沙僧發笑 Sha Monk's Laughter
他兩個只管論那妖精的手段，講那妖精的火毒。沙和尚倚著松根，笑得騃了。行者看見道：「兄弟，你笑怎麼？你好道有甚手段，擒得那妖魔，破得那火陣？這樁事，也是大家有益的事。常言道：『眾毛攢毬。』你若拿得妖魔，救了師父，也是你的一件大功績。」沙僧道：「我也沒甚手段，也不能降妖。我笑你兩個都著了忙也。」他两个只管论那妖精的手段，讲那妖精的火毒。沙和尚倚着松根，笑得𫘤了。行者看见道：「兄弟，你笑怎么？你好道有甚手段，擒得那妖魔，破得那火阵？这桩事，也是大家有益的事。常言道：『众毛攒毬。』你若拿得妖魔，救了师父，也是你的一件大功绩。」沙僧道：「我也没甚手段，也不能降妖。我笑你两个都着了忙也。」
逐句解 Line by line
The two of them kept on debating the monster's fighting-skill and discoursing on the venom of his fire.
只管 means to keep doing something regardless -- to go on and on. The two of them are going round in circles on the same two topics, the demon's skill and the venom of his fire. 火毒 treats the fire as a poison, something that gets into you, which is closer to the truth than either of them realises.
Sha the Monk, leaning on a pine-root, laughed himself silly.
And there is Sha Monk, propped against a pine root, laughing so hard he has gone foolish with it. 騃 ái means daft or witless. He has been listening to the whole conversation and has not said a word.
The Pilgrim, seeing it, said: ‘Brother, what are you laughing at?
Wukong notices. The question is not friendly -- being laughed at by the quiet one is worse than being argued with by the loud one.
Surely you don't have some skill to catch that demon and break that fire-array?
And immediately the sarcasm: surely you do not have a way to catch the demon and break the fire? 有甚手段 -- 甚 is shén, the "what" of a question. Hold onto that sound, because Sha is about to answer with the same character at a different one. Both 擒得 and 破得 take 得 at the full dé: managing to catch, managing to break.
This business, too, is a matter to everyone's good.
Wukong changes tack mid-speech and starts flattering. This concerns all of us, he says, which is true, and rather undercuts the sneer of two lines earlier.
As the common saying goes: “Many hairs make a ball.”
A proverb, and a good one: 眾毛攢毬, many hairs make a ball. Small contributions add up -- so even you, Sha Monk, might have something to offer. 攢 is read cuán, to gather or cluster together, not the zǎn that means to hoard up. Wukong is being condescending and proverbial at the same time, which is a difficult trick.
If you can seize the demon and save our master, that too is a great achievement of yours.’
The inducement: catch the demon and the credit is yours. Wukong has now tried sarcasm, flattery, folk wisdom and bribery in four consecutive sentences. Sha Monk has still not stopped laughing.
Sha the Monk said: ‘I too have no skill to speak of, nor can I subdue demons.
And here is the answer, with the wordplay landing. Sha says he has no skill either -- 沒甚手段 -- and 甚 is now shèn, the "any at all" of a flat denial, against Wukong's questioning shén four lines up. Same character, two sounds, and the whole difference between a jibe and a disclaimer. 降 is xiáng, to subdue, not the jiàng that means to descend.
I laugh because you two have both got yourselves into a fluster.’
The actual diagnosis, delivered in one line after all that. I am laughing because you two have got yourselves in a flap. 著忙 is to be flustered, with 著 at zháo. Not the fire. The panic.
Sha Monk is the least talkative of the three disciples and the novel usually gives him the luggage. Here it gives him the answer. While the other two talk in circles about the demon's skill and the fire's venom, he leans on a tree and laughs, and when finally asked why, he says something none of them has considered: the problem is not the fire, it is that you have both lost your heads.
The scene hangs on one character sounded two ways. Wukong's jeering 有甚手段, "what skill have you got?", uses shén. Sha's reply, 沒甚手段, "I have no skill at all," uses shèn. The words look nearly identical on the page and mean opposite things, and the disciple who disclaims all skill is about to solve the problem the two skilled ones cannot.