二賊相戲 Two Thieves Meet
行者見了，笑道：「這個小賊在這裡哩。帝君處沒有桃子你偷吃！」東方朔朝上進禮，答道：「老賊，你來這裡怎的？我師父沒有仙丹你偷吃。」行者见了，笑道：「这个小贼在这里哩。帝君处没有桃子你偷吃！」东方朔朝上进礼，答道：「老贼，你来这里怎的？我师父没有仙丹你偷吃。」
逐句解 Line by line
Seeing him, the pilgrim laughed: “So here’s the little thief!”
小賊 ("little thief") — Wukong greets his fellow peach-pilferer with mock abuse, a rogue’s salute between rogues.
“The Sovereign Lord’s place has no peaches for you to steal and eat!”
桃子 ("peaches," 子 the suffix zi); the jibe turns on Dongfang Shuo’s legendary thefts — here, Wukong teases, there is nothing left to pilfer.
Dongfang Shuo made his bow toward the seat of honor and answered, “Old thief! What brings you here?”
朝上進禮 ("to offer courtesy toward [the host] above," 朝 = cháo, "facing toward"); 老賊 ("old thief"), the retort in kind — the two trade insults as easy compliments.
“My master has no elixir here for you to steal and eat, either.”
仙丹 ("immortal elixir"); Dongfang Shuo throws the same jest straight back — alluding, perhaps, to Wukong’s own famous raid on Laozi’s elixir in the days of his revolt against Heaven.
This brief exchange is one of the novel’s small delights: a meeting of the two most celebrated thieves of the immortal world, greeting each other with cheerful abuse. Wukong hails Dongfang Shuo as "little thief" for his legendary raids on the Queen Mother’s peaches; Dongfang Shuo returns "old thief," a barb that lands squarely, given Wukong’s own notorious plundering of peaches and elixir during his rebellion. The insults are, in effect, a form of mutual recognition — two rascals who each know the other’s reputation.