原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
帝欲買寶
The Emperor Would Buy the Treasure
唐王聞言，即命展開袈裟，從頭細看，果然是件好物。道：「大法長老，實不瞞你。朕今大開善教，廣種福田，見在那化生寺聚集多僧，敷演經法。內中有一個大有德行者，法名玄奘。朕買你這兩件寶物，賜他受用。你端的要價幾何？」菩薩聞言，與木叉合掌皈依，道聲佛號，躬身上啟道：「既有德行，貧僧情願送他，決不要錢。」說罷，抽身便走。唐王急著蕭瑀扯住，欠身立於殿上，問曰：「你原說袈裟五千兩，錫杖二千兩，你見朕要買，就不要錢，敢是說朕心倚恃君位，強要你的物件？更無此理。朕照你原價奉償，卻不可推避。」唐王闻言，即命展开袈裟，从头细看，果然是件好物。道：「大法长老，实不瞒你。朕今大开善教，广种福田，见在那化生寺聚集多僧，敷演经法。内中有一个大有德行者，法名玄奘。朕买你这两件宝物，赐他受用。你端的要价几何？」菩萨闻言，与木叉合掌皈依，道声佛号，躬身上启道：「既有德行，贫僧情愿送他，决不要钱。」说罢，抽身便走。唐王急着萧瑀扯住，欠身立于殿上，问曰：「你原说袈裟五千两，锡杖二千两，你见朕要买，就不要钱，敢是说朕心倚恃君位，强要你的物件？更无此理。朕照你原价奉偿，却不可推避。」
逐句解 Line by line
唐王聞言，即命展開袈裟，從頭細看，果然是件好物。
唐王闻言，即命展开袈裟，从头细看，果然是件好物。
When the Tang king heard this, he had the cassock spread open and examined it closely from top to bottom, and it was indeed a fine thing.
The emperor's first instinct is to inspect the goods and name a price — the reflex of a man who has always paid for what he wanted.
道：「大法長老，實不瞞你。朕今大開善教，廣種福田，見在那化生寺聚集多僧，敷演經法。
道：「大法长老，实不瞒你。朕今大开善教，广种福田，见在那化生寺聚集多僧，敷演经法。
He said: 'Great Dharma Elder, I will not deceive you. I am now opening wide the good teaching and broadly sowing the field of blessings; at the Huasheng Temple yonder I have gathered a host of monks to expound the scriptural law.'
福田, the field of blessings, is the standard Buddhist figure for merit: you sow now, and the harvest comes later, in this life or another. 那 in 那化生寺 is the pointing nà; 教 in 善教 is jiào.
內中有一個大有德行者，法名玄奘。
内中有一个大有德行者，法名玄奘。
'Among them is one of great virtue and conduct, Xuanzang by dharma-name.'
中 in 內中 is zhōng; 一個 takes yí.
朕買你這兩件寶物，賜他受用。你端的要價幾何？」
朕买你这两件宝物，赐他受用。你端的要价几何？」
'I would buy these two treasures of yours to bestow on him for his use. What in truth is your price?'
端的, in truth, exactly, sharpens the question: what will you really take for them?
菩薩聞言，與木叉合掌皈依，道聲佛號，躬身上啟道：「既有德行，貧僧情願送他，決不要錢。」說罷，抽身便走。
菩萨闻言，与木叉合掌皈依，道声佛号，躬身上启道：「既有德行，贫僧情愿送他，决不要钱。」说罢，抽身便走。
The Bodhisattva, hearing this, pressed her palms together with Moksha in reverence, uttered the Buddha's name, and bowing said: 'Since he is one of virtue and conduct, this poor monk would gladly give them to him, and will by no means take money.' So saying, she turned to go.
She refuses payment outright and turns to go, on the strength of a vow she has not yet explained — that comes in the next passage. 佛號, the Buddha's name, takes the global reading fó for 佛; 決不要錢 shifts to bú before the fourth tone of 要 (yào).
唐王急著蕭瑀扯住，欠身立於殿上，問曰：「你原說袈裟五千兩，錫杖二千兩，你見朕要買，就不要錢，敢是說朕心倚恃君位，強要你的物件？更無此理。
唐王急着萧瑀扯住，欠身立于殿上，问曰：「你原说袈裟五千两，锡杖二千两，你见朕要买，就不要钱，敢是说朕心倚恃君位，强要你的物件？更无此理。
The Tang king hurriedly had Xiao Yu hold her back, and rising said: 'You first said the cassock was five thousand taels, the staff two thousand; now that you see I wish to buy, you will take no money. Do you suppose I presume upon my kingly station to demand your things by force? There is no such principle.'
著 in 急著蕭瑀, hurriedly had Xiao Yu do it, is the causative zhuó; 強 in 強要, to demand by force, is qiǎng; 更 in 更無此理 is gèng.
朕照你原價奉償，卻不可推避。」
朕照你原价奉偿，却不可推避。」
'I will repay you at your stated price, and you may not evade it.'
Here is the comedy of the scene, and it is better than it first looks. The emperor insists on paying because not paying would make him a bully; the beggar refuses to be paid because taking money would break a vow. Neither can give way without dishonour.
總評 Commentary
The scene turns on a courteous deadlock between imperial custom and Bodhisattva purpose. Taizong, told that the cassock is destined for Xuanzang, does the natural sovereign thing and offers to buy it — and is nonplussed when the ragged monk will take nothing. His response is a small masterpiece of imperial delicacy: he insists on paying precisely so as not to appear to seize a poor man's goods by the weight of his throne.
The comedy lies in the mismatch of frames, the emperor reasoning inside an economy of price and dignity while the Bodhisattva works inside one of merit and free gift, and it sets up her explanation, in the next passage, of why these things can only be given and never sold.