See how this Monkey King parted the water-path, went straight back to the iron-plank bridge-head, and shot up to the surface.

攛將上來 — "shot up to the surface"; 攛 cuān ("to leap, rush upward"), 將 the verbal particle jiāng.

There he saw the four old monkeys, leading the rest, all waiting at the bridge-side.

領著 — 著 the durative zhe; 都在 takes dōu. 橋邊 = "bridge-side."

Suddenly they saw Wukong leap out of the waves, not a drop of water on him, and come gleaming golden up onto the bridge.

一點水濕 — "a single drop of wet"; 一 yì (before third-tone 點). 金燦燦的 — "gleaming golden," 燦 càn.

They were so awed that the monkeys all knelt down together: 'Your Majesty, how splendid you look! How splendid!'

諕得 — "so awed that…" (諕 = 嚇, xià). 一齊 takes yì. 好華彩耶 — "how splendid!"; 華彩 = "resplendence," 耶 the exclamatory final particle yē.

Wukong, his face beaming, mounted the throne and stood the iron rod upright in the middle.

滿面春風 — "face all spring breeze," i.e. beaming. 將 the object-marker jiāng. 豎在當中 — "stood it upright in the center"; 當 reads dāng (in 當中, "the very center").

The monkeys, not knowing any better, all came to take hold of the treasure — but it was like dragonflies trying to shake an iron tree: they could not budge it a hair.

不知好歹 — "not knowing better"; 不 bù. 那寶貝 — 那 nà. 便似 — "just like," 似 sì. 蜻蜓撼鐵樹 — "a dragonfly shaking an iron tree," a stock figure for hopeless effort. 分毫 — "a hair's breadth," 分 fēn. 禁動 — "to budge it"; 禁 reads jīn ("to bear, withstand"; here "make it stir"), not jìn ("to forbid"). 不能 takes bù.

One after another they bit their fingers and stuck out their tongues: 'Grandfather! So heavy — however did you manage to bring it here!'

一個個 — "one after another"; 一 yí (before fourth-tone 個). 咬指伸舌 — "biting fingers and sticking out tongues," gestures of amazement. 爺爺 — "Grandfather!" (here an awed exclamation). 這般重 — "so heavy," 重 zhòng. 虧你 — "however did you…," with 怎的 ("how"), 的 de.

Wukong stepped up, opened his hand, and snatched it up in one grasp, saying to them with a smile: 'Everything has its rightful owner.

一把撾起 — "snatched it up in one grasp"; 一 yì (before third-tone 把), 撾 zhuā. 物各有主 — a proverb, "everything has its rightful owner" — Wukong's claim of title to the rod.

This treasure lay suppressing in the sea-treasury for who knows how many thousands of years, and it just so happened to give off its light this very year.

鎮於海藏中 — "lay holding-down within the sea-treasury"; 鎮 zhèn ("to suppress, weigh down"), 海藏 zàng. 不知 takes bù. 可可的 — a vernacular "as it just so happened," 可 kě. 今歲 — "this year."

The Dragon King took it for nothing but a lump of black iron, and called it the Spirit-Treasure that holds down the bed of the River of Heaven. None of those fellows could so much as lift or carry it, and they asked me to go fetch it myself.

認做 — "took it for." 喚做 — "called." 天河鎮底神珍 — "the Spirit-Treasure that holds down the bed of the River of Heaven" (a variant of 天河定底神珍鐵). 那廝每 — "those fellows"; 廝 sī ("fellow, guy," disparaging), and 每 here is the plural marker (= 們), read měi. 扛擡不動 — "could not lift or carry," 不 bú (before fourth-tone 動).

At that time this treasure was more than two zhàng long and thick as a peck-measure. When I had grasped it once and minded that it was too big, it shrank a good deal; I bade it smaller, and it shrank again; smaller still, and again it shrank.

那時 — 那 nà. 二丈多長 — 丈 (zhàng) untranslated. 斗來粗細 — "thick as a peck-measure." 撾他一把 — 一 yì (before third-tone 把). 意思 — "the thought, intention," 思 the neutral si. 嫌大 — "minded it too big." 再教小些 — "bade it smaller," 教 the causative jiào; 許多 (xǔ-duō) "a good deal."

