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Reader's edition
金星獻策
The Star-Lord's Counsel
卻說那李天王與三太子領著眾將，直至靈霄寶殿，啟奏道：「臣等奉聖旨出師下界，收伏妖仙孫悟空，不期他神通廣大，不能取勝，仍望萬歲添兵剿除。」玉帝道：「諒一妖猴，有多少本事，還要添兵？」太子又近前奏道：「望萬歲赦臣死罪。那妖猴使一條鐵棒，先敗了巨靈神，又打傷臣臂膊。洞門外立一竿旗，上書『齊天大聖』四字。道是封他這官職，即便休兵來投；若不是此官，還要打上靈霄寶殿也。」玉帝聞言，驚訝道：「這妖猴何敢這般狂妄？著眾將即刻誅之。」正說間，班部中又閃出太白金星，奏道：「那妖猴只知出言，不知大小。欲加兵與他爭鬥，想一時不能收伏，反又勞師。不若萬歲大捨恩慈，還降招安旨意，就教他做個齊天大聖。只是加他個空銜，有官無祿便了。」玉帝道：「怎麼喚做『有官無祿』？」金星道：「名是齊天大聖，只不與他事管，不與他俸祿，且養在天壤之間，收他的邪心，使不生狂妄，庶乾坤安靖，海宇得清寧也。」玉帝聞言道：「依卿所奏。」即命降了詔書，仍著金星領去。却说那李天王与三太子领着众将，直至灵霄宝殿，启奏道：「臣等奉圣旨出师下界，收伏妖仙孙悟空，不期他神通广大，不能取胜，仍望万岁添兵剿除。」玉帝道：「谅一妖猴，有多少本事，还要添兵？」太子又近前奏道：「望万岁赦臣死罪。那妖猴使一条铁棒，先败了巨灵神，又打伤臣臂膊。洞门外立一竿旗，上书『齐天大圣』四字。道是封他这官职，即便休兵来投；若不是此官，还要打上灵霄宝殿也。」玉帝闻言，惊讶道：「这妖猴何敢这般狂妄？着众将即刻诛之。」正说间，班部中又闪出太白金星，奏道：「那妖猴只知出言，不知大小。欲加兵与他争斗，想一时不能收伏，反又劳师。不若万岁大舍恩慈，还降招安旨意，就教他做个齐天大圣。只是加他个空衔，有官无禄便了。」玉帝道：「怎么唤做『有官无禄』？」金星道：「名是齐天大圣，只不与他事管，不与他俸禄，且养在天壤之间，收他的邪心，使不生狂妄，庶干坤安靖，海宇得清宁也。」玉帝闻言道：「依卿所奏。」即命降了诏书，仍着金星领去。
逐句解 Line by line
卻說那李天王與三太子領著眾將，直至靈霄寶殿，啟奏道：「臣等奉聖旨出師下界，收伏妖仙孫悟空，不期他神通廣大，不能取勝，仍望萬歲添兵剿除。」
却说那李天王与三太子领着众将，直至灵霄宝殿，启奏道：「臣等奉圣旨出师下界，收伏妖仙孙悟空，不期他神通广大，不能取胜，仍望万岁添兵剿除。」
Now Heavenly King Lǐ and the Third Prince, leading their generals, came straight to the Hall of Miraculous Mist and reported, "We, your servants, took the field below by holy command to subdue the demon-immortal Sun Wukong; but unexpectedly his powers are vast and far-reaching, and we could not prevail. We still beg Your Majesty to add troops and root him out."
妖仙, "demon-immortal," is still Heaven's official designation for him, even in a report admitting defeat. 領著 takes 著 as the running zhe; 眾將 takes 將 as jiàng; 不期 and 不能 both take bù.
玉帝道：「諒一妖猴，有多少本事，還要添兵？」
玉帝道：「谅一妖猴，有多少本事，还要添兵？」
The Jade Emperor said, "I should think one demon-ape — how much skill can he have, that you ask for more troops?"
The Jade Emperor's incredulity, and it is the funniest line he gets: one ape, and you are asking for reinforcements? 一妖猴 takes yì before the level tone of 妖.
太子又近前奏道：「望萬歲赦臣死罪。那妖猴使一條鐵棒，先敗了巨靈神，又打傷臣臂膊。洞門外立一竿旗，上書『齊天大聖』四字。道是封他這官職，即便休兵來投；若不是此官，還要打上靈霄寶殿也。」
太子又近前奏道：「望万岁赦臣死罪。那妖猴使一条铁棒，先败了巨灵神，又打伤臣臂膊。洞门外立一竿旗，上书『齐天大圣』四字。道是封他这官职，即便休兵来投；若不是此官，还要打上灵霄宝殿也。」
The prince came forward again and reported, "We beg Your Majesty to pardon our mortal offense. That demon-ape wields a single iron cudgel: first he beat the Mighty-Spirit God, then he wounded our arm. Outside his cave he has set up a flag, on which is written 'Great Sage Equal to Heaven,' four characters. He says that if he is granted that office he will lay down arms and come over; but if it is not that post, he will fight his way up to the Hall of Miraculous Mist."
The prince names the terms precisely — 封他這官職, grant him that office and he submits; refuse and he marches on the throne. 一條 and 一竿旗 take yì; 若不是 takes bú.
