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綁縛定魂
Before the Demon King
你看那眾小妖擡得長老，放在那竹簾兒外，歡歡喜喜報聲道：「大王，拿得和尚進來了。」那老妖他也偷眼瞧一瞧，只見三藏頭直上，貌堂堂，果然好一個和尚。他便心中想道：「這等好和尚，必是上方人物，不當小可的。若不做個威風，他怎肯服降哩？」陡然間，就狐假虎威，紅鬚倒豎，血髮朝天，眼睛迸裂，大喝一聲道：「帶那和尚進來！」眾妖們大家響響的答應了一聲：「是！」就把三藏望裡面只是一推。這是「既在矮檐下，怎敢不低頭。」三藏只得雙手合著，與他見個禮。那妖道：「你是那裡和尚？從那裡來？到那裡去？快快說明！」三藏道：「我本是唐朝僧人，奉大唐皇帝敕命，前往西方訪求經偈，經過貴山，特來塔下謁聖，不期驚動威嚴，望乞恕罪。待往西方取得經回東土，永註高名也。」那妖聞言，呵呵大笑道：「我說是上邦人物，果然是你。正要吃你哩，卻來的甚好，甚好，不然，卻不錯放過了？你該是我口內的食，自然要撞將來，就放也放不去，就走也走不脫！」叫小妖：「把那和尚拿去綁了。」果然那些小妖一擁上前，把個長老繩纏索綁，縛在那定魂樁上。你看那众小妖擡得长老，放在那竹帘儿外，欢欢喜喜报声道：「大王，拿得和尚进来了。」那老妖他也偷眼瞧一瞧，只见三藏头直上，貌堂堂，果然好一个和尚。他便心中想道：「这等好和尚，必是上方人物，不当小可的。若不做个威风，他怎肯服降哩？」陡然间，就狐假虎威，红须倒竖，血发朝天，眼睛迸裂，大喝一声道：「带那和尚进来！」众妖们大家响响的答应了一声：「是！」就把三藏望里面只是一推。这是「既在矮檐下，怎敢不低头。」三藏只得双手合著，与他见个礼。那妖道：「你是那里和尚？从那里来？到那里去？快快说明！」三藏道：「我本是唐朝僧人，奉大唐皇帝敕命，前往西方访求经偈，经过贵山，特来塔下谒圣，不期惊动威严，望乞恕罪。待往西方取得经回东土，永注高名也。」那妖闻言，呵呵大笑道：「我说是上邦人物，果然是你。正要吃你哩，却来的甚好，甚好，不然，却不错放过了？你该是我口内的食，自然要撞将来，就放也放不去，就走也走不脱！」叫小妖：「把那和尚拿去绑了。」果然那些小妖一拥上前，把个长老绳缠索绑，缚在那定魂桩上。
逐句解 Line by line
你看那眾小妖擡得長老，放在那竹簾兒外，歡歡喜喜報聲道：「大王，拿得和尚進來了。」
你看那众小妖擡得长老，放在那竹帘儿外，欢欢喜喜报声道：「大王，拿得和尚进来了。」
Watch those little imps carry the elder in and set him down outside the bamboo curtain, then joyfully report: “Great King, we've caught the monk and brought him in.”
那 nà (twice); 擡得 / 拿得 de; 長老 zhǎng; 簾兒 er.
那老妖他也偷眼瞧一瞧，只見三藏頭直上，貌堂堂，果然好一個和尚。
那老妖他也偷眼瞧一瞧，只见三藏头直上，貌堂堂，果然好一个和尚。
The old fiend stole a glance, and saw that Tripitaka held his head high, his features imposing — truly a fine monk indeed.
那 nà; 三藏 zàng.
他便心中想道：「這等好和尚，必是上方人物，不當小可的。若不做個威風，他怎肯服降哩？」
他便心中想道：「这等好和尚，必是上方人物，不当小可的。若不做个威风，他怎肯服降哩？」
And he thought to himself: “A monk this fine must be a personage from the upper realms, no trifling nobody. If I don't put on a show of majesty, how will he ever submit?”
心中 zhōng; 服降 xiáng (“submit/surrender”), not jiàng.
陡然間，就狐假虎威，紅鬚倒豎，血髮朝天，眼睛迸裂，大喝一聲道：「帶那和尚進來！」
陡然间，就狐假虎威，红须倒竖，血发朝天，眼睛迸裂，大喝一声道：「带那和尚进来！」
All at once, borrowing the tiger's terror as the fox does, he made his red whiskers bristle up on end, his blood-red hair stand toward the sky, his eyes split wide, and roared out: “Bring that monk in!”
