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繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
搪塞黎民 “Fobbing Off the People”
八戒笑道：「這先兒只好哄這皇帝，搪塞黎民，全沒些真實本事。令牌響了兩個，如何又不見雲生？」八戒笑道：「这先儿只好哄这皇帝，搪塞黎民，全没些真实本事。令牌响了两个，如何又不见云生？」
逐句解 Line by line
八戒笑道：「這先兒只好哄這皇帝，搪塞黎民，全沒些真實本事。
八戒笑道：「这先儿只好哄这皇帝，搪塞黎民，全没些真实本事。
Bajie said with a laugh, “This gentleman is only good for hoodwinking the emperor and fobbing off the common folk — he has no real skill at all.
先兒: suffixal 兒 = er (colloquial for 先生, “this mister”). 搪塞 (tángsè) “to fob off, stall.” 全沒: 沒 = méi.
令牌響了兩個，如何又不見雲生？」
令牌响了两个，如何又不见云生？」
The tablet has cracked twice — how is it that again no cloud appears?”
響了兩個: 了 = le. 不見雲生: 不 = bú before 見 (4th tone).
Bajie's taunt names the fraud plainly — spectacle for the credulous, no substance beneath — which is, ironically, an accurate description of what the immortal's magic has just been reduced to. The count of failed strokes (“twice now”) keeps the contest's scoreboard before us and heightens the pressure on the Daoist as he moves to his third and most desperate attempt.