變女把盞 The Dragon in Disguise
好龍王，他就搖身一變，也變做個宮娥，真個身體輕盈，儀容嬌媚。忙移步走入裡面，對妖魔道聲萬福：「駙馬啊，你莫傷我性命，我來替你把盞。」那妖道：「斟酒來。」小龍接過壺來，將酒斟在他盞中，酒比鍾高出三五分來，更不漫出。這是小龍使的「逼水法」。那怪見了不識，心中喜道：「你有這般手段？」小龍道：「還斟得有幾分高哩。」那怪道：「再斟上，再斟上。」他舉著壺，只情斟，那酒只情高，就如十三層寶塔一般，尖尖滿滿，更不漫出些須。好龙王，他就摇身一变，也变做个宫娥，真个身体轻盈，仪容娇媚。忙移步走入里面，对妖魔道声万福：「驸马啊，你莫伤我性命，我来替你把盏。」那妖道：「斟酒来。」小龙接过壶来，将酒斟在他盏中，酒比钟高出三五分来，更不漫出。这是小龙使的「逼水法」。那怪见了不识，心中喜道：「你有这般手段？」小龙道：「还斟得有几分高哩。」那怪道：「再斟上，再斟上。」他举着壶，只情斟，那酒只情高，就如十三层宝塔一般，尖尖满满，更不漫出些须。
逐句解 Line by line
A fine Dragon-King! He gave his body a shake and transformed — becoming a palace maid too, truly light and lissome of body, tender and winning of mien.
He fights disguise with disguise — and picks, of all shapes available, a palace maid: the exact kind of person the demon has spent the evening eating. The transformation formula 搖身一變, "gave his body a shake and changed," is word for word the one used of the demon earlier in the chapter.
With quick steps she went inside and made the demon a curtsy of greeting: "Consort, do not harm my life; I have come to hold the cup for you."
道聲萬福 is to make the "ten thousand blessings" greeting, a woman's formal curtsy; 把盞 is to hold the cup and pour. The frightened, ingratiating maid is played to perfection, right down to begging for her life first.
The demon said: "Pour the wine, then."
那 is pointing nà. He accepts the service without a second look.
The little dragon took the pot and poured the wine into his cup, and the wine stood three to five fēn above the brim, yet did not spill over.
In 將酒斟 the 將 marking the object is jiāng; 盞中 takes 中 as zhōng. 分 (fēn) is a small unit of height, a tenth of a 寸 — so the wine is standing a few finger-widths proud of the rim and not spilling. A parlour trick, performed on a monster.
This was the "Water-Forcing Art" the little dragon employed.
逼水法, the "Water-Forcing Method," is magic exactly suited to its user: he is a water-deity, and he is making his own element sit up and do tricks at a dinner table.
The demon saw it but did not understand, and thought with delight: "You have such a skill?"
那 is pointing nà; 心中 takes 中 as zhōng. He sees it, does not understand it, and is delighted — which is the whole design.
The little dragon said: "I can pour it a good few fēn higher yet."
還斟得 takes 還 as hái, "yet, still," and 得 as de; 幾分 is "a few fēn" more. She offers to do it higher, which is bait.
The demon said: "Pour on, pour on!"
那 is pointing nà. He takes it.
She raised the pot and poured without stint, and the wine rose ever higher, like a thirteen-storied treasure-pagoda, peaked and brimming, yet not the least drop spilled over.
In 舉著壺 the 著 is zhe; 那酒 takes 那 as pointing nà. 十三層寶塔, a thirteen-storey treasure-pagoda, and 尖尖滿滿, peaked and brimming, render the marvel; 些須 is "the least bit." A tower of wine standing on a cup, and a demon staring at it instead of at the person holding the pot.
The dragon meets the demon on the demon's own ground — disguise — but with the purpose reversed. Where the demon's transformation served predation, the dragon's serves rescue; and by taking the shape of a palace maid, the very kind of figure the demon has just been killing, he turns the scene of the atrocity into the setting of the counter-attack.
The 逼水法, the water-stacking trick, is beautifully chosen. He is a water-deity, and here he makes his own element perform a courtly wonder — wine heaped into a swaying pagoda that refuses to spill. It is genuine magic and pure stratagem at the same time, calculated to bring the demon's guard all the way down.
The scene is built as a trap closing slowly. Every cup poured higher draws more of the demon's delighted attention, and the reader feels the design under the spectacle: the maid's charm is the bait by which, in the next passage, the demon will be talked into handing over his own sword.