冒充外班 Posing as an Outer-Ranks Imp
那倚海龍回頭問道:「是那裡來的?」行者道:「好哥啊,連自家人也認不得?」小妖道:「我家沒有你。」行者道:「怎麼沒我?你再認認我。」小妖道:「面生,面生,不曾相會。」行者道:「正是。你們不曾會著我,我是外班的。」小妖道:「外班長官,是不曾會。你往那裡去?」行者道:「大王說差你二位請老奶奶來吃唐僧肉,教他就帶幌金繩來,拿孫行者。恐你二位走得緩,有些貪頑,誤了正事,又差我來催你們快去。」那倚海龙回头问道:「是那里来的?」行者道:「好哥啊,连自家人也认不得?」小妖道:「我家没有你。」行者道:「怎么没我?你再认认我。」小妖道:「面生,面生,不曾相会。」行者道:「正是。你们不曾会着我,我是外班的。」小妖道:「外班长官,是不曾会。你往那里去?」行者道:「大王说差你二位请老奶奶来吃唐僧肉,教他就带幌金绳来,拿孙行者。恐你二位走得缓,有些贪顽,误了正事,又差我来催你们快去。」
逐句解 Line by line
Sea-Reclining Dragon turned his head and asked: “Where are you from?” Pilgrim said: “Come now, brother — you don't even know your own household folk?” The imp said: “There's no you in our house.” Pilgrim said: “How no me? Look at me again.” The imp said: “A strange face, a strange face — we've never met.”
那倚海龍 nà yǐ hǎi lóng, that Sea-Reclining Dragon, points; 是那裡來的 shì nǎ lǐ lái de, where are you from, asks. 認不得 rèn bù de, cannot place you — the negative-possibility de again, and the imp is being honest. 不曾相會 bù céng xiāng huì, never met, with 相 as xiāng, the mutual one: never met each other.
Pilgrim said: “Just so. You've never met me — I'm of the outer ranks.” The imp said: “If you're an outer-ranks officer, then we've not met. Where are you headed?”
會著我 huì zháo wǒ, met me — 著 as zháo, a meeting that actually took place. Then the invented rank lands: 外班長官 wài bān zhǎng guān, outer-ranks officer, with 長 read zhǎng, senior. The imp accepts it instantly, because in any bureaucracy an unfamiliar superior is far more plausible than a stranger — and asks only 你往那裡去 nǐ wǎng nǎ lǐ qù, where are you headed, the questioning nǎ.
Pilgrim said: “The Great King says he's sending you two to invite Old Grandma to eat the Tang Monk's flesh, and to have her bring the gold-glinting cord along to catch Sun the Pilgrim. Fearing you two might dawdle, dally, and spoil the business, he's sent me on to urge you to make haste.”
教他就帶 jiào tā jiù dài, have her bring along — 教 read jiào, causative, to make someone do a thing. Compare the 就著帶 of the original order: Wukong is reciting from memory and has smoothed the phrasing, which is exactly what a man repeating an overheard instruction would do. 走得緩 zǒu de huǎn, walk slowly, is the how-well de; 誤了正事 wù le zhèng shì, spoil the business.
The imposture works by effrontery rather than stealth. Wukong does not sneak the information out of the couriers; he browbeats them into it, playing injured familiarity — you don't know your own household? — until the honest imp, baffled but deferential, accepts "outer ranks" as an explanation for a face he has never seen.
Having established false standing, Wukong closes the trap by reciting the mission back to its own messengers as proof of rank: the invitation, the feast, the cord, the quarry. The claim that he has been sent to hurry them along is the perfect cover, since it explains his presence, flatters his seniority, and licenses him to steer their errand. The couriers now carry, without knowing it, the very enemy their summons was meant to catch.