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Reader's edition
洞悉裝法
Learning the Bottling-Spell
那怪道：「師父，不須你助功。我二大王有些法術，遣了三座大山，把他壓在山下，寸步難移，教我兩個拿寶貝來裝他的。」行者道：「是甚寶貝？」精細鬼道：「我的是紅葫蘆，他的是玉淨瓶。」行者道：「怎麼樣裝他？」小妖道：「把這寶貝的底兒朝天，口兒朝地，叫他一聲，他若應了，就裝在裡面；貼上一張『太上老君急急如律令奉敕』的帖子，他就一時三刻，化為膿了。」行者見說，心中暗驚道：「利害，利害！當時日值功曹報信，說有五件寶貝，這是兩件了。不知那三件又是甚麼東西？」那怪道：「师父，不须你助功。我二大王有些法术，遣了三座大山，把他压在山下，寸步难移，教我两个拿宝贝来装他的。」行者道：「是甚宝贝？」精细鬼道：「我的是红葫芦，他的是玉净瓶。」行者道：「怎么样装他？」小妖道：「把这宝贝的底儿朝天，口儿朝地，叫他一声，他若应了，就装在里面；贴上一张『太上老君急急如律令奉敕』的帖子，他就一时三刻，化为脓了。」行者见说，心中暗惊道：「利害，利害！当时日值功曹报信，说有五件宝贝，这是两件了。不知那三件又是甚么东西？」
逐句解 Line by line
那怪道：「師父，不須你助功。我二大王有些法術，遣了三座大山，把他壓在山下，寸步難移，教我兩個拿寶貝來裝他的。」
那怪道：「师父，不须你助功。我二大王有些法术，遣了三座大山，把他压在山下，寸步难移，教我两个拿宝贝来装他的。」
The imps said: “Master, there's no need for your help. Our Second King has some magic arts: he's sent three great mountains to pin him beneath them, so he can't budge an inch, and he's had us two bring treasures to bottle him.”
寸步難移 (cùn bù nán yí), “unable to move an inch,” 難 read nán. 裝他 (zhuāng tā), “to bottle him, seal him inside [the vessel].”
行者道：「是甚寶貝？」
行者道：「是甚宝贝？」
Pilgrim said: “What treasures are these?”
甚寶貝 (shén bǎo bèi), “what treasures,” interrogative shén.
精細鬼道：「我的是紅葫蘆，他的是玉淨瓶。」
精细鬼道：「我的是红葫芦，他的是玉净瓶。」
Fine-and-Keen said: “Mine is the red gourd, his the jade vase.”
紅葫蘆 (hóng hú lu), “the red gourd”; 玉淨瓶 (yù jìng píng), “the jade pure-vase” — the two sucking-vessels.
行者道：「怎麼樣裝他？」
行者道：「怎么样装他？」
Pilgrim said: “And how do you bottle him?”
怎麼樣 (zěn me yàng), “in what manner, how.” Pilgrim draws out the secret he most needs.
小妖道：「把這寶貝的底兒朝天，口兒朝地，叫他一聲，他若應了，就裝在裡面；貼上一張『太上老君急急如律令奉敕』的帖子，他就一時三刻，化為膿了。」
小妖道：「把这宝贝的底儿朝天，口儿朝地，叫他一声，他若应了，就装在里面；贴上一张『太上老君急急如律令奉敕』的帖子，他就一时三刻，化为脓了。」
The imps said: “You turn the treasure's bottom skyward and its mouth to the ground, call his name once, and if he answers he's sealed inside; then paste on a label reading ‘By command of Lord Lao, quick as the statutes decree,’ and in an hour or so he'll melt into pus.”
底兒／口兒 (dǐ er / kǒu er), “the bottom / the mouth,” with the suffix 兒 (er). 他若應了 (tā ruò yìng le), “if he answers,” 應 read yìng. 化為膿 (huà wéi nóng), “melt into pus,” 為 read wéi.
行者見說，心中暗驚道：「利害，利害！當時日值功曹報信，說有五件寶貝，這是兩件了。不知那三件又是甚麼東西？」
行者见说，心中暗惊道：「利害，利害！当时日值功曹报信，说有五件宝贝，这是两件了。不知那三件又是甚么东西？」
Hearing this, Pilgrim was secretly alarmed: “Formidable, formidable! When the Day-Duty Merit-Officer brought word, he said there were five treasures — these are two of them. I wonder what the other three might be?”
日值功曹 (rì zhí gōng cáo), “the Day-Duty Merit-Officer,” a celestial reporting-spirit. 五件寶貝 (wǔ jiàn bǎo bèi), “five treasures” — the demons' full arsenal, of which two are now known.
總評 Commentary
The imps, utterly won over, hand Pilgrim the very intelligence the demons meant to keep from him — the whole mechanism of the gourds. Turn the vessel mouth-down, call the victim's name, and if he answers he is sucked in and sealed to dissolve. The scene's irony is that they explain, in patient detail, exactly how to destroy Sun Pilgrim, to Sun Pilgrim, who files every word away.
Pilgrim's private alarm — “Formidable, formidable!” — is a rare admission of real danger, and it widens the stakes: a celestial informant had warned of five treasures, and here are only two. The unanswered question, “what the other three might be,” reaches past this episode toward the larger contest with the Gold- and Silver-Horned Kings. Even at the height of his con, Pilgrim is calculating, gathering not just this trick but the shape of the whole threat.