番番是福 Fortune at Every Turn
正說處，八戒又跑進來，扯住福星，要討果子吃。他去袖裡亂摸，腰裡亂挖，不住的揭他衣服搜檢。三藏笑道：「那八戒是甚麼規矩！」八戒道：「不是沒規矩，此叫做『番番是福』。」三藏又叱令出去。那獃子跨出門，瞅著福星，眼不轉睛的發狠。福星道：「夯貨，我那裡惱了你來，你這等恨我？」八戒道：「不是恨你，這叫『回頭望福』。」那獃子出得門來，只見一個小童拿了四把茶匙，方去尋鍾取果看茶，被他一把奪過，跑上殿，拿著小磬兒，用手亂敲亂打，兩頭頑耍。大仙道：「這個和尚越發不尊重了。」八戒笑道：「不是不尊重，這叫做『四時吉慶』。」正说处，八戒又跑进来，扯住福星，要讨果子吃。他去袖里乱摸，腰里乱挖，不住的揭他衣服搜检。三藏笑道：「那八戒是甚么规矩！」八戒道：「不是没规矩，此叫做『番番是福』。」三藏又叱令出去。那呆子跨出门，瞅着福星，眼不转睛的发狠。福星道：「夯货，我那里恼了你来，你这等恨我？」八戒道：「不是恨你，这叫『回头望福』。」那呆子出得门来，只见一个小童拿了四把茶匙，方去寻钟取果看茶，被他一把夺过，跑上殿，拿着小磬儿，用手乱敲乱打，两头顽耍。大仙道：「这个和尚越发不尊重了。」八戒笑道：「不是不尊重，这叫做『四时吉庆』。」
逐句解 Line by line
Just as they were talking, in ran Bajie again, caught hold of the Star of Fortune, and demanded fruit to eat.
正說處 is just as they were speaking. 討果子吃 is to beg fruit to eat, 果子 with the toneless zi. Bajie has been thrown out of the room once already and has come back in for food.
He fumbled about in the Star's sleeves and rummaged at his waist, ceaselessly lifting his garments to search him over.
亂摸 and 亂挖 are groping and digging about at random; 搜檢 is to search or frisk. The picture is of a pig-spirit patting down a god of fortune for concealed snacks.
Tripitaka said with a laugh, "What sort of manners are these, Bajie!"
甚麼規矩, what sort of manners, with 甚麼 = shén me. Even the rebuke comes out as a laugh; the scene is too ridiculous for genuine anger.
Bajie said, "It's not bad manners — this is what's called 'fortune at every turn.'"
Pun number two. 番番是福, every turn is fortune, is an ordinary auspicious phrase -- but 番 means both a turn or occasion and to turn something over, rummage through it. Bajie is rifling the Star of Fortune (福) and calling it a blessing while he does it.
Tripitaka again ordered him out with a shout.
叱令 is to bark an order. The scene builds by repetition -- antic, rebuke, pun -- three times over, which is the rhythm of a comic routine.
The blockhead stepped out the door, and, glaring at the Star of Fortune, fixed him with an unblinking, spiteful stare.
獃子, the dolt, is the narrator's own pet name for Bajie, used affectionately and constantly, with 子 the toneless zi. 瞅著 is staring at, 著 durative zhe; 眼不轉睛 is without turning the eye, fixedly.
Said the Star of Fortune, "You oaf — when did I ever provoke you, that you glower at me so?"
那裡 is the question word here, nǎ lǐ -- how ever, in what way -- not the pointing there. 這等恨我 is to hate me to this degree.
Bajie said, "I don't hate you — this is called 'turning the head to look toward fortune.'"
Pun number three. 回頭望福, turning the head to gaze on fortune, is an auspicious posture; Bajie has been glowering over his shoulder at the Star of Fortune. Every rudeness he commits, he immediately rebrands as a blessing, and the joke gets better each time he does it.
Coming out the door, the blockhead spied a young acolyte carrying four tea-spoons, just going to fetch cups and fruit to serve tea; he snatched them clean away, ran up into the hall, took up a little chime, and beat and banged it with his hand, larking about at both ends.
出得門來 is having come out of the door, 得 the toneless complement de. The 磬 is a bowl-shaped temple chime, struck to mark points in a service -- and it sets up the next pun. 拿著小磬兒 is holding a little chime, 著 durative zhe, 兒 the suffix er.
The Great Immortal said, "This monk grows more unruly by the moment."
越發 is more and more; 不尊重 is wanting in gravity, 重 = zhòng. When the mildest person in the room feels moved to comment, Bajie has gone some distance.
Bajie laughed: "It's not disrespect — this is what's called 'blessings through the four seasons.'"
And pun number four, the best of them. 四時吉慶, rejoicing through all four seasons, is another stock blessing -- and the chime Bajie is battering is a 磬 (qìng), all but identical in sound to 慶 (qìng), celebration. So his racket is not a racket, it is a year of festivity. Three antics in this passage, three blessings -- and that is before counting the two he coined at the Stars' expense when they first walked in.
Bajie's comic turn continues, now organised around a run of sound-alike puns, a favourite device of Ming humour. Rummaging the Star of Fortune for snacks becomes fortune at every turn (番番是福); glowering back at him becomes looking toward fortune (回頭望福); battering a temple chime, a 磬, becomes blessings through the four seasons, on the near-identical sound of 磬 and 慶. Every piece of rudeness is instantly rebranded as an omen of good luck.
The passage is built by comic repetition: three times Bajie misbehaves, three times he is rebuked, three times he answers with a pun that turns the offence into a blessing. The rhythm is that of a stand-up routine, and the point of it is character -- irrepressible appetite, and a low cunning quick enough to turn any scolding into a joke at the scolder's expense.
There is a gentle irony under the fun. These three are the gods of fortune, rank and longevity, and Bajie's puns, impudent as they are, invoke precisely the blessings the Stars exist to hand out. His clowning doubles, absurdly, as a kind of ritual -- the pig-disciple, all stomach and mischief, speaking the language of benediction without meaning a word of it.