原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
老爺休怕 Do Not Be Afraid Sir
道人跪下道：「老爺休怕。我不是妖邪，我是這寺裡侍奉香火的道人。道人跪下道：「老爷休怕。我不是妖邪，我是这寺里侍奉香火的道人。
逐句解 Line by line
道人跪下道：「老爺休怕。
道人跪下道：「老爷休怕。
The attendant knelt down and said, "Do not be afraid, sir.
He kneels. A lay servant meeting a strange monk in his own ruined courtyard takes the lower position at once, which is what the rest of the exchange runs on.
我不是妖邪，我是這寺裡侍奉香火的道人。
我不是妖邪，我是这寺里侍奉香火的道人。
I am no fiend. I am the attendant of this monastery who keeps the incense."
He repeats his position exactly as the narrator gave it a few passages back, word for word. There is nothing more to him than that, and he says so twice.
The passage carries not one guarded character in it — nine words of plain speech from the only person in the chapter with nothing to hide.
That is the point of him. Everyone else in this stretch is performing: the demon with her story, Pilgrim with his legal scenarios, Tripitaka with his threat. The caretaker kneels down and states what he is.