沙僧被擒 The Rout
那獃子道：「沙僧，你且上前來與他鬥著，讓老豬出恭來。」他就顧不得沙僧，一溜往那蒿草薜蘿荊棘葛藤裡，不分好歹，一頓鑽進。那管刮破頭皮，搠傷嘴臉，一轂轆睡倒，再也不敢出來。但留半邊耳朵，聽著梆聲。那怪見八戒走了，就奔沙僧。沙僧措手不及，被怪一把抓住，捉進洞去。小妖將沙僧四馬攢蹄綑住。畢竟不知端的性命如何，且聽下回分解。那呆子道：「沙僧，你且上前来与他斗著，让老猪出恭来。」他就顾不得沙僧，一溜往那蒿草薜萝荆棘葛藤里，不分好歹，一顿钻进。那管刮破头皮，搠伤嘴脸，一毂辘睡倒，再也不敢出来。但留半边耳朵，听著梆声。那怪见八戒走了，就奔沙僧。沙僧措手不及，被怪一把抓住，捉进洞去。小妖将沙僧四马攒蹄捆住。毕竟不知端的性命如何，且听下回分解。
逐句解 Line by line
Said the blockhead, 'Sha Monk, you go up and keep fighting him a while — let Old Zhu go and relieve himself.'
與他鬥著 (著 = zhe, durative) = "keep fighting him"; 出恭 = "to relieve oneself, to go to the privy" (a genteel term). Eight Rules' excuse — a call of nature in the thick of battle — is the shameless prelude to his desertion.
And with that, giving no further thought to Sha Monk, he bolted in a streak into a tangle of wormwood and creeper, bramble and vine, and, heedless of everything, went burrowing in at a rush.
顧不得 (得 = dé) 沙僧 = "unable to attend to Sha Monk"; 一溜 = "in a streak, at a dash." 蒿草薜蘿荊棘葛藤 = "wormwood, wall-creeper, bramble, and kudzu-vine"; 不分 (分 = fēn) 好歹 = "regardless of good or ill"; 一頓鑽進 = "burrowed in at one go." Eight Rules abandons his brother outright, plunging into the undergrowth.
Little he cared that it scraped his scalp raw and jabbed his snout and face; he rolled himself over and lay down, and would not come out again — but kept half an ear cocked, listening for the clapper's sound.
那管 (那 = nǎ, "what care for") = "heedless whether"; 搠傷 (搠 = shuò, "to jab") 嘴臉 = "jabbing [his] snout and face"; 一轂轆 (轂轆 = gǔlù, a rolling motion) 睡倒 (倒 = dǎo, "to lie down") = "rolled over and lay down." 但留半邊耳朵，聽著 (著 = zhe) 梆聲 = "but left half an ear listening for the watch-clapper." Eight Rules' hiding, ear cocked for the signal, is comic cowardice at its most vivid.
The demon, seeing that Eight Rules had gone, rushed straight at Sha Monk. Sha Monk, caught off his guard, was seized in the demon's grip and hauled into the cave; and the little imps bound him fast, all four limbs trussed together.
走了 (了 = le) = "had gone off"; 措手不及 = "caught unprepared, taken off guard." 一把抓住 = "seized in one grasp"; 將 (jiāng, coverb) 沙僧 = "[took] Sha Monk"; 四馬攢蹄 (攢蹄 = cuán tí, "hooves drawn together") 綑住 = "trussed, all four limbs bound together" (a hog-tie). With Eight Rules fled, Sha Monk is quickly overpowered and taken.
In the end, there is no knowing how it truly went with his life — so listen to the next chapter for the telling.
畢竟 = "after all, in the end"; 端的 = "truly, for certain." 且聽下回分解 (分 = fēn) = "pray hear the next chapter's telling" — the storyteller's invariable formula for closing an installment. The chapter ends on Sha Monk's peril, in suspense.
Eight Rules' desertion is the chapter's most vivid stroke of comic cowardice. As the fight turns against him, he pleads a call of nature — "let Old Zhu go and relieve himself" — and, with that flimsy excuse, abandons his brother outright, bolting headlong into a tangle of wormwood and bramble. The novel dwells on the physical comedy of his flight: heedless of the thorns that scrape his scalp and jab his snout, he rolls himself over, lies low, and refuses to come out — yet keeps "half an ear cocked" for the watch-clapper, ready to reappear only when it is safe. The portrait is unsparing and affectionate at once, and it is Eight Rules to the life: appetite and self-preservation trumping loyalty, dressed up in the thinnest of pretexts.
With one disciple fled and the other quickly overpowered and hog-tied, the rescue mounted with such confidence collapses entirely, and the chapter closes in suspense on Sha Monk trussed and hauled into the cave. The reversal is complete: the courtly comedy of Baoxiang, the boasts and the imperial wine, have given way to rout. Both of Tripitaka's fearsome disciples are now neutralized — one hiding in the weeds, one bound in the demon's lair — and the situation has passed beyond what they can retrieve. The storyteller's closing formula leaves the outcome hanging, but the shape of the need is already plain: this demon will not be beaten by the companions who remain, and the next chapter must reckon with the one who has been sent away.