原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
毫毛取勝
Won by the Hair-Clone
三太子與悟空各騁神威，鬥了個三十回合。那太子六般兵，變做千千萬萬；孫悟空金箍棒，變作萬萬千千。半空中似雨點流星，不分勝負。原來悟空手疾眼快，正在那混亂之時，他拔下一根毫毛，叫聲：「變！」就變做他的本相，手挺著棒，演著哪吒；他的真身，卻一縱，趕至哪吒腦後，著左膊上一棒打來。哪吒正使法間，聽得棒頭風響，急躲閃時，不能措手，被他著了一下，負痛逃走。收了法，把六件兵器依舊歸身，敗陣而回。那陣上李天王早已看見，急欲提兵助戰，不覺太子倏至面前，戰兢兢報道：「父王，弼馬溫真個有本事，孩兒這般法力，也戰他不過，已被他打傷膊也。」天王大驚失色道：「這廝恁的神通，如何取勝？」太子道：「他洞門外豎一竿旗，上寫『齊天大聖』四字。親口誇稱，教玉帝就封他做齊天大聖，萬事俱休；若還不是此號，定要打上靈霄寶殿哩。」天王道：「既然如此，且不要與他相持，且去上界，將此言回奏，再多遣天兵，圍捉這廝，未為遲也。」太子負痛，不能復戰，故同天王回天啟奏不題。三太子与悟空各骋神威，斗了个三十回合。那太子六般兵，变做千千万万；孙悟空金箍棒，变作万万千千。半空中似雨点流星，不分胜负。原来悟空手疾眼快，正在那混乱之时，他拔下一根毫毛，叫声：「变！」就变做他的本相，手挺著棒，演著哪咤；他的真身，却一纵，赶至哪咤脑后，著左膊上一棒打来。哪咤正使法间，听得棒头风响，急躲闪时，不能措手，被他著了一下，负痛逃走。收了法，把六件兵器依旧归身，败阵而回。那阵上李天王早已看见，急欲提兵助战，不觉太子倏至面前，战兢兢报道：「父王，弼马温真个有本事，孩儿这般法力，也战他不过，已被他打伤膊也。」天王大惊失色道：「这厮恁的神通，如何取胜？」太子道：「他洞门外竖一竿旗，上写『齐天大圣』四字。亲口夸称，教玉帝就封他做齐天大圣，万事俱休；若还不是此号，定要打上灵霄宝殿哩。」天王道：「既然如此，且不要与他相持，且去上界，将此言回奏，再多遣天兵，围捉这厮，未为迟也。」太子负痛，不能复战，故同天王回天启奏不题。
逐句解 Line by line
三太子與悟空各騁神威，鬥了個三十回合。
三太子与悟空各骋神威，斗了个三十回合。
The Third Prince and Wukong each gave free rein to their divine might, fighting some thirty rounds.
騁神威, “gave free rein to their might”; 三十回合, thirty rounds — the conventional measure of a long, even duel.
那太子六般兵，變做千千萬萬；孫悟空金箍棒，變作萬萬千千。
那太子六般兵，变做千千万万；孙悟空金箍棒，变作万万千千。
The prince's six weapons multiplied into thousands upon thousands; Sun Wukong's gold-banded cudgel multiplied into tens of thousands upon thousands.
The mutual multiplication: thousands of weapons against tens of thousands of cudgels, the deadlock visualized.
半空中似雨點流星，不分勝負。
半空中似雨点流星，不分胜负。
In mid-air they were like raindrops and shooting stars, neither winning nor losing.
似雨點流星, “like raindrops and shooting stars”; 半空中 takes 中 as zhōng; 似 is sì; 不分 takes bù.
原來悟空手疾眼快，正在那混亂之時，他拔下一根毫毛，叫聲：「變！」
原来悟空手疾眼快，正在那混乱之时，他拔下一根毫毛，叫声：「变！」
Now Wukong, quick of hand and sharp of eye, in the very thick of the melee plucked out a single hair and cried, “Change!”
The decisive trick. 手疾眼快, “quick of hand and eye”; the plucked 毫毛 (body-hair) is Wukong's signature device — a hair becomes a double. 一根 takes yì before first-tone 根.
就變做他的本相，手挺著棒，演著哪吒；他的真身，卻一縱，趕至哪吒腦後，著左膊上一棒打來。
就变做他的本相，手挺著棒，演著哪咤；他的真身，却一纵，赶至哪咤脑后，著左膊上一棒打来。
and it changed into his own true likeness, holding a cudgel and sparring with Nezha; while his real body gave a leap, slipped behind Nezha's head, and brought a cudgel down on his left arm.
The clone (本相, his “true likeness”) keeps Nezha busy while the real body strikes from behind. 著左膊上: 著 is zháo (“to land on”); 膊 (bó), the arm. Sandhi: 一縱 yí, 一棒 yí; 手挺著 / 演著 take 著 as durative zhe.
哪吒正使法間，聽得棒頭風響，急躲閃時，不能措手，被他著了一下，負痛逃走。
哪咤正使法间，听得棒头风响，急躲闪时，不能措手，被他著了一下，负痛逃走。
Nezha, in the midst of working his magic, heard the wind of the cudgel-head; he tried to dodge in haste but could not get his guard up, and was struck a blow — and fled, nursing the pain.
