The two of them, hand in hand and laughing together, turned back to see the Tang Monk.

攙著手 ('arm in arm'; 著 zhe, durative) — the quarrel of the previous scene has already dissolved into the pair's habitual comradeship as they report back.

The Tang Monk asked: 'Did you manage to catch the monster?'

可曾捉得 ('did you succeed in catching'; 得 de, the potential complement) — the master's anxious first question.

The Pilgrim said: 'That monster couldn't stand the fight — he fell back and bored down into the water.'

不奈戰 ('could not endure the fight'; 奈 in its nài reading, before which 不 takes its bú sandhi). 鑽入水去 restates the impasse: the demon has fled to where he cannot be pursued.

Sanzang said: 'Disciples, this creature has long dwelt here and knows its shallows and depths. With Weak Water as boundless as this, and no boat or oar to be had,

The master reasons shrewdly: 他知道淺深 ('he knows the shallows and deeps') makes the demon the one being who could guide them across. 似這般…弱水 ('Weak Water such as this'; 似 shì) restates the barrier's peculiar terror.

'we simply must get someone who knows the water to lead us across before all will be well.'

得個知水性的引領 ('obtain one versed in water to guide us'; 得 de here the main verb, 'to get'). The doubled 引領引領 ('guide us, guide us') is colloquial, and the master's logic sets up the plan to enlist the demon himself.

The Pilgrim said: 'Just so. As the old saying goes, "Near cinnabar one turns red; near ink one turns black."'

The proverb 近硃者赤，近墨者黑 ('who is near cinnabar reddens, who is near ink blackens') — an untagged saying, hence prose — is quoted to argue that a creature long resident in the river must, of necessity, know its ways.

'This monster, living here, must surely know the water. Let us seize him now — but not beat him to death; only make him ferry the master across, and then we'll settle the rest.'

只教他送師父過河 ('only make him ferry the master over'; 教 jiào, the causative 'to make, to have'). The plan is capture-not-kill, a first hint that this demon is meant to be converted rather than destroyed.

Bajie said: 'Elder brother, no need to dither — you go and take him first, and let old Hog stand guard over the master.'

不必遲疑 ('no need to hesitate'). Bajie, chastened by the earlier quarrel, now defers the water-fight to the monkey — 讓你先去拿他 — setting up the monkey's admission of his own weakness.

The Pilgrim said with a laugh: 'Worthy brother, this is one thing I dare not boast of — old Sun isn't too greatly skilled in doings under the water.'

不敢說嘴 ('dare not brag') is a rare admission from the monkey. 水裡勾當 ('business in the water') and 不大十分熟 ('not very expert') concede the one arena where his powers falter.

'If I go simply through it, I must still make the finger-signs and keep muttering a water-repelling spell before I can move at all;

捻訣 ('to form magical finger-signs') and 避水咒 ('a water-averting incantation'; 還 hái, 'still, moreover'). The monkey can pass through water only by continual conjuring, unlike the born water-demon. 走得 ('can move'; 得 de).

'otherwise I must change myself into some fish or shrimp, crab or turtle, and only then can I go.'

變化做甚麼魚蝦蟹鱉之類 ('transform into some sort of fish, shrimp, crab or turtle'; 甚麼 shénme, 'some, whatever'; 得 de). The alternative is shape-shifting — effective, but for a fighter a hindrance underwater.

'If it's a matter of matching skills — up on high mountains, among the clouds, whatever strange and cunning feats you like —

賭手段 ('to pit one's skills'). 蹊蹺異樣事兒 ('outlandish, uncanny doings'; 甚麼 shénme) — the monkey's boast reasserts his mastery of every element but water.

'old Sun can do it all; it's only this business in the water that gives me some trouble.'

都會 ('can do it all'; 都 dōu). 水裡的買賣 ('the water trade,' i.e. underwater work) and 榔杭 — a dialect word for 'awkward, troublesome' — close the monkey's candid disclaimer and hand the task to Bajie.