三遭鉤跌 Hooked Down at the Well
大聖不去趕他，卻來庵內尋水。那個道人早把庵門關了。大聖拿著瓦缽，趕至門前，盡力氣一腳，踢破庵門，闖將進去。見那道人伏在井欄上，被大聖喝了一聲，舉棒要打，那道人往後跑了。卻才尋出吊桶來，正要打水，又被那先生趕到前邊，使如意鉤子把大聖鉤著腳一跌，跌了個嘴硍地。大聖爬起來，使鐵棒就打。他卻閃在傍邊，執著鉤子道：「看你可取得我的水去？」大聖罵道：「你上來，你上來，我把你這個孽障直打殺你！」那先生也不上前拒敵，只是禁住了，不許大聖打水。大聖見他不動，卻使左手掄著鐵棒，右手使吊桶。將索子才突轆轆的放下，他又來使鉤。大聖一隻手撐持不得，又被他一鉤鉤著腳，扯了個躘踵，連索子通跌下井去了。大聖道：「這廝卻是無禮。」爬起來，雙手掄棒，沒頭沒臉的打將上去。那先生依然走了，不敢迎敵。大聖又要去取水，奈何沒有吊桶，又恐怕來鉤扯，心中暗暗想道：「且去叫個幫手來。」大圣不去赶他，却来庵内寻水。那个道人早把庵门关了。大圣拿着瓦钵，赶至门前，尽力气一脚，踢破庵门，闯将进去。见那道人伏在井栏上，被大圣喝了一声，举棒要打，那道人往后跑了。却才寻出吊桶来，正要打水，又被那先生赶到前边，使如意钩子把大圣钩着脚一跌，跌了个嘴硍地。大圣爬起来，使铁棒就打。他却闪在傍边，执着钩子道：「看你可取得我的水去？」大圣骂道：「你上来，你上来，我把你这个孽障直打杀你！」那先生也不上前拒敌，只是禁住了，不许大圣打水。大圣见他不动，却使左手抡着铁棒，右手使吊桶。将索子才突辘辘的放下，他又来使钩。大圣一只手撑持不得，又被他一钩钩着脚，扯了个躘踵，连索子通跌下井去了。大圣道：「这厮却是无礼。」爬起来，双手抡棒，没头没脸的打将上去。那先生依然走了，不敢迎敌。大圣又要去取水，奈何没有吊桶，又恐怕来钩扯，心中暗暗想道：「且去叫个帮手来。」
逐句解 Line by line
The Great Sage did not go after him, but came instead into the convent to look for the water.
The decision is tactically sound and turns out to be the mistake the passage is built on. The man he lets go is the only obstacle that matters.
That Daoist had already shut the convent gate.
早 marks that the gatekeeper acted first. Ten characters, and this is the first of three obstructions.
The Great Sage, carrying the earthenware bowl, ran up to the gate, put his whole strength into one kick, smashed the gate in and came charging through.
拿著 has 著 as zhe, marking the carrying as continuous; 盡力氣 takes 盡 as jìn. 闖將進去 slips 將, read jiāng, in between the verb and its direction, the pattern behind 打將出來 and 鑽將進去 elsewhere in the novel — charged his way in.
He saw the Daoist lying across the well-curb; the Great Sage gave a shout and raised his rod to strike, and the Daoist ran off to the back.
伏在井欄上 — lying across the well-curb with his body — is obstruction by occupation rather than by force. It is a picket line with one picket. 喝 is hè, the shout.
He had just got out the well-bucket and was about to draw water when the gentleman came running up again, caught the Great Sage's foot with the as-you-will hook and tripped him, so that he came down flat on his face.
鉤著 takes 著 as zháo, marking the hooking as something that came off — caught and held — as against the zhuó of 著腳斜鉤 in the battle verse, where the character governs the target instead. 硍 in 嘴硍地 is kěn, a variant of 啃, to gnaw — he goes down biting the dirt. The reading xiàn, sometimes offered for this character, is not one it carries.
The Great Sage scrambled up and struck at him with the iron rod.
Ten characters. The pattern of the passage is now fixed: Wukong reaches for the water, is knocked down, gets up, and swings.