著了一下 — 著 again zháo (“was struck”); 一下 takes yí; 不能 takes bù. The boy-god, caught off guard, is wounded.
收了法，把六件兵器依舊歸身，敗陣而回。
收了法，把六件兵器依旧归身，败阵而回。
He undid his magic, drew his six weapons back into his body as before, and retreated beaten.
Nezha withdraws his weapons into his body and retreats — the transformation reversed.
那陣上李天王早已看見，急欲提兵助戰，不覺太子倏至面前，戰兢兢報道：「父王，弼馬溫真個有本事，孩兒這般法力，也戰他不過，已被他打傷膊也。」
那阵上李天王早已看见，急欲提兵助战，不觉太子倏至面前，战兢兢报道：「父王，弼马温真个有本事，孩儿这般法力，也战他不过，已被他打伤膊也。」
On the field Heavenly King Lǐ had already seen it and was anxious to bring up his troops to help, when, before he knew it, the prince was suddenly before him, reporting with a tremble, “Father, Bìmǎwēn truly has skill; with all my magic power I still could not beat him, and he has already wounded my arm.”
倏至, “suddenly arrived” (倏, shū); 戰兢兢, trembling. 戰他不過, “cannot beat him” — 不過 takes bú before fourth-tone 過; 看見 takes 看 as kàn, 不覺 bù.
天王大驚失色道：「這廝恁的神通，如何取勝？」
天王大惊失色道：「这厮恁的神通，如何取胜？」
The Heavenly King turned pale with shock: “If this wretch has such powers, how are we to win?”
恁的神通, “such powers” (恁, nèn, “so, such”); the Heavenly King's dismay marks the turning point — Heaven's commanders now doubt they can win.
太子道：「他洞門外豎一竿旗，上寫『齊天大聖』四字。親口誇稱，教玉帝就封他做齊天大聖，萬事俱休；若還不是此號，定要打上靈霄寶殿哩。」
太子道：「他洞门外竖一竿旗，上写『齐天大圣』四字。亲口夸称，教玉帝就封他做齐天大圣，万事俱休；若还不是此号，定要打上灵霄宝殿哩。」
The prince said, “Outside his cave he has raised a pole and a flag, on which is written ‘Great Sage Equal to Heaven,’ four characters. He boasts with his own mouth that the Jade Emperor must appoint him Great Sage Equal to Heaven, and then all will be well; but if it is not that title, he will surely fight his way up to the Hall of Miraculous Mist.”
親口誇稱 — 稱 as chēng; the demand restated. 一竿旗 takes yì, 不是 bú; 教 is causative jiào.
天王道：「既然如此，且不要與他相持，且去上界，將此言回奏，再多遣天兵，圍捉這廝，未為遲也。」
天王道：「既然如此，且不要与他相持，且去上界，将此言回奏，再多遣天兵，围捉这厮，未为迟也。」
The Heavenly King said, “If that is how it is, let us not contend with him for now, but go up to the heavenly realm, report these words back, and send down more heavenly soldiers to surround and seize this wretch — it will not be too late.”
未為遲也, “it will not be too late” — 為 as wéi. The Heavenly King's prudent retreat: report up and return with a larger host. 不要 takes bú; 將此言 uses 將 as object-marker jiāng.
太子負痛，不能復戰，故同天王回天啟奏不題。
太子负痛，不能复战，故同天王回天启奏不题。
The prince, nursing his pain, could fight no more, and so returned to Heaven with the Heavenly King to make their report — of which no more for now.
啟奏不題 — “made their report; of this no more,” the storyteller's formula closing the battle sequence. 不能 bù, 不題 bù.
總評 Commentary
The deadlock the 賦 so carefully balanced is broken not by superior power but by trickery — and the trick is the most characteristic in Monkey's repertoire. Quick of hand and eye, Wukong plucks a single body-hair, makes of it a double to keep Nezha sparring, and with his real body slips behind the boy-god to strike his arm. The hair-clone (毫毛 transformation) recurs throughout the novel, but its first major use here defines a pattern: Wukong wins by division and misdirection, by being in two places at once, by exploiting the gap between appearance and reality that his shape-shifting opens.
The episode quietly resolves the chapter's combat logic. Brute force could not separate the two equals; guile could. And the victory is pointedly partial — Wukong wounds Nezha but does not kill him, again treating the fight as a demonstration rather than a slaughter, just as he spared 巨靈. His aim throughout has been recognition, not conquest; even his triumphs are arguments addressed to Heaven. The prince's trembling report and the Heavenly King's blanching “how are we to win?” register the real result: Heaven's expeditionary force concludes, correctly, that it cannot defeat him in the field.
That conclusion is the chapter's structural hinge. The Heavenly King's decision — withdraw, report, return with more troops — sets up the second, larger campaign, but the novel has already shown, through the deadlock and the trick, that more troops will not be the answer either. The 心猿 cannot be subdued by escalation; an antagonist who wins by becoming many cannot be overwhelmed by numbers. The reader is being prepared for the chapter's real resolution, which will come not from Heaven's army but from the Star-Lord's counsel in the passages ahead: stop fighting the name, and grant it.