The woman lifted the veil from him and said, "Son-in-law, it is not that my daughters are slippery — they are all yielding to one another, and none will take you."

揭了蓋頭, lifted off the veil — and it is she who lifts it, which is the bride's privilege, one more piece of the ceremony played backwards. 謙讓, deferring modestly to one another; 不肯招你, unwilling to take you. The excuse is transparent and it keeps the game alive.

Bajie said, "Ma'am — if none of them will take me, then you take me yourself."

既是他們不肯招我, since none of them will take me; 你招了我罷, then you take me. He has run out of daughters and simply moves up a generation.

The woman said, "A fine son-in-law indeed!"

好女婿啞 — and here 啞 is yā, standing for 呀, the exclamation, not the yǎ, mute, of 推聾妝啞 earlier in the chapter. Same character, opposite job, and the difference is the whole tone of the line.

"So without regard for age or rank — you'd have even your mother-in-law?"

沒大沒小, no sense of senior and junior, is still the standard rebuke to somebody who has forgotten their place in a family. 連丈母也都要了, you would take even your mother-in-law, with 都 as dōu. She hands him back his own shamelessness, and he has no answer.

"These three daughters of mine are most deft of hand; each has worked a pearl-inlaid brocade undershirt."

心性最巧, cleverest of hand. 珍珠篏錦汗衫 is a pearl-inlaid brocade undershirt; 一人結了一個, each made one, with 一 as yì then yí. A fresh test, and the terms sound as reasonable as the last ones did.

"Whichever one's you can put on, that one I'll have take you."

穿得那個的, whichever one's you can wear, takes the potential de and 那 as nà twice; 就教那個 uses the causative jiào. Every rule she invents has the same shape: a fair-sounding condition that cannot possibly be met.

Bajie said, "Good, good, good — bring all three and let me try them on; if I can wear them all, then have them all take me."

三件兒都拿來, bring all three, with 都 as dōu — and again in 若都穿得 and 就教都招了, three times in one line. Bruised, veiled, thrown over twice, and still asking for all three.

The woman turned into the room, brought out only one, and handed it to Bajie.

止取出一件, brought out only one, with 一 as yí. There was never more than one shirt.

The blockhead stripped off his dark brocade cassock, took the shirt, and put it on his body.

青錦布直裰 is the monk's dark robe, straight-cut and long — the garment that marks him out as a cleric. 就穿在身上, put it straight on, with 上 as the completing tail. Watch what he takes off before he puts the shirt on.

Before he had even tied the sash, with a lurch he pitched over and fell to the ground.

還未曾繫上帶子, had not yet fastened the sash, with 還 as hái and 帶子 taking 子 as the light suffix zi. 撲的一蹻, a sudden lurch, with 一 as yì. It springs before he has finished dressing.

It turned out to be several ropes, binding him fast.

幾條繩緊緊繃住, several cords drawn tight and holding fast. The shirt was rope all along.

The blockhead, unable to bear the pain, found that all these people had already vanished.

疼痛難禁, pain past enduring, with 難 as nán; 早已不見了, had already vanished, with 見 as jiàn. The house, the women, the banquet being cooked for tomorrow — all of it gone between one breath and the next, and Bajie left tied up in the dark with nobody to shout at.