原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
抱孩激怪
The Children Borne Off to Provoke the Fiend
卻說那八戒停立空中，看見沙僧出洞，即按下雲頭，叫聲：「沙兄弟，心忍，心忍。」沙僧見身道：「二哥，你從那裡來？」八戒道：「我昨日敗陣，夜間進城，會了白馬，知師父有難，被黃袍使法，變做個老虎。那白馬與我商議，請師兄來的。」行者道：「獃子，且休敘闊。把這兩個孩子，各抱著一個，先進那寶象城去激那怪來，等我在這裡打他。」却说那八戒停立空中，看见沙僧出洞，即按下云头，叫声：「沙兄弟，心忍，心忍。」沙僧见身道：「二哥，你从那里来？」八戒道：「我昨日败阵，夜间进城，会了白马，知师父有难，被黄袍使法，变做个老虎。那白马与我商议，请师兄来的。」行者道：「呆子，且休叙阔。把这两个孩子，各抱著一个，先进那宝象城去激那怪来，等我在这里打他。」
逐句解 Line by line
卻說那八戒停立空中，看見沙僧出洞，即按下雲頭，叫聲：「沙兄弟，心忍，心忍。」
却说那八戒停立空中，看见沙僧出洞，即按下云头，叫声：「沙兄弟，心忍，心忍。」
Now Bajie, hovering aloft, saw Sha Seng come out of the cave, and at once pressed down the head of his cloud, calling, “Brother Sha, bear up, bear up.”
停立空中 (tíng lì kōng zhōng), to hover in the air; 中 read zhōng. 心忍 (xīn rěn), “be patient, endure” — a word of encouragement. 那 read nà.
沙僧見身道：「二哥，你從那裡來？」
沙僧见身道：「二哥，你从那里来？」
Sha Seng, seeing him, said, “Second brother, whence do you come?”
那裡來 (nǎlǐ lái), “from where”; 那 read nǎ.
八戒道：「我昨日敗陣，夜間進城，會了白馬，知師父有難，被黃袍使法，變做個老虎。
八戒道：「我昨日败阵，夜间进城，会了白马，知师父有难，被黄袍使法，变做个老虎。
Bajie said, “After my rout yesterday, I entered the city by night and met the White Horse, and learned that the master was in peril — that Yellow Robe, by his arts, had changed him into a tiger.
夜間 (yè jiān), by night; 間 read jiān. 有難 (yǒu nàn), to be in distress, in peril; 難 read nàn. 使法 (shǐ fǎ), to work a spell.
那白馬與我商議，請師兄來的。」
那白马与我商议，请师兄来的。」
It was the White Horse who took counsel with me and had me go to entreat our elder brother.”
商議 (shāngyì), to take counsel, to confer. 那 read nà.
行者道：「獃子，且休敘闊。
行者道：「呆子，且休叙阔。
Pilgrim said, “Blockhead, leave off this catching-up for now.
敘闊 (xù kuò), to exchange news after a separation, to talk over old times.
把這兩個孩子，各抱著一個，先進那寶象城去激那怪來，等我在這裡打他。」
把这两个孩子，各抱著一个，先进那宝象城去激那怪来，等我在这里打他。」
Take these two children, one held by each of you, and go first into the city of Baoxiang to provoke the fiend forth, while I wait here to give him battle.”
各抱著一個 (gè bào zhe yī gè), each holding one — durative, the child carried in the arms; 著 read zhe. 激 (jī), to provoke, to goad forth. 那 in both places read nà.
總評 Commentary
The three disciples are reunited aloft, and Bajie’s hurried recap — the night in the city, the counsel of the White Horse, the master transformed to a tiger — folds the reader back into the main danger while Wukong, impatient of reminiscence, cuts the reunion short to lay his plan. The brusque “leave off this catching-up” is the Great Sage all over: sentiment deferred, the objective pressed.
The stratagem itself — to carry the demon’s own children into the Baoxiang court and there provoke him — turns the hostages taken above to tactical account, drawing the fiend out to open ground where Wukong may fight him without endangering the court. The instruction that each brother hold a child prepares the grim comedy of the next passage, where Bajie will protest the risks of the errand in his own inimitable idiom.