二魔挑戰 · 好殺 The Second Fiend's Challenge; A Fine Fight
二魔高叫道：「孫行者，快還我寶貝與我母親來，我饒你唐僧取經去。」大聖忍不住罵道：「這潑怪物，錯認了你孫外公。趕早兒送還我師父、師弟、白馬、行囊，仍打發我些盤纏，往西走路；若牙縫裡道半個『不』字，就自家搓根繩兒去罷，也免得你外公動手。」二魔聞言，急縱雲，跳在空中，掄寶劍來刺；行者掣鐵棒劈面相迎。他兩個在半空中，這場好殺：二魔高叫道：「孙行者，快还我宝贝与我母亲来，我饶你唐僧取经去。」大圣忍不住骂道：「这泼怪物，错认了你孙外公。赶早儿送还我师父、师弟、白马、行囊，仍打发我些盘缠，往西走路；若牙缝里道半个『不』字，就自家搓根绳儿去罢，也免得你外公动手。」二魔闻言，急纵云，跳在空中，抡宝剑来刺；行者掣铁棒劈面相迎。他两个在半空中，这场好杀：
逐句解 Line by line
The second fiend called out loud: “Sun the Pilgrim, quickly give me back my treasures and my mother, and I'll let you go fetch your scriptures with the Tang Monk.” The Great Sage, unable to hold his temper, cursed back: “You foul beast, you've mistaken your own Grandpa Sun! Hand back at once my master, my brothers, the white horse, and the baggage, hand me over some travel-money besides, and let me go west on my road; but if from between your teeth there comes half a ‘no,’ then go twist yourself a rope and be done with it — spare your Grandpa the trouble of a hand.”
快還我寶貝 (kuài huán wǒ bǎo bèi), "give me back my treasures" — 還 read huán, to return; likewise 送還 (sòng huán). 趕早兒 (gǎn zǎo er), "at once," diminutive er; 繩兒去罷 (shéng er qù ba), "go twist a rope, and be done" — hortative ba.
The second fiend, hearing this, at once leapt astride a cloud, sprang into the air, and brandished his sword to stab; Pilgrim swung his iron cudgel to meet him face on.
急縱雲 (jí zòng yún), "at once leapt astride a cloud." 劈面相迎 (pī miàn xiāng yíng), "met him face on" — 相 the reciprocal xiāng; 空中 (kōng zhōng), "in the air," 中 read zhōng.
The two of them, up in mid-air — this was a fine fight:
這場好殺 (zhè chǎng hǎo shā), "this was a fine fight" — the storyteller's formula ushering in a combat rhapsody. 半空中 (bàn kōng zhōng), "in mid-air," 中 read zhōng.
Chess meets its match; the general finds his equal.
棋逢對手，將遇良才 (qí féng duì shǒu, jiàng yù liáng cái), "chess meets its match, the general his equal" — a set couplet of evenly-paired rivals; 將 here is jiàng, "general," not the coverb.
Chess meeting its match, one can scarce hide one's zest; the general finding his equal, one may put forth one's craft.
難藏興 (nán cáng xìng), "scarce hide one's zest" — 藏 read cáng, 興 read xìng, relish. 將遇良才可用功 (jiàng yù liáng cái kě yòng gōng), "the general may put forth his craft" — 將 again jiàng.
Those two divine generals closing in were just like South-Mountain tigers battling, North-Sea dragons contending.
那兩員神將相交 (nà liǎng yuán shén jiàng xiāng jiāo), "those two divine generals closing in" — deictic nà, 將 the rank-word jiàng, 相 reciprocal xiāng. 好便似 (hǎo biàn sì), "just like" — 似 read sì.
Where dragons contend, their scales cast a glitter;
龍爭處 (lóng zhēng chù), "where dragons contend" — 處 read chù. 鱗甲生輝 (lín jiǎ shēng huī), "scales casting a glitter," the imagery of clashing armor.
When tigers battle, their claws and fangs fly wild.
虎鬥時 (hǔ dòu shí), "when tigers battle." 爪牙亂落 (zhǎo yá luàn luò), "claws and fangs flying wild," the paired ferocity answering the dragon-image.
Claws and fangs flying wild scatter silver hooks; scales casting a glitter brace up plates of iron.
撒銀鉤 (sǎ yín gōu), "scatter silver hooks" — the fangs as hooks. 支鐵葉 (zhī tiě yè), "brace up iron plates" — the scales as overlapping mail, the two similes fully unfolded.
This one, over and over, has a thousand cunning moves;
這一個翻翻復復 (zhè yí gè fān fān fù fù), "this one, over and over." 千般解數 (qiān bān jiě shù), "a thousand cunning moves" — 解數, combat techniques, 解 read jiě, 數 read shù.
that one, back and forth, gives not half a moment's ease.
那一個來來往往 (nà yí gè lái lái wǎng wǎng), "that one, back and forth" — deictic nà. 無半點放閑 (wú bàn diǎn fàng xián), "not half a moment's ease.”
The golden-banded cudgel, from the crown of the head just three-tenths apart;
金箍棒 (jīn gū bàng), the golden-banded cudgel. 離頂門只隔三分 (lí dǐng mén zhǐ gé sān fēn), "from the crown just three-tenths apart" — the cudgel a hair from the skull.
the seven-star sword, at the pit of the heart with but one thrust to vie.
七星劍 (qī xīng jiàn), the seven-star sword. 向心窩惟爭一蹍 (xiàng xīn wō wéi zhēng yì niǎn), "at the heart's pit with but one thrust to vie" — 蹍, a hair's pressure, the blade a breath from the vitals.
That one's fierce might presses the Dipper and Ox to a chill; this one's wrathful air outmatches the peril of thunder and lightning.
那個威風逼得斗牛寒 (nà gè wēi fēng bī de dǒu niú hán), "that one's might presses the Dipper and Ox to a chill" — deictic nà, complement de; 斗牛, the Dipper and Herd-Boy asterisms, 斗 read dǒu.
The second fiend's challenge is couched in the etiquette of ransom — return my treasures and my mother, and go your way — but the demand for his “mother” is grimly hollow, since Wukong has already killed her, and the reader hears the fiend bargaining for a corpse. Wukong's reply is pure Monkey bluster, the swaggering self-styled “Grandpa Sun” turning the tables of seniority and offering the demon a rope to hang himself in lieu of a fight.
The combat rhapsody that follows is the chapter's third and final set-piece, and it lifts the duel into the stylized register of the war-tale: chess meeting its match, generals finding their equals, tigers and dragons in symmetrical fury, cudgel and sword each a hair from a fatal mark. The imagery is deliberately balanced — this one and that one, hook and plate, crown and heart — so that the verse enacts the very deadlock it describes, two matched powers locked with neither able to prevail. It is the formal overture to a stalemate that will force Wukong to reach, once more, for a stolen treasure.