倒豎 dào (“bristling on end,” reversed); 朝天 cháo. 狐假虎威 — the demon consciously performing ferocity.
眾妖們大家響響的答應了一聲：「是！」就把三藏望裡面只是一推。這是「既在矮檐下，怎敢不低頭。」
众妖们大家响响的答应了一声：「是！」就把三藏望里面只是一推。这是「既在矮檐下，怎敢不低头。」
The whole crowd of imps answered with a resounding “Aye!” and shoved Tripitaka on inside. This was a case of ‘once you're under a low eave, how dare you not bow your head.’
三藏 zàng. 矮檐下低頭 — the proverb of forced submission to circumstance.
三藏只得雙手合著，與他見個禮。那妖道：「你是那裡和尚？從那裡來？到那裡去？快快說明！」
三藏只得双手合著，与他见个礼。那妖道：「你是那里和尚？从那里来？到那里去？快快说明！」
Tripitaka could only press his palms together and make him a bow. Said the fiend, “Where are you from, monk? Whence do you come? Whither do you go? Speak, and quickly!”
三藏 zàng; 只得 dé; 合著 zhe; 那妖 nà; 那裡 nǎ (thrice, “where/whence/whither”).
三藏道：「我本是唐朝僧人，奉大唐皇帝敕命，前往西方訪求經偈，經過貴山，特來塔下謁聖，不期驚動威嚴，望乞恕罪。待往西方取得經回東土，永註高名也。」
三藏道：「我本是唐朝僧人，奉大唐皇帝敕命，前往西方访求经偈，经过贵山，特来塔下谒圣，不期惊动威严，望乞恕罪。待往西方取得经回东土，永注高名也。」
Said Tripitaka, “I am by origin a monk of the Tang, sent by command of the Great Tang Emperor to journey west in search of the scriptures. Passing your honored mountain, I came especially to pay reverence beneath the pagoda, never meaning to disturb Your Majesty — I beg your pardon. When I have fetched the scriptures back to the Eastern Land, your high name shall be recorded forever.”
三藏 zàng; 唐朝 cháo; 取得 dé. Tripitaka's formula of his mission, offered as appeasement.
那妖聞言，呵呵大笑道：「我說是上邦人物，果然是你。正要吃你哩，卻來的甚好，甚好，不然，卻不錯放過了？你該是我口內的食，自然要撞將來，就放也放不去，就走也走不脫！」
那妖闻言，呵呵大笑道：「我说是上邦人物，果然是你。正要吃你哩，却来的甚好，甚好，不然，却不错放过了？你该是我口内的食，自然要撞将来，就放也放不去，就走也走不脱！」
When the fiend heard this, he roared with laughter: “I said you were a personage of the upper kingdom, and so you are! I was just wanting to eat you — how very well you've come, how very well; otherwise I might have let you slip by! You are meat for my mouth, bound to blunder in of yourself; released, you'd not get free — fleeing, you'd not escape!”
那妖 nà; 甚好 shén (twice); 撞將 jiāng.
叫小妖：「把那和尚拿去綁了。」果然那些小妖一擁上前，把個長老繩纏索綁，縛在那定魂樁上。
叫小妖：「把那和尚拿去绑了。」果然那些小妖一拥上前，把个长老绳缠索绑，缚在那定魂桩上。
He called to the imps, “Take that monk and bind him.” And sure enough the little imps rushed forward in a mass, wound the elder round with rope and cord, and lashed him to the soul-fixing stake.
那 nà (thrice: 那和尚 / 那些 / 那定魂樁); 長老 zhǎng. 定魂樁 the “soul-fixing stake.”
總評 Commentary
The demon's calculation is the passage's most revealing stroke. He does not roar because he is enraged; he reasons that a captive this distinguished must be overawed, and so he deliberately “borrows the tiger's terror as the fox does,” manufacturing the bristling hair and splitting eyes. His ferocity is a performance staged for effect — a detail that quietly prepares the later revelation that this “fiend” is a polished, self-conscious being, a star-lord in exile.
Tripitaka meets force with liturgy. Bound and shoved, he can only recite his mission — Tang monk, imperial commission, scriptures, the promise to record the demon's “high name forever” — the same courteous formula he offers at every court and cave. Here it is worse than useless: the demon takes the recitation as confirmation that his prey is a prize, and turns the pilgrim's own gentleness into the proof that he is “meat for the mouth.” The chapter's cruelest irony is that everything admirable in Tripitaka — his piety, his courtesy, his defenselessness — is exactly what condemns him.