原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
講開方好 “Best to Declare It Openly”
行者道:「雖然知之,奈我遠來之僧,未曾與你相會。那時彼此混賴,不成勾當,須講開方好行事。」行者道:「虽然知之,奈我远来之僧,未曾与你相会。那时彼此混赖,不成勾当,须讲开方好行事。」
逐句解 Line by line
行者道:「雖然知之,奈我遠來之僧,未曾與你相會。
行者道:「虽然知之,奈我远来之僧,未曾与你相会。
Pilgrim said, “Though he may know it, still — I am a monk come from afar and have never met with you before.
行者: 行 = xíng. 相會: 相 = xiāng, “to meet one another.” 奈 “but, however.”
那時彼此混賴,不成勾當,須講開方好行事。」
那时彼此混赖,不成勾当,须讲开方好行事。」
At that point we would each be wrangling and denying, and it would come to no good — best to make it clear beforehand, so as to act properly.”
Deictic 那時: 那 = nà. 混賴 “to muddle and deny.” 勾當: 當 = dàng. 好行事: 行 = xíng, “to act, proceed.”
Wukong presses his procedural point to its conclusion: since the two are strangers, only an agreed-upon signal can prevent a later squabble over credit. The reasoning is impeccably reasonable on its face — and entirely self-serving, since “making it clear” means getting the immortal to hand over the very code by which the rain is to be summoned.