原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
禪堂安寢
Settling for the Night
那些道人聽命，各各整頓齊備，卻來請唐老爺安寢。他師徒們牽馬挑擔，出方丈，徑至禪堂門首看處，只見那裡面燈火光明，兩梢間鋪著四張藤屜床。行者見了，喚那辦草料的道人，將草料擡來，放在禪堂裡面，拴下白馬，教道人都出去。三藏坐在中間。燈下，兩班兒立五百個和尚，都伺候著，不敢撤離。三藏欠身道：「列位請回，貧僧好自在安寢也。」眾僧決不敢退。僧官上前，吩咐大眾：「伏侍老爺安置了再回。」三藏道：「即此就是安置了，都就請回。」眾人卻才敢散去訖。那些道人听命，各各整顿齐备，却来请唐老爷安寝。他师徒们牵马挑担，出方丈，径至禅堂门首看处，只见那里面灯火光明，两梢间铺着四张藤屉床。行者见了，唤那办草料的道人，将草料抬来，放在禅堂里面，拴下白马，教道人都出去。三藏坐在中间。灯下，两班儿立五百个和尚，都伺候着，不敢撤离。三藏欠身道：「列位请回，贫僧好自在安寝也。」众僧决不敢退。僧官上前，吩咐大众：「伏侍老爷安置了再回。」三藏道：「即此就是安置了，都就请回。」众人却才敢散去讫。
逐句解 Line by line
那些道人聽命，各各整頓齊備，卻來請唐老爺安寢。
那些道人听命，各各整顿齐备，却来请唐老爷安寝。
The servitors, at his command, each set all in readiness, and then came to invite the Venerable Tang to retire.
聽命 is to obey an order; 整頓齊備 is to put everything in readiness; 安寢 is to retire for the night. 那 is nà.
他師徒們牽馬挑擔，出方丈，徑至禪堂門首看處，只見那裡面燈火光明，兩梢間鋪著四張藤屜床。
他师徒们牵马挑担，出方丈，径至禅堂门首看处，只见那里面灯火光明，两梢间铺着四张藤屉床。
Master and disciples led the horse and shouldered the loads, left the abbot's quarters, and came to the door of the meditation hall to look — and there inside was bright lamplight, with four rattan-slat beds spread out in the two end-bays.
A 藤屜床 is a bed frame webbed with woven rattan instead of boards — cool, springy, and standard in a southern monastery. 挑擔 takes 擔 as dàn, the load; 兩梢間 are the two end-bays; 鋪著 is spread out, 鋪 read pū and 著 read zhe; 那 is nà.
行者見了，喚那辦草料的道人，將草料擡來，放在禪堂裡面，拴下白馬，教道人都出去。
行者见了，唤那办草料的道人，将草料抬来，放在禅堂里面，拴下白马，教道人都出去。
The Pilgrim, seeing this, called the servitor who tended the fodder to carry the fodder in, set it inside the meditation hall, tethered the white horse, and told the servitors all to go out.
The horse comes indoors, which tells you what Wukong thinks of the hospitality on offer. 將 is jiāng; 拴下 is to tether; 教 is to tell or order; 那 is nà, 都 is dōu, 行 is xíng.
三藏坐在中間。
三藏坐在中间。
Tripitaka sat down in the middle.
中間 is the central bay, 中 read zhōng. 藏 is zàng.
燈下，兩班兒立五百個和尚，都伺候著，不敢撤離。
灯下，两班儿立五百个和尚，都伺候着，不敢撤离。
Beneath the lamps stood the five hundred monks drawn up in two ranks, all waiting in attendance, not daring to withdraw.
And here is the last joke of the sequence: five hundred monks standing in two ranks under the lamps, too frightened to go to bed. 兩班兒 is "in two ranks," 兒 the light suffix er; 伺候著 is attending, 著 read zhe; 都 is dōu; 和尚 takes hé.
三藏欠身道：「列位請回，貧僧好自在安寢也。」
三藏欠身道：「列位请回，贫僧好自在安寝也。」
Tripitaka half-rose and said: "Gentlemen, please withdraw, that this poor monk may rest at ease."
欠身 is to rise slightly as a courtesy; 自在 is at ease. 藏 is zàng.
眾僧決不敢退。
众僧决不敢退。
The monks would by no means dare to withdraw.
決不敢 is "would on no account dare." Dismissal is not enough; they need permission from the abbot.
僧官上前，吩咐大眾：「伏侍老爺安置了再回。」
僧官上前，吩咐大众：「伏侍老爷安置了再回。」
The abbot came forward and instructed the assembly: "Wait on his Lordship until he's settled, then return."
伏侍 is to wait upon; 安置 is to see somebody settled for the night.
三藏道：「即此就是安置了，都就請回。」
三藏道：「即此就是安置了，都就请回。」
Tripitaka said: "This is settled enough — you may all withdraw now."
He releases them a second time, kindly. 都 is dōu; 藏 is zàng.
眾人卻才敢散去訖。
众人却才敢散去讫。
Only then did they venture to disperse.
卻才 is "only then"; 散去訖 marks the dispersing as done and complete. The hall empties, and the chapter changes key.
總評 Commentary
The pilgrims are installed in the three-bay meditation hall, and the passage plays one last variation on the monks' terror: drawn up in two ranks beneath the lamps, all five hundred wait in attendance and cannot be persuaded to go to bed, so frightened of Wukong that even Tripitaka's courteous dismissal will not shift them. Only when he releases them a second time do they dare disperse.
The scene works as a hinge. The farce of humiliation and reversal has spent itself, and the crowded, noisy hall is quietly emptied — horse tethered, fodder brought in, monks gone. What is left is the still hall and the night, and the chapter turns from its long comic set-piece toward the moonlight.