努力齊心 The Departure Quatrain
卻說那沙僧趕上八戒道：「哥哥，我來了。」八戒道：「兄弟，你來怎的？」沙僧道：「師父叫我來幫幫功的。」八戒大喜道：「說得是，來得好。我兩個努力齊心，去捉那怪物，雖不怎的，也在此國揚揚姓名。」你看他：却说那沙僧赶上八戒道：「哥哥，我来了。」八戒道：「兄弟，你来怎的？」沙僧道：「师父叫我来帮帮功的。」八戒大喜道：「说得是，来得好。我两个努力齐心，去捉那怪物，虽不怎的，也在此国扬扬姓名。」你看他：
逐句解 Line by line
Now Sha Monk caught up with Eight Rules and said, 'Brother, here I am.' Said Eight Rules, 'Brother, what have you come for?' Said Sha Monk, 'The master bade me come and lend a hand.' Eight Rules was delighted: 'Well said, and well come. If the two of us bend our strength with one heart to take that monster, then, come what may, we shall at least make our names ring in this kingdom.' Look at them:
卻說 is the storyteller changing threads; 趕上 is to catch up. Then Eight Rules cannot resist adding a motive of his own to the king's: 揚揚姓名, to make their names ring out — whatever happens to the princess, there is reputation in this for him. 說得 and 來得 both take 得 as the structural de. 你看他, "look at them," is the cue for the verse.
In billowing auspicious radiance they take leave of the kingdom's bounds; / in curling propitious vapors they issue from the capital.
Two matched two-syllable words carry the clouds. 靉靆 is thick billowing cloud and 氤氳 is curling vapour — both are pure atmosphere, and both are the stock diction of a departure by air. 辭國界 is to take leave of the realm's borders, 出京城 to pass out of the capital.
Bearing the king's command, they come to the mountain cave; / with strength bent and hearts as one, to seize the demon-sprite.
The second couplet states the errand plainly: 領王旨意, bearing the king's decree, and 努力齊心, straining together with one heart — the phrase Eight Rules himself used a moment ago, now dignified by being set in verse. 捉怪靈 is to seize the demon-spirit. The boast has become an official mission somewhere between the prose and the poem.
The passage closes the Baoxiang interlude and launches the return to the demon's lair. Reunited with his brother, Eight Rules cannot help one last flourish of vanity — even if the fight goes badly, the two of them will at least make their names ring in this kingdom — which is entirely of a piece with styling himself the foremost demon-queller on the road. Sha Monk's flat report of the master's order puts the errand back on its proper footing, and the scene turns from the comedy of the court to the business of battle.
The quatrain makes that turn formally. Its two couplets carry the pilgrims out of the capital on their auspicious clouds and up to the mountain cave, restating the charge — the king's decree — and the resolve — strength and heart made one. It is a conventional transition piece, its billowing vapour-words 靉靆 and 氤氳 the standard furniture of a departure by cloud. But it seals the change of scene cleanly, closing the long audience at Baoxiang and opening the confrontation the next passages will join.