端然不動 Seated Squarely And Never Stirring
那眾臣領旨，與看榜的太監、校尉徑至會同館，排班參拜。諕得那八戒躲在廂房，沙僧閃於壁下。那大聖看他坐在當中，端然不動。那众臣领旨，与看榜的太监、校尉径至会同馆，排班参拜。諕得那八戒躲在厢房，沙僧闪于壁下。那大圣看他坐在当中，端然不动。
逐句解 Line by line
The ministers took the order and went with the eunuchs and guardsmen who had watched the notice straight to the Hall of Common Assembly, where they drew up in ranks and made their obeisance.
參 is cān in 參拜, to attend upon and bow — the audience sense, not the shēn of ginseng nor the cēn of things being uneven. 排班 is to fall in by rank, which is what a court does before a throne.
It so frightened Eight Rules that he hid in the side room, and Sha Monk slipped behind the wall.
諕 reads xià against a default of háo, and 得 after it weakens to de. This is the sixth of the chapter's eight occurrences, and the last three all fall in this stretch.
And there sat the Great Sage in the middle of it all, square and never stirring.
當 is dāng, at the centre. 端然 is upright and composed — built on the same 端 that gives 端的 its sense of what is actually so.
Three reactions to the same event, and they sort the brothers exactly. Eight Rules hides, Sha Monk slips out of sight, and Pilgrim does not move at all — which in his case is the most deliberate act of the three.
Being frightened has been the chapter's verb for what Eight Rules does to crowds. Here it is turned on him: a delegation of court officials bowing is more alarming than anything he has met all day.