二神現相 Two Gods Show Their Forms
行者再拜稱謝道：「多蒙公公指教。我豈有不尋之理？」把這齋飯倒與他，將這空缽盂自家收拾。那老翁放下拐棒，接了缽盂，遞與僮僕，現出本相，雙雙跪下磕頭，叫：「大聖，小神不敢隱瞞。我們兩個就是此山山神、土地，在此候接大聖。這齋飯連缽盂，小神收下，讓大聖身輕好施法力。待救唐僧出難，將此齋飯還奉唐僧，方顯得大聖至恭至孝。」行者喝道：「你這毛鬼討打。既知我到，何不早迎，卻又這般藏頭露尾，是甚道理？」土地道：「大聖性急，小神不敢造次，恐犯威顏，故此隱像告知。」行者息怒道：「你且記打。好生與我收著缽盂，待我拿那妖精去來。」土地、山神遵領。行者再拜称谢道：「多蒙公公指教。我岂有不寻之理？」把这斋饭倒与他，将这空钵盂自家收拾。那老翁放下拐棒，接了钵盂，递与僮仆，现出本相，双双跪下磕头，叫：「大圣，小神不敢隐瞒。我们两个就是此山山神、土地，在此候接大圣。这斋饭连钵盂，小神收下，让大圣身轻好施法力。待救唐僧出难，将此斋饭还奉唐僧，方显得大圣至恭至孝。」行者喝道：「你这毛鬼讨打。既知我到，何不早迎，却又这般藏头露尾，是甚道理？」土地道：「大圣性急，小神不敢造次，恐犯威颜，故此隐像告知。」行者息怒道：「你且记打。好生与我收着钵盂，待我拿那妖精去来。」土地、山神遵领。
逐句解 Line by line
Pilgrim bowed again in thanks: “I am much obliged for your instruction, venerable sir. How should there be any question of my not going to look for them?”
稱謝 is chēng, to express thanks. 指教 has 教 as jiào. The answer is given as a rhetorical question, which is how Wukong declines advice without refusing it.
He tipped the food out for him, and put the empty alms bowl away himself.
倒與他 has 倒 as dào, to pour out; 將 is the disposal coverb jiāng. He hands over the meal he stole and beat an old man for, without a word about it.
The old man set down his staff, took the bowl and passed it to the lad — and the pair of them showed their true forms, knelt down together and knocked their heads on the ground, calling: “Great Sage, we little gods dared not conceal it from you.”
本相 takes 相 as xiàng, appearance. 現出本相 is the standard formula for a disguise dropping. They reveal themselves only after he has decided to go, not before.
We two are the mountain god and the local god of this mountain, and we have been waiting here to receive the Great Sage.
山神 and 土地 are the tutelary spirits of a place, the lowest rank of the celestial bureaucracy and the ones Wukong summons everywhere he goes.
This food and the bowl with it we little gods will take in charge, so that the Great Sage may go light and use his powers freely.
身輕好施法力 — the practical reason, offered first. They have thought about the fight.
When you have delivered the Tang Monk out of his peril, we will hand this food back to him, and so the Great Sage’s reverence and filial care will be plain to see.”
出難 takes 難 as nàn, the noun, calamity — against 難保 in the passage before, where the same graph reads nán. 還奉 has 還 as huán, to give back; 顯得 takes 得 as the complement de. They are keeping the food warm for the master, which is a small and exact kindness.
Pilgrim shouted at them: “You hairy demons deserve a beating. Since you knew I had come, why did you not meet me at once, instead of hiding your heads and showing your tails like this? What is the sense of it?”
藏頭露尾 takes 藏 as cáng — to hide the head and show the tail, that is, to be furtive. 甚道理 is shén. He is angry at the disguise and not at all at the news.
The local god said: “The Great Sage is quick-tempered, and we little gods dared not be forward, for fear of offending your dignity. That is why we made our report in a borrowed shape.”
造次 is to act rashly or out of turn. 犯威顏 is to offend against another’s countenance. The excuse is that he is frightening, and he does not dispute it.
Pilgrim swallowed his anger: “I will hold the beating on account. Take good care of the bowl for me, and wait while I go and take that fiend.”
記打 is to enter a beating in the ledger, to be collected later — a joke Wukong makes often. 收著 is durative zhe. The scene ends with him going alone, and the food in safe keeping.
The local god and the mountain god received their orders.
遵領 is to receive an order respectfully. Six graphs, and the passage closes.
The gods appear in disguise because they are afraid of him, and say so. It is one of the novel’s steadiest jokes about what the pilgrimage looks like from below.
Wukong is angry about the wrong thing throughout — the disguise, the delay in greeting him — and never once about the news that his master has been taken.
The alms bowl is kept rather than emptied, and that is the passage’s quiet point. The meal that cost an old man a beating is still going to reach Tripitaka.