奏請借天 Petitioning to Borrow the Sky
好大聖，低頭捻訣，念個咒語，叫那日遊神、夜遊神、五方揭諦神：「即去與我奏上玉帝，說老孫皈依正果，保唐僧去西天取經，路阻高山，師逢苦厄。妖魔那寶，吾欲誘他換之。萬千拜上，將天借與老孫裝閉半個時辰，以助成功，若道半聲不肯，即上靈霄殿，動起刀兵。」好大圣，低头捻诀，念个咒语，叫那日游神、夜游神、五方揭谛神：「即去与我奏上玉帝，说老孙皈依正果，保唐僧去西天取经，路阻高山，师逢苦厄。妖魔那宝，吾欲诱他换之。万千拜上，将天借与老孙装闭半个时辰，以助成功，若道半声不肯，即上灵霄殿，动起刀兵。」
逐句解 Line by line
Fine Great Sage! He bowed his head, made the finger-signs, chanted a spell, and summoned the Day-Roaming Spirit, the Night-Roaming Spirit, and the Guardians of the Five Quarters: “Go at once and report to the Jade Emperor for me — say old Monkey has turned to the true fruit and guards Tripitaka on his way west to fetch scriptures, that his road is barred by high mountains and his master beset by ordeal.
日遊神、夜遊神 (rì yóu shén, yè yóu shén), the “Day-Roaming and Night-Roaming Spirits,” patrolling deities. 奏上玉帝 (zòu shàng yù dì), “to memorialize the Jade Emperor.” 路阻高山 (lù zǔ gāo shān), “the road blocked by high mountains.”
“The fiends have those treasures, and I mean to lure them into a trade.
妖魔那寶 (yāo mó nà bǎo), “those treasures of the fiends,” 那 deictic. 誘他換之 (yòu tā huàn zhī), “entice them to exchange them.”
“A thousand times I beg it: lend old Monkey the sky to bottle up for half an hour, to help me succeed. If the answer's so much as half a word of refusal, I'll come up to the Hall of Divine Mists and set weapons flying.”
將天借與 (jiāng tiān jiè yǔ), “lend [me] the sky,” 將 the disposal coverb. 裝閉半個時辰 (zhuāng bì bàn gè shí chén), “bottle it shut for half a double-hour.” 靈霄殿 (líng xiāo diàn), the Hall of Divine Mists, the Jade Emperor's court.
Having promised the impossible, Pilgrim simply arranges to make it true — by requisitioning Heaven. The summons to the roaming spirits is framed as a formal petition: a full accounting of his converted status, his mission guarding Tripitaka, the mountains that bar the road, the trap he means to spring. The bureaucratic register is deliberate, the Great Sage filing his request through proper channels even as the request itself is outrageous.
But the petition ends in pure Monkey: the courtesy of “a thousand times I beg it” gives way instantly to threat — refuse by half a word, and he will storm the Hall of Divine Mists with weapons drawn. The juxtaposition captures the whole comedy of his relationship to Heaven, at once its reformed servant and its perennial menace. Having wrecked the celestial court once, he can petition it now with the confidence of one whose threats are known to be good.