Then suddenly his travels brought him to the Western Ocean, and he thought to himself that beyond the sea there must surely be immortals.

忽行至 ('suddenly came to,' 行 here xíng, 'to travel'). Having found no masters in 南贍部洲, he reasons that the immortals must lie 海外 ('beyond the sea') and crosses the 西洋大海, the Western Ocean — his second sea-voyage.

All alone he made a raft as before, drifted across the western sea, and came at last to the land of the Western Continent of Aparagodānīya.

獨自個 ('all by himself,' 個 a colloquial particle) and 依前作栰 ('made a raft as before') echo his first departure. He reaches 西牛賀洲 (Aparagodānīya, the Western Continent of Buddhist cosmography), the third of the four continents he will have touched — and the one where the master in fact lives.

Going ashore, he searched all about for a long while, until he caught sight of a tall and lovely mountain, its forested slopes deep and still.

遍訪多時 ('searched all about for a long while'; 遍 biàn, everywhere). 林麓 (lín lù, 麓 the wooded foot of a mountain) 幽深 ('deep and still') sets the tone for the numinous mountain the 賦 will describe.

Fearing neither wolves nor beasts, neither tigers nor leopards, he climbed to the summit to look about. It was indeed a fine mountain:

不怕狼蟲，不懼虎豹 ('fearing neither wolves nor beasts, neither tigers nor leopards'; 不 in its bú sandhi before the falling tones of 怕 and 懼) — the stone monkey is fearless where a man would not be. 果是好山 ('it was indeed a fine mountain') is the storyteller's cue for the descriptive 賦.

A thousand peaks arrayed like halberds, ten-thousand-fathom cliffs spread like a screen.

The mountain-賦 opens with martial imagery: 千峰排戟 ('a thousand peaks ranged like halberds'; 戟 jǐ, the 維基文庫 reading 排, 'arrayed,' against 列 in some editions) and 萬仞開屏 ('myriad-fathom cliffs spread like a folding screen'; 仞 rèn, a measure of about eight chǐ, 屏 a screen).

Sunlight on the mountain haze softly locks in the green; the rain clears, and the dark blue coldly holds its azure.

嵐光 (lán guāng) is the glow of mountain mist; 黛色 (dài sè) the dark blue-green of distant peaks (黛, the pigment once used for painting eyebrows). The couplet pairs sun and rain, each deepening the mountain's colour.

Lean vines twine the ancient trees; an old ford marks a hidden trail.

瘦籐纏老樹 ('lean vines twine the old trees'; 籐 is the 維基文庫 form of 藤, used again below in 持斧斷枯籐). 古渡界幽程 — 'an ancient ford bounds a secluded path' (界 jiè, here 'to mark off,' 程 a route).

Rare flowers and auspicious herbs, tall bamboo and lofty pines —

奇花瑞草，修竹喬松 ('rare blossoms and lucky herbs, tall bamboo and lofty pines'; 修 'long, tall,' 喬 'high') names the four elements that the next two lines expand.

tall bamboo and lofty pines, ten thousand years evergreen, putting a blessed land to shame;

The 賦 takes up each pair as a refrain and amplifies it: the pines and bamboo, 萬載常青欺福地 ('ten thousand years evergreen, putting a blessed land to shame'; 載 zǎi, 'year,' 欺 'to outdo').

rare flowers and auspicious herbs, unfading through the four seasons, rivalling Penglai and Yingzhou.

and the flowers and herbs, 四時不謝賽蓬瀛 ('unfading through the four seasons, rivalling Penglai and Yingzhou'; 不 in its bú sandhi before 謝, 賽 'to match,' 蓬瀛 = 蓬萊瀛洲, the immortals' isles). The mountain is being marked as a fit dwelling for an immortal.

The cries of secluded birds sound near; the spring at its source gurgles clear.

源泉響溜清 — 'the spring at its source gurgles clear' (溜 liù, to flow in a stream). Near birdsong and clear water complete the sensory picture.

Fold upon fold of valleys girt with iris and orchid; everywhere sheer cliffs where moss and lichen grow.

重重谷壑 ('fold upon fold of valleys'; 重 chóng, 壑 a ravine) and 處處巉崖 ('sheer cliffs everywhere'; 巉 chán, precipitous) are hung with iris, orchid, moss, and lichen (苔蘚).

