怎麼見人 How Can I Be Seen
這不是又請你取心,想是師兄得勝,請你酬謝哩。」三藏道:「雖是得勝來請,但我這個臊臉,怎麼見人?」这不是又请你取心,想是师兄得胜,请你酬谢哩。」三藏道:「虽是得胜来请,但我这个臊脸,怎么见人?」
逐句解 Line by line
This is not another summons to take your heart. I expect our elder brother has won, and they are inviting you so they can pay their thanks."
師兄, elder brother in religion, is what Bajie and Sha Monk call Wukong throughout — seniority in a monastic party runs by order of ordination, not age. 得勝 takes dé, the attainment reading. 哩 at the end is a colloquial particle, the spoken shrug that turns a statement into a guess.
Tripitaka said, "Even if it is a victory they are inviting me for, how am I to be seen by anybody with this stinking face?"
The reply is entirely in character, and rather funny. Told that his life has been saved, his disciple has beaten a demon and a king wishes to thank him, Tripitaka's one question is about his appearance. 怎麼見人 is still the ordinary Chinese for being too embarrassed to show your face.
Bajie's reasoning is sound and stated plainly: no second summons for a heart, therefore Wukong has won, therefore this is gratitude. He is the party's practical mind more often than anyone gives him credit for.
Tripitaka's answer is a small masterpiece of misplaced priority, and the novel does not comment on it. It simply lets him say it and moves to the next line, which is how the book handles nearly all of its characterisation.