羑里之憂 The Fear of a Youli
太子跪地叩拜道：「師父，我只在此，伺候到明日，同師父一路去罷。」行者道：「不好，不好。若是與你一同入城，那怪物生疑，不說是我撞著你，卻說是你請老孫，卻不惹他反怪你也？」太子道：「我如今進城，他也怪我。」行者道：「怪你怎麼？」太子道：「我自早朝蒙差，帶領若干人馬鷹犬出城，今一日更無一件野物，怎麼見駕？若問我個不才之罪，監陷羑里，你明日進城，卻將何倚？況那班部中，更沒個相知人也。」行者道：「這甚打緊？你肯早說時，卻不尋下些等你？」太子跪地叩拜道：「师父，我只在此，伺候到明日，同师父一路去罢。」行者道：「不好，不好。若是与你一同入城，那怪物生疑，不说是我撞著你，却说是你请老孙，却不惹他反怪你也？」太子道：「我如今进城，他也怪我。」行者道：「怪你怎么？」太子道：「我自早朝蒙差，带领若干人马鹰犬出城，今一日更无一件野物，怎么见驾？若问我个不才之罪，监陷羑里，你明日进城，却将何倚？况那班部中，更没个相知人也。」行者道：「这甚打紧？你肯早说时，却不寻下些等你？」
逐句解 Line by line
The prince knelt to the ground and bowed, saying: 'Master, let me only stay here and wait upon you until tomorrow, and go along with you by the same road.'
伺候到明日: to wait upon [you] until tomorrow. 一路去: to go by the same road. 太子: 子 = zǐ; 去罷: 罷 = ba (sentence-final particle).
The Pilgrim said: 'That won't do, that won't do.'
The doubled 不好 ('no good') is Wukong's brusque refusal. 行 = xíng.
'If I enter the city together with you, the fiend will grow suspicious; he will not say that I ran into you, but rather that you invited old Sun — would that not stir him to turn his blame on you?'
撞著你: ran into you (著 = zháo, resultative). 那 = nà. Wukong reasons that arriving together would let the demon accuse the prince of collusion.
The prince said: 'Even if I go into the city now, he will blame me all the same.'
太子: 子 = zǐ. The prince counters that he will be blamed in any case.
The Pilgrim said: 'Blame you for what?'
行 = xíng.
The prince said: 'Since the dawn court I was commissioned to lead out so many men and horses, hawks and hounds, from the city, and this whole day there is not a single head of game — how am I to present myself before the throne?'
蒙差: commissioned, dispatched (差 = chāi). 更無一件野物: 'not even a single head of game' (更 = gèng, intensifying). 見駕: to appear before the sovereign. 太子: 子 = zǐ.
'Should he charge me with the crime of incompetence and shut me up in a Youli, then when you enter the city tomorrow, on what will you rely?'
監陷羑里: to be imprisoned in a 'Youli' — 羑里 (Youli) is where King Wen of Zhou was famously confined by the tyrant Zhòu; a byword for unjust imprisonment. 卻將何倚: on what would you then rely? — 將 = jiāng (coverb).
'Besides, among the ranks of officials there is not a single soul who knows me for a friend.'
班部: the ranks/files of court officials. 更沒個相知人: 'not a single acquaintance' (更 = gèng; 中 = zhōng; 相 = xiāng, mutual).
The Pilgrim said: 'What does this matter?'
這甚打緊: 'what does this matter?' — 甚 = shén (what); a Wukong dismissal. 行 = xíng.
'Had you been willing to say so earlier, would I not have found some [game] laid by to wait for you?'
尋下些等你: to have found/laid by some [game] to wait for you — Wukong offers to conjure up quarry so the prince can present a catch, resolving the difficulty with characteristic ease.
The negotiation is pure Wukong: he refuses the prince's earnest offer to wait and travel together, reasoning like a tactician that a joint arrival would let the demon accuse the prince of conspiracy. The scene's pleasure lies in watching the demon-catcher think through the politics of disguise, anticipating the impostor's suspicions two moves ahead.
The prince's objection grounds the comedy in real jeopardy. Having led out a hunting party and returned empty-handed, he faces a courtier's disgrace — and, in a flourish of learning, likens his possible imprisonment to King Wen's confinement at Youli, the classic emblem of the virtuous man unjustly jailed. The allusion lends the young prince gravity even as the situation tilts toward farce.
Wukong's airy reply — what does it matter? he could have conjured up game to wait for him — restores the tonal balance the chapter keeps striking: grave stakes dissolved by the Monkey King's casual omnipotence. The exchange closes the temple scene and clears the way for Wukong to take Bajie back to the palace garden and the well.