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Reader's edition
求死不能
They Cannot Even Die
行者道：「既然如此，你們死了便罷。」眾僧道：「老爺，有死的。到處捉來與本處和尚，也共有二千餘眾。到此熬不得苦楚，受不得爊煎，忍不得寒冷，服不得水土，死了有六七百，自盡了有七八百。只有我這五百個不得死。」行者道：「怎麼不得死？」眾僧道：「懸梁繩斷，刀刎不疼；投河的飄起不沉，服藥的身安不損。」行者道：「你卻造化，天賜汝等長壽哩。」眾僧道：「老爺呀，你少了一個字兒，是『長受罪』哩。我等日食三餐，乃是糙米熬得稀粥。到晚就在沙灘上冒露安身。才合眼，就有神人擁護。」行者道：「想是累苦了，見鬼麼？」行者道：「既然如此，你们死了便罢。」众僧道：「老爷，有死的。到处捉来与本处和尚，也共有二千余众。到此熬不得苦楚，受不得爊煎，忍不得寒冷，服不得水土，死了有六七百，自尽了有七八百。只有我这五百个不得死。」行者道：「怎么不得死？」众僧道：「悬梁绳断，刀刎不疼；投河的飘起不沉，服药的身安不损。」行者道：「你却造化，天赐汝等长寿哩。」众僧道：「老爷呀，你少了一个字儿，是『长受罪』哩。我等日食三餐，乃是糙米熬得稀粥。到晚就在沙滩上冒露安身。才合眼，就有神人拥护。」行者道：「想是累苦了，见鬼么？」
逐句解 Line by line
行者道：「既然如此，你們死了便罷。」
行者道：「既然如此，你们死了便罢。」
Pilgrim said: “If that’s so, you might as well just die, then.”
便罷: 罷 = bà.
眾僧道：「老爺，有死的。
众僧道：「老爷，有死的。
The monks said: “Your Honor, some have died.
有死的 = “some have died.”
到處捉來與本處和尚，也共有二千餘眾。
到处捉来与本处和尚，也共有二千余众。
Counting those seized from everywhere together with the local monks, we numbered above two thousand.
到處 / 本處: 處 = chù. 共有, “in all there were.”
到此熬不得苦楚，受不得爊煎，忍不得寒冷，服不得水土，死了有六七百，自盡了有七八百。
到此熬不得苦楚，受不得爊煎，忍不得寒冷，服不得水土，死了有六七百，自尽了有七八百。
Here, unable to bear the bitterness, unable to bear the scorching, unable to endure the cold, unable to stomach the water and soil — some six or seven hundred died, and seven or eight hundred took their own lives.
熬不得 / 受不得 / 忍不得 / 服不得: the potential-complement 得 = de (“unable to —”). 自盡: 盡 = jìn.
只有我這五百個不得死。」
只有我这五百个不得死。」
Only we five hundred cannot die.”
不得死: here 得 = dé, the modal (“cannot, are not permitted to”) — distinct from the potential-complement de of 熬不得 above.
行者道：「怎麼不得死？」
行者道：「怎么不得死？」
Pilgrim said: “Why can you not die?”
不得死: modal 得 = dé.
眾僧道：「懸梁繩斷，刀刎不疼；
众僧道：「悬梁绳断，刀刎不疼；
The monks said: “Hang from a beam and the rope snaps; take a blade to the throat and it does not hurt;
懸梁, to hang oneself from a beam. 不疼: 不 = bù before téng.
投河的飄起不沉，服藥的身安不損。」
投河的飘起不沉，服药的身安不损。」
throw yourself in the river and you float up without sinking; swallow poison and your body stays sound, unharmed.”
不沉 / 不損: bù before second and third tone.
行者道：「你卻造化，天賜汝等長壽哩。」
行者道：「你却造化，天赐汝等长寿哩。」
Pilgrim said: “Then you have good fortune — Heaven has granted you long life.”
長壽: 長 = cháng, “long life.” Final 哩 = li.
眾僧道：「老爺呀，你少了一個字兒，是『長受罪』哩。
众僧道：「老爷呀，你少了一个字儿，是『长受罪』哩。
The monks said: “Ah, Your Honor, you’ve left out one word — it’s ‘long to suffer.’
一個字兒: 兒 = er, suffix; 一 = yí before gè. 長受罪: 長 = cháng — the monks’ grim pun on 長壽 (“long life”) and 長受罪 (“long to suffer”). 少了: 少 = shǎo.
我等日食三餐，乃是糙米熬得稀粥。
我等日食三餐，乃是糙米熬得稀粥。
We eat three meals a day, and they are thin gruel boiled from coarse rice.
熬得: complement 得 = de. 糙米 / 稀粥, coarse rice, thin gruel.
到晚就在沙灘上冒露安身。
到晚就在沙滩上冒露安身。
Come nightfall we lodge out on the sand-flat, braving the dew.
冒露: 露 = lù, “dew” (not the lòu of 露面).
才合眼，就有神人擁護。」
才合眼，就有神人拥护。」
But the moment we close our eyes, spirit-men come to shield us.”
擁護, to shield, guard.
行者道：「想是累苦了，見鬼麼？」
行者道：「想是累苦了，见鬼么？」
Pilgrim said: “It must be you’re worn out with hardship — are you seeing ghosts?”
累苦, worn out with toil.
總評 Commentary
The exchange twists the screw one turn further: of some two thousand monks, six or seven hundred died of the hardship and seven or eight hundred by their own hand — and the remaining five hundred are denied even death, ropes snapping, blades painless, rivers refusing to drown them, poison leaving them whole. Wukong’s mock congratulation on their “long life” (長壽) draws the chapter’s bitterest line, the monks’ correction that it is rather 長受罪, “long to suffer.” The homophonic pun (cháng shòu “long life” / cháng shòu zuì “long to suffer punishment”) is the hinge into the mystery of why they cannot die — the nightly intervention of the spirit-guardians.