揭匣馱僧 The Master Drawn from the Chest
八戒與沙僧分開水道，徑往那水黿之第找尋師父。原來那裡邊水怪魚精，盡皆死爛。卻入後宮，揭開石匣，馱著唐僧，出離波津，與眾相見。那陳清兄弟叩頭稱謝道：「老爺不依小人勸留，致令如此受苦。」行者道：「不消說了。你們這裡人家，下年再不用祭賽，那大王已此除根，永無傷害。陳老兒，如今才好累你，快尋一隻船兒，送我們過河去也。」那陳清道：「有有有。」就教解板打船。眾莊客聞得此言，無不喜捨。那個道：「我買桅篷。」這個道：「我辦篙槳。」有的說：「我出繩索。」有的說：「我雇水手。」八戒与沙僧分开水道，径往那水鼋之第找寻师父。原来那里边水怪鱼精，尽皆死烂。却入后宫，揭开石匣，驮着唐僧，出离波津，与众相见。那陈清兄弟叩头称谢道：「老爷不依小人劝留，致令如此受苦。」行者道：「不消说了。你们这里人家，下年再不用祭赛，那大王已此除根，永无伤害。陈老儿，如今才好累你，快寻一只船儿，送我们过河去也。」那陈清道：「有有有。」就教解板打船。众庄客闻得此言，无不喜舍。那个道：「我买桅篷。」这个道：「我办篙桨。」有的说：「我出绳索。」有的说：「我雇水手。」
逐句解 Line by line
Eight Rules and Sha Monk parted the water and went straight to the Mansion of the Water Turtle to seek their master.
分開 keeps 分 as fēn; 那水黿之第 points, nà; 黿 is yuán, the great soft-shelled turtle. They walk back into the mansion now that there is nothing left in it.
It turned out that within it the water-fiends and fish-sprites were all dead and rotting.
那裡邊 points, nà; 盡皆 takes 盡 as jìn, "entirely, every one of them"; 死爛 takes 爛 as làn, rotted. The charm did precisely what it said it would. Dead things go, living things stay — and only one thing in that household was still counted among the living.
They entered the rear palace, lifted the lid of the stone chest, took the Tang Monk on their backs, came out from the waves, and met the others.
石匣 keeps 石 as shí; 馱著 keeps 著 as zhe; 相見 keeps 相 as xiāng. The master, boxed since the middle of the chapter, comes out of the water alive.
Chen Qing and his brother knocked their heads and gave thanks: "Old master, because you would not heed our plea to stay, you were brought to such suffering."
那陳清 points, nà; 稱謝 takes 稱 as chēng, to voice. The Chen brothers' apology reaches back to chapter 47, when they begged the pilgrims not to cross the frozen river and were overruled.
Pilgrim said: "No need to speak of it.
不消說了 takes 了 as the tag le. Wukong waves the apology away. The suffering is over and the cause of it has been pulled out by the roots.
You people of this place need hold no more sacrifices in years to come. That Great King is now cut off at the root, and will do harm no more.
祭賽: 賽 is sài, a sacrifice offered to settle a vow — a debt paid to a god rather than a gift given to one. 那大王 points, nà; 已此 is written for 以此. The child-sacrifices that opened the whole arc are finished for good, and Wukong says so in one flat sentence.
Old Chen — now is just the time to trouble you: go quickly and find a boat to send us across the river."
Two occurrences of 兒, both the toneless tag er: 陳老兒, old Chen, and 船兒, a boat. 累你, to put you to trouble. Wukong turns from the rescue to the crossing without pausing for breath — there is still a river in the way.
Chen Qing said: "Yes, yes, yes."
那陳清 points, nà. Three yeses in a row: the villager cannot say it fast enough.
So he gave orders to saw planks and build a boat.
就教 keeps 教 as jiào, causative. 解板 takes 解 as jiě, to saw timber apart into planks. Building a boat from scratch is what sets up the old turtle's offer of something faster.
The village folk, hearing these words, one and all gave gladly.
聞得 keeps 得 as dé. 喜捨 is a Buddhist term — giving gladly, alms handed over with pleasure rather than duty. Set it against the demon's extortion and the contrast is the whole point of the scene.
One said: "I'll buy the mast and sail."
那個道 points, nà; 桅篷 takes 篷 as péng, the sail or awning. Four short offers follow, and together they read like a village chorus fitting out a boat line by line.
Another said: "I'll provide the pole and oars."
篙 is gāo, the punting-pole, and 槳 is jiǎng, the oars. Each villager claims a different part of the vessel.
Some said: "I'll put up the ropes." Others said: "I'll hire the boatmen."
繩索, rope and cordage; 雇水手, hiring the crew. The chorus finishes the boat — and the next passage will interrupt before a single plank is cut.
The rescue itself is completed almost in passing: part the water, walk into the emptied mansion, lift the lid, carry the master out. What stops the eye is what has happened to everybody else — 盡皆死爛, all of them dead and rotting. Guanyin's charm was a sorting spell, 死的去，活的住, and it did exactly what it announced. One golden fish went into the basket; every other creature in that household is a corpse. The court that was staged so elaborately earlier in the chapter — the ranks, the adviser at the elbow, the musicians ordered up for dinner — is now a drowned ruin, and the novel spends one line on it.
The rest of the passage turns the arc's opening image inside out. Chapter 47 began with Chen Village compelled to hand over its boys and girls to the 靈感大王. Here Wukong tells the Chens they need 再不用祭賽, no more votive sacrifices, ever — and the villagers answer not with fear but with a scramble of glad giving. A mast, a sail, a pole, oars, ropes, boatmen: 無不喜捨, not one of them who did not give with a will. Extortion answered by cheerful almsgiving.
The boat they are so eagerly building will not, as it turns out, be needed. The turtle whose house this was is about to rise out of the river and offer to carry them himself.