硬頭兒 The First Cut Lands
那老魔抖擻威風，丁字步站定，雙手舉刀，望大聖劈頂就砍。這大聖把頭往上一迎，只聞扢扠一聲響，頭皮兒紅也不紅。那老魔大驚道：「這猴子好個硬頭兒！」那老魔抖擞威风，丁字步站定，双手举刀，望大圣劈顶就砍。这大圣把头往上一迎，只闻扢扠一声响，头皮儿红也不红。那老魔大惊道：「这猴子好个硬头儿！」
逐句解 Line by line
The old fiend roused up his dignity, planted his feet in a T-stance, raised the sabre in both hands, and chopped straight down at the Great Sage's crown.
丁字步 — the T-shaped stance, one foot forward and one across — is a real position from martial practice and from the opera stage, named for the shape of the character 丁. Chinese names stances after the characters they look like, which is a habit English has no equivalent for.
The Great Sage tipped his head up to meet it. There was a crack, and the scalp did not so much as redden.
扢扠 is a sound-word for a sharp crack, and 頭皮兒 keeps 兒 at full weight as ér. 紅也不紅 — red and not red — is a vernacular way of saying it did not even begin to.
The old fiend was astonished: "What a hard head this monkey has!"
It is almost a compliment, and the exclamation mark is the book's, not the translator's. He came out expecting a fight and has been handed a physics problem.
The scene is played entirely for the demon's reaction. Wukong does nothing at all — he tips his head up, which is the opposite of a defence — and the whole weight of the passage sits on the sound and on the face of the creature who swung.
Meeting a blow by leaning into it is characteristic. He could dodge; he has spent the chapter dodging. Standing still and inviting the sabre is not courage so much as showmanship, and the poem he is about to recite proves it.