The master resumed his true body, and, steadying himself and opening his eyes, knew at last that it was Pilgrim.

現原身, xiàn yuán shēn, to resume one's true body; 定性睜睛, dìng xìng zhēng jīng, to steady oneself and open the eyes. The order of the sentence matters: he gets his body back, then he steadies, then he sees — and what he sees is Wukong.

Seizing him fast by the arm, he said, "Wukong, whence have you come?"

攙住, chān zhù, to catch hold of somebody by the arm and keep hold. No apology is offered and none is asked for; the grip is the apology. 那裡, nǎ lǐ, whence.

Sha Seng, standing in attendance at his side, set forth in full the whole train of events — the entreating of Pilgrim, the subduing of the fiend, the rescue of the princess, the dissolving of the tiger-nature, and the return to court.

Sha Seng gives the summary, and the novel lets him do it in a single breathless list — the entreating, the subduing, the rescue, the undoing, the return to court. 侍立左右, shì lì zuǒ yòu, standing in attendance at his side; 備陳一遍, bèi chén yí biàn, to relate the whole of it once through.

Tripitaka, thanking him past all measure, said, "Worthy disciple, I owe it to you, I owe it all to you.

三藏, Sānzàng, "Tripitaka" — the three baskets of the Buddhist canon, and here 藏 is read zàng, the storehouse, not the cáng that means to hide. 謝之不盡, xiè zhī bù jìn, to thank without coming to an end — and because 盡 is a falling tone, the 不 in front of it lifts to bú. Then he says it twice: 虧了你也，虧了你也.

On this journey — soon reaching the West, then straight back to the Eastern Land to report to the Tang king — yours shall be the foremost merit."

詣西方, yì xī fāng, to reach the Western Heaven; 功勞第一, gōng láo dì yī, first in merit. The man who banished him four chapters ago now promises to name him first in the report to the Tang emperor. It is as close to an apology as Tripitaka ever comes.