行者詰夷 The Stranger in the Ranks
不知孫大聖坐得高，眼又乖滑，看得他明白，便問：「那班部中亂拜的是個夷人，是那裡來的？拿上來。」說不了，那些小猴一窩蜂，把個八戒推將上來，按倒在地。行者道：「你是那裡來的夷人？」八戒低著頭道：「不敢，承問了。不是夷人，是熟人，熟人。」行者道：「我這大聖部下的群猴，都是一般模樣。你這嘴臉生得各樣，相貌有些雷堆，定是別處來的妖魔。既是別處來的，若要投我部下，先來遞個腳色手本，報了名字，我好留你在這隨班點扎。若不留你，你敢在這裡亂拜？」不知孙大圣坐得高，眼又乖滑，看得他明白，便问：「那班部中乱拜的是个夷人，是那里来的？拿上来。」说不了，那些小猴一窝蜂，把个八戒推将上来，按倒在地。行者道：「你是那里来的夷人？」八戒低着头道：「不敢，承问了。不是夷人，是熟人，熟人。」行者道：「我这大圣部下的群猴，都是一般模样。你这嘴脸生得各样，相貌有些雷堆，定是别处来的妖魔。既是别处来的，若要投我部下，先来递个脚色手本，报了名字，我好留你在这随班点扎。若不留你，你敢在这里乱拜？」
逐句解 Line by line
But little did he know that Sun the Great Sage, seated on high and sharp of eye, saw him plainly, and asked: "That stranger bowing out of turn there in the ranks — where is he from? Bring him up."
He spotted him instantly and is going to pretend he did not. Both 坐得高 and 看得 take 得 as de; 班部中 takes 中 as zhōng. In 那班部, "that rank," the 那 is pointing nà; but in 那裡來的, "where from," it is the question-word nǎ — the same character twice in one sentence, doing two different jobs. 夷人 is an outlander, a foreigner from beyond the pale.
Before the words were out, the little monkeys swarmed like a nest of bees, shoved Bajie forward, and pressed him down to the ground.
In 說不了, "before the words were finished," the character 了 is liǎo, the full verb "to finish" — not the unstressed le that marks completed action and appears all over this chapter. 一窩蜂 is "like a nest of bees," still the ordinary way to describe a crowd all moving at once; in 推將上來 the 將 carrying the motion is jiāng; 按倒, pressing down, takes 倒 as dǎo. 那 is pointing nà.
The Pilgrim said: "What outlander are you, and where from?"
Here 那裡來, "where from," takes 那 as the question-word nǎ. He keeps up the pretence of not knowing a face he has travelled thousands of miles beside.
Bajie, head lowered, said: "By your leave — much obliged for the asking. No outlander I, but an old acquaintance, an old acquaintance."
In 低著頭 the 著 is zhe; 承問了, "obliged to you for asking," is a polite formula; 熟人 is an acquaintance, someone already known — set against 夷人, the stranger, in the line before.
The Pilgrim said: "The monkeys under this Great Sage are all of one likeness.
都, "all," is dōu. The joke gets pressed: my monkeys all look alike, and you do not look like a monkey.
But your snout and face are of quite another cut, your features somewhat lumpish — you must be some demon come from elsewhere.
生得 takes 得 as de; 相貌, features, takes 相 as xiàng. 雷堆 is clumsy, lumpish, ungainly. Wukong is being rude about Bajie's face, which is a thing he does whenever the opportunity arises.
Since you come from elsewhere, if you'd join my ranks, first hand up a note of your particulars and give your name, that I may keep you here, mustered with the rest.
The bureaucratic parody is exact. 遞個腳色手本 is to submit a statement of your particulars — 腳色 being your role and background, 手本 a written note — and 隨班點扎 is to be enrolled and mustered with the rest. He is asking his oldest comrade to fill in a form.
And if I don't keep you — how dare you bow here out of turn?"
亂拜, bowing out of place, out of turn. The mock reproach caps the performance.
The recognition scene is one of the novel's classic comic set-pieces, and it turns on Wukong's sharp eye and sharper mischief. He saw through Bajie at once — 看得他明白 — and instead of greeting him plays the officious sovereign, treating his old comrade as an unregistered "outlander" who must submit credentials and state his name. The joke is affectionate and pointed at the same time: Bajie came as a suppliant, so he can grovel a little first.
The comedy also quietly restores Wukong's authority. Enthroned and in command, he controls every beat of the exchange — summoning, interrogating, mock-reproaching — while Bajie is shoved forward and pressed to the ground. The banter rebuilds, in a comic key, exactly the hierarchy the quest is going to need.