原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
打樣棍
A Sample Blow
行者將棍子變得盆來粗細，直壁壁的豎在天井裡，道：「和尚，不方便，你就搬出去。」僧官道：「我們從小兒住的寺，師公傳與師父，師父傳與我輩，我輩要遠繼兒孫。他不知是那裡勾當，冒冒失失的，教我們搬哩。」道人說：「老爺，十分不尷尬，搬出去也罷，扛子打進門來了。」僧官道：「你莫胡說，我們老少眾人四五百名和尚，往那裡搬？搬出去，卻也沒處住。」行者聽見道：「和尚，沒處搬，便著一個出來打樣棍。」老和尚叫道人：「你出去與我打個樣棍來。」那道人慌了道：「爺爺呀！那等個大杠子，教我去打樣棍？」老和尚道：「『養軍千日，用軍一朝。』你怎麼不出去？」道人說：「那杠子莫說打來，若倒下來，壓也壓個肉泥。」老和尚道：「也莫要說壓，只道豎在天井裡，夜晚間走路，不記得啊，一頭也撞個大窟窿。」道人說：「師父，你曉得這般重，卻教我出去打甚麼樣棍？」他自家裡面轉鬧起來。行者将棍子变得盆来粗细，直壁壁的竖在天井里，道：「和尚，不方便，你就搬出去。」僧官道：「我们从小儿住的寺，师公传与师父，师父传与我辈，我辈要远继儿孙。他不知是那里勾当，冒冒失失的，教我们搬哩。」道人说：「老爷，十分不尴尬，搬出去也罢，扛子打进门来了。」僧官道：「你莫胡说，我们老少众人四五百名和尚，往那里搬？搬出去，却也没处住。」行者听见道：「和尚，没处搬，便著一个出来打样棍。」老和尚叫道人：「你出去与我打个样棍来。」那道人慌了道：「爷爷呀！那等个大杠子，教我去打样棍？」老和尚道：「『养军千日，用军一朝。』你怎么不出去？」道人说：「那杠子莫说打来，若倒下来，压也压个肉泥。」老和尚道：「也莫要说压，只道竖在天井里，夜晚间走路，不记得啊，一头也撞个大窟窿。」道人说：「师父，你晓得这般重，却教我出去打甚么样棍？」他自家里面转闹起来。
逐句解 Line by line
行者將棍子變得盆來粗細，直壁壁的豎在天井裡，道：「和尚，不方便，你就搬出去。」
行者将棍子变得盆来粗细，直壁壁的竖在天井里，道：「和尚，不方便，你就搬出去。」
The Pilgrim made his cudgel swell to the thickness of a washtub and stood it bolt upright in the courtyard, saying: “Monk, if it's not convenient, then you move out.”
將 read jiāng (coverb); 盆來粗細 "thick as a basin"; 直壁壁 "stiff and straight upright"; 得 read de.
僧官道：「我們從小兒住的寺，師公傳與師父，師父傳與我輩，我輩要遠繼兒孫。
僧官道：「我们从小儿住的寺，师公传与师父，师父传与我辈，我辈要远继儿孙。
The abbot said: “We've lived in this temple since childhood — grand-master handed it to master, master handed it to us, and we mean to pass it down to our disciples' disciples for generations.”
從小兒 "from childhood," 兒 the suffix er; 兒孫 "sons and grandsons, posterity," 兒 read ér (noun). Two readings of 兒 in one line.
他不知是那裡勾當，冒冒失失的，教我們搬哩。」
他不知是那里勾当，冒冒失失的，教我们搬哩。」
“Heaven knows what business of his this is, that so rashly he'd have us move out.”
勾當 (gòu dàng) "doings, business" (often shady) — 勾 read gòu, 當 read dàng; 冒冒失失 "rashly, recklessly"; 那 read nà, 教 read jiào.
道人說：「老爺，十分不尷尬，搬出去也罷，扛子打進門來了。」
道人说：「老爷，十分不尴尬，搬出去也罢，扛子打进门来了。」
The servitor said: “Your Reverence, it's altogether awkward — moving out or not, the cudgel's already come battering in at the door.”
不尷尬 "awkward, in a fix"; 也罷 "be that as it may"; 扛子 here the great pole/cudgel, read gàng zi (the graph 扛 standing for 杠).
僧官道：「你莫胡說，我們老少眾人四五百名和尚，往那裡搬？
僧官道：「你莫胡说，我们老少众人四五百名和尚，往那里搬？
The abbot said: “Don't talk nonsense. There are four or five hundred of us monks, old and young — where are we to move to?”
