另選真僧 Another Holy Monk Chosen
那行者道：「賢弟，你原來懞懂，但知其一，不知其二。諒你說你有唐僧，同我保護，我就沒有唐僧？我這裡另選個有道的真僧在此，自去取經，老孫獨力扶持，有何不可？已選明日大早起身去矣。你不信，待我請來你看。」叫：「小的們，快請老師父出來。」果跑進去，牽出一匹白馬，請出一個唐三藏；跟著一個八戒，挑著行李；一個沙僧，拿著錫杖。那行者道：「贤弟，你原来蒙懂，但知其一，不知其二。谅你说你有唐僧，同我保护，我就没有唐僧？我这里另选个有道的真僧在此，自去取经，老孙独力扶持，有何不可？已选明日大早起身去矣。你不信，待我请来你看。」叫：「小的们，快请老师父出来。」果跑进去，牵出一匹白马，请出一个唐三藏；跟着一个八戒，挑着行李；一个沙僧，拿着锡杖。
逐句解 Line by line
That Pilgrim said: “Worthy brother, you are muddled after all. You know the one and not the other.
The character 一 sits at the end of its clause here -- the only place in the chapter where that happens -- and there it reads yī: the tone change does not cross a major break, so the base tone stands before the comma exactly as it would at the end of a line. The phrase it belongs to, you know the one and not the other, is still everyday Chinese for somebody who has grasped half a problem and thinks he has the whole of it. 懞懂 is a pair meaning dull-witted and muddled, and keeps its ordinary readings.
“You reckon that because you have a Tang Monk and are guarding him along with me, I have no Tang Monk of my own?
諒 is liàng, to reckon or presume. This is the first hint that the objection about authorisation has an answer -- and it is a much worse answer than a denial would have been.
“I have chosen another holy monk of the Way here, and shall go and fetch the scriptures myself; Old Monkey will support him single-handed. What is there against it?
有道的真僧 -- a true monk possessed of the Way -- is precisely the wording a commission would use, which is what makes the reply so unsettling. He is not disputing the specification. He is meeting it.
“I have already fixed on setting out early tomorrow morning.
已選明日大早起身 gives the plan a date. The counterfeit pilgrimage is not a boast; it is a schedule, and it leaves tomorrow morning.
“If you do not believe me, wait while I have them brought out for you to see.”
The offer of proof, and it is made calmly. He has nothing to hide because there is nothing hidden.
He called: “You little ones, be quick and ask the old master to come out.”
老師父 is the form the cave's monkeys have been taught to use. The counterfeit has been given a household as well as a face.
And sure enough they ran in and led out a white horse, and brought out a Tang Tripitaka; behind him followed a Bajie, carrying the baggage; and a Sha Monk, holding the priestly staff.
Three matching members enumerate the fake party as a set, and the Chinese keeps every one of them indefinite. 一個 does the work an English article does: a Tang Tripitaka, a Bajie, a Sha Monk -- instances of a type rather than the people themselves. 挑著, 拿著 and 跟著 are all 著 marking actions held in progress, zhe, and each carries the right object.
The answer to Sha Monk's argument is not a rebuttal but a demonstration. If the commission requires a pilgrim and three disciples, then the thing to do is to supply a pilgrim and three disciples -- and the cave produces them on cue, horse included, each carrying the correct item. It is the logic of the rescript carried through to its conclusion: the document specifies a party, so a party is what gets made.
The Chinese is careful to keep the counterfeits indefinite. 一個唐三藏, 一個八戒, 一個沙僧 -- a Tang Tripitaka, a Bajie, a Sha Monk -- with the numeral doing the work an article does in English. They are instances of a type rather than the persons themselves, and the grammar says so before Sha Monk does.
What makes the tableau disturbing is how nearly it works. Each figure holds what he ought to hold; the baggage goes to the right disciple and the staff to the other. Anybody who had only the paper and had never met the party could not tell the difference. The one person present who can is standing at the foot of the terrace, looking at himself.