原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
老君索寶
Lord Lao Reclaims His Treasures
行者仔細觀看，原來是太上李老君，慌得近前施禮道：「老官兒，那裡去？」那老祖急昇玉局寶座，在九霄空裡佇立，叫：「孫行者，還我寶貝。」大聖起到空中道：「甚麼寶貝？」老君道：「葫蘆是我盛丹的，淨瓶是我盛水的，寶劍是我煉魔的，扇子是我搧火的，繩子是我一根勒袍的帶。那兩個怪：一個是我看金爐的童子，一個是我看銀爐的童子。只因他偷了我的寶貝，走下界來，正無覓處，卻是你今拿住，得了功績。」行者仔细观看，原来是太上李老君，慌得近前施礼道：「老官儿，那里去？」那老祖急升玉局宝座，在九霄空里伫立，叫：「孙行者，还我宝贝。」大圣起到空中道：「甚么宝贝？」老君道：「葫芦是我盛丹的，净瓶是我盛水的，宝剑是我炼魔的，扇子是我扇火的，绳子是我一根勒袍的带。那两个怪：一个是我看金炉的童子，一个是我看银炉的童子。只因他偷了我的宝贝，走下界来，正无觅处，却是你今拿住，得了功绩。」
逐句解 Line by line
行者仔細觀看，原來是太上李老君，慌得近前施禮道：「老官兒，那裡去？」
行者仔细观看，原来是太上李老君，慌得近前施礼道：「老官儿，那里去？」
Pilgrim looked closely, and it turned out to be the Most High Lord Lao Li; in a fluster he came forward and made his bow: “Old sir, where are you off to?”
仔細觀看 — "looked carefully," 仔 zǐ, 觀 guān; 太上李老君, the deified Laozi. 慌得, "flustered," 得 the complement de; 老官兒, "old sir," 兒 the suffix (er); 那裡 interrogative (nǎ).
那老祖急昇玉局寶座，在九霄空裡佇立，叫：「孫行者，還我寶貝。」
那老祖急升玉局宝座，在九霄空里伫立，叫：「孙行者，还我宝贝。」
The old patriarch rose swiftly to his Jade-Bureau throne and, standing poised in the ninefold empyrean, called: “Sun Xingzhe, give me back my treasures.”
玉局寶座 — the "Jade-Bureau throne"; 九霄空, "the ninefold empyrean." 還我寶貝, "give me back my treasures," 還 huán; 行 forced to xíng.
大聖起到空中道：「甚麼寶貝？」
大圣起到空中道：「甚么宝贝？」
The Great Sage rose up into the air: “What treasures?”
甲麼寶貝 — "what treasures," 甲 = 甚, read shén; 空中, "in the air," 中 zhōng.
老君道：「葫蘆是我盛丹的，淨瓶是我盛水的，寶劍是我煉魔的，扇子是我搧火的，繩子是我一根勒袍的帶。
老君道：「葫芦是我盛丹的，净瓶是我盛水的，宝剑是我炼魔的，扇子是我扇火的，绳子是我一根勒袍的带。
Lord Lao said: “The gourd is mine, for holding elixir; the Pure Vase is mine, for holding water; the treasure-sword is mine, for refining demons; the fan is mine, for fanning fire; and the cord is a sash of mine, one strand for cinching my robe.
盛丹的 / 盛水的 — "for holding elixir / for holding water," 盛 read chéng ("to contain," not shèng). Lord Lao inventories the five treasures and their humble household uses — a wry deflation of the fearsome arsenal.
那兩個怪：一個是我看金爐的童子，一個是我看銀爐的童子。
那两个怪：一个是我看金炉的童子，一个是我看银炉的童子。
As for those two fiends: one is the boy who tends my gold furnace, and one is the boy who tends my silver furnace.
童子 — "acolyte-boy," 子 the suffix (zi). The great revelation: the Gold-Horn and Silver-Horn fiends are Lord Lao’s own furnace-tending servant-boys.
只因他偷了我的寶貝，走下界來，正無覓處，卻是你今拿住，得了功績。」
只因他偷了我的宝贝，走下界来，正无觅处，却是你今拿住，得了功绩。」
Just because they stole my treasures and came down to the mortal world, and I was at a loss where to seek them — it is you who have now caught them, and gained the credit.”
正無覓處 — "just [when I] had nowhere to seek [them]," 處 chù; 得了功績, "gained the merit," 得 read dé. Lord Lao credits Wukong with the capture even as he claims his own back.
總評 Commentary
The reversal is complete and the mystery unveiled. The "blind man" is the Most High Lord Lao — Laozi — who ascends to his Jade-Bureau throne and demands his treasures. His inventory of the fearsome arsenal is a masterstroke of deflation: the world-scorching gourd and vase are merely for "holding elixir" and "holding water," the dread cord a sash for cinching his robe.
Then the great disclosure: the Gold-Horn and Silver-Horn Kings, who have terrorized the pilgrims for two chapters, are nothing but Lord Lao’s two furnace-tending boys, run off with their master’s things. At a stroke the whole arc is recast — the mighty demons reduced to truant servants, their treasures to household goods — and Lord Lao, with wry generosity, credits Wukong with the capture even as he reclaims his own.