原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
三千小妖
Three Thousand Will Do
老魔道：「賢弟不送之故，何也？」二怪道：「你與我三千小妖，擺開陣勢，我有本事拿住這個猴頭。」老魔道：「莫說三千，憑你起老營去，只是拿住他，便大家有功。」老魔道：「贤弟不送之故，何也？」二怪道：「你与我三千小妖，摆开阵势，我有本事拿住这个猴头。」老魔道：「莫说三千，凭你起老营去，只是拿住他，便大家有功。」
逐句解 Line by line
老魔道：「賢弟不送之故，何也？」
老魔道：「贤弟不送之故，何也？」
The old fiend said: "Worthy brother, what is your reason for not sending him?"
賢弟 — worthy younger brother, the polite form between sworn brothers. The courtesy sits oddly on a plot to break a promise.
二怪道：「你與我三千小妖，擺開陣勢，我有本事拿住這個猴頭。」
二怪道：「你与我三千小妖，摆开阵势，我有本事拿住这个猴头。」
The second fiend said: "Give me three thousand of the lesser demons and let me draw up a battle line. I have the skill to take this monkey."
陣勢 — the formation and the advantage it confers, both at once.
老魔道：「莫說三千，憑你起老營去，只是拿住他，便大家有功。」
老魔道：「莫说三千，凭你起老营去，只是拿住他，便大家有功。」
The old fiend said: "Say nothing of three thousand. Raise the whole camp if you please. Only take him, and the credit will be shared among us all."
老營 is the main camp, the whole standing force rather than a detachment.
總評 Commentary
The old fiend's answer is the most human line the demons are given. He does not want to hear the number. Take what you need, he says, only get it done — which is what a man says when he has been beaten and would rather not be consulted about the details.
The offer of shared credit is doing quiet work too. He has just been hauled through the sky on a rope in front of his own troops, and he is now arranging in advance that any victory will belong to everyone. That is not generosity; it is a man making sure his brother's success does not become his own further humiliation.