But he dodged aside, and holding up the hook said, "Let us see whether you can carry off my water!"
執著 has 著 as zhe, holding it up and keeping it there; 取得 asks whether it can be done, so 得 is the light de. And 我的水 — my water — is the entire quarrel in three characters.
The Great Sage cursed, "Come up here! Come up here! You obstruction, I'll beat you to death outright!"
直打殺你 — I'll beat you to death outright — is a threat Wukong neither carries out nor could usefully carry out. His opponent has already worked out that he does not have to win this, and a man who only has to stand still is not much moved by being invited to come closer.
The gentleman would not come forward to engage him either, but simply held him off and would not let the Great Sage draw water.
禁住 takes 禁 as jìn, to restrain or bar — not the jīn of enduring. This is the strategic insight of the chapter's antagonist: he cannot beat Wukong and does not try, and denial serves him just as well as victory would.
The Great Sage, seeing him not stir, took to whirling the iron rod in his left hand and working the bucket with his right.
掄著 has 著 as zhe. Fighting with one hand and drawing water with the other is a reasonable improvisation, and it is the second thing to fail.
He had just let the rope run rattling down when the other came at him with the hook again.
將 is jiāng, here shoving the object in front of the verb — took the rope and let it down. 突轆轆 imitates a rope running out over a well-head and keeps its ordinary reading.
The Great Sage could not hold out with one hand; he was hooked by the foot a second time, was jerked staggering, and rope and all went tumbling down the well.
撐持不得 asks whether he can hold out, so 得 is the light de; 鉤著 is again zháo. 躘踵 is to stagger, with 躘 read lóng. This is the third failure and much the worst of the three: the bucket is now at the bottom of the well.
The Great Sage said, "This fellow really has no manners."
無禮 is the very charge the immortal levelled at him — 不得無禮 — before the fight began. Nine characters of understatement, delivered flat on the ground with the bucket gone.
He scrambled up, whirled the rod in both hands, and went at him striking wildly at head and face.
Both 沒 are méi; 打將上去 uses the same 將 pattern as before. 沒頭沒臉 — neither head nor face — is indiscriminate violence, and it is what Wukong falls back on when technique has failed him twice.
The gentleman ran off as before, not daring to face him.
依然 marks the repetition: he ran off as before. He will not fight and cannot be caught, which leaves the position exactly where it was.
The Great Sage wanted to go for the water again, but there was no bucket to be had, and he was afraid of being hooked and dragged once more; so he thought to himself in silence, "I had better go and call for a hand."
心中 takes 中 as zhōng; 幫手 takes 幫 as bāng — a helper, a pair of hands. The conclusion is reached by elimination, and it is the first time in the chapter that Wukong concedes he cannot do something alone.
The passage is a study in an opponent who has understood the terms of the contest better than the hero has. The immortal was routed in open combat one passage ago and has drawn the correct conclusion: he cannot beat Wukong and does not need to. All he has to do is stop a bucket coming up a well. 只是禁住了，不許大聖打水 — he simply barred him, and would not let him draw.
The three failures are carefully graded. First the gate is shut, and Wukong kicks it in. Then the gatekeeper lies across the well-curb, and is shouted away. Then the hook takes him by the foot — once, tripping him onto his face; and again while he is trying to fight with one hand and draw with the other, so that the bucket goes down the well with the rope after it. Each obstruction is smaller than the last, and each is more effective.
Wukong's responses degrade in the same proportion. He begins with a kick and a shout, graduates to a threat he cannot execute, tries an improvisation, and ends by whirling the rod two-handed at head and face — 沒頭沒臉 — at a man who simply runs away. Escalating force against an opponent who declines to receive it is the passage's central joke and also its central point.
The last thirty-two characters are the important ones. Wukong wants the water, has no bucket, is wary of the hook, and concludes 且去叫個幫手來 — I had better fetch a hand. It is the first admission in the chapter that he cannot do this by himself, and what he reaches for is not a better weapon or a stronger ally but a second pair of hands to work a rope while he keeps the other man busy. The remedy for the Women's Country turns out to require a division of labour.