Pilgrim was just taking stock of the mountain scenery when he suddenly heard someone call: "Sun Wukong, where have you come from? Where are you going?"

The clearest possible demonstration of the chapter's two readings of one character, sitting in a single sentence. 那行者 points at him, so 那 is nà; 從那裡來 asks a question, so 那 is nǎ. 聽得: 得 is dé; 何處: 處 is chù.

He turned his head quickly to look, and it was the Venerable Bhikṣuṇī.

比丘尼尊者 — bhikṣuṇī, a fully ordained nun. 尊者 translates ārya or sthavira, the title of a venerable one. Here she is effectively the gatekeeper of the mountain, and she is about to treat the Great Sage Equal to Heaven like a boy caught out of bounds.

The Great Sage made his bow and said: "There is a matter in hand, and I wish to see the Tathāgata."

作禮 is the formal salutation made on entering a monastery. Note the manners: Pilgrim, who called a pitched battle an outing a few passages ago, is punctilious here.

The Bhikṣuṇī said: "What a rogue you are. If you want to see the Tathāgata, why do you not go up to the precious monastery, instead of stopping here to look at the hills?"

She calls him a rogue, and he takes it. 看山: 看 is kàn. 寶剎: 剎 is chà, the character used to write Sanskrit kṣetra, a field or domain, and by extension a monastery (as in 古剎, an old temple); the automatic tool gives shā, which belongs only to 剎車, to brake a vehicle. 頑皮 is affectionate scolding, the sort of thing said to a child — and it is the register in which the Buddha's establishment addresses the Great Sage right through the novel.

Pilgrim said: "I have only just come to this honoured place, and so I made bold."

初來貴地，故此大膽 is a polite formula of self-excuse: a newcomer presumes because he does not yet know the local forms. He is apologising for admiring the view.

The Bhikṣuṇī said: "Come along with me, quickly."

The sentence-final 也 here is the everyday word of urging — "come on, then" — not the classical 也 that means "is."

Pilgrim followed close on her to the foot of the mountain gate of the Thunderclap Monastery, and saw the eight great Vajra guardians there, formidable creatures, blocking the way on either side.

Keep an eye on that word. 那八大金剛 points, so 那 is nà. 雷音寺 is the Thunderclap Monastery, and the 八大金剛 are the eight vajra-holders who guard its gate. Their name uses the very same 金剛 that stands in 金剛琢, the ring — the word means adamant, diamond, unbreakable — and it has been in front of the reader all chapter.

The Bhikṣuṇī said: "Wukong, wait here a little while, and let me go up and announce you."

暫候片時 is "wait a short space"; 奏上去 is the language of sending a memorial up to a throne, used here of approaching the Buddha.

Pilgrim had no choice but to stand outside the gate.

只得: 得 is dé, "could only, had no choice but." One flat sentence, and a great deal is in it — this is the monkey who fought his way into the Jasper Pool, standing outside a gate because he was told to.

The Bhikṣuṇī came before the Buddha, put her palms together and said: "Sun Wukong has a matter in hand and wishes to see the Tathāgata."

那比丘尼 points, so 那 is nà; 佛 is fó throughout this edition (the automatic tool gives fú before 前). 合掌 is the añjali, palms pressed together in salutation.

The Tathāgata passed down the order to let him in, and only then did the Vajra guardians stand aside from the road and let him pass.

傳旨令入 is once again the vocabulary of a royal court. The 才 in 才閃路放行 is doing real work: the guardians move only when the order comes down, and not one moment before.