揭匣馱僧 The Master Drawn from the Chest
八戒與沙僧分開水道，徑往那水黿之第找尋師父。原來那裡邊水怪魚精，盡皆死爛。卻入後宮，揭開石匣，馱著唐僧，出離波津，與眾相見。那陳清兄弟叩頭稱謝道：「老爺不依小人勸留，致令如此受苦。」行者道：「不消說了。你們這裡人家，下年再不用祭賽，那大王已此除根，永無傷害。陳老兒，如今才好累你，快尋一隻船兒，送我們過河去也。」那陳清道：「有有有。」就教解板打船。眾莊客聞得此言，無不喜捨。那個道：「我買桅篷。」這個道：「我辦篙槳。」有的說：「我出繩索。」有的說：「我雇水手。」八戒与沙僧分开水道，径往那水鼋之第找寻师父。原来那里边水怪鱼精，尽皆死烂。却入后宫，揭开石匣，驮着唐僧，出离波津，与众相见。那陈清兄弟叩头称谢道：「老爷不依小人劝留，致令如此受苦。」行者道：「不消说了。你们这里人家，下年再不用祭赛，那大王已此除根，永无伤害。陈老儿，如今才好累你，快寻一只船儿，送我们过河去也。」那陈清道：「有有有。」就教解板打船。众庄客闻得此言，无不喜舍。那个道：「我买桅篷。」这个道：「我办篙桨。」有的说：「我出绳索。」有的说：「我雇水手。」
逐句解 Line by line
Eight Rules and Sha Monk parted the water and went straight to the Mansion of the Water Turtle to seek their master.
分開 分 fēn; 那水黿之第 deictic 那 nà; 黿 (yuán), the great turtle. They return to the mansion now emptied of its power.
It turned out that within it the water-fiends and fish-sprites were all dead and rotting.
那裡邊 deictic 那 nà; 盡皆 盡 jìn, "entirely"; 死爛: 爛 làn, rotted. The charm of separation — the dead be gone, the living remain — has killed every creature but the one fish lifted into the basket.
They entered the rear palace, lifted the lid of the stone chest, took the Tang Monk on their backs, came out from the waves, and met the others.
石匣 石 shí; 馱著 durative 著 zhe; 相見 相 xiāng. The master, boxed since the middle of the chapter, is at last drawn out of the water alive.
Chen Qing and his brother knocked their heads and gave thanks: "Old master, because you would not heed our plea to stay, you were brought to such suffering."
那陳清 deictic 那 nà; 稱謝: 稱 chēng, "to voice" (thanks). The Chen brothers' apology recalls chapter 47, when they urged the pilgrims not to cross the frozen river.
Pilgrim said: "No need to speak of it.
不消說了 了 le. Wukong waves off the apology — the suffering is past and the demon rooted out.
You people of this place need hold no more sacrifices in years to come. That Great King is now cut off at the root, and will do harm no more.
祭賽: 賽 sài, a votive sacrifice offered in fulfilment of a vow. 那大王 deictic 那 nà; 已此 = 以此. The child-sacrifices that opened the arc are ended for good.
Old Chen — now is just the time to trouble you: go quickly and find a boat to send us across the river."
Two occurrences of 兒, both the diminutive suffix er: 陳老兒 and 船兒. 累你, to put you to trouble. Wukong turns at once from the rescue to the crossing that still remains.
Chen Qing said: "Yes, yes, yes."
那陳清 deictic 那 nà. The tripled assent is comic eagerness — the villager cannot do enough for his deliverers.
So he gave orders to saw planks and build a boat.
就教 教 jiào, causative; 解板: 解 jiě, "to saw apart" (timber). The building of a boat sets up the intervention of the old turtle, who will offer a swifter passage.
The village folk, hearing these words, one and all gave gladly.
聞得 得 dé; 喜捨, to give with a glad heart — a Buddhist term for cheerful almsgiving. The villagers' generosity is the counter-image of the demon's extortion.
One said: "I'll buy the mast and sail."
那個道 deictic 那 nà; 桅篷: 篷 péng, the sail or awning. The four short offers that follow are a small chorus of the settlement outfitting the boat.
Another said: "I'll provide the pole and oars."
篙槳: 篙 gāo, the punting-pole, and 槳 jiǎng, the oars. Each villager names a part of the boat.
Some said: "I'll put up the ropes." Others said: "I'll hire the boatmen."
繩索, rope and cordage; 雇水手, to hire boatmen. The chorus completes the outfitting — and is cut short in the next block by the old turtle's cry from midstream.
The rescue is completed almost in passing: the disciples part the water, walk into the emptied mansion, lift the lid of the stone chest, and carry the master out. What arrests the eye is the fate of the household — 盡皆死爛, all dead and rotting. Guanyin's charm was a spell of separation, 死的去，活的住, and it has done exactly what it said: the one golden fish is in her basket, and every other creature in the mansion is a corpse. The demon's court, so elaborately staged earlier in the chapter, is now a drowned ruin.
The rest of the block turns the arc's opening image inside out. Chapter 47 began with Chen Village compelled to sacrifice its boys and girls to the 靈感大王; here Wukong tells the Chens they need 再不用祭賽, no more votive sacrifices ever, and the villagers respond not with fear but with a scramble of glad giving — a mast, a sail, a pole, oars, ropes, boatmen — 無不喜捨. The extortion that framed the whole arc is answered by its opposite, cheerful almsgiving. The boat they set about building will not, in the event, be needed: the old turtle whose mansion this was is about to rise from the river and offer to carry the pilgrims himself.