怒擒獃子 The Cursing and the Capture
行者見他去了,即差兩個溜撒的小猴跟著八戒,聽他說些甚麼。真個那獃子下了山,不上三四里路,回頭指著行者,口裡罵道:「這個猴子,不做和尚,倒做妖怪。這個猢猻,我好意來請他,他卻不去。你不去便罷。」走幾步,又罵幾聲。那兩個小猴急跑回來報道:「大聖爺爺,那豬八戒不大老實,他走走兒,罵幾聲。」行者大怒,叫:「拿將來!」那眾猴滿地飛來趕上,把個八戒扛翻倒了,抓鬃扯耳,拉尾揪毛,捉將回去。行者见他去了,即差两个溜撒的小猴跟着八戒,听他说些甚么。真个那呆子下了山,不上三四里路,回头指着行者,口里骂道:「这个猴子,不做和尚,倒做妖怪。这个猢狲,我好意来请他,他却不去。你不去便罢。」走几步,又骂几声。那两个小猴急跑回来报道:「大圣爷爷,那猪八戒不大老实,他走走儿,骂几声。」行者大怒,叫:「拿将来!」那众猴满地飞来赶上,把个八戒扛翻倒了,抓鬃扯耳,拉尾揪毛,捉将回去。
逐句解 Line by line
Seeing him gone, the Pilgrim at once dispatched two nimble little monkeys to follow Bajie and hear what he might say.
He says no and then has him followed, which tells you how settled the refusal really is. In 即差, at once dispatched, the character 差 is chāi, "to send on a commission" — not the chà of "amiss" that turned up in the princess's 差怪 at the start of the chapter. In 跟著 the 著 is zhe; 甚麼 takes 甚 as shén; 溜撒 is quick, nimble.
Sure enough, the blockhead had gone down the mountain not three or four li when he turned back, pointed at the Pilgrim, and cursed: "This monkey — instead of being a monk, he plays the demon!
In 指著 the 著 is zhe; 倒做妖怪, "plays the demon instead," takes 倒 as dào. 那 is pointing nà. Three or four 里 is far enough away to feel brave and nowhere near far enough to be out of earshot.
This ape — I came in good faith to invite him, and he won't go. Well, then, don't go!"
猢猻 is a macaque, and a thoroughly disparaging word for a monkey; 好意 is good faith, kind intention. He is finally saying to Wukong's back what he did not dare say to his face.
He'd walk a few steps and curse a few more.
A few steps, a few curses, a few steps, a few curses. The rhythm is the whole characterisation.
The two little monkeys ran hurrying back to report: "Great Sage, our Lord — that Zhu Bajie isn't very honest; he walks a bit and curses a few times."
Both instances of 那 are pointing nà; in 走走兒 the colloquial 兒 is er; 不大老實 is "not very well-behaved." The tattling is delivered with obvious relish.
The Pilgrim, in a great rage, cried: "Bring him here!"
In 拿將來, bring him here, the 將 carrying the motion is jiāng. The temper the horse was counting on, pointed at the wrong target.
The whole troop of monkeys came flying over the ground, overtook him, hoisted Bajie up and knocked him flat, and — seizing his mane, tugging his ears, hauling his tail, and yanking his bristles — carried him off back again.
那 is pointing nà; 扛翻倒了, hoisted up and thrown down, takes 倒 as dǎo; in 捉將回去 the 將 carrying the motion is jiāng. Mane, ears, tail, bristles — four verbs of grabbing in a row, and the chapter ends in a scrum.
The close turns Wukong's refusal into a cliffhanger by way of his own temper and his own spycraft. Sending monkeys to eavesdrop shows a mind still watchful and still unforgiving; Bajie's compulsive cursing — a few steps, a few oaths — supplies the provocation; and the swarming capture, all grabbed mane and yanked bristles, leaves the messenger hauled back a prisoner exactly as the chapter runs out.
It is pure comedy, and it also does the plot's work. With Wukong still refusing and now holding the messenger, the reconciliation the horse engineered looks to have collapsed outright, and the reader is left genuinely uncertain whether the Mind-Monkey will be recalled at all. The resolution is withheld on purpose.