緊箍兒咒 Do Not Say The Spell
行者笑道：「實不曾見。」菩薩道：「既不曾見，等我念念緊箍兒咒。」那行者慌了，只教：「莫念，莫念。鈴兒在這裡哩。」行者笑道：「实不曾见。」菩萨道：「既不曾见，等我念念紧箍儿咒。」那行者慌了，只教：「莫念，莫念。铃儿在这里哩。」
逐句解 Line by line
Pilgrim laughed and said, "I have honestly never seen them."
Eight characters, attribution and closing quotation both inside it, so it stands alone. 實 is honestly, truly — the word he chooses for the second lie is one that insists on its own sincerity.
The Bodhisattva said, "Since you have never seen them, wait while I recite the Tight-Fillet Spell."
緊箍兒咒 is the spell that tightens the golden band round Wukong's head — the one piece of leverage anyone in the novel has over him, and Guanyin is the person who gave the band to Tripitaka in the first place. 兒 is ér.
Pilgrim panicked and could only cry, "Don't say it, don't say it! The bells are right here."
The doubled 莫念 is the sound of a man giving in fast. 哩 is the light sentence-final li. The six characters closing the quotation ride in the same segment.
Two lies and a spell. He says he does not know, then he says he has honestly never seen them, and then Guanyin mentions the headband and he produces them immediately. The whole negotiation takes forty characters.
緊箍兒咒 is the only leash in the novel that holds him. The golden fillet round his head tightens when the spell is recited, and Guanyin is the person who supplied it — so the threat is not an idle one, and everyone in the scene knows the history.
What makes the exchange funny rather than merely humiliating is that the Great Sage Equal to Heaven has just outfought, outwitted and outfaced a monster that ten of him could not have approached — and folds in four characters at the mention of a headache.