籠在袖中 Bagged Within the Sleeve
八戒道：「不好了，我們都裝在䌋縺裡了。」行者道：「獃子，不是䌋縺，我們被他籠在衣袖中哩。」八戒道：「這個不打緊，等我一頓釘鈀，築他個窟窿，脫將下去，只說他不小心，籠不牢，吊的了罷。」那獃子使鈀亂築，那裡築得動：手捻著雖然是個軟的，築起來就比鐵還硬。八戒道：「不好了，我们都装在䌋縺里了。」行者道：「呆子，不是䌋縺，我们被他笼在衣袖中哩。」八戒道：「这个不打紧，等我一顿钉钯，筑他个窟窿，脱将下去，只说他不小心，笼不牢，吊的了罢。」那呆子使钯乱筑，那里筑得动：手捻着虽然是个软的，筑起来就比铁还硬。
逐句解 Line by line
Bajie said, "This is bad—we are all packed inside a saddle-bag!"
Bajie's first thought inside the cosmos is that somebody has put him in a bag. A 䌋縺, dā lián, is the long twin-pouched sack a traveller slings over his shoulder or across a saddle, open in the middle with a pocket at each end — the Ming equivalent of a holdall. The first character is a rare one and you will not meet it often.
The Pilgrim said, "Idiot—it is no saddle-bag; we have been bagged inside his sleeve."
Wukong knows at once what it is, which is its own kind of compliment: he has seen enough magic to recognise this. 獃子, blockhead, delivered with the usual affection. 籠在衣袖中, bagged inside the sleeve.
Bajie said, "That is no great matter—let me give it a round with my nine-tooth rake, punch it a hole, and slip down out of it; we shall just say he was careless and did not bag us tight, and drop out and be done."
The plan is pure Bajie: make a hole, fall out, and blame the man who caught us for not tying the bag properly. 釘鈀, dīng pá, is his nine-toothed rake. 築他個窟窿, zhù tā gè kū long, "punch it a hole." 脫將下去 takes 將, jiāng, as a directional syllable.
But though the Idiot plied his rake and hammered wildly, there was no piercing it: to the touch it was soft enough, yet under the rake it proved harder than iron.
And the sleeve's paradox, which is the best line in the passage: 手捻著雖然是個軟的，築起來就比鐵還硬 — soft between your fingers, harder than iron under the rake. 那裡築得動 is nǎ lǐ zhù dé dòng, "how would you make any impression on it?" — interrogative 那 as nǎ, with 得 as dé marking possibility. 手捻著 takes 著 as zhe; 比鐵還硬 takes 還 as hái, "even, yet more."
Trapped inside a magic that contains heaven and earth, Bajie identifies it as luggage. The mistake is funny and it is also fair: from the inside, a sleeve with everything in it feels exactly like a sack. His proposal — rake a hole, drop out, and tell everyone the man was careless with his bagging — is a complete character study in one sentence.
The joke lands on the cloth. 軟的 to the touch, 比鐵還硬 under the rake: soft as silk, harder than iron. It is a neat emblem for the whole of the Great Immortal's power, which has so far consisted of yielding to everything the pilgrims throw and giving way nowhere.