高崖索兒 The Princess Confronted
公主聞言，忙忙走出洞門來，只見行者提著兩個孩子，站在那高崖之上，意欲往下摜。慌得那公主厲聲高叫道：「那漢子，我與你沒甚相干，怎麼把我兒子拿去？他老子利害，有些差錯，決不與你干休。」行者道：「你不認得我？我是那唐僧的大徒弟孫悟空行者。我有個師弟沙和尚在你洞裡，你去放他出來，我把這兩個孩兒還你。似這般兩個換一個，還是你便宜。」公主闻言，忙忙走出洞门来，只见行者提着两个孩子，站在那高崖之上，意欲往下掼。慌得那公主厉声高叫道：「那汉子，我与你没甚相干，怎么把我儿子拿去？他老子利害，有些差错，决不与你干休。」行者道：「你不认得我？我是那唐僧的大徒弟孙悟空行者。我有个师弟沙和尚在你洞里，你去放他出来，我把这两个孩儿还你。似这般两个换一个，还是你便宜。」
逐句解 Line by line
The princess, hearing this, came hurrying out at the cave door, and saw Pilgrim holding the two children, standing upon the high crag as if about to hurl them down.
提著, tí zhe, holding, carrying — the "-ing" form, the grip maintained while he waits for her to look. 摜, guàn, to dash or fling something down, is the verb the whole scene turns on, and it will return, horribly, at the white jade steps.
In alarm the princess cried out in a shrill voice, "You fellow — I have nothing whatever to do with you; why have you carried off my sons?
厲聲, lì shēng, in a sharp, cutting voice. 沒甚相干, méi shén xiāng gān, "nothing whatever to do with each other," still everyday Chinese. 兒子, ér zi, sons.
Their father is a fearsome one; should any harm befall them, he will by no means let you off."
利害, lì hài, formidable, not to be crossed — she means it as a threat and it lands as information. 差錯, chā cuò, a mishap, with 差 read chā. 干休, gān xiū, to let a matter rest.
Pilgrim said, "Do you not know me?
認得, rèn de: to recognise, to know by sight.
I am Sun Wukong the Pilgrim, chief disciple of that Tang Monk.
行者, Xíngzhě, "the Pilgrim," is Wukong's religious style — the name Tripitaka gave him, and the one he uses when he wants to be taken seriously.
I have a junior brother, Sha the Monk, within your cave; go and set him free, and I will give you back these two children.
The offer, stated as a transaction. 孩兒, hái ér, children; 還你, huán nǐ, to give back to you — 還 read huán, "return," not hái, "still."
Two exchanged for one, in this manner — the bargain is still in your favour."
And then he haggles. 似這般, sì zhè bān, "in this manner"; 還是, hái shì, "still, after all" — the other 還, one line later. 便宜, pián yi, a bargain in your favour: the word a market trader uses. Two for one, madam, and you are getting the better of it.
The confrontation reframes the hostage-taking as a coldly rational trade. Wukong, unmoved by the mother's alarm, names his price at once — two children for one captive monk — and then has the nerve to point out that the exchange rate favours her. The princess's appeal to her husband's vengeance, meant as a threat, only confirms for the reader the danger the whole company has to be got out of.
The scene sharpens the ambiguity the previous passage opened. The tactic works precisely because it is ruthless, and the novel does not soften it; yet the princess is drawn with a mother's real fear, so the exchange carries a pathos the Great Sage ignores entirely. His trader's vocabulary — bargains, advantage, the better of a deal — gives the confrontation its grim comic edge.