賢后莫愁 Do Not Grieve Worthy Queen
這孤城怎生是好？」大聖收了法毛，對王妃作禮道：「賢后莫愁。只因我拿他七個獅精，那老妖弄攝法，定將我師父與殿下父子攝去，料必無傷。待明日絕早，我兄弟二人去那山中，管情捉住老妖，還你四個王子。」那王妃一簇女眷聞得此言，都對行者下拜道：「願求殿下父子全生，皇圖堅固。」拜畢，一個個含淚還宮。行者吩咐各官：「將打死的黃獅精，剝了皮；六個活獅精，牢牢拴鎖。这孤城怎生是好？」大圣收了法毛，对王妃作礼道：「贤后莫愁。只因我拿他七个狮精，那老妖弄摄法，定将我师父与殿下父子摄去，料必无伤。待明日绝早，我兄弟二人去那山中，管情捉住老妖，还你四个王子。」那王妃一簇女眷闻得此言，都对行者下拜道：「愿求殿下父子全生，皇图坚固。」拜毕，一个个含泪还宫。行者吩咐各官：「将打死的黄狮精，剥了皮；六个活狮精，牢牢拴锁。
逐句解 Line by line
"What is to become of this lonely city?"
孤城 is a city standing on its own, cut off - the word carries the same loneliness in Chinese that it does in English, and it is the queen's whole political situation in two characters. Her husband and all three heirs are gone at once.
The Great Sage gathered in his magic hairs, made a bow to the queen and said: "Worthy queen, do not grieve.
作禮 is a formal bow, and it is the first courtesy Pilgrim has shown anyone in this chapter. He has been shouting at lions for two days. The register shifts the moment he is addressed by a woman in mourning.
"It is only because I took seven of his lion spirits that the old fiend worked a snatching art and carried off my master along with his highness and his sons - and by my reckoning they will not be harmed.
攝法 is the art of seizing something at a distance, the standard term in this book for a demon lifting a person out of one place and setting them down in another. 料必無傷 - I reckon there is certainly no harm - is a calculation, not a comfort: the captives are worth more alive, and both sides know it.
"Wait until first light tomorrow, and we two brothers will go to that mountain, and I guarantee we take the old fiend and give you back your four princes."
管情 is the vernacular promise word - depend on it, I will see to it. And 四個王子 quietly counts the king in with his three sons, which is either a slip of the tongue or a kindness. The queen has lost four men and Pilgrim promises four back.
That queen and her whole cluster of ladies, hearing these words, all bowed down before Pilgrim and said: "We beg only that his highness and his sons be kept whole in life, and the imperial line stand firm."
Their prayer has two halves and the second is the political one. 皇圖 is the dynastic map - the realm as an inheritance to be handed on - so they are asking for the men and the succession in the same breath. With all three heirs in a fiend's mouth, those are the same request.
The bowing done, one after another they went back to the palace with tears in their eyes.
一個個 is distributive again - each of them in turn, not all of them at once - and it makes the withdrawal slow. The novel lets the women leave the stage properly before it goes back to business.
Pilgrim gave his orders to the various officers: "Take the Yellow Lion Spirit that was killed and skin him;
Straight from tears to butchery in one segment, with no transition at all. This is the register of the book working as it always does, and it is worth noticing rather than smoothing over.
"and the six live lion spirits - chain them up fast.
牢牢拴鎖 doubles the word for secure and then names two ways of fastening, tying and locking. The six are the negotiating position and Pilgrim is not going to lose them the way he lost everything else.
The chapter pauses here, and what it pauses for is unusual. There is no fighting in this passage and no magic beyond gathering some hair back in. There is a woman asking what happens to a city with no king and no heirs, and a monkey bowing to her and making a promise.
Pilgrim's answer is entirely practical and it is better for that. He does not console her; he explains the logic. He holds seven of the fiend's family, the fiend holds six of hers, and neither side can afford to damage the stock. It is the reasoning of a hostage negotiator and it is the only honest comfort available.
The ladies' prayer is the line to keep. They ask for the men to live and for the dynasty to hold, as though these were two things, and the whole point of the chapter's plot is that they are one thing. Every heir this kingdom has is currently inside a lion.