斗來窟窿 The Cave Door Smashed
他兩個不多時到了洞口，按落雲頭。八戒掣鈀，往那波月洞的門上盡力氣一築，把他那石門築了斗來大小的個窟窿。嚇得那把門的小妖開門，看見是他兩個，急跑進去報道：「大王，不好了，那長嘴大耳的和尚，與那晦色氣臉的和尚，又來把門都打破了。」那怪驚道：「這個還是豬八戒、沙和尚二人。我饒了他師父，怎麼又敢復來打我的門？」小妖道：「想是忘了甚麼物件，來取的。」老怪咄的一聲道：「胡纏，忘了物件，就敢打上門來？必有緣故。」他两个不多时到了洞口，按落云头。八戒掣钯，往那波月洞的门上尽力气一筑，把他那石门筑了斗来大小的个窟窿。吓得那把门的小妖开门，看见是他两个，急跑进去报道：「大王，不好了，那长嘴大耳的和尚，与那晦色气脸的和尚，又来把门都打破了。」那怪惊道：「这个还是猪八戒、沙和尚二人。我饶了他师父，怎么又敢复来打我的门？」小妖道：「想是忘了甚么物件，来取的。」老怪咄的一声道：「胡缠，忘了物件，就敢打上门来？必有缘故。」
逐句解 Line by line
In no long time the two of them reached the cave-mouth and set down their clouds. Eight Rules drew his rake and, with all his strength, dealt a blow against the door of the Wave-Moon Cave, driving in that stone door a hole the size of a dǒu measure.
Eight Rules announces their return by knocking a hole in the front door, which tells you everything about the diplomatic approach he has chosen. 按落雲頭 is to press the cloud down and land; 盡力氣一築 (盡 = jìn) is one blow with everything he has. The hole is measured as 斗來大小 — about the size of a 斗 (dǒu), the grain measure, which under the Ming held roughly ten litres. English has no borrowed name for it, so it stays in Chinese; substituting an English dry measure would quietly change the size.
So startled was the little imp on gate-duty that he opened the door, saw it was the two of them, and ran hastily in to report: 'Great King, this is bad! That long-snouted, big-eared monk, and that dusky, sour-faced monk, have come again and smashed the door right through!'
The gatekeeper's report is a small masterpiece of describing people you have no names for. 那長嘴大耳 (長 = cháng), the long-snouted big-eared one, is Eight Rules; 晦色氣臉, murky-hued and sullen-faced, is Sha Monk. 嚇得 (得 = de) is "frightened to the point that"; 都 is dōu. Note the order of events: being frightened is what made him open the door.
The demon said in alarm, 'These are still those two, Zhu Bajie and Monk Sha. I spared their master — how do they dare come again and beat upon my door?'
這個還是 (還 = hái) is "these are the same two again"; 復來 is to come back. The demon's reaction is not fear but a genuine sense of grievance — he let their master go, and this is the thanks.
The little imp said, 'Perhaps they forgot some thing and have come to fetch it.'
忘了 (了 = le) 甚麼 (甚 = shén) 物件 — forgot something and came back for it. The imp offers the most reassuring explanation available, which is what junior staff do.
The old demon gave a snort: 'Nonsense! Would they dare come beating at my door for a forgotten thing? There must be a reason.'
咄的一聲 (咄 = duō) is a snort of contempt; 胡纏 is "nonsense, rubbish." Then the demon reasons it out in one line — nobody batters down a door over a forgotten hat — and arrives at 必有緣故, "there must be a reason." He is right, and he is the only person in the scene thinking clearly.
The pilgrims announce their return in Eight Rules' own idiom: not by parley but by putting the rake through the demon's stone door in a single blow and leaving a hole the size of a grain measure. The gatekeeper's frightened report — the long-snouted big-eared monk and his dusky, sour-faced companion — drops the register back down to comedy after the earnest departure verse, and the exchange that follows plays the imp's soothing guess against his master's sharper instinct.
That instinct is worth marking, because the Yellow-Robe Ogre is not a brute. He dismisses the easy explanation at once — would monks he had already spared batter his door down over a forgotten trifle? — and concludes, correctly, that there must be a reason. His intelligence has been a feature of the whole episode: it was he who saw through the disciples earlier, and he who chose to release their master. It gives the coming fight the weight of a contest between worthy opponents rather than a rout of the stupid by the strong.