三日之限 A Limit of Three Days
大仙諒他走不脫，即命解放了三藏、八戒、沙僧。沙僧道：「師父啊，不知師兄搗得是甚麼鬼哩。」八戒道：「甚麼鬼，這叫做『當面人情鬼』。樹死了，又可醫得活？他弄個光皮散兒好看，者著求醫治樹，單單了脫身走路，還顧得你和我哩。」三藏道：「他決不敢撒了我們。我們問他那裡求醫去。」遂叫道：「悟空，你怎麼哄了仙長，解放我等？」行者道：「老孫是真言實語，怎麼哄他？」三藏道：「你往何處去求方？」行者道：「古人云：『方從海上來。』我今要上東洋大海，遍遊三島十洲，訪問仙翁聖老，求一個起死回生之法，管教醫得他樹活。」三藏道：「此去幾時可回？」行者道：「只消三日。」三藏道：「既如此，就依你說，與你三日之限。三日裡來便罷；若三日之外不來，我就念那話兒經了。」行者道：「遵命，遵命。」大仙谅他走不脱，即命解放了三藏、八戒、沙僧。沙僧道：「师父啊，不知师兄捣得是甚么鬼哩。」八戒道：「甚么鬼，这叫做『当面人情鬼』。树死了，又可医得活？他弄个光皮散儿好看，者著求医治树，单单了脱身走路，还顾得你和我哩。」三藏道：「他决不敢撒了我们。我们问他那里求医去。」遂叫道：「悟空，你怎么哄了仙长，解放我等？」行者道：「老孙是真言实语，怎么哄他？」三藏道：「你往何处去求方？」行者道：「古人云：『方从海上来。』我今要上东洋大海，遍游三岛十洲，访问仙翁圣老，求一个起死回生之法，管教医得他树活。」三藏道：「此去几时可回？」行者道：「只消三日。」三藏道：「既如此，就依你说，与你三日之限。三日里来便罢；若三日之外不来，我就念那话儿经了。」行者道：「遵命，遵命。」
逐句解 Line by line
Reckoning that Monkey could not escape him, the Great Immortal ordered Tripitaka, Bajie, and Sha Monk set free.
諒 (liàng) here means "to reckon, to be confident that"; the Immortal releases the others only because he trusts his hold on Wukong. 三藏 (Sānzàng) is Tripitaka’s title, the "Three Baskets" of the canon.
Sha Monk said, “Master, there’s no telling what mischief our elder brother is cooking up.”
搗鬼 ("to make mischief, to play tricks") is split here by the complement 得; 甚麼 (shénme), "what." Sha Monk voices a wary uncertainty about Wukong’s scheme.
Bajie said, “What mischief? This is what they call a ‘kindness-to-your-face’ swindle.
當面人情 ("a favor done to one’s face") names a hollow show of goodwill; 當 is dāng, "facing, before one." Bajie suspects the whole offer to be a pretext.
The tree is dead — how can it be cured back to life?
醫得活 — "to heal [it so that it is] alive," a resultative turn in which 得 is the neutral complement de. Bajie’s skepticism is, on its face, reasonable enough.
He’s got up a slick-skinned placebo to look well, and under the pretense of going to cure the tree, means only to slip away and be off — as if he’d still spare a thought for you or me!”
光皮散兒 ("a glossy-skinned powder") is a sham remedy, all surface — with 散 in the sense of a medicinal preparation (sǎn). 者著 works here like 借著, "under the guise of"; the diminutive 兒 is the toneless suffix er. Bajie reads the errand as a bare escape plan.
Tripitaka said, “He would never dare to abandon us.
撒 (sā) here, "to let go of, to cast off." Tripitaka’s steadier faith in Wukong answers Bajie’s cynicism.
Let us ask him where he means to go to seek the cure.”
那裡 is here interrogative, nǎlǐ ("where"), not the demonstrative "there." Tripitaka withholds judgment until Wukong has explained himself.
So he called out: “Wukong, how did you coax the immortal elder into setting us free?”
哄 (hǒng), "to cajole, to wheedle"; 仙長 (xiānzhǎng), "immortal elder," a respectful title for Zhenyuan, with 長 in its "senior" reading zhǎng.
The pilgrim said, “Old Monkey spoke true words and honest — how should I have coaxed him?”
真言實語 ("true words and solid speech") is Wukong’s protest of good faith — a small irony, given how freely he dissembles elsewhere in the tale.
Tripitaka said, “Where will you go to seek the remedy?”
求方 — "to seek a prescription, a method of cure"; 方 is a medical "formula." The question launches the quest.
The pilgrim said, “The ancients had a saying: ‘The remedy comes from over the sea.’
方從海上來 ("the formula comes from the sea") invokes the old association of the eastern ocean with the isles of the immortals and their elixirs of life.
Today I mean to go up to the Great Eastern Ocean, to range over the Three Isles and Ten Continents, calling on the immortal elders and holy sages, and to beg a method for raising the dead and restoring life — I warrant I shall heal his tree back to life.”
三島十洲 ("the Three Isles and Ten Continents") are the classic dwellings of the immortals in the eastern sea; 起死回生 ("to raise the dead and return them to life") names the elixir-art Wukong now seeks.
Tripitaka said, “How long before you can return from this journey?”
幾時 (jǐshí), "when, how soon." Tripitaka’s practical caution sets up the deadline.
The pilgrim said, “Three days will be enough.”
只消 — "it needs only, it will take but." Wukong’s confidence is characteristic — and, as ever, a hostage to fortune.
Tripitaka said, “If that is so, then as you say — I grant you a limit of three days.
三日之限 — "a term of three days." Tripitaka binds Wukong to a deadline, the narrative clock of the quest.
Come within the three days and well and good; but if you are not back by the third day’s end, I shall recite that little sutra of mine.”
那話兒經 ("that little scripture") is Tripitaka’s coy name for the 緊箍咒, the Tight-Fillet Spell that clamps the golden band about Wukong’s head; 那 is the demonstrative nà, and 兒 the toneless suffix er. The threat is his one sure hold over the Monkey.
The pilgrim said, “At your command, at your command.”
遵命 — "as you order." Wukong’s ready submission, doubled for emphasis, is half in earnest, half in jest.
With the pilgrims freed, the chapter briefly hands the stage to Bajie, whose cynicism is a reliable comic foil. His verdict on Wukong’s offer — a "kindness-to-your-face" swindle, a "slick-skinned placebo" got up to cover an escape — is both funny and, as a reading of Monkey’s character, not wholly unfair. It is Tripitaka’s steadier faith ("he would never dare abandon us") that carries the scene.
The exchange lays out the machinery of the quest. Wukong names his destination — the Three Isles and Ten Continents of the eastern sea, the country of the immortals — and his object, a method to "raise the dead and restore life." The old tag he quotes, "the remedy comes from over the sea," roots the episode in the ancient lore that placed the elixir of immortality on the ocean isles of Penglai and its sisters.
The three-day limit, and the threat of the Tight-Fillet Spell should Wukong overstay it, wind the narrative clock and lend the following episodes their tension. That Tripitaka’s surest leverage over the mightiest being in the party should be a headache-inducing incantation is one of the novel’s enduring ironies — power held not by strength, but by a memorized spell.