解縛救僧 押鼉還海 Loosing the Bonds, Saving the Monk; the Alligator Hauled Back to Sea
他兩個跳入水中，徑至水府門前。那裡門扇大開，更無一個小卒。直入亭臺裡面，見唐僧、八戒赤條條都綑在那裡。沙僧即忙解了師父，河神亦隨解了八戒，一家背著一個，出水面，徑至岸邊。豬八戒見那妖精鎖綁在側，急掣鈀上前就築，口裡罵道：「潑邪畜！你如今不吃我了？」行者扯住道：「兄弟，且饒他死罪罷，看敖順賢父子之情。」摩昂進禮道：「大聖，小龍子不敢久停。既然救得你師父，我帶這廝去見家父；雖大聖饒了他死罪，家父決不饒他活罪，定有發落處置，仍回覆大聖謝罪。」行者道：「既如此，你領他去罷。多多拜上令尊，尚容面謝。」那太子押著那妖潑，投水中，帥領海兵，徑轉西洋大海不題。他两个跳入水中，径至水府门前。那里门扇大开，更无一个小卒。直入亭台里面，见唐僧、八戒赤条条都捆在那里。沙僧即忙解了师父，河神亦随解了八戒，一家背着一个，出水面，径至岸边。猪八戒见那妖精锁绑在侧，急掣钯上前就筑，口里骂道：「泼邪畜！你如今不吃我了？」行者扯住道：「兄弟，且饶他死罪罢，看敖顺贤父子之情。」摩昂进礼道：「大圣，小龙子不敢久停。既然救得你师父，我带这厮去见家父；虽大圣饶了他死罪，家父决不饶他活罪，定有发落处置，仍回覆大圣谢罪。」行者道：「既如此，你领他去罢。多多拜上令尊，尚容面谢。」那太子押着那妖泼，投水中，帅领海兵，径转西洋大海不题。
逐句解 Line by line
The two of them leapt into the water and went straight to the gate of the water-palace.
徑至, went straight to. The palace they had to fight their way into is now simply walked into, and that is the shape of every ending in this book: once the head is off, the body stops.
There the gate-leaves stood wide open, with not a single soldier left.
The gate-leaves standing wide, and not one soldier - the emptiness does the telling, answering the crowd of imps who once blocked it.
Going straight into the pavilion, they found the Tang Monk and Eight Rules both stark naked and bound within.
And here the chapter closes its own circle. 赤條條, stark naked - the master is found exactly as he was found in the Red Boy's courtyard on the first page, stripped and roped, one demon later.
Sha Monk at once loosed the master, and the river-god likewise loosed Eight Rules; each took one upon his back, and they came up out of the water and straight to the bank.
背 is bēi, to carry on the back. This is the very job Eight Rules refused at the crossing, when he produced the proverb about a mortal weighing like a mountain - and it turns out to be perfectly possible after all.
Zhu Eight Rules, seeing the fiend chained and bound at one side, snatched up his rake and rushed forward to strike, cursing aloud: "You foul brute!"
Out with the rake at once. 鈀 is pá, the muckrake; both of its appearances in the chapter are his, and both are threats he is stopped from carrying out.
"Will you not eat me now?"
Five characters, and they are the only revenge the chapter permits him: "will you not eat me now?"
Pilgrim caught his arm and said, "Brother, spare him his capital crime for now, out of regard for the bond of worthy Ao Shun and his son."
罷 is ba here, softening a request - not the bà of ceasing that Pilgrim used to the Dragon-King. 死罪 is a capital crime, and Pilgrim waives it for the sake of the family that produced the arrest.
Moang made his bow: "Great Sage, your little dragon dares not tarry long."
不敢久停, dares not tarry. The prince leaves the moment his errand is discharged, exactly as he said he would.
"Since your master is rescued, I shall take this wretch to face my father;"
既然救得 - "since your master is rescued." The condition Moang set before the fight has been met, and he claims the prisoner on that ground rather than by force.
"though the Great Sage has spared his capital crime, my father will by no means spare his living crime — there will surely be a disposition and a punishment — and I shall report back to the Great Sage with thanks."
The distinction is the chapter's last legal move: 死罪 against 活罪, a capital crime and a living one. Pilgrim remits the first, the uncle keeps the second, and both courts are satisfied without either overruling the other.
Pilgrim said, "If so, take him away then."
既如此, "if so" - the formula of assent. Pilgrim yields the prisoner to the family court without a word of argument.
"Convey my many respects to your honored father; I trust there will yet be occasion to thank him in person."
令尊, "your honoured father," answering the 家父 Moang has just used of the same man. One relation, named politely from each side.
The prince pressed the fiend before him, plunged into the water, led off his sea-troops, and went straight back to the Western Ocean — of which no more.
妖潑 reverses the 潑邪 the prince used at the camp gate. 不題 closes the sea-thread exactly as it closed the bank-thread earlier.
The water-palace is empty, the gates are open, and the two captives are found naked and tied - which is precisely how the master was found on the chapter's first page, in the Red Boy's courtyard. The chapter has spent forty passages travelling between two identical tableaux.
Pigsy gets his rake out and is stopped, which is the second time in this chapter that his revenge has been called off. And there is a small joke in the rescue itself: Sha Monk and the river-god each carry a pilgrim out on their backs - the exact job Eight Rules refused at the crossing on the grounds that a mortal on your back weighs like a mountain.
The ending is a jurisdictional settlement rather than a punishment. Pilgrim waives the capital crime out of regard for the family; Moang points out that his father will not waive the lesser one, so there will still be a reckoning at home. Two courts, two sentences, neither overruling the other - and everyone parts with formal courtesies.