The Monkey King, hearing this, could only take his leave. Out of the deep wood he came, found the path,

只得相辭 ('could only take his leave'; 相辭, to bid farewell). The monkey leaves the woodcutter and 找上路徑 ('finds his way onto the path'; 徑 jìng), following the directions exactly.

crossed a hillside, and after some seven or eight li did indeed catch sight of a cave-dwelling.

過一山坡 ('crossed a hillside'; 坡 pō). 七八里 ('seven or eight li,' the 里 kept untranslated) brings him to a 洞府 ('a cave-dwelling, a grotto-residence') — just as the woodcutter foretold.

Drawing himself up to look, he saw it was a truly fine spot. Behold:

挺身觀看 ('drew himself up to look'; 挺 tǐng). 真好去處 ('truly a fine place') and 但見 cue the descriptive 賦 of the master's cave.

Mist and rosy cloud scatter their colours; sun and moon shimmer their light.

The cave-賦 opens with light: 煙霞散彩，日月搖光 ('mist and rosy cloud scatter their hues; sun and moon shimmer'). The register is markedly more celestial than the earlier mountain-賦 — this is a numinous, half-heavenly place.

A thousand aged cypresses, ten thousand joints of tall bamboo.

千株老柏，萬節修篁 ('a thousand old cypresses, ten thousand joints of tall bamboo'; 株 zhū, a tree-measure; 篁 huáng, bamboo). The pair is then taken up as a refrain and expanded.

A thousand aged cypresses, rain-laden, green and soft against the sky;

The cypresses, 帶雨半空青冉冉 ('rain-laden, softly green against the sky'; 冉冉, drooping or drifting gently).

ten thousand joints of tall bamboo, holding mist, a whole ravine deep blue-green.

The bamboo, 含煙一壑色蒼蒼 ('mist-wreathed, a whole ravine deep grey-green'; 壑 hè, a ravine; 蒼蒼, the dark blue-green of distance).

Beyond the gate, rare flowers spread like brocade; by the bridge, magic herbs breathe fragrance.

奇花佈錦 ('rare flowers spread like brocade'; 佈 the 維基文庫 form of 布, 'to spread'; 錦, brocade) and 瑤草噴香 ('jade-herbs gush fragrance'; 噴 pēn) — the immortal's garden.

On the stone cliff, jagged, the green moss glistens; up the sheer wall, high-spread, the kingfisher lichen grows long.

石崖突兀 ('the stone cliff juts up'; 兀 wù); 懸壁高張翠蘚長 ('on the sheer wall, kingfisher-green lichen grows long'; 懸 'to hang,' the 維基文庫 reading against 縣; 蘚 xiǎn, lichen; 長 here cháng).

Now and then one hears immortal cranes cry; often one sees phoenixes wheel.

仙鶴唳 ('immortal cranes cry'; 唳 lì, a crane's cry) and 鳳凰翔 ('phoenixes wheel') — the auspicious birds of the immortals.

When the immortal cranes cry, the sound shakes the deep marsh, far as the heavens;

聲振九皋霄漢遠 alludes to the Book of Songs ('鶴鳴於九皋，聲聞於天' — the crane cries in the deep marsh, its voice heard in heaven); 九皋 (jiǔ gāo) is the 'ninefold marsh,' 霄漢 the heavens.

when the phoenixes rise in flight, their plumage glows five-coloured as the painted clouds.

翎毛五色彩雲光 ('plumage glowing five-coloured as the painted clouds'; 翎 líng, a feather; 彩 the 維基文庫 reading against 綵).

Black gibbons and white deer come and go at will; golden lions and jade elephants appear or hide as they please.

玄猿白鹿隨隱見 ('black gibbons and white deer come and go'; 見 here xiàn, 'to appear'), 金獅玉象任行藏 ('golden lions and jade elephants appear or hide at will'; 行藏 xíng cáng, a set phrase for 'showing oneself or staying hidden').

Look closely at this numinous, blessed land — it truly rivals heaven.

