三寶鍾兒 Cup After Cup After Cup
國王見他吃得爽利，又奉一杯。行者不辭，又吃了。國王笑道：「吃個三寶鍾兒。」行者不辭，又吃了。國王又叫斟上，吃個四季杯兒。国王见他吃得爽利，又奉一杯。行者不辞，又吃了。国王笑道：「吃个三宝钟儿。」行者不辞，又吃了。国王又叫斟上，吃个四季杯儿。
逐句解 Line by line
Seeing how briskly he drank, the king offered him another.
爽利 — brisk, no hesitation — is the observation that sets the rest of the scene going. 吃得爽利 takes the light de before its description.
Pilgrim did not decline, and drank again.
The identical sentence will be printed again in a moment, word for word. Nothing in the wording moves; only the count does.
The king laughed and said, "Have a Three Jewels cup."
The 三寶 are the Three Jewels of Buddhism — Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. The king is using a monk's own creed to name a round of three drinks, which is the second loophole he has offered this evening and much the more ingenious. 兒 is the light suffix.
Pilgrim did not decline, and drank again.
And there it is again, unchanged.
The king called for another pouring — a Four Seasons cup.
Three by the Three Jewels, and now four by the Four Seasons. The king has worked out that any quantity can be made respectable if you give it a name — which is the discovery Pilgrim made about medicines that same morning. 兒 is the light suffix again.
The king notices that Pilgrim drinks briskly and starts pressing. What follows is built on an exact repetition — the same seven characters printed twice with one line between them. Nothing in the wording changes. Only the count does.
The names are the joke. A Three Jewels cup is three drinks named for Buddha, Dharma and Sangha — a monk's own creed pressed into service as a drinking measure — and a Four Seasons cup is four. The king has worked out that any quantity can be made respectable if you give it a name, which is exactly the discovery Pilgrim made about medicines that morning.