來叫沙僧 He Comes to Call Sha Monk
好大聖，撥轉雲頭，徑至村舍門首，叫一聲：「沙和尚。」那裡邊三藏忍痛呻吟，豬八戒哼聲不絕。聽得叫喚，二人歡喜道：「沙僧啊，悟空來也。」沙僧連忙出門接著道：「大哥，取水來了？」大聖進門，對唐僧備言前事。三藏滴淚道：「徒弟啊，似此怎了？」大聖道：「我來叫沙兄弟與我同去，到那庵邊，等老孫和那廝敵鬥，教沙僧乘便取水來救你。」三藏道：「兩個沒病的都去了，丟下我兩個有病的，教誰伏侍？」那個老婆婆在傍道：「老羅漢只管放心，不須要你徒弟，我家自然看顧伏侍你。你們早間到時，我等實有愛憐之意。卻才見這位菩薩雲來霧去，方知你是羅漢菩薩，我家決不敢復害你。」好大圣，拨转云头，径至村舍门首，叫一声：「沙和尚。」那里边三藏忍痛呻吟，猪八戒哼声不绝。听得叫唤，二人欢喜道：「沙僧啊，悟空来也。」沙僧连忙出门接着道：「大哥，取水来了？」大圣进门，对唐僧备言前事。三藏滴泪道：「徒弟啊，似此怎了？」大圣道：「我来叫沙兄弟与我同去，到那庵边，等老孙和那厮敌斗，教沙僧乘便取水来救你。」三藏道：「两个没病的都去了，丢下我两个有病的，教谁伏侍？」那个老婆婆在傍道：「老罗汉只管放心，不须要你徒弟，我家自然看顾伏侍你。你们早间到时，我等实有爱怜之意。却才见这位菩萨云来雾去，方知你是罗汉菩萨，我家决不敢复害你。」
逐句解 Line by line
Excellent Great Sage! He turned his cloud about, went straight to the gate of the village cottage and called out, "Sha Monk!"
村舍 takes 舍 as shè, a dwelling. The thirty-lǐ journey that needed two descriptions on the way out is dispatched here in four characters.
Inside, Tripitaka was groaning with the pain he bore and Pig was moaning without a pause.
哼聲不絕 keeps Bajie's groaning continuous where his master's comes and goes, which is the same proportion the narrative has maintained ever since they drank.
Hearing the call, the two of them said with delight, "Sha Monk — Wukong is back!"
聽得 takes 得 as dé. Their delight is premature by about fifteen hundred characters — the water does not reach this cottage until eight passages from now.
Sha Monk hurried out to meet him and said, "Elder brother, have you brought the water?"
接著 has 著 as zhe, marking the action as it happens — going out to meet him. The question is the one everybody in the house has, and it is answered with a summary rather than a bucket.
The Great Sage came in and gave the Tang Monk a full account of what had passed.
備言前事 compresses the whole of the previous three passages into four characters. This is the storyteller declining to repeat himself, and it is a courtesy to a listening audience who have just heard it all.
Tripitaka let fall tears and said, "Disciple! What is to be done about such a thing as this?"
怎了 takes 了 as liǎo, to settle — how is this to end? It is the same phrase with the same reading he used at the first news of the pregnancy. His response to a setback is word for word what it was before.
The Great Sage said, "I have come to call brother Sha to go with me. When we get to the convent, let Old Sun engage that fellow in a fight, and Sha Monk can take the chance to draw the water and bring it back to save you."
乘便 takes 乘 as chéng, to take advantage of an opening. 教 is jiào, to have somebody do a thing. The plan is stated plainly and is exactly what will happen, which in this novel is unusual enough to be worth marking.
Tripitaka said, "If the two who are well both go off, and leave behind the two of us who are ill, who is to wait on us?"
教 appears again but with a different job: here it introduces the question who, as in who is to wait on us. Note what the objection actually is. Told that both able disciples must leave to fetch his cure, Tripitaka's first thought is that he will be short of attendants.
The old woman said from beside them, "Venerable arhat, set your mind entirely at rest. There is no need of your disciples; my household will look after you and wait on you of ourselves.
看顧 takes 看 as kàn, to look after. Note who is speaking. The offer to nurse the two invalids is made without being asked for, and it is made by the woman who was standing at her own door laughing at them four passages ago.
When you came this morning, we did truly have thoughts of tenderness toward you.
早間 takes 間 as jiān — this morning. 愛憐之意 is put very delicately, and on the evidence of the next passage it is not a delicate thing at all.
But just now, seeing this bodhisattva come on cloud and go in mist, we knew you were arhats and bodhisattvas, and my household would certainly never dare to harm you again."
決不敢復害你 admits, in the very act of renouncing it, that harm had been on the table. The grammar is reassurance and the content is a confession.
The passage is functional — it moves a character from one place to another and sets up the plan that will work — and its interest lies in what gets said around the edges. Wukong's scheme is one sentence long and is a plain division of labour: he will keep the immortal occupied and Sha Monk will draw the water. There is no trick in it, which for this novel is worth remarking on.
Tripitaka's objection is the best small moment in the passage. Told that both healthy disciples must go to fetch the cure for his condition, his first thought is 教誰伏侍 — who will wait on us? The novel does not editorialise. It simply lets him say it, and lets the old woman answer it.
Her answer contains the real disclosure. She promises her household will look after them, and then explains why they can now be trusted: when the pilgrims arrived that morning the women had 愛憐之意, thoughts of tenderness, and it was only on seeing Wukong ride a cloud that they understood these were arhats and gave the idea up. She offers this as reassurance. It is in fact an admission that the pilgrims spent the morning in danger they never noticed, and the next passage will spell out exactly what the danger was.