玉帝聞言，驚訝道：「這妖猴何敢這般狂妄？著眾將即刻誅之。」
玉帝闻言，惊讶道：「这妖猴何敢这般狂妄？着众将即刻诛之。」
The Jade Emperor, hearing this, said in astonishment, "How dare this demon-ape be so insolent? Let the generals put him to death at once."
著眾將即刻誅之 — 著 is causative zhuó, "order the generals to." Two failed expeditions in, the Emperor's instinct is unchanged: kill him.
正說間，班部中又閃出太白金星，奏道：「那妖猴只知出言，不知大小。欲加兵與他爭鬥，想一時不能收伏，反又勞師。不若萬歲大捨恩慈，還降招安旨意，就教他做個齊天大聖。只是加他個空銜，有官無祿便了。」
正说间，班部中又闪出太白金星，奏道：「那妖猴只知出言，不知大小。欲加兵与他争斗，想一时不能收伏，反又劳师。不若万岁大舍恩慈，还降招安旨意，就教他做个齐天大圣。只是加他个空衔，有官无禄便了。」
Even as he spoke, the Star-Lord Venus stepped from the ranks and reported, "That demon-ape knows only how to talk, with no sense of high or low. To send troops to fight him would, I think, not subdue him for the present, and would only weary the army again. Better that Your Majesty show great mercy and send down instead a decree of amnesty, appointing him a Great Sage Equal to Heaven — granting him only an empty title, an office with rank but no stipend, and let that be the end of it."
太白金星, the Star-Lord of Venus, steps out for the second time, with the idea that resolves the chapter. Fighting will only 勞師, "weary the army"; better to send down 招安 — the pardon-and-appointment we met in the opening scene — and grant the exact title he is demanding. The refinement is in four characters: 空銜, an empty title, 有官無祿, rank without stipend. A post with no duties, no budget and no staff, which every large organisation still knows how to award. 不若 takes bú; in 還降 the 降 is jiàng, "to send down" a decree, and not the xiáng, "to subdue," that the generals kept using; 就教 is causative jiào.
玉帝道：「怎麼喚做『有官無祿』？」
玉帝道：「怎么唤做『有官无禄』？」
The Jade Emperor said, "What do you mean by 'an office with rank but no stipend'?"
The Emperor asks him to explain the paradox — which is exactly the question the reader wants asked.
金星道：「名是齊天大聖，只不與他事管，不與他俸祿，且養在天壤之間，收他的邪心，使不生狂妄，庶乾坤安靖，海宇得清寧也。」
金星道：「名是齐天大圣，只不与他事管，不与他俸禄，且养在天壤之间，收他的邪心，使不生狂妄，庶干坤安靖，海宇得清宁也。」
The Star-Lord said, "The name would be Great Sage Equal to Heaven, only with no affairs to manage and no salary given him; keep him idle in the space between Heaven and earth, gather in his unruly heart, and let no wild ambition breed — so that the cosmos may be at peace and the realm within the seas attain quiet."
The mechanism, spelled out without embarrassment: 不與他事管，不與他俸祿, give him nothing to manage and nothing to bank, park him somewhere between Heaven and earth, and thereby 收他的邪心, "gather in his unruly heart." 乾坤 takes 乾 as qián, the first trigram, so the compound means the whole cosmos; 不與 and 不生 both take bù.
玉帝聞言道：「依卿所奏。」
玉帝闻言道：「依卿所奏。」
The Jade Emperor, hearing this, said, "We shall do as you propose."
依卿所奏, "we shall do as you propose." Containment by job title is now imperial policy.
即命降了詔書，仍著金星領去。
即命降了诏书，仍着金星领去。
He at once ordered a decree drawn up, and again had the Star-Lord take it down.
In 降了詔書 the 降 is jiàng, "to issue, send down"; 著 is causative zhuó. The same old man who fetched him the first time is sent to fetch him again.
總評 Commentary
This is the chapter's intellectual climax, and its quietest scene. After two failed expeditions the Jade Emperor's reflex has not changed — execute him — but 太白金星 offers the insight the whole chapter has been building towards: Wukong cannot be defeated by force, and force only wearies the army, 勞師. The alternative is 招安, the classic imperial move of co-opting a rebel by hiring him, with one crucial refinement. Grant the exact title he demands, 齊天大聖, and make it hollow: 有官無祿, rank without stipend, a name without an office behind it.
The Star-Lord's reasoning is a small masterpiece of statecraft and, read inwardly, of spiritual psychology. The aim is to 收他的邪心，使不生狂妄 — gather in the unruly heart so that no wild ambition breeds. What cannot be crushed can be accommodated and thereby neutralised; the rebel's energy is not destroyed but parked, kept idle in the space between Heaven and earth. The brilliance and the cynicism are the same gesture. Heaven will give Wukong precisely what he asked for, and in giving it, drain out everything that made it worth asking for.
For the inner-alchemical reading this is the chapter's deepest irony. What the 心猿 craved was recognition — a name equal to Heaven — and Heaven's masterstroke is to satisfy the craving while emptying it. The title he fought two armies for turns out to be a leash dressed as a crown. The reader can already see the limit of the device: a containment that indulges a disordered heart rather than changing it is at best a holding action. The chapter will end with the title granted and peace declared. The novel knows, and will shortly demonstrate, that an unrefined 心猿 cannot be governed for long by an empty honour.