護持倒換 Escorting the Master
此時唐三藏醒來,叫:「徒弟,徒弟,伏侍我倒換關文去來。」行者與沙僧、八戒急起身,穿了衣服,侍立左右道:「上告師父。這國君信著那些道士,興道滅僧,恐言語差錯,不肯倒換關文,我等護持師父,都進朝去也。」此时唐三藏醒来,叫:「徒弟,徒弟,伏侍我倒换关文去来。」行者与沙僧、八戒急起身,穿了衣服,侍立左右道:「上告师父。这国君信着那些道士,兴道灭僧,恐言语差错,不肯倒换关文,我等护持师父,都进朝去也。」
逐句解 Line by line
Just then Tang Sanzang woke and called, “Disciples, disciples — attend me; let us go and have our travel-rescript re-stamped.”
倒換關文: 倒 = dào, to exchange or get re-endorsed. The 關文 is the travel document the pilgrims carry from the Tang court, and it has to be stamped afresh at each border they cross -- the plot of a great many chapters turns on a visa. 伏侍 "to wait upon, to attend."
Pilgrim, with Friar Sand and Bajie, rose in haste, put on their clothes, and stood in attendance to left and right, saying, “We would report to our master.
行者: 行 = xíng. 急起身 "got up in a hurry." 侍立左右 "stood attending on either side."
This ruler trusts those Daoists, exalting the Way and suppressing the monks; we fear that a slip of the tongue might make him refuse to re-stamp the rescript. So let us guard our master and all go into court together.”
信著: 著 = zhe, trusting them and going on trusting them. 那些: 那 = nà. 興道滅僧: 興 = xīng -- the slogan again, "exalt the Way and wipe out the monks," now in the mouth of the people it is aimed at. 差錯: 差 = chà, a slip or error -- not chāi, to dispatch someone on an errand, which is the reading it takes later in the chapter. 倒換: 倒 = dào. 都進朝: 都 = dōu; 朝 = cháo.
Tripitaka wakes with no idea what his disciples have been doing and asks them to help him get the travel document stamped. Wukong, who has an excellent idea what they have been doing, insists that all four go into the palace together.
The stated reason is that a careless word might cost them the stamp. The unstated one is that Wukong knows exactly who they are going to meet there. This is the first time in the chapter he behaves as a strategist rather than a prankster, and it is the mode he will stay in for the rest of it.
興道滅僧 sounds for the third time in eighteen passages, and each time from a different mouth -- first as the Daoists' boast, then as their prayer, now as the pilgrims' warning. The novel is making sure the reader knows what is at stake before the doors open.