原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
劈臉來砍 The Cudgel Meets The Blade
行者見了風，把腰躬一躬，就長了有三丈長短，一隻手扯著繩兒，一隻手拿著鐵棒。那魔頭不知好歹，見他出來了，就舉鋼刀，劈臉來砍。這大聖一隻手使鐵棒相迎。行者见了风，把腰躬一躬，就长了有三丈长短，一只手扯着绳儿，一只手拿着铁棒。那魔头不知好歹，见他出来了，就举钢刀，劈脸来砍。这大圣一只手使铁棒相迎。
逐句解 Line by line
行者見了風，把腰躬一躬，就長了有三丈長短，一隻手扯著繩兒，一隻手拿著鐵棒。
行者见了风，把腰躬一躬，就长了有三丈长短，一只手扯着绳儿，一只手拿着铁棒。
Wukong met the wind, arched his back, and grew to some three zhang in height, one hand hauling on the cord, the other holding the iron cudgel.
長 is zhǎng, to grow, while 長短 that follows takes cháng for the noun. Three zhàng is about 9.6 metres.
那魔頭不知好歹，見他出來了，就舉鋼刀，劈臉來砍。
那魔头不知好歹，见他出来了，就举钢刀，劈脸来砍。
The fiend, not knowing what was good for him, saw him come out, raised his steel sabre and hacked at his face.
不知好歹 — not knowing good from bad. The narrator's verdict, dropped in before the blow lands.
這大聖一隻手使鐵棒相迎。
这大圣一只手使铁棒相迎。
The Great Sage met it with the iron cudgel in one hand.
相 reads xiāng, marking the action as directed at the oncoming blade.
Wukong grows to about ten metres and still fights one-handed, because the other hand is busy with the cord. That detail is the whole tactical picture in one image: he is not fighting this battle, he is holding a leash while a battle happens around him.
The narrator's aside — not knowing what was good for him — is the kind of judgment this novel hands down freely. It tells us the outcome before the exchange begins, which removes suspense and replaces it with something the storyteller prefers, the pleasure of watching a fool proceed.
The old fiend goes for the face. He has just had his front teeth broken on that same cudgel, and he attacks anyway, which tells you either that his temper has got the better of him or that he has not understood what happened. The novel is content to let both readings stand.