Looking quickly against the daylight, I found a line of characters on it that read: As-You-Will Gold-Banded Rod — thirteen thousand five hundred jīn.

看處 — "as he looked," 處 chù. 一行字 — 行 háng, 一 yì (before second-tone 行). 一萬 — 一 yí (before fourth-tone 萬). 斤 (jīn) untranslated.

All of you stand back, and watch me make it transform once more.'

都站開 takes dōu. 變一變著 — "make it transform once"; 一 yí (before fourth-tone 變), and the final 著 is the aspect particle zhe.

He hefted the treasure in his hand and cried, 'Small! Small! Small!' — and at once it shrank to the likeness of an embroidery needle, small enough to tuck away inside his ear.

將 the object-marker jiāng; 那 nà. 即時 — "at once." 小做一個 — 一 yí. 繡花針兒 — "embroidery needle," 兒 the er-suffix. 相似 — "resembling," 似 sì. 揌 — "to stuff, cram" (a variant of 塞), sāi. 藏下 — "tucked away," 藏 here cáng ("to hide").

The monkeys were astonished and cried, 'Your Majesty, bring it out and play with it some more!'

駭然 — "astonished." 還拿出來耍耍 — "bring it out and play with it again"; 還 hái ("again"), 耍耍 "play a bit."

The Monkey King indeed took it out of his ear, set it on his palm, and cried, 'Big! Big! Big!' — and at once it grew thick as a peck-measure again and two zhàng long.

真個 — "truly." 托放掌上 — "set it on his palm," 托 tuō, 掌 zhǎng. 斗來粗細 / 二丈長短 — "thick as a peck, two zhàng long."

Carried away with delight, he leapt onto the bridge and out of the cave, gripped the treasure in his hand, worked a Heaven-modeling, Earth-imaging transformation, bent his waist, and cried, 'Grow!'

弄到歡喜處 — "played until, in his delight…," 處 chù. 將 the object-marker jiāng; 揝 — "to grip, clutch" (a variant graph), zǎn. 法天像地 — "modeling Heaven and imaging Earth," the transformation that makes him cosmically huge; 像 xiàng. 把腰一躬 — "bent his waist"; 一 yì (before first-tone 躬). 叫聲長 — cried "Grow!"; 長 here is the verb zhǎng ("to grow, lengthen"), not cháng ("long").

At once he grew ten thousand zhàng tall — his head like Mount Tai, his waist like a steep ridge, his eyes like lightning, his mouth like a basin of blood, his teeth like swords and halberds;

長的高萬丈 — "grew ten-thousand zhàng tall"; 長 zhǎng. The simile-string (head like Mount Tai, eyes like lightning, mouth a basin of blood, teeth like swords) is the conventional iconography of a cosmic ogre. 似 sì.

and the rod in his hand reached above to the Thirty-three Heavens and below to the eighteen layers of hell.

那棒 — 那 nà. 上抵三十三天 / 下至十八層地獄 — "reached up to the Thirty-three Heavens and down to the eighteen layers of hell," the standard vertical extent of the Buddhist–Daoist cosmos. 抵 dǐ, 層 céng.

As for the tigers, leopards, wolves, and serpents, the mountain-full of monsters, and the demon-kings of the seventy-two caves — they were so terrified they kowtowed and bowed, trembling, their souls scattered and flown.

把些 — "as for those," 把 bǎ. 都諕得 takes dōu, 諕 xià. 磕頭禮拜 — "kowtow and do obeisance." 戰兢兢 — "trembling," 兢 jīng. 魄散魂飛 — "spirits scattered, souls flown," 散 sàn.

In an instant he withdrew the magic form, changed the treasure back into an embroidery needle, hid it in his ear, and returned to his cave-dwelling.

收了法像 — "withdrew the magic form." 將 the object-marker jiāng; 還變做 — "changed it back into"; 還 here reads huán ("to revert, restore to the former state"), the restorative "back" rather than hái "again." 藏在耳內 — 藏 cáng. 復歸洞府 — "returned to his cave-dwelling," 復 fù.

The demon-kings of the various caves, in their alarm, all came to pay homage and offer their congratulations.

慌得 — "in their alarm." 那各洞 — 那 nà; 都來 takes dōu. 參賀 — "to present oneself and congratulate," 參 cān, 賀 hè.