We tell now how the Great Sage, with Eight Rules and Sha Monk, took leave of old Chen and came down to the river, where he said: "Brothers, settle it between you — which of you goes into the water first?"

The chapter opens with 卻說 rather than 話說: a resumptive formula that picks up an action already under way, the three having left the Chen household at the close of the previous chapter. 那一個 is interrogative — 那 read nǎ, "which," not the deictic nà.

Eight Rules said: "Brother, neither of us has much skill to show. You had better be the one to go down first."

還得: 得 here is the modal of necessity, děi, "must, need to" — not dé (attainment) or the complement particle de.

Pilgrim said: "I'll not deceive you, worthy brothers. Were this a mountain fiend, I would not put you to the least trouble;

不瞞賢弟說 is a set conversational opener, "speaking frankly to you." Wukong's admission of a bounded competence is unusual enough to be marked by the formula.

but in matters that belong to the water I cannot go.

去不得: the negative potential, 得 read dé per the corpus ruling on 去得/去不得. 水中: 中 zhōng, locative.

Even to enter the sea or make my way along a river I must hold the water-repelling sign, or else change into the form of some fish or crab — only so can I go.

避水訣, the water-repelling hand-sign: a fixed item of Wukong's repertoire. 捻著 is durative, 著 read zhe. 甚麼: 甚 shén.

But holding the sign so, I cannot swing my iron rod, cannot work my transformations, cannot strike a fiend.

Three parallel negative potentials, 掄不得·使不得·打不得, all 得 dé. This is the structural constraint the whole underwater sequence turns on: the sign and the rod cannot be held at once.

I have long known you two for men at home in water, and that is why I want you both to go down."

慣水之人, "those practised in water" — Bajie was Marshal of the Heavenly Reeds commanding the celestial river, and Sha Monk was exiled to the Flowing-Sand River; both are properly aquatic in a way Wukong is not.

Sha Monk said: "Brother, your younger brother can go well enough, but there is no telling what lies on the bottom.

去得: 得 dé, ability. Sha Monk's caution consistently balances Bajie's bravado throughout the arc.

Let us all go down together.

都 dōu, the totalizing adverb "all," not dū (metropolis, or the onomatopoeic use).

Change yourself into some shape, brother, or let me carry you on my back; we will part the water, seek out the fiend's lair, and you shall go in first to make inquiries.

Two readings of 著 in one segment: 馱著 durative zhe, 尋著 resultative zháo ("find, locate"), fixed positionally. 甚麼 甚 shén.

If our master is unhurt and still there, we can press the attack with a will;

還在那裡: 還 hái, "still"; 那裡 deictic nà, "there" — contrast the interrogative nǎ of the opening segment.

but if this monster's arts have drowned him, or the fiend has eaten him, there is no use in our striving — better to seek another road early. What do you say?"

渰 (yǎn) is a variant graph for 淹, "to drown"; the 世德堂本 form is kept. The proposal to abandon the pilgrimage is Sha Monk's, and is made without embarrassment — a recurring pragmatism in his speech.

Pilgrim said: "What you say is reasonable, worthy brother.

說得有理: here 得 is the complement particle de, introducing the descriptive 有理 — distinct from the potential dé of 去得 above.

Which of you will carry me?"

那個 interrogative again — 那 nǎ. The question is a trap Bajie walks into willingly.

Eight Rules was secretly delighted, and said to himself: "This monkey has played who knows how many tricks on me. This time it turns out he cannot swim. Let old Hog carry him — and I'll play a trick on him too."

老豬, "old Hog," is Bajie's self-designation, formed on the pattern of Wukong's 老孫. The doubled 捉弄他捉弄 is verbal reduplication for casual, unserious action.

The blockhead called out with a broad grin: "Brother, I'll carry you."

獃子, the narrator's standing epithet for Bajie; 子 the toneless suffix zi. 笑嘻嘻的 — the adverbial 的 where later usage would write 地.

Pilgrim knew at once he was up to something, and met the scheme with a scheme of his own: "Right, that will do. You have more strength in your back than Wujing."

將計就計, "to turn another's plan against him" — 將 jiāng, coverb. 膂力 (lǚ lì) is strength of the spine, physical carrying power; 還 hái in the comparative, "more than."

So Eight Rules took him up on his back.

背 here is the verb bēi, "to carry on the back" — distinct from the noun bèi ("the back") and from the 背馬 bèi ("saddle up") of the previous chapter. 著 durative zhe.