話不虛傳 The Talk Was Not Empty
那洞裡小妖報入。老魔心驚膽戰道:「幾年都說猴兒狠,話不虛傳果是真。」二老怪在傍問道:「哥哥怎麼說?」那洞里小妖报入。老魔心惊胆战道:「几年都说猴儿狠,话不虚传果是真。」二老怪在傍问道:「哥哥怎么说?」
逐句解 Line by line
The lesser fiends in the cave carried the report inside.
Seven characters, and the machinery of the place is working exactly as it did at the start of the chapter: something happens at the gate and a subordinate walks it up to the throne.
The old fiend, shaken to the heart and trembling in his gall, said, "For years everyone has said the monkey is fierce. The talk was not idly passed on — it is true after all."
心驚膽戰 is still ordinary Chinese for terror, and it is the same gall-trembling the lion's portrait poem used about the effect he has on other demons — now turned round on him. 話不虛傳, the word was not passed on falsely, is the standard formula for a reputation turning out to be earned.
The second old monster asked from beside him, "What do you say, elder brother?"
傍 is páng, the side — the character standing in for 旁. And here at last is the second chief, the elephant, who has not spoken once since his portrait poem and now says four characters.
The old fiend's line is the reward for everything Wukong lost in this chapter. He was unmasked, tied up, stripped, bottled, set on fire and burned on the ankle — and the effect on the demon who did all of it is that he now believes the stories.
It also picks up the thread from the lament in the bottle. Wukong decided that his old fame was the reason for his trouble. The old fiend has arrived at the same connection from the other end: the reputation is the thing, and it has just walked up to his door and knocked.