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), "neat work." 兩次捉了三個和尚 (liǎng cì zhuō le sān gè hé shàng), "three monks in two goes," and the count is exact: Bajie in the first seizure, at the end of the last chapter, then Tripitaka and Sha Monk together in the second. The horse and the luggage came along with the second haul but do not enter the tally, which counts monks.
"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 make up the steamer," that is, to cook him along with the others. 作個法 (zuò gè fǎ), "to work out some means." The elder wants the whole set before he starts the meal.
The second fiend said: "Elder brother, be seated.
兄長 (xiōng zhǎng), "elder brother," respectful, with 長 read zhǎng. He is about to solve his brother's problem and wants him comfortable first.
"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." 裝將來 (zhuāng jiāng lái), "bottle him up and fetch him over," 將 the syllable of motion, then the 罷 (ba) of a suggestion. Note the verb: 裝, to pack a thing into a container. It is the key word of the rest of the chapter.
The old fiend said: "What treasures shall they take?"
甚麼寶貝 (shén me bǎo bèi), "what treasures?" -- 甚 the question-word shén. The question a straight man asks.
The second fiend said: "My purple-gold red gourd, and your mutton-fat jade vase."
Two of the most famous magical objects in the novel. 紫金紅葫蘆 (zǐ jīn hóng hú lu) is the purple-gold red gourd; 羊脂玉淨瓶 (yáng zhī yù jìng píng) is the mutton-fat jade vase -- and mutton-fat jade is a real grade of white nephrite, the most prized, named for exactly the color and greasy sheen it sounds like. Both work the same way: answer to your own name and the vessel swallows you.
With the party in hand, the elder turns to the one prize still out of reach, and his brother produces the scheme that will drive the next several chapters. No need for either of them to stir: two imps and two treasures will do it. The exchange is brisk and businesslike, two craftsmen agreeing on the right tool for a job.
The tools in question are among the best-known 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. Introducing them here seeds the long contest of wits to follow, in which Pilgrim will meet the imps carrying them, learn exactly how they work, and turn the demons' surest weapon around.