御米三升 Three Sheng of Royal Rice
那女王又賜出碎金碎銀一盤，下龍床遞與行者道：「你三人將此權為路費，早上西天；待汝等取經回來，寡人還有重謝。」行者道：「我們出家人，不受金銀，途中自有乞化之處。」女王見他不受，又取出綾錦十疋，對行者道：「汝等行色匆匆，裁製不及，將此路上做件衣服遮寒。」行者道：「出家人穿不得綾錦，自有護體布衣。」女王見他不受，教：「取御米三升，在路權為一飯。」八戒聽說個「飯」字，便就接了，捎在包袱之間。行者道：「兄弟，行李見今沉重，且倒有氣力挑米？」八戒笑道：「你那裡知道，米好的是個日消貨，只消一頓飯，就了帳也。」遂此合掌謝恩。那女王又赐出碎金碎银一盘，下龙床递与行者道：「你三人将此权为路费，早上西天；待汝等取经回来，寡人还有重谢。」行者道：「我们出家人，不受金银，途中自有乞化之处。」女王见他不受，又取出绫锦十疋，对行者道：「汝等行色匆匆，裁制不及，将此路上做件衣服遮寒。」行者道：「出家人穿不得绫锦，自有护体布衣。」女王见他不受，教：「取御米三升，在路权为一饭。」八戒听说个「饭」字，便就接了，捎在包袱之间。行者道：「兄弟，行李见今沉重，且倒有气力挑米？」八戒笑道：「你那里知道，米好的是个日消货，只消一顿饭，就了帐也。」遂此合掌谢恩。
逐句解 Line by line
The queen further bestowed a tray of broken gold and broken silver; she came down from the dragon couch and handed it to Pilgrim, saying, 「Let the three of you take this for the present as travelling money, and set out early for the Western Heaven;
碎金碎銀 is bullion cut into pieces for spending — the ordinary small change of travel. 將 is jiāng, the "take" that introduces the thing being handled; 權為 takes 為 as wéi, to serve as; in 一盤 the 一 shifts to yì before the rising tone of 盤.
and when you come back with the scriptures, We shall have a handsome thanks for you besides.」
She is arranging for their return, which is the one part of the fiction she has entirely believed. 還 is hái; 重謝 takes 重 as zhòng.
「We who have left the household life,」 said Pilgrim, 「do not accept gold and silver. There will be places enough along the road to beg at.」
The refusal is doctrinally correct and, from a party about to run, also prudent: gold accepted would be a debt, and a debt is a reason to come back. 途中 takes 中 as zhōng; 乞化 is huà, the mendicant's asking; 之處 takes 處 as chù; 不 shifts to bú before the falling tone of 受.
Seeing that he would not take it, the queen brought out ten bolts of damask and brocade and said to Pilgrim, 「You are in haste to be off and there is no time for cutting and sewing; take this along the road and make yourselves garments against the cold.」
行色匆匆 — the look of a party in a hurry — is exactly what she has observed and exactly what she has failed to read. 疋 is the bolt as a unit of cloth; 將 is jiāng.
「Those who have left the household life may not wear damask and brocade,」 said Pilgrim. 「We have cloth robes of our own to cover the body.」
A second refusal on the same doctrinal ground, which sets the pattern for the third offer to break. 穿不得 takes 得 as the de of possibility, so 不 keeps bù.
Seeing that he would not take that either, the queen gave the order: 「Fetch three shēng of the royal rice, to serve them for a meal along the way.」
She has been refused twice and keeps offering, coming down in value each time. 升 is left as shēng, an old Chinese grain measure of about a litre, alongside 丈, 尺, 寸 and 里, which this project also leaves untranslated. 教 is jiào; 權為 again takes 為 as wéi; in 一飯 the 一 shifts to yí before the falling tone of 飯.
Eight Rules, hearing the word 「meal」, took it at once and tucked it in among the bundles.
聽說個「飯」字 is precise: he is responding to a word, not to a gift, and the novel says so. 之間 takes 間 as jiān.
「Brother,」 said Pilgrim, 「the luggage is heavy enough as it is. Have you the strength to carry rice on top of it?」
Pilgrim's objection is practical and, given that the luggage is about to be run west at speed, well founded. 沉重 takes 重 as zhòng; 且倒 takes 倒 as dào, the "and yet, on the contrary" sense; 挑 is tiāo, to carry on a shoulder-pole.
Eight Rules laughed and said, 「What do you know about it? Rice, now — rice is a thing that goes in a day. One meal and the account is closed.」
He is arguing logistics in the language of a shopkeeper, and he is right. 日消貨 is a same-day-consumption article — stock that turns over in a day — and 就了帳 is the language of settling a bill, with 帳 as zhàng, the reckoning. 你那裡 takes 那 as nǎ, the rhetorical "how should you."
With that he put his palms together and gave thanks for the favour.
遂此 closes the exchange. Six characters, and the party has now accepted exactly one thing from the Women's Country: three shēng of rice, which will be gone by tomorrow.
Three gifts are offered and the pattern of the refusals is the passage's argument. Gold and silver: refused, because monks do not take money. Damask and brocade: refused, because monks do not wear silk. Both refusals are doctrinally exact, and both are also the correct move for a party that intends to be a day's ride away by morning — a gift accepted is a debt, and a debt is a reason to come back.
The queen's persistence is what makes it painful rather than merely tactical. She comes down from the dragon couch to hand over the tray herself; refused, she produces cloth and explains, reasonably, that there is no time for tailoring; refused again, she comes down to three shēng of rice for a meal on the road. The value drops each time and the impulse does not. She is trying to send them off with something, which is what one does for departing family.
And Eight Rules takes the rice — not out of sentiment but because he heard the word. The novel is precise about it: 八戒聽說個「飯」字, 便就接了. He responds to the word, not the giver. Pilgrim objects on grounds of weight; Eight Rules answers in the vocabulary of a shopkeeper — rice is a same-day article, one meal and the account's closed — and is entirely correct.
So the sum of what the pilgrims accept from the Women's Country is three shēng of rice that will be eaten tomorrow. The chapter has offered them a throne, the wealth of a kingdom, a queen, a banquet, gold, silk; they leave with one meal, and even that was taken by the disciple who was not listening. It is a precise accounting, and it is placed here, one passage before the escape, so the reader has it in hand when the deception lands.