睡得夢夢乍 He Slept in a Daze
那獃子吃了自在酒飯，睡得夢夢乍道：「這早備馬怎的？」行者喝道：「師父教走路哩。」獃子抹抹臉道：「又是這長老沒正經。二百四十家大戶都請，才吃了有三十幾頓飽齋，怎麼又弄老豬忍餓？」長老聽言罵道：「饢糟的夯貨，莫胡說，快早起來；再若強嘴，教悟空拿金箍棒打牙。」那獃子聽見說打，慌了手腳道：「師父今番變了：常時疼我愛我，念我蠢夯護我，哥要打時，他又勸解；那呆子吃了自在酒饭，睡得梦梦乍道：「这早备马怎的？」行者喝道：「师父教走路哩。」呆子抹抹脸道：「又是这长老没正经。二百四十家大户都请，才吃了有三十几顿饱斋，怎么又弄老猪忍饿？」长老听言骂道：「馕糟的夯货，莫胡说，快早起来；再若强嘴，教悟空拿金箍棒打牙。」那呆子听见说打，慌了手脚道：「师父今番变了：常时疼我爱我，念我蠢夯护我，哥要打时，他又劝解；
逐句解 Line by line
That idiot had eaten and drunk himself comfortable and was sleeping in a daze, and said, "What is the saddling for at this hour?"
夢夢乍 is a wonderful piece of vernacular — muzzy, half-dreaming, the state between asleep and awake. 睡得 puts the light de between the sleeping and how he was doing it. He is not refusing; he genuinely does not understand the question.
Pilgrim called out, "The master says we are taking the road."
喝道 with hè — to call out sharply, the same reading the sea-scouts' hollering took.
The idiot wiped his face and said, "There is that elder being unreasonable again.
沒正經 — no propriety, not being serious, behaving unreasonably. Eight Rules is calling his master silly to Pilgrim's face at three in the morning, and the novel likes him for it.
Two hundred and forty great households have all invited us, and we have only eaten some thirty-odd square meals — how does he come to be starving old Pig again?"
The arithmetic is the joke and it is exact. Two hundred and forty invitations issued; thirty-odd dinners eaten. By his count they have got through an eighth of the hospitality and are leaving. 忍餓 — to endure hunger. He has eaten thirty-four dinners in a month and considers himself starved.
The elder heard him and scolded, "You swill-guzzling stupid lump — no nonsense. Get up quickly;
饢糟的夯貨 is the Tang Monk's full repertoire of abuse and it is startling coming from him. 饢糟 is to stuff oneself with the dregs left after brewing — pig feed; 夯貨 is a stupid, heavy lump of a thing. This is the gentlest character in the novel calling his disciple a swill-fed blockhead.
and if you answer back again I will have Wukong take the gold-banded rod to your teeth."
The threat is delegated, which is the only way this master ever threatens anybody. 打牙 — hit your teeth. He is not going to do it himself and everybody knows it.
The idiot heard the word "beat" and lost the use of his hands and feet, and said, "Master has changed this time. He always used to pity me and be fond of me and think me a stupid clod and shield me; when elder brother wanted to beat me, he would talk him out of it;
And the complaint is genuinely touching. 疼我愛我，念我蠢夯護我 — pitied me and loved me, thought me a stupid lump and shielded me. Four verbs, and every one of them is true: the Tang Monk has protected Eight Rules from Pilgrim's temper for eighty chapters. 慌了手腳 — hands and feet gone useless — is the same phrase used of the master himself when the demons woke in the first batch.
The chapter has one more job to do before it ends, which is to remind you that these four are a family. It does it by having them squabble at three in the morning about breakfast.
Eight Rules's arithmetic is the heart of it. Two hundred and forty households invited us and we have eaten thirty-odd dinners — the sum is correct, the grievance is absurd, and the novel lets him make it at length. Then the Tang Monk, who has spent the whole chapter weeping and being carried about, calls him a swill-guzzling blockhead, which is the strongest language he uses in the entire book.
And then the reply that turns it. He always used to pity me and love me and think me a fool and shield me; when elder brother wanted to beat me he would talk him out of it. It is a complaint about being loved less, made by a pig who is being asked to get out of bed, and it is completely accurate. The Tang Monk has protected him for eighty chapters, and Eight Rules has noticed.