请将下面这段话翻译成英文：
《西游记》(Journey to the West)是中国四大名著之一。16世纪90年代，明朝时期，《西游记》匿名出版，虽然没有现存证据直接证明该书作者，但20世纪以来，人们一直认为作者是学者吴承恩。这部小说是关于唐朝佛教和尚玄奘，为取得佛教经书(Buddhist scriptures)，前往印度的朝圣之旅。观音菩萨(the Bodhisattva Guanyin)受佛祖指令，将西行取经的任务交给玄奘和三个负责保护玄奘的徒弟—孙悟空、猪八戒、沙悟净，还有一个龙太子变做玄奘的坐骑。这四人同意帮助玄奘西行，也是为他们犯下的罪行进行忏悔。
参考译文：
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels in China.Published first anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty, and even though there is no direct evidence of its authorship, it has been said that the author is Wu Cheng'en since the 20th century.The novel is about the legends of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang's pilgrimage to India during the Tang dynasty in order to obtain Buddhist scriptures.Instructed by the Buddha, the Bodhisattva Guanyin assigns this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples, namely Sunwukong, Zhubajie, Shawujing, together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuanzang's horse.These four characters have agreed to help Xuanzang go to the West as confession for their past sins.
词句点拨
1.《西游记》：可译为Journey to the West或Pilgrimage to the West，可以理解为“向西的旅行”或“向西的朝圣之旅”。
2.四大名著：可译为the Four Great Classical Novels.
3.前往印度的朝圣之旅：可译为pilgrimage to India.其中pilgrimage意为“朝圣之旅”。
4.负责保护玄奘的徒弟：可译为his three protectors in the form of disciples.
