天曉再戰 Daybreak, and Battle Again
說著話,懊惱多時,不覺的雞鳴天曉。那高峰上太子得了六件兵器,對行者道:「大聖,天色已明,不須怠慢,我們趁那妖魔挫了銳氣,與火部等扶助你,再去力戰,庶幾這次可擒拿也。」行者笑道:「說得有理。我們齊了心,耍子兒去耶。」一個個抖擻威風,喜弄武藝,徑至洞口。行者叫道:「潑魔出來,與老孫打者。」说着话,懊恼多时,不觉的鸡鸣天晓。那高峰上太子得了六件兵器,对行者道:「大圣,天色已明,不须怠慢,我们趁那妖魔挫了锐气,与火部等扶助你,再去力战,庶几这次可擒拿也。」行者笑道:「说得有理。我们齐了心,耍子儿去耶。」一个个抖擞威风,喜弄武艺,径至洞口。行者叫道:「泼魔出来,与老孙打者。」
逐句解 Line by line
As they talked on and fretted, a good while passed, and before they knew it the cocks were crowing and the sky growing light.
說著話: 著 is zhe, an action going on. 不覺的: 覺 is jué, being aware, and the 的 here is de — the whole phrase means "before they knew it."
On the high peak the Prince, having got back his six weapons, said to Pilgrim: "Great Sage, the sky is already light. We must not be slack. Let us take the fiend while his edge is blunted, and with the fire departments and the rest to second you, go and fight him again with all our force — this time we may well take him."
Sound soldiering, and the third such plan in two chapters. Both 那 (那高峰, 那妖魔) point and are nà; both 了 are le. 太子: 子 is zǐ; 得了: 得 is dé. 挫了銳氣 is "his keen edge blunted."
Pilgrim laughed and said: "There is reason in what you say. Let us set our hearts together, and go and have some sport."
Pilgrim agrees, and then downgrades a pitched battle to a day out. 說得有理: 得 is dé on the established ruling. 耍子兒: 子 is the bare ending zi, 兒 is er — "to play, to have some sport." 齊了: 了 is le. He has been robbed twice by this demon and he calls the rematch an outing.
Every one of them shook out his martial spirit, delighting to try his skill, and they went straight to the cave mouth.
一個個: 一 is yí before a fourth tone. 抖擻威風 is "to shake out one's martial bearing", the way a bird fluffs itself up.
Pilgrim called out: "Foul fiend, come out and have it out with Old Monkey!"
打者 — the 者 here is the vernacular imperative tag, "come on then, do it." It is not the 者 of 行者, which makes an agent noun.
The night's work is settled in four sentences and the day's plan in one. Nezha's argument is sound soldiering — the enemy has lost his armoury and most of his people and is off his edge, so strike now with everything — and it is not the first competent plan that has been laid against this demon. The reader by now knows exactly what such a plan is worth, since none of it touches the ring.
Pilgrim's answer is worth its note. He agrees, and then reclassifies the assault as 耍子兒, an outing, a bit of fun. The register is deliberately low — the same voice that called burglary a 買賣, a trade, a few passages back — and it keeps the chapter's comedy running underneath the escalation. He has been robbed twice and has burnt out a cave overnight, and he goes down the mountain talking like a boy off to a fair.