不得囫圇 You Would Not Come Away Whole
行者咄的一聲道：「汝等女流之輩，敢傷那個？」老婆子笑道：「爺爺呀！還是你們有造化，來到我家！若到第二家，你們也不得囫圇了。」八戒哼哼的道：「不得囫圇，是怎麼的？」婆婆道：「我一家兒四五口，都是有幾歲年紀的，把那風月事盡皆休了，故此不肯傷你；若還到第二家，老小眾大，那年小之人，那個肯放過你去？就要與你交合。假如不從，就要害你性命，把你們身上肉都割了去做香袋兒哩。」八戒道：「若這等，我決無傷。他們都是香噴噴的，好做香袋；我是個臊豬，就割了肉去，也是臊的，故此可以無傷。」行者笑道：「你不要說嘴，省些力氣，好生產也。」那婆婆道：「不必遲疑，快求水去。」行者道：「你家可有吊桶？借個使使。」那婆子即往後邊取出一個吊桶，又窩了一條索子，遞與沙僧。沙僧道：「帶兩條索子去，恐一時井深要用。」行者咄的一声道：「汝等女流之辈，敢伤那个？」老婆子笑道：「爷爷呀！还是你们有造化，来到我家！若到第二家，你们也不得囫囵了。」八戒哼哼的道：「不得囫囵，是怎么的？」婆婆道：「我一家儿四五口，都是有几岁年纪的，把那风月事尽皆休了，故此不肯伤你；若还到第二家，老小众大，那年小之人，那个肯放过你去？就要与你交合。假如不从，就要害你性命，把你们身上肉都割了去做香袋儿哩。」八戒道：「若这等，我决无伤。他们都是香喷喷的，好做香袋；我是个臊猪，就割了肉去，也是臊的，故此可以无伤。」行者笑道：「你不要说嘴，省些力气，好生产也。」那婆婆道：「不必迟疑，快求水去。」行者道：「你家可有吊桶？借个使使。」那婆子即往后边取出一个吊桶，又窝了一条索子，递与沙僧。沙僧道：「带两条索子去，恐一时井深要用。」
逐句解 Line by line
Pilgrim gave a snort and said, "You are a pack of womenfolk — who would you dare harm?"
咄 is a bark of contempt, closer to a noise than a word. 那個 takes 那 as nǎ, the rhetorical which one. His scorn is misplaced, and the rest of the passage exists to correct it.
The old woman laughed and said, "Gracious sir! It is your good fortune that you came to my house!
造化 takes 化 as huà — good fortune, luck. 還是 here means it is after all, rather than offering a choice.
Had you gone to a second house, you would not have come away whole."
不得囫圇 takes 得 as dé. 囫圇 is whole, entire, in one piece — the word survives in modern Chinese in the phrase for swallowing a date without chewing it. The threat is left unspecified for exactly one segment.
Eight Rules said with a groan, "Not come away whole — and what would that be?"
Bajie asks the question that lets the explanation happen, exactly as he did about the circle in the chapter's first passage. It is his standing office in the narrative and he discharges it here at the worst possible moment for his own peace of mind.
The old woman said, "There are four or five of us in this household, all of us women of some years, who have given over the business of love entirely; so we were not willing to harm you. But had you gone on to a second house, where the household is large and mixed in age, which of the younger ones there would have let you pass?
一家兒 takes 兒 as the light suffix er; 盡 is jìn. Three 那 in this sentence and they are not alike: nà, that, twice over, and then nǎ, which, in 那個肯放過你去 — which of them would let you pass?
They would have had you couple with them.
Six characters, stated without euphemism. The novel gives the threat one short sentence and moves straight on to what refusal would cost.
And if you would not consent, they would have taken your lives and cut the flesh from your bodies to make scent-bags of."
香袋兒 takes 兒 as the light suffix er; 哩 is li. 香袋 are the scented sachets worn at the waist — an ordinary accessory, which is what makes the sentence land. In fourteen characters the danger turns from coercion into butchery, and the product named is a trinket.
Eight Rules said, "In that case I am certainly safe from harm.
決無傷 asserts the conclusion before any reasoning arrives, which is the shape of every joke Bajie makes.
They are all sweet-smelling and make good scent-bags; I am a rank pig, and if they cut my flesh away it would be rank too — so I can come to no harm."
臊 is the rank smell of a boar. The joke works by accepting the premise of the butchery whole and then reasoning about product quality, which is a colder piece of comedy than it first appears.
Pilgrim said with a laugh, "Don't talk so big — save your strength, you'll want it for the birth."
說嘴 is to boast, to talk big. 好生產也 swings the conversation back to Bajie's condition in a single clause, and it is the third time in the chapter that Wukong has used the pregnancy to shut him up.
The old woman said, "No need to delay — go quickly and get the water."
不必遲疑 is brisk to the point of impatience. Having supplied the information that makes the morning's reception intelligible, she points the party at the job.
Pilgrim said, "Have you a well-bucket in the house? Lend me one to use."
使使 doubles the verb to make it casual — just to use, only for a moment. English does the same thing with a diminutive: lend us a bucket, would you.
The old woman went straight to the back, brought out a bucket, coiled up a rope as well, and handed them to Sha Monk.
Both 子 are the light suffix zi — 婆子 and 索子. 窩 is to coil. Note the sequence: the household that could not give them water is now supplying the means of fetching it.
Sha Monk said, "Take two ropes — the well may be deep and we shall want them."
Sha Monk's whole contribution to the expedition, at this point, is a piece of foresight about rope length. It is entirely in character, and it will turn out to have been unnecessary.
This is the passage in which the Women's Country stops being a curiosity. Everything the pilgrims have met so far — the ferrywoman's silence, the tittering at the door, the women called out to look at the Tang Monk — has been played for comedy. Here the old woman explains what those receptions ordinarily lead to, and the tone changes without warning.
Her account is exact and unhurried. Her own household is safe because its four or five women are past the age of interest — 把那風月事盡皆休了, they have given over the business of love entirely. Elsewhere the households are large and mixed in age, and the young among them would not let travellers pass; refusal would be answered with killing, and the bodies used for scent-sachets. She offers all of this as an explanation of why the pilgrims were lucky, which is the coldest possible frame for it.
The exchange also darkens the passage before it, retroactively. The same woman said there that her household had felt 愛憐之意 toward the visitors that morning and gave the idea up on seeing Wukong ride a cloud. Set against what she says here, the phrase is not affection but appetite deferred, and the pilgrims' whole comic morning at the cottage was conducted a good deal nearer the edge than any of them knew.
Bajie's joke is the release, and it repays examination rather than mere enjoyment. He does not dispute the account or express horror. He accepts the butchery as a given and argues that his own flesh is too rank to be worth harvesting. The comedy is entirely a matter of tone — a body-horror premise reasoned about as a question of raw materials — and Wukong deflates it by reminding him he has a delivery to get through. The novel then moves straight on to the rope.