Just as Pilgrim was peering about, all at once he heard the sound of footsteps within the rear door, and out came a woman neither quite old nor quite young, who asked in a coy, lilting voice: “Who is this that barges uninvited into a widow's house?”

正然 “just as, in the midst of.” 聽得 resultative de. 半老不老 “half-old, not-old” — of a faded but unspent age; 嬌聲 “in a soft, coquettish voice.” 甚麼 reads shénme, “what/who”; 擅入 “to enter without leave.”

Flustered, the Great Sage bowed with a rapid murmur of assent and said: “This humble monk comes from the Great Tang in the Land of the East, sent by imperial decree toward the Western Region to worship the Buddha and seek the scriptures.”

慌得 resultative de (“so flustered that…”). 喏喏連聲 “a rapid string of deferential yeses,” the sound of hurried bowing; 小僧 the monk's self-deprecating “this humble cleric”; 奉旨 “on imperial command.” 佛 fó.

“Our party of four, passing through your precious district as the sky grows dark, has hastened expressly to your reverend and charitable dwelling to beg one night's shelter.”

一行四眾 “a traveling party of four”; 一行 reads yìxíng (“one company on the road”) — not háng. 寶方 a courteous “your esteemed locale”; 老菩薩 a flattering address to the householder; 檀府 “your almsgiving house” (檀, from dāna, giving).

The woman, greeting him with a smiling word, said: “Elder — and where are the other three?”

笑語相迎 “greeting him with smiling speech,” 相 xiāng (“in mutual exchange”). 長老 zhǎng lǎo. The demonstrative and locative 那 (nà) — 那三位 “those three,” 那裡 “where.”

“Do bring them in.”

請來 “please have them come.” A short imperative closing the widow's speech.

Pilgrim called out loudly, “Master — do come in, now!”

耶 is a hailing sentence-final particle, here lending a note of cheerful summons.

Only then did Tripitaka, with Bajie and Sha Monk, lead the horse and shoulder the load and go in; and there was the woman coming out of the hall to receive them.

三藏 zàng. 牽馬挑擔 “leading the horse and carrying the pole-load,” 擔 dàn (the noun, the load). 那婦人 nà; 出廳迎接 “came out of the hall to greet.”

Bajie, with languid, half-lidded eyes, stole a look — and how, you ask, was she got up?

餳眼 reads xíng yǎn, “bleary, drowsily half-shut eyes” — here the leer of Bajie's appraising gaze (餳 xíng, not the táng of malt-sugar). 你道他怎生打扮 “you ask how she was dressed” — the tag ushering in the descriptive verse.

She wore a jacket of brocade in officer's-green ramie-silk, / over it a vest of pale rose thrown on top;

官綠 “office-green,” a particular deep green; 紵絲襖 a ramie-silk padded jacket; 比甲 (bǐjiǎ) a sleeveless over-vest. 罩著 durative zhe.

She had bound about her a goose-yellow brocade skirt, tricked out with colored knots, / beneath which peeped high-soled embroidered shoes.

結綵 “tied with colored silks”; 鵝黃 “gosling-yellow”; 高底花鞋 high-platformed embroidered shoes. 下映著 durative zhe (“showing beneath”).

Her fashionable chignon was veiled in black gauze, / set off against coiling dragon-twists of two-toned hair;

時樣 “in the current fashion”; 鬘髻 (mánjì) a coiled hair-bun; 皂紗 “black gauze.” 相襯 “mutually setting off,” 相 xiāng; 襯著 durative zhe. 盤龍髮 a coiling-dragon knot.

A palace-style ivory comb glinted vermilion and kingfisher-blue, / and slantwise she had pinned two braided golden hairpins.

宮樣 “palace-fashion”; 牙梳 an ivory comb; 朱翠 “cinnabar-red and kingfisher-green.” 斜簪著 “pinned aslant,” durative zhe; 釧金釵 twisted gold hair-pins.

Her cloud-like tresses, half turned gray, swept up like phoenix-wings; / from her ears hung a paired descent of ranked precious pearls.

雲鬢 “cloud-tresses”; 半蒼 “half-gray,” the discreet mark of her middle years; 飛鳳翅 “soaring phoenix-wings,” the swept coiffure; 寶珠排 “a row of jewel-pearls.”

Though she wore neither rouge nor powder, she was lovely still; / in charm she yet resembled one in the bloom of youth.

脂粉不施 “applying no rouge or powder,” 不 bù before 施. 猶自 “still, even so.” 還似 — 還 (hái) “still,” 似 (sì) “resembles”; 少年 (shàonián) “youth.” The couplet fixes the widow's faded-yet-alluring beauty.