引君入寺 Leading the Prince to the Temple
原來是那大聖故意教他中了，卻眼乖手疾，一把接住那箭頭，把箭翎花落在前邊，丟開腳步跑了。那太子見箭中了玉兔，兜開馬，獨自爭先來趕。不知馬行的快，行者如風；馬行的遲，行者慢走：只在他面前不遠。看他一程一里，將太子哄到寶林寺山門之下，行者現了本身。不見兔兒，只見一枝箭插在門檻上。徑撞進去，見唐僧道：「師父，來了，來了。」卻又一變，變做二寸長的小和尚兒，鑽在紅匣之內。原来是那大圣故意教他中了，却眼乖手疾，一把接住那箭头，把箭翎花落在前边，丢开脚步跑了。那太子见箭中了玉兔，兜开马，独自争先来赶。不知马行的快，行者如风；马行的迟，行者慢走：只在他面前不远。看他一程一里，将太子哄到宝林寺山门之下，行者现了本身。不见兔儿，只见一枝箭插在门槛上。径撞进去，见唐僧道：「师父，来了，来了。」却又一变，变做二寸长的小和尚儿，钻在红匣之内。
逐句解 Line by line
It was, in truth, that the Great Sage had on purpose let it strike him; then, sharp of eye and quick of hand, he caught the arrowhead in one grasp, let the arrow’s feather-vanes fall to the fore, and, breaking into a run, sped off.
The trick behind the trick. He let the arrow hit, caught the head in his fist, and dropped the feathered shaft in front of him — so the boy sees a wounded rabbit running and a trail to follow. 眼乖手疾 is sharp-eyed and quick-handed. 教他中了 has 教 as jiào, the causative, and 中 as zhòng, to hit the mark; 那大聖 and 那箭頭 take the pointing nà.
That prince, seeing the arrow had struck the jade rabbit, gave his horse the rein and, all alone, pressed forward foremost in pursuit.
And the trap springs on one word: 獨自, alone. He outrides his own escort. 兜開馬 is to give the horse its head; 箭中了 keeps 中 as zhòng; 那太子 takes the pointing nà and 子 as zǐ.
Little did he know: when the horse ran fast, Pilgrim went like the wind;
Two clauses that describe a pace-setter rather than a chase. 馬行 has 行 as xíng, to go; 如風 is "like the wind."
when the horse ran slow, Pilgrim walked slow: staying always not far before him.
And the mirror clause completes the joke: when the horse slows, so does the rabbit, staying always just far enough ahead to be worth following. 慢走 is to go slowly; 馬行 again takes xíng.
See him, over one stage and one li, luring the prince to below the mountain gate of Baolin Monastery, where Pilgrim showed his true form.
The distance is deliberately small — 一程一里, one stage and one lǐ — because Wukong needs the boy separated from his army, not lost in the hills. 哄 is to coax or lure; 將太子哄到 has 將 as jiāng and 子 as zǐ; 一程 keeps 一 as yì.
The rabbit was nowhere seen, only an arrow stuck in the gate-threshold.
The rabbit gone, the arrow standing in the threshold: a small, excellent piece of staging, since an arrow in a doorway is an invitation. 兔兒 ends in the light er; 一枝箭 keeps 一 as yì.
Straightway he rushed in and, seeing the Tang Monk, said, “Master, he is coming, he is coming!”
Backstage, at speed. 徑撞進去 is to barge straight in; 來了 takes the completive le — "he's coming, he's coming."
Then he changed once more, into a little monk two cùn tall, and slipped inside the red casket.
And back into the box. 小和尚兒 ends in the light er; 二寸長 has 長 as cháng, in length — two cùn, as promised.
The chase is pure stagecraft. Wukong lets the arrow appear to strike, palms the head, drops the shaft as a trail, and then paces himself precisely to the prince's horse — fast when it gallops, slow when it slows — so that the boy is always about to catch up and never does. The distance is kept short on purpose: one stage and one lǐ, just far enough to shed three thousand men.
Delivered alone to the gate of Baolin Monastery, the prince is exactly where the plan needs him. Wukong, his work as a rabbit done, darts inside to warn Tripitaka and shrinks back to the two-cùn monk in the casket. Every prop set up over the last eight passages is now in position.