
沙僧道：「师父，观此景鲜明，观里必有好人居住。
Sha Monk said, “Master, seeing how bright and fair the place, there must be worthy folk dwelling within.
觀此景 (guān cǐ jǐng), verb 觀 (guān) ‘behold’; 觀裡 (guàn lǐ), temple 觀 (guàn); 好人居住 (hǎo rén jū zhù) = good people living here.
我們進去看看，若行滿東回，此間也是一景。」
我们进去看看，若行满东回，此间也是一景。」
Let us go in and look; and should we return east with our task fulfilled, this too will be a sight worth the seeing.”
行滿 (xíng mǎn) = the merit / journey complete, 行 (xíng); 東回 (dōng huí) = the return eastward; 一景 (yí jǐng) = a scenic stop.
行者道：「說得好。」
行者道：「说得好。」
Pilgrim said, “Well spoken.”
行 (xíng); 說得好 (shuō·de hǎo), the light structural 得 (de) (‘well-said’).
遂都一齊進去，又見那二門上有一對春聯：「長生不老神仙府；與天同壽道人家。」
遂都一齐进去，又见那二门上有一对春联：「长生不老神仙府；与天同寿道人家。」
So they all went in together, and saw upon the second gate a spring-couplet: “A deathless, ageless mansion of immortals; a Daoist household coeval with Heaven.”
都 (dōu); 那 (nà); 春聯 (chūnlián) = a paired spring-scroll couplet; 長生不老 (chángshēng bù lǎo), 長 (cháng) ‘long (life),’ undying; 與天同壽 (yǔ tiān tóng shòu) = as long-lived as Heaven.
行者笑道：「這道士說大話諕人。
行者笑道：「这道士说大话諕人。
Pilgrim said with a laugh, “This Daoist talks big to frighten folk.
行 (xíng); 說大話 (shuō dà huà) = to boast; 諕人 (xià rén), the loan-graph 諕 (xià) (= 嚇, to scare).
我老孫五百年前大鬧天宮時，在那太上老君門首，也不曾見有此話說。」
我老孙五百年前大闹天宫时，在那太上老君门首，也不曾见有此话说。」
Five hundred years ago, when I raised my great uproar in Heaven, even at the very gate of the Most-High Lord Lao I never saw talk the like of this.”
老孫 (Lǎo Sūn) = ‘Old Sun,’ Pilgrim’s self-styling; 那 (nà); 太上老君 (Tàishàng Lǎojūn) = the Most High Lord Lao (the deified Laozi); 大鬧天宮 (dà nào tiān gōng) = the havoc in Heaven of ch. 5–7.
八戒道：「且莫管他，進去，進去，或者這道士有些德行，未可知也。」
八戒道：「且莫管他，进去，进去，或者这道士有些德行，未可知也。」
Bajie said, “Never mind that — in, in! Perhaps this Daoist has some real virtue; who can say?”
且莫管 (qiě mò guǎn) = never mind; 德行 (déxíng) = virtue, moral attainment, 行 (xíng); 未可知 (wèi kě zhī) = it cannot yet be known.
總評 Commentary
Arrival proper. The stele names the site a 洞天福地 — ‘grotto-heaven and blessed ground,’ the technical Daoist term for a consecrated paradise-realm — and the 春聯 on the inner gate boasts of deathless immortals coeval with Heaven. For once the claim is no hyperbole: Zhènyuán really is that old.
Pilgrim’s scorn is characteristically self-magnifying. He mocks the ‘big talk,’ invoking his own uproar in Heaven and his acquaintance with 太上老君 (the deified Laozi) — a nod back to the ch. 5–7 escapade, and a comic deflation just before the pilgrims meet an immortal who genuinely outranks the very deities he once defied. Bājiè, ever the pragmatist, shrugs that the Daoist may yet ‘have some virtue.’
Readings set 長老 = zhǎng (the Elder) against 長生 = cháng (long-life) within a single passage; note also the light 說得好 = de, the loan-graph 諕 = xià, and 德行 = xíng.