原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
依巡痛飲 I Will Drink My Round
飲宴多時，國王又擎大爵，奉與行者。行者道：「陛下請坐。老孫依巡痛飲，決不敢推辭。」饮宴多时，国王又擎大爵，奉与行者。行者道：「陛下请坐。老孙依巡痛饮，决不敢推辞。」
逐句解 Line by line
飲宴多時，國王又擎大爵，奉與行者。
饮宴多时，国王又擎大爵，奉与行者。
When they had been drinking a good while, the king raised a great goblet again and offered it to Pilgrim.
大爵 is a large ritual wine vessel, a much grander thing than the cups of a moment ago. The escalation of the evening is being tracked by the crockery.
行者道：「陛下請坐。
行者道：「陛下请坐。
Pilgrim said, "Be seated, Your Majesty.
Be seated first — the courtesy is offered before the undertaking.
老孫依巡痛飲，決不敢推辭。」
老孙依巡痛饮，决不敢推辞。」
"Old Sun will drink his round deep and will certainly not refuse."
依巡 is to take your turn as the cup goes round. Pilgrim, who has declined nothing all evening, now formally promises to decline nothing.
The crockery is keeping score. Ordinary cups gave way to a Three Jewels round, then a Four Seasons round, and now the king has raised a great ritual goblet — each vessel larger than the one before it, and nobody has mentioned that this is happening.
Pilgrim's undertaking is worth noting for what it costs him, which is nothing. He has declined no cup all evening and now formally promises to decline none. The politeness is entirely on the surface; underneath it, a king is paying for something.