原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
放風箏也 Flying A Kite Too Early
眾小妖遠遠看見，齊聲高叫道：「大王，莫惹他，讓他去罷。這猴兒不按時景：清明還未到，他卻那裡放風箏也。」众小妖远远看见，齐声高叫道：「大王，莫惹他，让他去罢。这猴儿不按时景：清明还未到，他却那里放风筝也。」
逐句解 Line by line
眾小妖遠遠看見，齊聲高叫道：「大王，莫惹他，讓他去罷。
众小妖远远看见，齐声高叫道：「大王，莫惹他，让他去罢。
The lesser demons, watching from a distance, cried out together: "Great King, do not provoke him! Let him go.
罷 keeps bà. In this edition the sentence-final particle holds its full reading rather than weakening.
這猴兒不按時景：清明還未到，他卻那裡放風箏也。」
这猴儿不按时景：清明还未到，他却那里放风筝也。」
This monkey pays no heed to the season. Qingming is not here yet — so where does he get off flying a kite?"
那 reads nǎ here, the questioning band. The remark is a jeer shaped as a question, not a statement of where anyone is standing.
This is one of the finest jokes in the chapter and it belongs to the extras. The lesser demons, watching their king being hauled up and down on the end of a line, reach for the only thing it resembles: a kite. The image is exact, and it is cruel in the particular way that people are cruel about a boss they do not much like.
Qingming is the tomb-sweeping festival in early April, and kite-flying is what people did on that day — the season for it, in the same way that fireworks belong to a particular night. So the joke has two layers. Their king is behaving like a kite, and he is doing it out of season, which is the Chinese equivalent of putting the decorations up in August.
The line also tells us something about the demons' loyalty. Nobody rushes to help. They stand at a safe distance, advise him to give up, and make jokes about his predicament. The three sworn brothers have already begun blaming each other; now the rank and file are heckling.