行者訪觀音 Wukong Resolves to Ask Guanyin
那行者半雲半霧，提著鐵棒等哩。看見他兩個上來，不見妖怪，即按雲頭，迎至岸邊，問道：「兄弟，那話兒怎麼不上來？」沙僧道：「那怪物緊閉宅門，再不出來見面。被二哥打破門扇看時，那裡面都是些泥土石塊，實實的疊住了。故此不能得戰，卻來與哥哥計議，再怎麼設法去救師父。」行者道：「似這般卻也無法可治。你兩個只在河岸上巡視著，不可放他往別處走了，待我去來。」八戒道：「哥哥，你往那裡去？」行者道：「我上普陀巖拜問菩薩，看這妖怪是那裡出身，姓甚名誰。尋著他的祖居，拿了他的家屬，捉了他的四鄰，卻來此擒怪救師。」八戒笑道：「哥啊，這等幹，只是忒費事，擔擱了時辰了。」行者道：「管你不費事，不擔擱，我去就來。」那行者半云半雾，提着铁棒等哩。看见他两个上来，不见妖怪，即按云头，迎至岸边，问道：「兄弟，那话儿怎么不上来？」沙僧道：「那怪物紧闭宅门，再不出来见面。被二哥打破门扇看时，那里面都是些泥土石块，实实的叠住了。故此不能得战，却来与哥哥计议，再怎么设法去救师父。」行者道：「似这般却也无法可治。你两个只在河岸上巡视着，不可放他往别处走了，待我去来。」八戒道：「哥哥，你往那里去？」行者道：「我上普陀岩拜问菩萨，看这妖怪是那里出身，姓甚名谁。寻着他的祖居，拿了他的家属，捉了他的四邻，却来此擒怪救师。」八戒笑道：「哥啊，这等干，只是忒费事，担搁了时辰了。」行者道：「管你不费事，不担搁，我去就来。」
逐句解 Line by line
Pilgrim, half in cloud and half in mist, stood waiting with his iron rod.
那行者 points, nà; 行 xíng. 提著 keeps 著 as zhe; 哩 the spoken tag, li. 半雲半霧, half in cloud and half in mist — Wukong hovering while the other two go under.
Seeing the two of them come up without the fiend, he brought his cloud down at once, came to the bank to meet them, and asked: "Brothers, why hasn't the fellow come up?"
那話兒: 那 points, nà, and 兒 is the toneless little tag er. The phrase is a set colloquialism — "that thing, that business, you-know-who" — used when you cannot be bothered to name something. 看見 keeps 看 as kàn.
Sha Monk said: "That monster has shut his mansion gate tight and won't come out to show his face again.
那怪物 points, nà. Sha Monk delivers the report; from here the plot needs only Wukong's decision.
When Second Brother broke the gate-leaves open and we looked, the whole inside was mud and stones, packed solid and blocking the way.
門扇 keeps 扇 as shàn; 看時 keeps 看 as kàn; 那裡面 points, nà; 都 dōu; 石塊 keeps 石 as shí. The wall of earth gets reported a second time, now from the pilgrims' side of it.
So we could get no fight out of him, and came to talk it over with you — how are we to contrive to save our master now?"
不能得戰 keeps 得 as dé. 計議, to confer. For the third passage running the question is the same: how do you save a master no attack can reach?
Pilgrim said: "Faced with a thing like this, there is no remedy to be had here.
似這般: 似 sì, "a thing like this." 無法可治, no way of treating it — and coming from Wukong, that is the admission that force has run out.
You two just patrol the riverbank and keep watch. Don't let him get away to some other place. Wait while I go."
巡視著 keeps 著 as zhe; 別處 keeps 處 as chù. The order pins the demon in place while Wukong goes to fetch the one power that can shift him.
Eight Rules said: "Brother, where are you going?"
那裡去 asks: 那 nǎ, "where."
Pilgrim said: "I'll go up to Potalaka Cliff and put the question to the Bodhisattva — find out where this fiend comes from, and his surname and his name.
普陀巖 is Potalaka, Guanyin's mountain. 看 kàn; 那裡出身 asks, 那 nǎ; 姓甚名誰 takes 甚 as the asking shén. Note what he actually proposes to find out: where the thing comes from, and what it is called. Not how to beat it.
Once I have hunted out his ancestral home, seized his household, and taken his neighbours, I'll come back here to catch the fiend and rescue our master."
尋著 takes 著 as zháo, an action that lands — track it down. 祖居, the ancestral seat; 家屬, the household; 四鄰, the four neighbours. Laid out like that, it is not a warrior's plan at all. It is a magistrate serving a warrant.
Eight Rules laughed: "Brother, doing it that way is just too much bother — it'll hold us up for hours."
擔擱 (also written 耽擱) is to hold things up; 擔 dān, 擱 gē. 忒 tè, "far too." Bajie's objection is not that the plan will fail but that it involves effort, which is Bajie in one line.
Pilgrim said: "I'll warrant you it's no bother and no delay — I'll be back as soon as I go."
管你, "I guarantee you." 不擔擱 keeps 擔 as dān. The confidence turns out to be justified, and for a reason he cannot possibly know yet: the Bodhisattva has been expecting him since dawn.
Wukong's plan is the chapter's turn from force to genealogy, and he states it as plainly as a court procedure: find the creature's ancestral home, seize his household, take his neighbours, and only then come back and catch him. This is what Wukong does with an enemy he cannot simply out-hit — not a harder blow but a trace back to the source, and then a pull on the thread. Hence his opening question is not how do I beat it but 看這妖怪是那裡出身，姓甚名誰: where does it come from, and what is it called.
The passage also sets Bajie and Wukong against each other in a familiar key. Bajie's objection to going to Guanyin is not that it will fail but that it is 忒費事, far too much bother, and will 擔擱了時辰, cost them hours — the complaint of a man who would rather batter a gate than travel to the Southern Sea.
Wukong's reply, 我去就來, I'll be back as soon as I've gone, is the confidence of someone who half-knows what the reader is about to see: the Bodhisattva has already risen early, already sent her attendants out to wait for him, and is already weaving the thing that will catch the demon.