The two of them, in no long while, brought down their clouds and were soon at the bank of the River of Flowing Sands.

按落雲頭, 'pressed the cloud-head down' — the standard verb for landing a cloud, treating it rather like an aircraft being brought in. The round trip to the Southern Sea and back has taken less than the afternoon.

Zhu Bajie recognized Mokṣa the Pilgrim and led the master forward to receive him.

木吒行者: 木吒 is Mokṣa, Guanyin's disciple, and that Bajie 認得 him — recognises him (得 de, 行 xíng) — is not incidental. Mokṣa is the one who brought Bajie to the Bodhisattva in the first place. The same envoy is about to do the same job for a third disciple.

When Mokṣa had exchanged courtesies with Sanzang, he greeted Bajie as well.

禮畢, 'the courtesies done' (那 nà, 藏 zàng, 相見 with 相 xiāng). Everyone bows to everyone in the correct order. After two days of shouting across water, the chapter has changed key.

Bajie said: 'It was by your guidance, reverend one, that I once came to see the Bodhisattva; old Hog has indeed followed the dharma-teaching, and now happily bows within the gate of the śramaṇa.'

得見菩薩, 'got to see the Bodhisattva' (得 dé, to manage it; 教 jiào) — Bajie thanking Mokṣa for his own conversion, which came about the same way. 沙門 transliterates the Sanskrit śramaṇa, 'one who strives': a renunciant who has left home for the religious life. Bajie is saying, in the formal phrase, that he has become a monk.

'All this while, busy on the road, I have had no chance to thank you — forgive me, forgive me.'

奔碌, 'rushing and toiling' (中 zhōng), and the doubled 恕罪, 'forgive me, forgive me.' Bajie is being punctilious, which he almost never is. Guanyin's envoy brings out his best manners.

The Pilgrim said: 'Never mind exchanging old news — let's go and call that fellow out.'

敘闊 is to catch up after a long separation — literally to 'tell over the distance' between then and now. 那廝, 'that fellow' (那 nà), is how the monkey refers to the demon. He has no patience for the pleasantries and wants to get on with it.

Sanzang said: 'Call whom?' The Pilgrim said: 'When old Sun saw the Bodhisattva, I laid the whole matter before her.'

備陳前事, 'set out the earlier business in full' (藏 zàng) — a formal reporting phrase. What follows is the revelation being passed down the line, from Bodhisattva to monkey to master.

'The Bodhisattva said this monster of the Flowing Sands is the Curtain-Raising General come down to the mortal world,

捲簾大將臨凡, the Curtain-Raising Grand General come down to earth (將 jiàng). Third time the chapter has stated this: the demon sang it, Guanyin confirmed it, and now the monkey repeats it to the two people who still do not know.

'who, having committed an offence in Heaven, fell to this river and, forgetting his form, took to demon's ways.'

因為在天有罪, 'because he had committed an offence in Heaven' (為 wèi), and 忘形作怪 — 'forgot his own shape and turned monstrous.' That is a remarkable way to put it. He did not become a demon; he lost track of what he was. Which is precisely why a name, called aloud, is about to be enough to fix it.

'He was once won over by the Bodhisattva, and vowed to follow the master to the Western Heaven.'

勸化, 'exhorted and transformed' — the standard verb for winning a convert, and the key fact of the chapter. The thing in the river is not an enemy. It is a colleague nobody has been introduced to.

'It was only that we never told him about the scripture-quest, and so we fought each other so bitterly.'

不曾說出, 'we never said it.' Two days of fighting, three formal rhapsodies, a flight to the Southern Sea — and the monkey names the entire cause in four characters. Not a thing done wrong. A thing left unsaid.

'Now the Bodhisattva has sent Mokṣa with this gourd, to make a dharma-boat with the fellow's help and ferry you across.'

差木吒, 'dispatched Mokṣa' — 差 is chāi, to send somebody on an errand, not chà, 'wrong, lacking.' 結作法船, 'bind into a dharma-boat' (將 jiāng): the plan reaches the master, who has been told nothing until now.

Hearing this, Sanzang bowed his head in endless reverence, and did obeisance to Mokṣa, saying: 'I earnestly beg you, reverend one, to make the trip at once.'

頂禮不盡, 'bowed without ceasing.' 頂禮 is the full prostration in which the crown of the head touches the ground — the deepest reverence there is. (The tones shift here: because 盡 is raised to jìn, a falling tone, the 不 before it lifts to bú.) Then 作速一行, 'go quickly' (藏 zàng, 行 xíng) — the master, in tears an hour ago, is now hurrying a deity's envoy along.

Mokṣa, holding the gourd fast, half in cloud and half in mist, went straight to the surface of the River of Flowing Sands and called out in a stern, loud voice:

半雲半霧, 'half cloud, half mist' (那 nà). Mokṣa does not descend to the bank and shout. He goes out over the water itself, holding the gourd, and calls.

'Wujing! Wujing! The scripture-seekers have long been here — why do you still not submit?'

悟淨，悟淨 — the name, twice, and then 還不歸順, 'why do you still not submit?' (還 hái). Every weapon in this chapter has failed against this creature. What works is being called by his own name and asked a question.