The rise and fall of the ridge-tops — the dragon-veins are good: surely some lofty man dwells here, his name unknown.

起伏巒頭龍脈好 — 'the rise and fall of the ridges: the dragon-veins are good' (巒 luán, a peak; 龍脈 the geomantic 'dragon-veins,' the energy-lines of a landscape). The closing 必有高人隱姓名 ('surely a lofty man hides his name here') is the 賦's punchline — the landscape itself promises a hidden master, exactly what the monkey seeks.

Just as he was gazing, he suddenly heard voices deep in the woods.

正觀看間 ('just as he was gazing'; 間 here 'in the midst of'). The voices come from 林深之處, 'the depths of the wood' — the master's neighbourhood, though the monkey does not yet know it.

Hurrying his steps, he pressed into the forest, cocked his ear, and listened — it turned out to be the sound of singing. The song went:

急忙趨步 ('hurried his steps'; 趨 qū, to hasten, the 維基文庫 form, against 趍 elsewhere). 側耳而聽 ('cocked his ear to listen'). 歌曰 ('the song went') introduces a 詞 (a lyric to a fixed tune), not a 賦 — its tune-title, 滿庭芳, is supplied later by the singer himself.

Watching a game of go till the axe-haft rots, felling trees with a chop and a chop, ambling by the clouds at the valley's mouth;

觀棋柯爛 ('watching a game of go till the axe-haft rots') alludes to the legend of the woodcutter Wang Zhi (王質), who paused to watch immortals at chess and found, on rising, that his axe-handle had rotted and a whole age had passed — a fitting opening for a song about time and detachment. 伐木丁丁 reads 丁丁 as zhēng zhēng, the ringing sound of an axe (a reduplication from the Book of Songs), not dīng dīng. 徐行 (xú xíng) is 'to walk unhurried.'

selling firewood, buying wine, laughing wild and pleasing himself.

賣薪沽酒 ('selling firewood, buying wine'; 薪 xīn, firewood, 沽 gū, to deal in wine). 狂笑自陶情 ('laughing wildly, pleasing his own mood'; 陶 táo, to delight).

The green path, autumn high, he faces the moon; pillowed on a pine root, he sleeps one sleep till dawn.

蒼逕 ('the green path'; 逕 = 徑). 一覺天明 reads 覺 as jiào, the measure-word for a spell of sleep ('one sleep through to dawn'), not jué, 'awareness.' He pillows on a pine root and sleeps under the autumn moon.

He knows his old wood again; climbing crags, crossing ridges, axe in hand he cuts the dead vines.

持斧斷枯籐 ('axe in hand, cutting the dead vines'; 斧 fǔ, 籐 again the 維基文庫 form of 藤). The verbs sketch the woodcutter's daily round — climbing, crossing, cutting.

Gathered into a single load, he sings on his way to market and barters it for three shēng of rice.

收來成一擔 ('gathered into one carrying-load'; 擔 dàn, a shoulder-pole load). 易米三升 ('barters it for three shēng of rice'; 易 yì, to exchange; 升 shēng, a traditional dry measure of volume, kept here untranslated). His wants are small.

Not the least haggling, the market price fair and even;

更無些子爭競 ('not the least bit of haggling'; 些子 a colloquial 'a little,' 競 jìng, to contend). 時價平平 — he takes the going rate, fair and even, and does not bargain.

he knows no scheming or cunning reckoning — no glory, no disgrace — calm and plain, he lengthens out his life.

不會機謀巧算 ('he knows no scheming or cunning reckoning'; 不 in its bú sandhi before 會). 沒榮辱、恬淡延生 ('without glory or disgrace, calm and plain, he lengthens his life'; 恬淡 the Daoist ideal of unruffled simplicity, 延生 'to prolong life') — the recluse's serenity is itself a kind of longevity practice, which is why the monkey will mistake him for an adept.

Wherever he meets a man, if not an immortal then a Daoist, sitting in stillness expounding the Yellow Court.

相逢處，非仙即道 ('wherever he meets folk, if not immortals then Daoists'; 相 here xiāng, 'each other,' 即 jí, 'then'). 講《黃庭》 — 'expounding the Yellow Court,' the 黃庭經 (Huangting jing), a foundational Daoist scripture on inner meditation and the body's indwelling spirits. It is this line that convinces the monkey a true immortal is near.