原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
通不察理 Makes No Sense at All
行者道：「那裡等得半年？眼下就都要做俗人哩。」那獃子慌了道：「但你說話，通不察理。行者道：「那里等得半年？眼下就都要做俗人哩。」那呆子慌了道：「但你说话，通不察理。
逐句解 Line by line
行者道：「那裡等得半年？
行者道：「那里等得半年？
Pilgrim said: "Who can wait half a year?
Both readings this line needs are the marked ones. 那 is nǎ, the questioning reading — who, and the expected answer is nobody — and 得 in 等得 is de, the shape that says waiting is not possible.
眼下就都要做俗人哩。」
眼下就都要做俗人哩。」
We all have to be laymen right now."
眼下 is under the eye, meaning at this moment — the same immediacy as saying right now, and still ordinary speech.
那獃子慌了道：「但你說話，通不察理。
那呆子慌了道：「但你说话，通不察理。
The Idiot took fright. "But everything you say makes no sense at all.
通不察理 is does not examine reason at all, a flat accusation of talking rubbish. 通 on the front means throughout, the whole way — the vernacular intensifier.
The exchange is three lines long and the objection is not stupid. Bajie is being told to become a layman immediately, by a brother who has not yet said how.
The Idiot's role in this chapter is to ask the practical question that the plan has not answered yet. He is about to ask the best one.