Tripitaka pressed his palms together and bowed his head; the Great Sage feigned utter indifference; and Sha Monk turned his back and faced away.

Three men decline to look, each in his own way. 三藏 takes 藏 as zàng; 合掌低頭, palms joined and head down, is a posture of prayer used here as a blindfold. 佯佯不睬, making a show of not noticing — the same phrase Bajie threw at Tripitaka earlier, now describing Wukong.

But look at Zhu Bajie — his eyes never stirred from them; lust threw his heart into disorder, desire ran unbridled and bold, and mincing out a whisper he murmured low, "Much trouble it is for the fairy maidens to descend."

And the fourth. 眼不轉睛, eyes not shifting their pupils; 淫心紊亂 and 色膽縱橫, a lustful heart in disorder and the gall of desire running loose in all directions. 仙子, fairy maiden, takes 子 as the honorific zǐ; 下降 reads 降 as jiàng. Note that Bajie is the only one who addresses them, and that what he says is fulsome and correct and delivered in a whisper.

"Ma'am — do have the sisters go in."

請姐姐們去, please have the sisters withdraw. He has looked his fill and now wants the preliminaries over.

The three young women turned in behind the screen, leaving a pair of gauze lanterns behind.

轉入屏風, turned in behind the screen; 將一對紗燈留下, left a pair of gauze lanterns, with the handling-word jiāng. The lamps stay behind after the women have gone, which is a stage direction as much as a detail.

The woman said, "Would you four elders be so minded — which of you will you have wed my daughters?"

四位長老 reads 長 as zhǎng. 著那個配我小女 — 著 here is the causative zhuó, to have or assign somebody to do a thing, and 那個 takes nà. She asks the question flatly. There is no coyness left in the scene.

Wujing said, "We have already talked it over: let the one surnamed Zhu be taken in as your son-in-law."

著那個姓豬的招贅, have the pig-surnamed one marry in, with 著 again the causative zhuó and 那個 as nà; 招贅, to take in a live-in husband. Wujing gives him up without a flicker.

Bajie said, "Brother, don't pin it on me — let's still reckon it by common consent."

栽我, pin it on me, for the third time in the chapter. 還從眾計較 takes 還 as the adverb hái, still — let it still be decided by everybody. The words are the same as before. They are now worth nothing, and everyone present knows it.

Pilgrim said, "What is there still to reckon?"

還計較甚麼 — 還 as hái, 甚 as shén — what is there left to reckon?

"You've already settled it all snug and tidy at the back gate, and called her 'Ma'am' into the bargain — what is there left to deliberate?"

Monkey produces the evidence. 說合的停停當當, arranged all snug and settled, doubles 停當 for emphasis, with 當 as dàng; 娘都叫了, you have already called her Ma'am, with 都 as dōu; 甚麼 as shén. The detail that finishes Bajie is not the bargain but the form of address — he called her mother, and Wukong heard him do it.

"The Master shall be father of the groom, this good dame mother of the bride; let old Monkey stand as sponsor, and Sha Monk as go-between."

男親家 and 女親家 are the groom's side and the bride's side of a marriage alliance; 保親 is the guarantor who stands behind a match; 媒人 is the go-between, without whom no respectable Ming marriage happened at all. 婆兒 takes 兒 as the suffix. In one breath Monkey has cast the entire company in a wedding party.

"No need even to consult the almanac — today is a Heaven-favored, most auspicious day; come, bow to your master, and go in to be the son-in-law."

看通書 is to consult the almanac for a lucky day, the ordinary first step before any Chinese wedding — and skipping it is the first sign that this ceremony is not a real one. 今朝, today, reads 朝 as zhāo, the morning-or-day sense, against the cháo of facing and of courts. 天恩上吉日, a day of Heaven's grace and highest good fortune.

Bajie said, "It won't do, it won't do — how could one properly do such a thing?"

弄不成, it cannot be brought off; 那裡好幹, how could one properly do it, uses 那裡 in its rhetorical sense, closer to how on earth than to where; 勾當 (gòu dàng), this business, with 當 as dàng. He is protesting. He is not moving toward the door.