老少 "old and young," 少 read shào; 那 read nà. The abbot's stall for time.
搬出去，卻也沒處住。」
搬出去，却也没处住。」
“Move out, and there'd be nowhere to live.”
沒處住 "nowhere to stay," 處 chù.
行者聽見道：「和尚，沒處搬，便著一個出來打樣棍。」
行者听见道：「和尚，没处搬，便著一个出来打样棍。」
Hearing this, the Pilgrim said: “Monk, if there's nowhere to move to, then send one man out to take a sample blow.”
打樣棍 "to take a specimen stroke" — Wukong's grim proposal to demonstrate his cudgel on a volunteer; 著 "to send, dispatch," read zhuó (the causative/dispatch 著 — locked corpus-wide reading); 處 chù.
老和尚叫道人：「你出去與我打個樣棍來。」
老和尚叫道人：「你出去与我打个样棍来。」
The old monk called to the servitor: “You go out and take a sample blow for me.”
個 the measure in 打個樣棍; the abbot volunteers his underling without hesitation.
那道人慌了道：「爺爺呀！
那道人慌了道：「爷爷呀！
The servitor was aghast: “My lord! —”
那 read nà. 爺爺呀 a cry of dismay.
那等個大杠子，教我去打樣棍？」
那等个大杠子，教我去打样棍？」
“a great club like that, and you'd send me to take a sample blow?”
那 read nà; 大杠子 the huge pole, 杠 gàng; 教 read jiào.
老和尚道：「『養軍千日，用軍一朝。』
老和尚道：「『养军千日，用军一朝。』
The old monk said: “‘Rear a soldier a thousand days to use him for a single morning.’”
養軍千日，用軍一朝 a proverb: troops are kept at length for the one day they are needed; 一朝 "a single morning," 朝 read zhāo. 和尚 read hé shàng.
你怎麼不出去？」
你怎么不出去？」
“Why won't you go out?”
The abbot invokes duty to push the servitor toward the cudgel — self-interest dressed as principle.
道人說：「那杠子莫說打來，若倒下來，壓也壓個肉泥。」
道人说：「那杠子莫说打来，若倒下来，压也压个肉泥。」
The servitor said: “Never mind its striking me — if that pole just toppled over, it would crush me to a pulp.”
那 read nà; 倒下來 "to topple over," 倒 read dǎo; 壓個肉泥 "press one into a paste of flesh."
老和尚道：「也莫要說壓，只道豎在天井裡，夜晚間走路，不記得啊，一頭也撞個大窟窿。」
老和尚道：「也莫要说压，只道竖在天井里，夜晚间走路，不记得啊，一头也撞个大窟窿。」
The old monk said: “Never mind its crushing you — say it just stands there in the courtyard, and walking about at night, if you forgot, you'd butt a great hole in your own head.”
夜晚間 "at night"; 得 read de; 撞個大窟窿 "knock a big hole." The two trade escalating images of the pole's lethality.
道人說：「師父，你曉得這般重，卻教我出去打甚麼樣棍？」
道人说：「师父，你晓得这般重，却教我出去打甚么样棍？」
The servitor said: “Master, you know yourself how heavy it is — and you'd still send me out to take a sample blow?”
得 read de; 這般重 "this heavy," 重 read zhòng; 教 read jiào, 甚 read shén.
他自家裡面轉鬧起來。
他自家里面转闹起来。
And so among themselves they fell to squabbling.
轉鬧起來 "to fall to quarrelling." Master and man, each trying to spare himself, expose the same cowardice.
總評 Commentary
Wukong swells his rod to washtub-thickness, plants it upright in the courtyard, and issues an ultimatum — move out or take a "sample blow." The passage is sustained slapstick built on a single bitter joke: the abbot, faced with the choice, at once volunteers his servitor to be the one struck. What follows is a small comic duet in which each man tries to push the lethal errand onto the other.
The humour has a satiric edge sharpened against the abbot. He cites the soldierly proverb — a servant is kept for the day he is needed — to send his underling to almost certain death, while the servitor counters with vivid images of being crushed to pulp or braining himself on the pole in the dark. Their squabble lays bare the self-interest beneath the temple's hierarchy: the master who denied a stranger shelter will spend a subordinate's life to save his own skin, and neither will step forward. The comedy is the mechanism by which the chapter completes its exposure of the abbot's character.