原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
木吒認怪
Moksa Is Recognized
他兩個來來往往，戰上數十合，不分勝負。那怪物架住了鐵棒道：「你是那裡和尚，敢來與我抵敵？」木吒道：「我是托塔天王二太子木吒惠岸行者，今保我師父往東土尋取經人去。你是何怪，敢大膽阻路？」那怪方才醒悟道：「我記得你跟南海觀音在紫竹林中修行，你為何來此？」木吒道：「那岸上不是我師父？」他两个来来往往，战上数十合，不分胜负。那怪物架住了铁棒道：「你是那里和尚，敢来与我抵敌？」木吒道：「我是托塔天王二太子木吒惠岸行者，今保我师父往东土寻取经人去。你是何怪，敢大胆阻路？」那怪方才醒悟道：「我记得你跟南海观音在紫竹林中修行，你为何来此？」木吒道：「那岸上不是我师父？」
逐句解 Line by line
他兩個來來往往，戰上數十合，不分勝負。
他两个来来往往，战上数十合，不分胜负。
The two of them came and went, fought above some dozens of bouts, and neither could best the other.
那怪物架住了鐵棒道：
那怪物架住了铁棒道：
The monster, parrying the iron rod, said:
「你是那裡和尚，敢來與我抵敵？」
「你是那里和尚，敢来与我抵敌？」
“What sort of monk are you, that you dare come and cross me?”
那裡 here is interrogative (“where from, what sort”), with 那 read nǎ.
木吒道：「我是托塔天王二太子木吒惠岸行者，今保我師父往東土尋取經人去。
木吒道：「我是托塔天王二太子木吒惠岸行者，今保我师父往东土寻取经人去。
Moksa said: “I am Moksa, the disciple Huian, second prince of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, now escorting my mistress to the Eastern Land to seek a scripture-pilgrim.
托塔天王 is Li Jing, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King; Moksa is his second son.
你是何怪，敢大膽阻路？」
你是何怪，敢大胆阻路？」
What demon are you, that you dare so boldly to block the road?”
那怪方才醒悟道：「我記得你跟南海觀音在紫竹林中修行，你為何來此？」
那怪方才醒悟道：「我记得你跟南海观音在紫竹林中修行，你为何来此？」
The monster, just then recalling, said: “I remember you — you practiced with the Guanyin of the Southern Sea in the Purple-Bamboo Grove. Why have you come here?”
記得 — to remember; 得 is the neutral-tone particle de. 為何 — “why”; 為 is read wèi.
木吒道：「那岸上不是我師父？」
木吒道：「那岸上不是我师父？」
Moksa said: “Is that not my mistress on the bank yonder?”
不是 — 不 takes bú before fourth-tone 是.
總評 Commentary
The duel breaks off into recognition. The river-demon, halting the iron rod, suddenly knows his opponent: Moksa, fellow-disciple from Guanyin's Purple-Bamboo Grove. The turn from combat to acquaintance is abrupt and characteristic — the novel's monsters are rarely strangers to the celestial order they have fallen from.
Moksa's self-introduction performs an important narrative function, anchoring him in the divine bureaucracy: son of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, acolyte of Guanyin. The demon's flash of memory — that they once cultivated together — prepares his submission, since it reveals him not as an alien horror but as a lapsed member of the same heavenly household, awaiting only the chance to return.