The Pilgrim then brought down his cloud-head, took the dragon-horse by the forelock, and came before Sanzang, saying: "Master, the horse is here."

揪著 takes the unstressed zhe; 頂鬃 is the mane at the crown of the head. He does not lead the horse by a rein, because there is no rein — but the verb chosen is 揪, to haul by the hair, which is how he has handled every single thing in this chapter, gods included.

One look, and Sanzang cried out for joy: "Disciple! How comes this horse to be even sleeker than before?

肥盛 is well-fleshed, in fine condition. A transfigured prince of the Western Sea is standing in front of him, and the monk's first observation is that the coat looks better than it used to.

Where did you find it?"

尋著的 is "found it". 尋著 is one of the 著 that mark a thing achieved, so it takes zháo — set against the unstressed zhe of 揪著 in the sentence immediately before. The question is entirely reasonable, and it gets laughed at.

Said the Pilgrim: "Master, you are still dreaming.

還做夢哩 takes 還 as hái, "still". The gibe stands for the master's whole position in this chapter: he has slept through his own rescue.

It was the Gold-Headed Guardian who fetched the Bodhisattva just now, and she has turned the dragon of the gorge into our white horse,

卻才 is "just now, a moment ago"; 化作 is to transform into. Wukong's account is scrupulously accurate and gives himself no credit whatever, which is not at all his usual habit — a small sign that the lesson at the gorge went in.

with the same hair and markings — only the saddle and bridle are lacking.

毛片相同 takes 相 as xiāng, "the same as each other". The missing saddle and bridle are not an oversight. What has been restored is a mount, not its harness, and getting hold of the harness will occupy the rest of the chapter.

She had old Sun lead him hither."

著 is causative here, zhuó — "she had old Sun —"; and in 揪將來 the 將 is the hinge before the direction word. Even when reporting a Bodhisattva's instructions he cannot resist the verb 揪, to drag by the scruff.

Sanzang was greatly astonished, and said: "Where is the Bodhisattva?

大驚 is greatly astonished. Only now does it dawn on him that a Bodhisattva has been in the air directly above his head.

Let me go and bow my thanks to her."

拜謝 is to bow in thanks. The impulse is his best quality, and it is characteristically about ten minutes too late.

Said the Pilgrim: "By this time the Bodhisattva has reached the Southern Sea. She will not be troubled with it."

不耐煩矣 is "she will not be bothered with it". The line is wonderfully rude, and Wukong is once again perfectly correct. She has gone.

Sanzang thereupon heaped up a little earth for an incense-burner, kindled incense, and bowed toward the south.

撮土焚香, "heap up earth and burn incense", is the poor man's altar: no shrine, no vessel, so you scrape a little soil into a mound and stand the sticks in it. Travellers and soldiers did this for centuries. It is Sanzang's one act of practical religion in the whole chapter, and the novel lets him have it without a trace of irony.

His reverence done, he rose, and with the Pilgrim set about going forward.

收拾前進 is to gather up and go on. The interval is over and the road resumes.

The Pilgrim dismissed the Mountain God and the Local God with a shout, gave his charge to the Guardian and the Sentinel, and then invited his master to mount.

喝退 is to dismiss with a shout, 喝 read hè — the shouting sense, not the hē of drinking. He beat them, interrogated them, used them, and now he sends them away. The celestial civil service has served its turn.

Said Sanzang: "How am I to ride a horse that has neither saddle nor bridle?

怎生騎得 is "however is one to ride it", with 得 read dé. And 怎生 is back, the tic that means Sanzang has no idea what to do. The objection is not silly: a horse with no harness is not yet a mount.

Let us wait and find a boat to ferry us over the gorge, and then consider what to do."

區處 is to make arrangements, to settle a matter. His instinct is what it always is — wait, find a boat, put it off.

Said the Pilgrim: "What a master this is, who knows nothing of the times!

好不知時務 is "how ignorant of what the moment calls for". 知時務 is normally faint praise for a man who bends to circumstance; Wukong turns it inside out and uses it as an insult.

In this wild waste of hills, where should a boat come from?

曠野山中 is "in wild and empty hills". The retort cannot be answered, and the impatience in it is affectionate.

This horse has lived here long and must know the lie of the water. Just ride him, and let him serve for a boat to carry you across."

水勢 is the set and lie of the water; 騎著 takes the unstressed zhe. And here is the chapter's quietest reversal, thrown away as a practical suggestion: the dragon that swallowed the horse in this water is now the horse, and will carry the master across the water. Wukong proposes it purely because it will save time.