階前認夫 Recognition on the Palace Steps
正嚷處，只見四五個女官、兩三個太監扶著他，直至殿上。唐王道：「你可認得你丈夫麼？」玉英道：「說那裡話，我兩個從小兒的結髮夫妻，與他生男育女，怎的不認得？」唐王叫內官攙他下去。那宮主下了寶殿，直至白玉階前，見了劉全，一把扯住道：「丈夫，你往那裡去，就不等我一等？我跌了一跌，被那些沒道理的人圍住我嚷，這是怎的說？」那劉全聽他說的話是妻之言，觀其人非妻之面，不敢相認。唐王道：「這正是山崩地裂有人見，捉生替死卻難逢。」好一個有道的君王，即將御妹的妝奩、衣物、首飾，盡賞賜了劉全，就如陪嫁一般。又賜與他永免差徭的御旨，著他帶領御妹回去。他夫妻兩個便在階前謝了恩，歡歡喜喜還鄉。正嚷处，只见四五个女官、两三个太监扶着他，直至殿上。唐王道：「你可认得你丈夫么？」玉英道：「说那里话，我两个从小儿的结发夫妻，与他生男育女，怎的不认得？」唐王叫内官搀他下去。那宫主下了宝殿，直至白玉阶前，见了刘全，一把扯住道：「丈夫，你往那里去，就不等我一等？我跌了一跌，被那些没道理的人围住我嚷，这是怎的说？」那刘全听他说的话是妻之言，观其人非妻之面，不敢相认。唐王道：「这正是山崩地裂有人见，捉生替死却难逢。」好一个有道的君王，即将御妹的妆奁、衣物、首饰，尽赏赐了刘全，就如陪嫁一般。又赐与他永免差徭的御旨，着他带领御妹回去。他夫妻两个便在阶前谢了恩，欢欢喜喜还乡。
逐句解 Line by line
Even as she clamored, four or five palace women and two or three eunuchs came supporting her, straight up to the hall.
著 in 扶著他 is zhe, the mark of an action still under way — they hold her up the whole length of the hall.
The Tang king said: 'Do you know this man for your husband?'
認得, to know someone by sight, takes the toneless de, one of the outcome uses of 得 this reader marks throughout.
Yuying said: 'What a thing to say! We two have been wedded husband and wife since we were children, and I have borne him sons and daughters — how should I not know him?'
說那裡話 is a set phrase of protest — 'what a thing to say!' — and still the natural way to wave off an absurd suggestion; its 那 is the question-word nǎ. 從小兒, 'since we were small,' carries the little suffix 兒, read er. 結髮夫妻, 'tied-hair husband and wife,' is a couple joined in first marriage, from the wedding rite of knotting the pair's hair together. 認得 again takes de.
The Tang king bade an inner officer help her down.
攙 (chān) is to take someone by the arm and steady them. Taizong is arranging the test: put her in front of Liu Quan and watch.
The Princess came down from the throne hall to the foot of the white-jade steps; and seeing Liu Quan, she seized hold of him and said: 'Husband, where were you going, that you would not wait a moment for me? I took a fall, and was hemmed in and shouted at by those unreasonable people — what is the meaning of it?'
Three occurrences of 那 in one speech, splitting two ways: 那宮主 and 那些沒道理的人 are the pointing nà, while 你往那裡去, 'where were you off to,' is the question-word nǎ. 一把扯住, 一等 and 一跌 all take yì. Note what she complains of: not the fall, but being hemmed in and shouted at by rude strangers.
Now Liu Quan, hearing that her words were his wife's words but seeing that her face was not his wife's face, did not dare to acknowledge her.
The hinge of the scene, balanced on one line: the words are his wife's, the face is not. 相 in 相認 is xiāng, the mutual word — to acknowledge one another — which is exactly what he cannot bring himself to do. The 不 of 不敢 keeps its base tone bù before the third tone of 敢 (gǎn).
The Tang king said: 'This is a very case of it — when mountains crumble and the earth splits open there are those who witness it, but to seize the living as a substitute for the dead is a thing seldom met with.'
Taizong reaches for a proverb, and it arrives as a balanced parallel couplet: when mountains fall and the ground splits open (山崩地裂) there are at least witnesses, but seizing the living as a stand-in for the dead (捉生替死) is rarer than that. 難 in 難逢 is nán, hard to come by. The couplet sits inside the king's speech and is set here as running prose rather than raised to verse.
What a virtuous sovereign he was! He took at once the imperial sister's trousseau — her garments and her ornaments — and bestowed them all upon Liu Quan, just as if they were a bride's dowry.
妝奩 (zhuāng lián) is a bride's trousseau, the chest of goods she carries into a marriage — and that is the whole point of the gesture. Unable to settle who the woman is, Taizong settles what she is: a bride, dowered out of the palace. 將 in 即將御妹的妝奩 is the disposal jiāng; 盡 in 盡賞賜 is jìn, the whole lot of it; 好一個 takes yí before the fourth tone of 個 (gè).
He also granted him a royal decree exempting him forever from corvée and labor service, and charged him to take the imperial sister home.
差徭 (chāi yáo) is compulsory labour service owed the state — the weeks of ditching and carting a commoner could not refuse. Exemption for life is a substantial gift. 差 here is chāi, conscripted duty, not chà. 著 in 著他帶領 is the causative zhuó, to charge a man with doing something.
The two of them, husband and wife, then gave thanks for the grace before the steps, and in great gladness set off for home.
還 in 還鄉 is huán, going back where one came from. The couple walk out of the story, and the poem in the next passage sets the seal on them.
The recognition turns on one beautifully cruel asymmetry: Cuilian, in the princess's body, knows Liu Quan at once and takes hold of him, while Liu Quan, hearing his wife's exact words come out of a stranger's face, cannot bring himself to answer. Taizong breaks the deadlock not by ruling on who she is but by an act of sovereign generosity — dowering the princess's body to Liu Quan and lifting his labour obligations for life, so that the borrowed body becomes, in law, a lawful bride.
His proverb supplies the frame: mountains crumble and someone sees it, but a substitute for the dead is seldom met with. The event is a genuine rarity, to be received rather than questioned. The couplet, introduced by 這正是 inside the king's own line, is set here as running prose rather than as embedded verse.