議裝行者 Plotting to Bottle Pilgrim
老魔笑道：「賢弟好手段，兩次捉了三個和尚。但孫行者雖是有山壓住，也須要作個法，怎麼拿他來湊蒸，才好哩。」二魔道：「兄長請坐。若要拿孫行者，不消我們動身，只教兩個小妖，拿兩件寶貝，把他裝將來罷。」老魔道：「拿甚麼寶貝去？」二魔道：「拿我的紫金紅葫蘆，你的羊脂玉淨瓶。」老魔笑道：「贤弟好手段，两次捉了三个和尚。但孙行者虽是有山压住，也须要作个法，怎么拿他来凑蒸，才好哩。」二魔道：「兄长请坐。若要拿孙行者，不消我们动身，只教两个小妖，拿两件宝贝，把他装将来罢。」老魔道：「拿甚么宝贝去？」二魔道：「拿我的紫金红葫芦，你的羊脂玉净瓶。」
逐句解 Line by line
The old fiend laughed: “Worthy brother, well done indeed — in two strokes you've caught three monks.
好手段 (hǎo shǒu duàn), “a fine piece of work, deft handling.” 兩次捉了三個 (liǎng cì zhuō le sān gè), “caught three in two takings” — Sha Monk and the horse in one seizure, then Eight-Rules fetched from the pool.
“But though Sun Pilgrim is pinned under the mountains, we'll still need some device to fetch him here for the steaming — only then will all be well.”
湊蒸 (còu zhēng), “to add to the steaming,” i.e. cook him with the rest. 作個法 (zuò gè fǎ), “to work some plan or spell.” The elder wants Pilgrim in hand before the feast.
The second fiend said: “Elder brother, be seated.
兄長 (xiōng zhǎng), “elder brother,” a respectful address; 長 read zhǎng.
“If we want to take Sun Pilgrim, there's no need for us to stir — just send two little imps with two treasures to bottle him up and bring him here.”
不消 (bù xiāo), “no need to.” 裝將來 (zhuāng jiāng lái), “to pack him in and fetch him,” 將 a particle of motion; the hortative 罷 (ba).
The old fiend said: “What treasures shall they take?”
甚麼寶貝 (shén me bǎo bèi), “what treasures”; 甚 the interrogative, shén.
The second fiend said: “My purple-gold red gourd, and your mutton-fat jade vase.”
紫金紅葫蘆 (zǐ jīn hóng hú lu), the “purple-gold red gourd.” 羊脂玉淨瓶 (yáng zhī yù jìng píng), the “mutton-fat jade pure-vase” — the two sucking-vessels that name their bearer and swallow him.
With the party captive, the elder fiend turns to the one prize still beyond reach — Pilgrim, pinned but not taken — and the younger produces the scheme that will drive the coming chapters. No need to stir themselves: two imps and two treasures will do the work. The exchange is brisk and businesslike, the villains planning a capture with the confidence of craftsmen who have the right tools.
The treasures named here are among the most famous magical objects in the novel — the purple-gold red gourd and the mutton-fat jade vase — vessels that suck in whoever answers to his own name and reduce him to liquid. Their introduction seeds the elaborate contest of wits to follow, in which Pilgrim will meet the imps, learn the gourds' secret, and turn the demons' surest weapon against them.