七個蜘蛛精 Seven Spider Spirits
我想你在此間為神，定知他的來歷，是個甚麼妖精？老實說來，免打。」土地叩頭道：「那妖精到此，住不上十年。小神自三年前檢點之後，方見他的本相，乃是七個蜘蛛精。我想你在此间为神，定知他的来历，是个甚么妖精？老实说来，免打。」土地叩头道：「那妖精到此，住不上十年。小神自三年前检点之后，方见他的本相，乃是七个蜘蛛精。
逐句解 Line by line
"I reckon that since you are the god in these parts you must know their provenance. What sort of monsters are they? Tell me straight and save yourself a beating."
為神 takes 為 as wéi, to act as or serve as — a job description, not a purpose. 老實說來，免打 is the whole of Pilgrim's interview technique in seven characters: tell the truth and I won't hit you. He says it to gods, to demons and to shopkeepers, and it works on all three.
The earth god knocked his head. "Those monsters came here less than ten years ago."
住不上十年 — have not lived here as much as ten years — is the reply of somebody who keeps records. Ten years is nothing to a spider spirit and nothing to a god; he is establishing that they are recent arrivals in his parish, which is also a small plea in mitigation.
"It was only after an inspection three years ago that I made out their true shape, and they are seven spider spirits."
檢點 is an inspection, a review of the register — the earth god is describing an audit. 本相 keeps 相 as xiàng, an appearance or form, against the xiāng of 相敵 a passage ago. 小神, this small god, is his humble self-reference, and it is the only word in the sentence that is not administrative.
The intelligence report, and it is delivered in the language of local government. They arrived under ten years ago. An inspection three years back identified them. They are seven spider spirits. Dates, procedure, finding — this is a file being read out.
The comedy is that it is also an admission. A god has been living next door to seven demons for the better part of a decade and it took a scheduled review to notice. He volunteers the timeline himself, which is what a junior official does when he can see where the questions are going.
And the answer, when it comes, is deflatingly small. Not an ancient calamity, not a fallen star, not something escaped from a heavenly stable — seven spiders. Pilgrim's reaction in the next passage is the correct one, and it is worth watching what he does with the information.