原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
八仙同過海 Eight Immortals Crossing The Sea
正是八仙同過海，獨自顯神通。眾和尚，我拿這妖精與你看看，你才認得我老孫。」正是八仙同过海，独自显神通。众和尚，我拿这妖精与你看看，你才认得我老孙。」
逐句解 Line by line
正是八仙同過海，獨自顯神通。
正是八仙同过海，独自显神通。
"It is a case of the Eight Immortals crossing the sea together, with each showing his own powers alone.
The saying is one of the best known in Chinese: the Eight Immortals crossed the sea each by his own method rather than sharing a boat, and it is still the everyday way of saying that everyone should play to their own strengths.
眾和尚，我拿這妖精與你看看，你才認得我老孫。」
众和尚，我拿这妖精与你看看，你才认得我老孙。」
Monks, I will catch this fiend for you to see, and then you will know what old Sun is."
得 in 認得 is dé, the lexicalised attainment band after a verb of perceiving — to come to recognise.
He ends by quoting a proverb about everyone having their own gift, which is generous of him, given that the gift under discussion is entirely his.
The saying is also a small joke on the situation. The Eight Immortals each crossed by their own means; here a hundred monks have no means at all and one monkey has all of them.
And the promise he makes is the chapter's hinge. He will catch the fiend for them to see — which is precisely what he fails to do. The thing he is hunting will leave a shoe in his hands and his master will be gone.