詐言相請 The Master Thinks of You
行者道：「既無貶書，又不曾趕你，你來我這裡怎的？」八戒道：「師父想你，著我來請你的。」行者道：「他也不請我，他也不想我。他那日對天發誓，親筆寫了貶書，怎麼又肯想我，又肯著你遠來請我？我斷然也是不好去的。」行者道：「既无贬书，又不曾赶你，你来我这里怎的？」八戒道：「师父想你，着我来请你的。」行者道：「他也不请我，他也不想我。他那日对天发誓，亲笔写了贬书，怎么又肯想我，又肯着你远来请我？我断然也是不好去的。」
逐句解 Line by line
The Pilgrim said: "If there's no letter, and he didn't drive you off, then what brings you to me?"
Wukong closes off the evasions one at a time.
Bajie said: "The master is thinking of you, and sent me to invite you."
In 著我來請 the causative 著 is zhuó, "had me come." Bajie delivers the horse's prepared line word for word, and it is the only part of his performance tonight that he did not have to invent.
The Pilgrim said: "He's not inviting me, and he's not thinking of me.
Two flat denials, and underneath them something that sounds a good deal like being hurt.
That day he swore an oath to Heaven and wrote out the letter with his own hand — how should he now be willing to think of me, or to send you all this way to invite me?
那 is pointing nà; in 又肯著你 the causative 著 is again zhuó. 對天發誓 is to swear an oath to Heaven and 親筆 is "in his own hand" — the two details he has evidently been turning over ever since. He remembers the paperwork of his own dismissal exactly.
I certainly can't very well go."
斷然, decidedly, certainly. The refusal is firm on its face. It is also the refusal of somebody waiting to be asked again.
Wukong's scepticism is grounded in the specific memory of his dismissal — the oath sworn to Heaven, the letter written in Tripitaka's own hand — and that precision is what makes the refusal credible. But the passage lets the reader hear the feeling beneath it. "How should he now be willing to think of me" is not an argument, it is a grievance; and "I certainly can't very well go" is the guardedness of someone who has been hurt once and does not intend to be made a fool of twice.