Tripitaka said: “So be it, so be it — I can still walk the road myself. I'll let you have my horse to ride a stretch; when we reach your abbey, you can return it to me.”

也罷 (yě bà), “well then, so be it,” with 罷 as the verb bà, “let it be.” Two readings of 還 fall in one breath: 還走得路, “can still (hái) walk,” and 還我馬, “return (huán) my horse.” The closing 罷 is the imperative particle ba.

The fiend said: “Master, I am moved by your kindness — only my hip and thigh are hurt from the fall, and I cannot ride.”

感蒙厚情 (gǎn méng hòu qíng), “grateful for your generous feeling.” 腿胯 (tuǐ kuà), “thigh and hip.” The demon declines the horse — the better to be carried on a back, closer to his prey.

Tripitaka said: “Just so.” He called to Sha the monk: “Sling the luggage onto my horse, and you carry him a stretch.”

捎 (shāo), “to sling on, to carry along.” 馱 (tuó), “to bear on the back.” The master reassigns the burden without a flicker of suspicion, arranging his own party for the demon's convenience.

Sha Monk said: “I'll carry him.”

我馱他 (wǒ tuó tā), “I'll bear him” — Sha Monk's ready assent; the demon, however, has other designs on who shall carry him.