幾句大話 Those Few Big Words
八戒道:「不羞,憑你那幾句大話,哄他一頓飯吃了,明日卻要跑路,他又管待送你怎的?」行者道:「不要忙,我自有個處治。」八戒道:「不羞,凭你那几句大话,哄他一顿饭吃了,明日却要跑路,他又管待送你怎的?」行者道:「不要忙,我自有个处治。」
逐句解 Line by line
Eight Rules said, "Have you no shame? On the strength of those few big words of yours you have coaxed one meal out of him. Tomorrow we take the road again — why should he lay on anything more to see you off?"
那 is nà, pointing back at the boasting everyone has just heard. 管待 is to entertain a guest with food.
Pilgrim said, "Don't fret. I have a way of dealing with it."
處 is chǔ in 處治, the verb "to deal with" — as against the chù that means a place. Of the seven times this character has appeared so far in the chapter, this is the only one that is not chù.
Eight Rules is being accurate rather than unkind. The poem was big talk, it did produce a meal, and there is no obvious reason for the host to do anything more. His objection is the sensible one.
Pilgrim's nine-character answer gives nothing away and ends the scene. 我自有個處治 — "I have my own way of handling it" — is the line he uses when he has worked something out and does not intend to say what. He does not say, and the chapter leaves it there.