八戒助陣 Eight Rules Joins the Fray
那妖魔與孫大聖戰經二十合，不分勝敗。豬八戒在傍邊看得明白：妖精雖不敗陣，卻只是遮攔隔架，全無攻殺之能；行者縱不贏他，棒法精強，來往只在那妖精頭上，不離了左右。八戒暗想道：「不好啊，行者溜撒，一時間丟個破綻，哄那妖魔鑽進來，一鐵棒打倒，就沒了我的功勞。」你看他抖擻精神，舉著九齒鈀在空裡，望妖精劈頭就築。那怪見了心驚，急拖槍敗下陣來。行者喝教：「八戒，趕上，趕上。」那妖魔与孙大圣战经二十合，不分胜败。猪八戒在傍边看得明白：妖精虽不败阵，却只是遮拦隔架，全无攻杀之能；行者纵不赢他，棒法精强，来往只在那妖精头上，不离了左右。八戒暗想道：「不好啊，行者溜撒，一时间丢个破绽，哄那妖魔钻进来，一铁棒打倒，就没了我的功劳。」你看他抖擞精神，举着九齿钯在空里，望妖精劈头就筑。那怪见了心惊，急拖枪败下阵来。行者喝教：「八戒，赶上，赶上。」
逐句解 Line by line
The demon and the Great Sage Sun fought a full twenty bouts, with neither victory nor defeat between them.
Twenty bouts and no result. A 合 is one exchange, the unit these fights are counted in, and twenty of them is a genuine deadlock. 不分勝敗 -- no telling winner from loser. 分 is fēn, to distinguish.
Zhu Eight Rules, watching from the side, saw it clearly: though the monster did not break, he did no more than block and fend, with no power of attack at all;
Bajie is watching from the sidelines and reading the fight well, which is rarer for him than it should be. His analysis: the demon is not losing, but he is doing nothing except 遮攔隔架, blocking and fending. No attack in him at all. 看得明白 uses the light 得, de, linking the looking to how clearly it was done.
and though the Pilgrim did not beat him, his cudgel-play was fine and strong, coming and going always about the monster's head, never leaving his right or his left.
The second half of the read: Wukong is not winning either, but his cudgel-work is better, and it keeps returning to the demon's head and staying at his shoulders. Anyone who has watched two people spar will recognise the picture -- one fighter controlling the space, the other surviving in it.
Eight Rules thought within himself: ‘This won't do — the Pilgrim is nimble; the moment he throws out a feint, lures the demon in, and fells him with one stroke of the cudgel, my share of the credit is gone.’
And here is why Bajie has been watching so closely, which is not what you would hope. He is not worried that Wukong needs help. He is worried that Wukong will finish it alone and leave him nothing to claim. 溜撒 means quick, slippery. 破綻 is a deliberate gap left open to invite an attack -- the word literally means a split seam. His whole calculation is about credit.
Watch him now rouse his spirit, heave up his nine-tooth rake in the air, and strike straight down at the monster's head.
你看他, "watch him now," is the narrator inviting you to enjoy this. 九齒鈀, the nine-tooth rake, is Bajie's weapon, and 鈀 is read pá throughout the novel. 築 zhù is to ram something down, the verb you would use for tamping earth -- which is the right verb for a rake swung at a skull.
The demon, seeing it, took fright, and hastily dragging his spear fell back from the field.
The demon takes fright and drags his spear away in retreat. Read it again after the next passage: he is not frightened at all, and he is retreating exactly as far as his own front door, where five carts are waiting.
The Pilgrim shouted his order: ‘Eight Rules — after him, after him!’
趕上 twice, because Wukong is shouting. 喝教 is barking an order at someone. The pursuit is the trap closing, and the two of them run straight into it.
The duel deadlocks at twenty bouts, and the passage turns on why Bajie decides to join in. Not because his brother is in trouble -- he has just worked out that his brother is not in trouble. He joins because Wukong might win alone, and then the credit would all be Wukong's. The novel gives him a whole interior monologue to make sure the reader has this clear.
The demon, seeing a rake come down at his head, immediately breaks and runs. It looks like the rake worked. It is the oldest trick in the book, and the pilgrims chase him home to the five carts.