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カメを助けた孫悟空、お礼にとそのカメが連れてきたこのじいさんはいったい?

I don't understand what purpose the と serves in this sentence. Can someone explain, please?

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「と」 is quotative と of「彼はアメリカに行く、と言った」. 「に」 of 「お礼に」means 「お礼として」. 「彼はお礼に（=として)ハンカチをくれた」

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I think this と is being used in a quotative sense. Much like this post describes: particle doubts

So with that, I would say it's indicating the speaker's thoughts on お礼 (a thanks) and how it's perceived by them

お礼にとそのカメが連れてきたこのじいさんはいったい?
Who in the heck is this old man that was brought by that turtle as a thanks I guess?
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  • sorry but the translation is littlebit off and i still dont understand what is quote on this. i understand the sentence, but not the exact part here. sorry.
    – bulgur69
    Nov 11, 2022 at 18:37
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    @bulgur69 - 「お礼に」
    – aguijonazo
    Nov 11, 2022 at 23:09
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    @bulgur69 Regardless of being off or not, the と particle seems to be quotative here. Think of it as the speaker is quoting themself or letting others know of their inner thoughts. Not the traditional "They said X". As for お礼に I think treating it as a whole might be better for now. に has several functions, but as a default perspective it might be helpful to think of に as "X is going / moving towards something" in an abstract sense. お礼に here is like "X is going / moving towards (becoming in a sense) a thanks or sign of gratitude"
    – Tylersanzura
    Nov 11, 2022 at 23:40

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