原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
抖抖衣裳 He Goes Down Empty Handed
獃子放下鈀，抖抖衣裳，空著手，跳下高山，找尋路徑。呆子放下钯，抖抖衣裳，空着手，跳下高山，找寻路径。
逐句解 Line by line
獃子放下鈀，抖抖衣裳，空著手，跳下高山，找尋路徑。
呆子放下钯，抖抖衣裳，空着手，跳下高山，找寻路径。
The idiot put down his rake, shook out his clothes, and empty-handed sprang down the high mountain to look for a path.
子 takes the everyday unstressed zi, and 著 is the sustained zhe — the hands kept empty across the whole descent. Putting down the rake is the point: he is going to scout, not to fight.
Twenty characters, and every one of them is a preparation. He sets down the weapon, shakes out his clothes, and goes over the edge with nothing in his hands.
Going empty-handed is sensible for a scout and it is also the most exposed thing anyone does in the chapter. The rake is the only reason Bajie survives most encounters, and he is leaving it on a cloud.
The chapter that began with four travellers arriving at a monastery ends with one of them walking down a mountainside alone and unarmed, looking for a door.