細觀靈福地，真個賽天堂 ('look closely at this blessed land — it truly rivals heaven'; 賽 sài, to match or surpass; 真個 the 維基文庫 form of 真箇). The 賦 ends by declaring the cave all but paradise — the worthy seat of a great master.

He saw, too, that the cave door was tightly shut, silent and still, with no trace of anyone.

洞門緊閉 ('the cave door tightly shut') and 靜悄悄杳無人跡 ('silent and still, with no trace of anyone'; 杳 yǎo, dim, vanished) — the threshold is closed; the monkey must wait.

Turning suddenly, he saw on the cliff-head a stone tablet, some three zhàng and more high and eight chǐ and more wide,

石碑 ('a stone tablet, a stele'; 碑 bēi), 三丈餘高，八尺餘闊 ('over three zhàng tall and eight chǐ wide'; the units 丈 and 尺 kept untranslated, with 餘 'and more'). A monumental marker confirming the place.

and on it a single line of ten large characters, reading: 'Mountain of the Numinous Terrace and the Square Inch; Cave of the Slanting Moon and Three Stars.'

一行十個大字 takes 行 as háng ('a line, a row'), not xíng or héng — 'a single line of ten great characters.' The ten are the two place-names the woodcutter gave; seeing them confirms he has reached the master's gate.

The Handsome Monkey King was delighted: 'The folk here really are honest — there truly is such a mountain and such a cave!'

此間人果是樸實 ('the folk hereabouts really are honest'; 樸 pǔ, plain, unaffected). The monkey's relief — the woodcutter told the truth — is touchingly literal-minded.

He gazed a good while but dared not knock; so he went and sprang up to the tip of a pine branch, picked pine seeds, ate them, and played.

不敢敲門 ('dared not knock'; 敲 qiāo) shows an unexpected diffidence in the bold monkey. He climbs a pine and eats 松子 (pine seeds; 子 here zǐ, 'seed,' full tone) — a small comic touch of his nature reasserting itself while he waits.

After a little while, with a creak — yā! — the cave door opened,

少頃間 ('after a short while'; 頃 qǐng). 呀的一聲 ('with a creak — yā!'; 呀 yā, an onomatopoeia for the door) — the cave opens of its own accord.

and out came an immortal lad, his bearing truly handsome and grand, his features fresh and rare,

真個丰姿英偉，像貌清奇 ('truly of handsome bearing and rare features'; 丰 fēng, comely). The lad is no ordinary servant — his very look marks the place as otherworldly.

unlike any common mortal. Behold him:

比尋常俗子不同 ('unlike any common mortal'; 俗子, a worldly person). 但見他 cues the verse portrait of the immortal lad.

A twin hair-knot bound with twin silk cords, a loose robe, wind in both sleeves.

The lad's portrait. 髽髻雙絲綰 ('a twin top-knot bound with twin silk cords'; 髽 zhuā, a coiled coiffure, 綰 wǎn, to bind up; the 維基文庫 reads 髽髻 against 鬢髻 elsewhere); 寬袍兩袖風 ('a loose robe, the wind in both sleeves') — the airy dress of a Daoist acolyte.

His face and form set him apart; heart and appearance alike are empty.

心與相俱空 ('heart and form alike empty'; 相 xiàng, outward appearance, 空 the Buddhist 'emptiness'). The line quietly attributes to a mere doorkeeper the realised emptiness of an adept — folding Buddhist śūnyatā into this nominally Daoist establishment.

A long-years guest beyond the world of things, an ever-living lad of the mountains.

物外長年客 ('a long-years guest beyond the world of things'; 物外, outside the dusty world) and 山中永壽童 ('an ever-living lad of the mountains'; 長 here cháng). Even the boy is deathless — a foretaste of what the master can confer.

Not a speck of dust clings to him; he lets the cycling years tumble by.

一塵全不染 ('not a single speck of dust clings'), the idiom 一塵不染 for utter purity. 甲子任翻騰 ('he lets the cycling years tumble by'; 甲子, the sixty-year cycle, hence 'the years,' 子 the full-tone cyclical sign; 翻騰, to roll over) — time turns, and the lad is untouched.