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二魔獻策
The Second Fiend's Counsel
老魔聽說，暴躁如雷道：「罷了，罷了，這就是孫行者假妝神仙騙哄去了。那猴頭神通廣大，處處人熟，不知那個毛神放他出來，騙去寶貝。」二魔道：「兄長息怒。叵耐那猴頭著然無禮，既有手段，便走了也罷，怎麼又騙寶貝？我若沒本事拿他，永不在西方路上為怪。」老魔道：「怎生拿他？」二魔道：「我們有五件寶貝，去了兩件，還有三件，務要拿住他。」老魔道：「還有那三件？」二魔道：「還有七星劍與芭蕉扇在我身邊，那一條幌金繩，在壓龍山壓龍洞老母親那裡收著哩。如今差兩個小妖去請母親來吃唐僧肉，就教他帶幌金繩來拿孫行者。」老魔道：「差那個去？」二魔道：「不差這樣廢物去。」老魔听说，暴躁如雷道：「罢了，罢了，这就是孙行者假妆神仙骗哄去了。那猴头神通广大，处处人熟，不知那个毛神放他出来，骗去宝贝。」二魔道：「兄长息怒。叵耐那猴头著然无礼，既有手段，便走了也罢，怎么又骗宝贝？我若没本事拿他，永不在西方路上为怪。」老魔道：「怎生拿他？」二魔道：「我们有五件宝贝，去了两件，还有三件，务要拿住他。」老魔道：「还有那三件？」二魔道：「还有七星剑与芭蕉扇在我身边，那一条幌金绳，在压龙山压龙洞老母亲那里收著哩。如今差两个小妖去请母亲来吃唐僧肉，就教他带幌金绳来拿孙行者。」老魔道：「差那个去？」二魔道：「不差这样废物去。」
逐句解 Line by line
老魔聽說，暴躁如雷道：「罷了，罷了，這就是孫行者假妝神仙騙哄去了。那猴頭神通廣大，處處人熟，不知那個毛神放他出來，騙去寶貝。」
老魔听说，暴躁如雷道：「罢了，罢了，这就是孙行者假妆神仙骗哄去了。那猴头神通广大，处处人熟，不知那个毛神放他出来，骗去宝贝。」
Hearing this, the old fiend flew into a rage like thunder: “Done for, done for! This is Sun the Pilgrim, who tricked them by feigning an immortal. That monkey-head has vast magic powers and knows people everywhere; there's no telling which petty spirit let him out to swindle away our treasures.”
罷了，罷了 (bà le, bà le), "done for, done for!" — the exclamatory 罷 of dismay, bà. 那猴頭 (nà hóu tóu), "that monkey-head," deictic nà; but 那個毛神 (nǎ ge máo shén), "which petty spirit," indefinite nǎ.
二魔道：「兄長息怒。叵耐那猴頭著然無禮，既有手段，便走了也罷，怎麼又騙寶貝？我若沒本事拿他，永不在西方路上為怪。」
二魔道：「兄长息怒。叵耐那猴头著然无礼，既有手段，便走了也罢，怎么又骗宝贝？我若没本事拿他，永不在西方路上为怪。」
The second fiend said: “Elder brother, calm your anger. Insufferable that the monkey-head should be so utterly without manners — if he had powers and merely made off, so be it; but why must he also steal our treasures? If I've no skill to take him, may I never work my mischief on the western road again.”
兄長 (xiōng zhǎng), "elder brother," the honorific 長 read zhǎng. 著然無禮 (zhuó rán wú lǐ), "utterly without manners" — the fixed adverbial 著然, zhuó. 永不…為怪 (yǒng bù … wéi guài), "never again be a demon" — 為 the verb wéi, "to act as, to be.”
老魔道：「怎生拿他？」二魔道：「我們有五件寶貝，去了兩件，還有三件，務要拿住他。」老魔道：「還有那三件？」二魔道：「還有七星劍與芭蕉扇在我身邊，那一條幌金繩，在壓龍山壓龍洞老母親那裡收著哩。如今差兩個小妖去請母親來吃唐僧肉，就教他帶幌金繩來拿孫行者。」
老魔道：「怎生拿他？」二魔道：「我们有五件宝贝，去了两件，还有三件，务要拿住他。」老魔道：「还有那三件？」二魔道：「还有七星剑与芭蕉扇在我身边，那一条幌金绳，在压龙山压龙洞老母亲那里收著哩。如今差两个小妖去请母亲来吃唐僧肉，就教他带幌金绳来拿孙行者。」
The old fiend said: “How will you take him?” The second said: “We have five treasures; two are gone, three remain, and take him we surely will.” The old fiend said: “Which three are left?” The second said: “The seven-star sword and the plantain fan are still at my side; that one length of gold-glinting cord is kept by our old mother at Dragon-Crushing Cave on Dragon-Crushing Mountain. Let us now send two imps to invite Mother to come and eat the Tang Monk's flesh, and have her bring the gold-glinting cord to catch Sun the Pilgrim.”
還有那三件 (hái yǒu nǎ sān jiàn), "which three remain?" — interrogative nǎ; but 那一條 (nà yì tiáo), "that one length," and 那裡收著 (nà lǐ shōu zhe), "kept over there," both deictic nà. 差兩個 (chāi liǎng ge), "dispatch two" — 差 read chāi, to send on a mission. 幌金繩 (huǎng jīn shéng), the gold-glinting cord.
老魔道：「差那個去？」二魔道：「不差這樣廢物去。」
老魔道：「差那个去？」二魔道：「不差这样废物去。」
The old fiend said: “Whom shall we send?” The second said: “Not such useless creatures as these.”
差那個去 (chāi nǎ ge qù), "whom to dispatch?" — interrogative nǎ. 不差 (bù chāi), "not send" — with 差 read chāi (level tone), the negative reverts to bù.
總評 Commentary
The old fiend's fury and the second fiend's cold resolve divide the villainy into complementary temperaments — thunderous rage answered by tactical calm. The elder's despairing 罷了，罷了 measures the loss; the younger's oath to abjure his own demonhood should he fail measures the resolve. Between them the narrative resets the contest: the imps' disgrace is past, and a fresh scheme, better armed, takes shape.
This passage performs the crucial inventory: five treasures, two lost, three in hand — the seven-star sword, the plantain fan, and the gold-glinting cord held by the old matriarch at Dragon-Crushing Cave. The plan to summon Mother under the pretext of a feast on the Tang Monk's flesh introduces the family beyond the brothers, and the cord that will shortly bind the Great Sage. Wukong, still a fly on the frame, hears every particular of the trap laid for him.