不辭而去 He Departs Without Leave
噫！我卻還害酒哩。假若被他築上一鈀，卻不滅了這個威風，識破了那個關竅？且等我回家看看，是我的兒子不是我的兒子，再與他說話不遲。」好妖怪，他也不辭王駕，轉山林，徑去洞中查信息。噫！我却还害酒哩。假若被他筑上一钯，却不灭了这个威风，识破了那个关窍？且等我回家看看，是我的儿子不是我的儿子，再与他说话不迟。」好妖怪，他也不辞王驾，转山林，径去洞中查信息。
逐句解 Line by line
Ah!
噫 (yī), an interjection — the demon’s inward exclamation as his resolve wavers.
But I am still muddled with drink.
害酒 (hài jiǔ), to suffer the after-effects of wine, to be hung over. 還 read hái.
Should he land me a blow of his rake, would it not quench this majesty of mine and lay bare the whole contrivance?
築上一鈀 (zhù shàng yì pá), to be struck a blow of the rake — Bajie’s nine-toothed 鈀, read pá. 關竅 (guānqiào), the crux, the secret joint of a matter. 那 read nà.
Let me first go home and see whether they are my sons or not, and it will not be too late to speak with him after.”
看看 (kànkan), to have a look. 兒子 (érzi), sons; 兒 read ér. 不遲 (bù chí), not too late.
Bold fiend — without so much as taking leave of the king, he turned to the hills and woods and went straight to the cave to look into the news.
不辭王駕 (bù cí wáng jià), without taking leave of the king. 查信息 (chá xìnxī), to look into the news, to verify what was afoot. 洞中 with 中 as zhōng.
The demon’s resolve to verify rather than fight is his undoing, and the passage lays bare the reasoning that betrays him: still fuddled with drink, and fearful that a blow of Bajie’s rake before the court would strip away his majesty and expose his true nature, he chooses the seemingly prudent course of slipping home to check on his children. Prudence, hollowed by vanity and hangover, leads him precisely where his enemy wishes.
His departure “without taking leave of the king” is a stroke of fine plotting, for it is this very abruptness — as the following passage shows — that confirms the court’s suspicion of his true nature. The demon, in escaping one snare, springs another, and hurries toward the cave where the disguised Great Sage waits to play upon his credulity with a widow’s tears.