錯拿之責 Rebuke for the Wrong Capture
老魔聞言，大喜道：「拿來我看。」二魔道：「這不是？」老魔道：「賢弟呀，又錯拿來了也。」二魔道：「你說拿唐僧的。」老魔道：「是便就是唐僧，只是還不曾拿住那有手段的孫行者。須是要拿住他，才好吃唐僧哩；若不曾拿得他，切莫動他的人。那猴王神通廣大，變化多般，我們若吃了他師父，他肯甘心？來那門前吵鬧，莫想能得安生。」老魔闻言，大喜道：「拿来我看。」二魔道：「这不是？」老魔道：「贤弟呀，又错拿来了也。」二魔道：「你说拿唐僧的。」老魔道：「是便就是唐僧，只是还不曾拿住那有手段的孙行者。须是要拿住他，才好吃唐僧哩；若不曾拿得他，切莫动他的人。那猴王神通广大，变化多般，我们若吃了他师父，他肯甘心？来那门前吵闹，莫想能得安生。」
逐句解 Line by line
The old fiend, hearing this, rejoiced greatly: "Bring them in for me to see."
老魔 (lǎo mó), the old fiend, is the elder brother, Gold-Horn. 大喜 (dà xǐ), "hugely pleased" -- for about one line.
The second fiend said: "And here they are — no?"
這不是 (zhè bú shì), "and here they are, no?" The very words he used at the top of the chapter when he brought in the wrong pilgrim. The novel is repeating the joke on purpose.
The old fiend said: "Worthy brother — you've gone and caught the wrong ones again."
賢弟 (xián dì), "worthy younger brother," is courteous address between men -- and courteous address is exactly how an elder brother delivers a rebuke. 又錯拿 (yòu cuò ná), "caught the wrong ones again."
The second fiend said: "You said to catch Tripitaka."
A flat, wounded protest: it was you who said to catch Tripitaka. The younger brother has done precisely as instructed and is being told off for it, which is the oldest complaint in any organization.
The old fiend said: "Tripitaka he is, right enough — only you've still not caught that resourceful Sun Pilgrim.
是便就是 (shì biàn jiù shì), "granted, he is the one." 有手段 (yǒu shǒu duàn), "full of resource, up to anything." The elder is not worried about who was caught. He is worried about who was not.
"We must catch him first before it's safe to eat Tripitaka; until he's taken, don't lay a hand on any of his people.
才好 (cái hǎo), "only then is it safe to." 切莫 (qiè mò), "on no account" -- the same emphatic prohibition he used when sending his brother out. Secure Pilgrim first; touch nobody until then.
"That Monkey King's powers are vast and his transformations many — if we eat his master, will he take it lying down?
神通廣大 (shén tōng guǎng dà), "powers vast and far-reaching," and 變化多般, transformations of every kind. 肯甘心 (kěn gān xīn), "be willing to swallow it." The elder brother sizes Pilgrim up correctly, which is more than his brother manages, and more than most of the novel's villains ever do.
"He'll come brawling at our gate, and we can forget any peace."
吵鬧 (chǎo nào), "to raise an uproar." 莫想能得安生 (mò xiǎng néng dé ān shēng), "give up any hope of a quiet life." It is a precise forecast of the next several chapters, delivered by the man it will happen to.
The scene shifts to the two brothers, and with it the chapter's comedy of crossed purposes. The younger is triumphant -- he has brought back Tripitaka, exactly as ordered -- and the elder is exasperated, because catching the master while leaving Pilgrim loose is worse than useless. "You said to catch Tripitaka" against "the wrong ones again" turns a villains' council into a family argument.
Underneath the bickering, the elder brother states the real logic of the episode and pays Pilgrim the tribute his own brother withholds. He rates the Monkey King precisely: powers vast, transformations without number, and certain to bring the roof in if his master is harmed. His prudent instruction -- secure Pilgrim first, touch nobody until then -- is the plot of everything that follows.