遞鍾勸酒 Pressing the Cup of Wine
那老魔拿了壺，滿滿的斟了一杯酒，近前雙手遞與二魔道：「賢弟，我與你遞個鍾兒。」二魔道：「兄長，我們已吃了這半會酒，又遞甚鍾？」老魔道：「你拿住唐僧、八戒、沙僧猶可，又索了孫行者，裝了者行孫，如此功勞，該與你多遞幾鍾。」二魔見哥哥恭敬，怎敢不接，但一隻手托著葫蘆，一隻手不敢去接，卻把葫蘆遞與倚海龍，雙手去接杯。不知那倚海龍是孫行者變的。你看他端葫蘆，慇懃奉侍。二魔接酒吃了，也要回奉一杯。老魔道：「不消回酒，我這裡陪你一杯罷。」兩人只管謙遜。那老魔拿了壶，满满的斟了一杯酒，近前双手递与二魔道：「贤弟，我与你递个钟儿。」二魔道：「兄长，我们已吃了这半会酒，又递甚钟？」老魔道：「你拿住唐僧、八戒、沙僧犹可，又索了孙行者，装了者行孙，如此功劳，该与你多递几钟。」二魔见哥哥恭敬，怎敢不接，但一只手托着葫芦，一只手不敢去接，却把葫芦递与倚海龙，双手去接杯。不知那倚海龙是孙行者变的。你看他端葫芦，慇懃奉侍。二魔接酒吃了，也要回奉一杯。老魔道：「不消回酒，我这里陪你一杯罢。」两人只管谦逊。
逐句解 Line by line
That old fiend took up the pot, poured a brimming cup of wine, and coming forward presented it with both hands to the second fiend: “Worthy brother, let me pass you a cup.” The second fiend said: “Elder brother, we've already drunk this half-while — why pass another cup?” The old fiend said: “You took the Tang Monk, Bajie, and Sha Monk, well and good; but you've also caught Sun the Pilgrim and bottled Che the Pilgrim — for such merit, I ought to pass you a good few cups more.”
遞個鍾兒 dì gè zhōng er, pass a cup — 鍾 is a small handleless wine cup and the er makes it companionable. 兄長 xiōng zhǎng, elder brother, 長 read zhǎng; 又遞甚鍾 yòu dì shén zhōng, why pass another cup, the questioning shén. The elder is toasting a list of achievements — the monks, then Sun the Pilgrim, then the bottled impostor — and every item on it is about to be undone by the toast itself.
The second fiend, seeing his brother so courteous, how dared he not accept? But with one hand he was holding the gourd, and dared not reach with it; so he passed the gourd to Sea-Reclining Dragon and took the cup with both hands — not knowing that this Sea-Reclining Dragon was Sun the Pilgrim transformed. See how he held the gourd, waiting attendance most attentively.
怎敢不接 zěn gǎn bù jiē, how could he dare not accept — the etiquette of the toast, which requires two hands and therefore requires him to put the gourd down. 不知那倚海龍是孫行者變的 bù zhī nà yǐ hǎi lóng shì sūn xíng zhě biàn de, not knowing that Sea-Reclining Dragon was Sun the Pilgrim transformed, pointing 那. 慇懃奉侍 yīn qín fèng shì, waiting attendance attentively — the disguised Great Sage playing the perfect servant while holding the one object that matters.
The second fiend took the wine and drank it, and would return a cup in turn. The old fiend said: “No need to return it; here I'll keep you company with a cup.” And the two of them kept up their courtesies.
回奉一杯 huí fèng yì bēi, return a cup in turn; 不消回酒 bù xiāo huí jiǔ, no need to return it. 兩人只管謙遜 liǎng rén zhǐ guǎn qiān xùn, the two kept up their courtesies — and the longer they defer to each other, the longer the treasure stays in the wrong hands. Politeness is the burglary's accomplice.
The chapter's final swindle is set up by an exquisite piece of social comedy. The old fiend, moved to reward his brother's run of captures with a ceremonial cup, sets a small ritual of fraternal courtesy in motion — the brimming cup, the two-handed offering, the demurral, the insistence on merit. The etiquette of the toast requires the second fiend to free his hands, and so to part, for a moment, with the gourd.
That parting is the whole point, and Wukong is standing in exactly the right place to receive it. Handed the treasure to hold while the brothers exchange their cups, the disguised Great Sage plays the attentive servant — 慇懃奉侍 — with the gourd in his grasp and the demons deep in mutual deference. The warmth and formality of the scene are precisely what disarm them: absorbed in honouring each other, they have set the one thing that matters into the hands of the one being who must not hold it.