原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
這番卻看錯 This Time I Saw It Wrong
三藏道：「正是，覺到退下些去了。」行者笑道：「師父，我常時間還看得好，這番卻看錯了。三藏道：「正是，觉到退下些去了。」行者笑道：「师父，我常时间还看得好，这番却看错了。
逐句解 Line by line
三藏道：「正是，覺到退下些去了。」
三藏道：「正是，觉到退下些去了。」
Tripitaka said, "Just so. I did feel it drawing back a little."
He agrees, and he is agreeing to something that did not happen. This is the third time in the chapter he has read the situation correctly and been talked out of it, and this time he does the talking himself.
行者笑道：「師父，我常時間還看得好，這番卻看錯了。
行者笑道：「师父，我常时间还看得好，这番却看错了。
Pilgrim laughed. "Master, I usually see these things well enough, but this time I read it wrong.
He builds the lie properly, by admitting a fault. Claiming he made a mistake is far more convincing than claiming he was right, and it flatters his master's judgement at the same time. 得 is de, hanging the description on the verb — sees so that it is good.
Tripitaka's line is the saddest thing in the passage. Offered an authoritative denial, he revises his own memory to match it, and reports having felt the fog draw back.
Pilgrim's technique is worth studying. He does not assert; he confesses. An admission of fallibility from the one who is never wrong closes the question entirely.