九齒鈀 Out They Come With Weapons
好王子，大的個拿一條齊眉棍，第二個掄一把九齒鈀，第三個使一根烏油黑棒子，雄糾糾、氣昂昂的走出王府，吆喝道：「甚麼取經的和尚，在那裡？」好王子，大的个拿一条齐眉棍，第二个抡一把九齿钯，第三个使一根乌油黑棒子，雄纠纠、气昂昂的走出王府，吆喝道：「甚么取经的和尚，在那里？」
逐句解 Line by line
Fine princes! The eldest took up a brow-high staff, the second swung a nine-toothed rake, and the third wielded a black oil-stained cudgel. Bristling and swaggering they marched out of the palace, bawling, "Where are these scripture-seeking monks?"
Look at the three weapons, because the rest of the chapter is built on them. A 齊眉棍 brow-high staff, a 九齒鈀 nine-toothed rake, and a black oil-stained cudgel — and the three disciples sitting inside carry the matching three: the gold-banded rod, the muckrake, the demon-quelling staff. The novel does not leave the match to be noticed. In the very next scene Pilgrim watches the eldest work his staff and reaches into his ear for his own. 喝 is hè, to bawl, and 那 is nǎ, where.
Three boys, three weapons, and each one matches a disciple they have not yet met. This is the hinge the whole back half of the chapter turns on.
The novel picks the match up at once and then keeps returning to it. In the very next scene Pilgrim sees the eldest working a staff and answers it with the gold-banded rod. Later the princes say plainly that each wants to learn the weapon he already favours. At the end each of them lifts the matching one, and each is taught by the disciple who owns it.
The rake is the striking one. A brow-high staff and a black cudgel are the ordinary furniture of a training hall, but a nine-toothed rake is a farm implement, and nobody in the novel carries one but Bajie. The second son happening to favour it is the detail that turns a coincidence into a pattern.