原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
含詞賦 With rhapsody
雲端好殺
The Battle in the Clouds
這獃子認真就要進去。沙僧一把扯住道：「哥啊，他哄你哩，你幾時又吃人肉哩？」獃子卻才省悟，掣釘鈀，望妖怪劈臉就築；那怪物側身躲過，使鋼刀急架相迎。兩個都顯神通，縱雲頭，跳在空中廝殺。沙僧撇了行李、白馬，舉寶杖，急急幫攻。此時兩個狠和尚，一個潑妖魔，在雲端裡，這一場好殺。正是那：这呆子认真就要进去。沙僧一把扯住道：「哥啊，他哄你哩，你几时又吃人肉哩？」呆子却才省悟，掣钉钯，望妖怪劈脸就筑；那怪物侧身躲过，使钢刀急架相迎。两个都显神通，纵云头，跳在空中厮杀。沙僧撇了行李、白马，举宝杖，急急帮攻。此时两个狠和尚，一个泼妖魔，在云端里，这一场好杀。正是那：
杖起刀迎，鈀來刀架。杖起刀迎，钯来刀架。
一員魔將施威，兩個神僧顯化。一员魔将施威，两个神僧显化。
九齒鈀真個英雄，降妖杖誠然兇咤。九齿钯真个英雄，降妖杖诚然凶咤。
沒前後左右齊來，那黃袍公然不怕。没前后左右齐来，那黄袍公然不怕。
你看他蘸鋼刀晃亮如銀，其實的那神通也為廣大。你看他蘸钢刀晃亮如银，其实的那神通也为广大。
只殺得滿空中霧遶雲迷，半山裡崖崩嶺咋。只杀得满空中雾遶云迷，半山里崖崩岭咋。
一個為聲名，怎肯干休；一個為師父，斷然不怕。一个为声名，怎肯干休；一个为师父，断然不怕。
逐句解 Line by line
這獃子認真就要進去。沙僧一把扯住道：「哥啊，他哄你哩，你幾時又吃人肉哩？」
这呆子认真就要进去。沙僧一把扯住道：「哥啊，他哄你哩，你几时又吃人肉哩？」
The blockhead took him at his word and was about to go in. Sha Monk grabbed him and held on: “Brother, he's fooling you — since when do you eat human flesh?”
獃子 the blockhead. Sha Monk's grip is all that stops Bajie walking into the cave.
獃子卻才省悟，掣釘鈀，望妖怪劈臉就築；那怪物側身躲過，使鋼刀急架相迎。
呆子却才省悟，掣钉钯，望妖怪劈脸就筑；那怪物侧身躲过，使钢刀急架相迎。
Only then did the blockhead come to his senses; he whipped out his rake and struck straight at the fiend's face; the creature dodged aside and threw up his steel sabre to meet the blow.
釘鈀 pá; 那怪物 nà; 相迎 xiāng (“to meet,” mutual). The fight is joined.
兩個都顯神通，縱雲頭，跳在空中廝殺。沙僧撇了行李、白馬，舉寶杖，急急幫攻。
两个都显神通，纵云头，跳在空中厮杀。沙僧撇了行李、白马，举宝杖，急急帮攻。
The two of them both showed their powers, sprang up on their cloud-heads, and leapt into the sky to do battle. Sha Monk flung down the baggage and the white horse, raised his precious staff, and rushed in to help the attack.
都 dōu; 空中 zhōng. Sha Monk abandons the baggage to join — the fight goes airborne.
此時兩個狠和尚，一個潑妖魔，在雲端裡，這一場好殺。正是那：
此时两个狠和尚，一个泼妖魔，在云端里，这一场好杀。正是那：
Now, two fierce monks and one savage fiend, up in the clouds — what a battle it was! It was just like this:
那 nà. The 正是那 tag introduces the battle-fu.
杖起刀迎，鈀來刀架。
杖起刀迎，钯来刀架。
The staff rose, the sabre met it; the rake came on, the sabre fended it.
鈀 pá. The fu opens on the clash of the three weapons.
一員魔將施威，兩個神僧顯化。
一员魔将施威，两个神僧显化。
One demon-captain flexing his might; two divine monks working their transformations.
魔將 jiàng (“captain/general,” noun), not jiāng; 施威 — the demon displaying his power.
九齒鈀真個英雄，降妖杖誠然兇咤。
九齿钯真个英雄，降妖杖诚然凶咤。
The nine-tooth rake, a hero true; the demon-quelling staff, ferocious indeed.
鈀 pá; 降妖杖 xiáng (“demon-quelling”). Sha Monk's staff is the 降妖寶杖.
沒前後左右齊來，那黃袍公然不怕。
没前后左右齐来，那黄袍公然不怕。
Front and back, left and right, they came at once; yet Yellow Robe was plainly unafraid.
那 nà. The demon holds his own against both disciples together.
你看他蘸鋼刀晃亮如銀，其實的那神通也為廣大。
你看他蘸钢刀晃亮如银，其实的那神通也为广大。
See how his burnished steel sabre gleamed bright as silver — truly his magic powers were vast indeed.
那 nà; 也為廣大 wéi (copula, “is indeed”).
只殺得滿空中霧遶雲迷，半山裡崖崩嶺咋。
只杀得满空中雾遶云迷，半山里崖崩岭咋。
They fought till the whole sky was wrapped in fog and lost in cloud, and the cliffs crumbled and the ridges cracked across the half the mountain.
殺得 de; 空中 zhōng. The combat convulses heaven and mountain alike.
一個為聲名，怎肯干休；一個為師父，斷然不怕。
一个为声名，怎肯干休；一个为师父，断然不怕。
The one, for his name and fame, would never let it rest; the others, for their master's sake, were resolute and unafraid.
為聲名 / 為師父 wèi (“for the sake of,” preposition). The couplet names each side's motive.
總評 Commentary
The battle-fu turns on a neat antithesis of motive, stated in its closing couplet: the demon fights “for his name and fame,” the disciples “for their master's sake.” The parallel both dignifies the combat — this is not a brawl but a contest of purposes — and quietly weights it morally, setting selfish pride against loyal duty even as the fu grants the demon real and “vast” power.
Formally the passage moves from prose into the terse four-graph cola of the fight-fu, the weapons named in ringing apposition — nine-tooth rake, demon-quelling staff, gleaming sabre. The cosmic disturbance (“the whole sky wrapped in fog… the ridges cracked”) is the genre's standard sign of a true match of powers, and it establishes, crucially, that Yellow Robe fights two divine disciples at once and is not overcome.
That stalemate is the chapter's structural purpose. By making the demon the equal of Bajie and Sha Monk together, the novel closes off the easy resolution and sets up the next chapters' machinery — the appeal to Princess Hundred-Flowers, the errand to Elephantia, and ultimately the necessity of the very Mind-Monkey whose banishment opened this whole disaster.