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 is "shot up to the surface," with 攛 as cuān, "to leap, to rush upward," and 將 the verb-tagging jiāng.

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

The court is waiting on the bridge for its king, which is a nice touch: nobody has told them he went to rob a dragon. 領著 takes 著 as the state-marking zhe; 都在 takes dōu; 橋邊 is "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.

Out of the sea and not a drop on him — the dry entrance is half the entrance. 一點水濕, "a single drop of wet," takes yì before the dipping tone of 點; 金燦燦的 is "gleaming golden," 燦 read càn.

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

諕得 is "so awed that…" (諕 = 嚇, xià); 一齊 takes yì; 好華彩耶 is "how splendid!", 華彩 being resplendence and 耶 the exclaiming yē tacked onto the end.

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

滿面春風 — "a face full of spring breeze" — is still the standard way to say somebody is beaming, and it is exactly the expression of a man showing off new armor. 將 is the object-marking jiāng; 豎在當中 is "stood it upright in the center," with 當 read dāng in 當中, "the very middle."

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.

蜻蜓撼鐵樹, "a dragonfly shaking an iron tree," is the stock figure for hopeless effort, and it is doing double duty here: the monkeys cannot budge the rod, and the picture of an insect wrestling metal is funny in its own right. 不知好歹 is "not knowing better," 不 read bù; 那寶貝 has 那 as nà; 便似 is "just like," 似 as sì; 分毫 is "a hair's breadth," 分 as fēn. In 禁動, "to budge it," 禁 is jīn, "to bear, to withstand," 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!'

Biting a finger and sticking out the tongue is the standard gesture-pair for astonishment in this fiction, roughly our jaw hitting the floor. 一個個, "one after another," takes yí before the falling tone of 個. 爺爺 here is not an address to anybody but a yelp — "Grandfather!" as an exclamation. 這般重 is "so heavy," 重 read zhòng; 虧你 is "however did you…," with 怎的 ("how") taking 的 as 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.

物各有主, "everything has its rightful owner," is a proverb, and it is being used to establish title to something he took off a dragon this morning. 一把撾起, "snatched it up in one grasp," takes yì before the dipping tone of 把, with 撾 as zhuā.

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 is "lay holding down within the sea-treasury," 鎮 read zhèn, "to suppress, to weigh down," and 海藏 taking 藏 as zàng. 不知 takes bù; 可可的 is a vernacular "as it just so happened," 可 read kě; 今歲 is "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.

Note how the retelling flatters the teller: the dragons are "those fellows" who could not lift it and had to ask him in. 認做 is "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," is a variant of 天河定底神珍鐵 as given earlier. 那廝每 is "those fellows," 廝 read sī and disparaging, with 每 as the plural marker (the same as 們), read měi. 扛擡不動 takes bú before the falling tone of 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 has 那 as nà; 二丈多長 leaves 丈 (zhàng) untranslated; 斗來粗細 is "thick as a peck-measure"; 撾他一把 takes yì before the dipping tone of 把. 意思 is "the thought, the intention," its 思 unstressed si; 嫌大 is "minded it too big"; 再教小些 is "bade it smaller," 教 read jiào; and 許多 (xǔ duō) is "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 is "as he looked," 處 read chù. In 一行字, 行 is háng, "line," with 一 as yì before the rising tone of 行; 一萬 takes yí before the falling tone of 萬; 斤 (jīn) is left untranslated.

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

The showman takes over. 都站開 takes dōu; 變一變著, "make it transform once," takes yí before the falling tone of 變, and the final 著 is the state-marking 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.

Here it is: the needle in the ear, the detail every reader keeps. 將 is the object-marking jiāng and 那 is nà; 即時 is "at once"; 小做一個 takes yí. 繡花針兒, "embroidery needle," carries the er ending; 相似 is "resembling," 似 read sì; 揌 is "to stuff, to cram," a variant of 塞, read sāi; and 藏下, "tucked away," takes 藏 as cáng, "to hide."

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

"Do it again" — the monkeys respond to a cosmic artifact exactly as an audience responds to a good trick. 駭然 is "astonished"; 還拿出來耍耍 is "bring it out and play with it again," 還 read hái, "again," and 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 is "truly"; 托放掌上 is "set it on his palm," 托 read tuō and 掌 zhǎng; 斗來粗細 and 二丈長短 are "thick as a peck-measure" and "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!'

And then he stops playing to scale and starts playing with scale. 法天像地, "modeling Heaven and imaging Earth," is the transformation that makes him cosmically huge, 像 read xiàng. 弄到歡喜處 is "played until, in his delight…," 處 as chù; 將 is the object-marking jiāng; 揝, a variant character, is "to grip, to clutch," read zǎn; 把腰一躬, "bent his waist," takes yì before the level tone of 躬. And the shout — 叫聲長 — uses 長 as the verb zhǎng, "to grow," 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;

Head like Mount Tai, eyes like lightning, mouth a basin of blood, teeth like swords: this is the standard iconography of a cosmic ogre, applied to a monkey in new boots. 長的高萬丈 is "grew ten-thousand zhàng tall," 長 read zhǎng; 似 is sì.

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

The rod now measures the universe end to end, which is a return to its original job under a very different management. 那棒 has 那 as nà. 上抵三十三天 and 下至十八層地獄 — up to the Thirty-three Heavens and down to the eighteen layers of hell — mark the standard vertical extent of the Buddhist and Daoist cosmos; 抵 is dǐ and 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 is "as for those," 把 read bǎ; 都諕得 takes dōu, with 諕 as xià; 磕頭禮拜 is "kowtow and do obeisance"; 戰兢兢 is "trembling," 兢 read jīng; and 魄散魂飛, "spirits scattered, souls flown," is the same idiom the dragon-court supplied a few pages back, with the halves reversed; 散 is 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.

Cosmos, then needle, then home for tea. 收了法像 is "withdrew the magic form"; 將 is the object-marking jiāng. In 還變做, "changed it back into," 還 is huán, the restoring "back," not hái, "again." 藏在耳內 takes 藏 as cáng; 復歸洞府 is "returned to his cave-dwelling," 復 read fù.

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

慌得 is "in their alarm" — congratulation offered by subjects who have just watched their king fill the sky. 那各洞 has 那 as nà; 都來 takes dōu; 參賀 is "to present oneself and congratulate," 參 read cān and 賀 hè.