As the elder, Pilgrim, and Sha Monk were chanting over this gatha, they heard from deep in the grove a loud voice crying, "Master! I'm bound to death — save me, save me; I'll never dare again."

正然唱念此頌, just then chanting this gatha, with 那 as nà, 長 as zhǎng and 行 as xíng; 只聽得 takes the light de. 繃殺我了, bound to death; 救我一救, save me, do save me — the doubled verb again, but this time it is not casual, it is a man in a hurry. And 下次再不敢了, I will never dare again, is the first honest thing he has said all chapter.

Tripitaka said, "Wukong, is that one calling out Wuneng?"

那叫喚的, that one shouting, with 那 as nà. Tripitaka knows the voice perfectly well and asks anyway.

Sha Monk said, "The very one."

正是, the very one. Sha Monk does not elaborate.

Pilgrim said, "Brother, pay him no mind — let's be off."

莫睬他, pay him no mind. Wukong's first instinct is to walk on and leave him hanging, and he says so without embarrassment.

Tripitaka said, "That blockhead, foolish and stubborn though he is, is yet honest through and through, and has some strength besides — he can shoulder the loads."

一味懞直, simple and straight all the way through, with 一 as yí. 挑得行李, can carry the baggage, takes the potential de and 行 as xíng. The defence is not flattering — foolish, stubborn, but honest, and strong enough to be useful — and it is the more affecting for that.

"And in view of the bodhisattvas' kindness that day, let us save him and let him follow along; surely he won't dare so again."

還看當日菩薩之念, still regarding the bodhisattvas' intent of that day, takes 還 as hái, and 當日 reads 當 as dāng, at that time — the only place in the whole chapter where the character takes that reading, against twelve occurrences of dàng. The mercy that framed the trial is the reason Tripitaka gives for extending mercy himself.

So Sha Monk rolled up the bedding and gathered the loads; the Great Sage loosed the reins and led the horse, guiding the Tang Monk into the grove to search.

捲起鋪蓋, rolled up the bedding, with 鋪 as pū; 收拾了擔子, packed the loads, with 擔 as the noun dàn and 子 as the light suffix zi; 那 as nà. 解韁牽馬, untied the tether and led the horse. They strike camp and go to look for him.

Ah!

The storyteller's 咦 again, turning the ear toward the closing couplet.

This is just what is meant by:

這正是, this is precisely — the formula that always means a couplet is coming, and that the chapter is about to stop.

In following the true path, cultivate with care; / sweep away lust and desire, and of itself the self returns to truth.

從正修持須謹慎, in following the true path one must be careful, with 從 as cóng and 正 as zhèng. 掃除愛慾自歸真, sweep away craving and desire and the true nature comes back of itself. That last 自 is the load-bearing word: nothing has to be added, only cleared away.