亦不回禮 He Did Not Return The Salutation
三藏起一步，躬身施禮道：「國丈大人，貧僧問訊了。」那國丈端然高坐，亦不回禮，轉面向國王道：「僧家何來？」國王道：「東土唐朝差上西天取經者，今來倒驗關文。」三藏起一步，躬身施礼道：「国丈大人，贫僧问讯了。」那国丈端然高坐，亦不回礼，转面向国王道：「僧家何来？」国王道：「东土唐朝差上西天取经者，今来倒验关文。」
逐句解 Line by line
Tripitaka took a step forward, bent his body in salutation and said, "My lord Royal Father-in-Law, this poor monk pays his respects."
問訊 wèn xùn is the specific greeting a Buddhist monk makes — palms together, a short bow, an enquiry after the other's wellbeing. Tripitaka is offering the courtesy of his own order to a man of a different one.
The Royal Father-in-Law sat squarely on high and did not return the bow at all, but turned his face to the king and said, "Where is the monk from?"
The insult is complete and takes eight characters: he does not stand, does not bow, and does not address the person who spoke to him. 僧家 — the monk fellow — is third person, spoken across the room about someone standing in it.
The king said, "He is one dispatched from the Tang court in the Land of the East to fetch scriptures in the Western Heaven, and has come now to have his rescript checked and exchanged."
The king answers on Tripitaka's behalf, which completes the humiliation without anyone intending it. 差 is chāi, dispatched — the reading six of the chapter's seven take.
The exchange establishes the pecking order before a word of argument is spoken. Tripitaka bows and is not bowed to; he speaks and is not answered; the king answers for him.
It is worth remembering what the reader knows and the room does not. The man refusing to return a monk's salutation has golden eyes with flame in them, and the gnat on the monk's hat has already seen them.