鹽醬口 A Salt And Sauce Mouth
諕得那多官齊聲報怨道：「這和尚鹽醬口，講甚麼妖精，妖精就來了。」慌得那國王丟了行者，即鑽入地穴；唐僧也就跟入；眾官亦躲個乾淨。諕得那多官齐声报怨道：「这和尚盐酱口，讲甚么妖精，妖精就来了。」慌得那国王丢了行者，即钻入地穴；唐僧也就跟入；众官亦躲个干净。
逐句解 Line by line
It so terrified the officials that they complained with one voice: "This monk has a salt-and-sauce mouth — he talks about monsters and the monster comes."
鹽醬口 — a mouth like salt and soy sauce — is said of somebody whose words take effect the moment they are spoken. He talks about monsters and the monster comes. 諕 is xià, to frighten, where the everyday reading of the character would give háo.
The king was so alarmed that he dropped Pilgrim's hand and dived into the pit;
He drops the hand he took to lead Pilgrim out here, and dives. 慌得 takes the light de.
the Tang Monk went in after him; and the officials hid themselves clean away.
The king went first and everybody else followed. That is the last thing this passage records about the court. 乾 is gān, clean or dry, not the qián of 乾坤, heaven and earth.
The officials blame Pilgrim, and the phrase they reach for is exact: a mouth like salt and soy sauce, said of a person whose words take effect the moment they are spoken. He talks about monsters and the monster comes.
What follows is the plainest piece of characterisation in the chapter, and it is done entirely through the order in which people move. The king drops Pilgrim's hand — the hand he took to lead him out here — and dives into the pit. The Tang Monk goes in after him. The officials hide themselves clean away.
Nobody invites Pilgrim in, and nobody looks back. The man who was offered a throne a few passages ago is left standing on the grass beside an open hole with the wind coming, which is exactly where the chapter has been taking him all along.