原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
下回分解 To Be Continued
畢竟不知幾年才回東土，且聽下回分解。毕竟不知几年才回东土，且听下回分解。
逐句解 Line by line
畢竟不知幾年才回東土，且聽下回分解。
毕竟不知几年才回东土，且听下回分解。
There is no telling in the end how many years before he comes back to the Eastern Land; listen to the explanation in the next chapter.
The closing formula is the standard one and its first clause is not. Most chapters ask 此去吉凶如何 — what fortune lies ahead — and this asks 幾年才回東土, how many years before the return to the Eastern Land. It is a question about the length of the journey rather than about the next danger, and it follows four Vajras telling Tripitaka that his work is very nearly complete. 分解 takes 分 at fēn and 解 at jiě, to divide and explain.
The closing formula is the standard one, and its first clause is not. Most chapters ask 此去吉凶如何 — what fortune lies ahead — and this one asks 幾年才回東土, how many years before the return to the Eastern Land.
It is a question about duration rather than danger, and it arrives immediately after four Vajras have told Tripitaka that his meritorious work is very nearly complete. The chapter that finally puts out the Mountain of Flames ends by asking how much longer the road is.