一毫不受 They Would Take Nothing
一壁廂安排御宴;一壁廂召丹青寫下四眾生形,五鳳樓註了名號。國王擺鑾駕,送唐僧師徒,賜金玉酬答。師徒們堅辭,一毫不受。一壁厢安排御宴;一壁厢召丹青写下四众生形,五凤楼注了名号。国王摆銮驾,送唐僧师徒,赐金玉酬答。师徒们坚辞,一毫不受。
逐句解 Line by line
On one side a royal banquet was laid; on the other, painters were called to set down the likenesses of the four, and their names were entered in the Tower of Five Phoenixes.
The two members are rejoined here across the semicolon that divides them, and they are the purest formal parallel in the chapter: both open with the identical 一壁廂 and describe two things happening at once, neither building on the other. 號 is hào; 一壁廂 takes 一 at yí before the falling 壁 bì, twice.
The king brought out his imperial carriage to see the Tang Monk and his disciples on their way, and offered gold and jade in requital.
No graph in this segment stands in any guard roster. 鑾駕 is the carriage with bells that only a sovereign uses, and bringing it out to escort departing guests is the highest honour the court has to give.
Master and disciples firmly declined and would not take the least part of it.
No graph in this segment stands in any guard roster. 一毫 takes 一 at yì before the rising 毫 háo, and 不 takes bú before the falling 受 shòu. Nine graphs, and the refusal is given no more room than that.
The kingdom does everything it can think of. A royal banquet on one side, painters on the other taking the likenesses of all four, their names entered in the Tower of Five Phoenixes, the imperial carriage brought out to escort them, gold and jade offered in return. Five honours in three segments.
The portraits are the one that lasts. Everything else is a meal or a gift; the likenesses and the names in the tower are a record, and they are the kingdom's way of keeping something once the men themselves have gone.
And the gold and jade are refused — 一毫不受, not a hair's weight taken. The refusal gets nine graphs, no argument and no explanation, and it is the last thing the pilgrims do in this kingdom.