胎裡素 Born Vegetarian In The Womb
兩盤兒捧到石桌上放下，對長老道：「請了。倉卒間，不曾備得好齋，且將就吃些充腹。後面還有添換來也。」那長老聞了一聞，見那腥膻，不敢開口，欠身合掌道：「女菩薩，貧僧是胎裡素。」两盘儿捧到石桌上放下，对长老道：「请了。仓卒间，不曾备得好斋，且将就吃些充腹。后面还有添换来也。」那长老闻了一闻，见那腥膻，不敢开口，欠身合掌道：「女菩萨，贫僧是胎里素。」
逐句解 Line by line
Two dishes were carried over and set down on the stone table. They said to the Elder, "Please."
兒 is ér on 盤兒 — a syllable in its own right, as it is everywhere in this book. The two-character invitation is exactly what a host says as the food goes down.
"At such short notice we have not managed to prepare anything good. Make do with a little of this to fill you up."
卒 is cù here, not zú, a foot-soldier: 康熙 十部六畫 gives a separate band at 倉沒切, 村入聲, glossed 急也 and 匆遽之貌 — hurried, in haste — and cites 倉卒 by name. 得 takes dé after 不曾: managed to, achieved.
"There is more coming to follow it."
添換 — more added, dishes changed over. The eight characters promise a second course. Everything about the sentence is hospitable.
The Elder gave it a sniff, caught the rank and gamey smell of it, did not dare open his mouth, and rose slightly with his palms together: "Lady bodhisattva, this poor monk has been vegetarian since the womb."
聞了一聞 doubles the verb around a 一 — gave it the briefest sniff. 腥膻 pairs the smell of raw fish with the smell of mutton, and between them they cover everything a monk may not eat. 胎裡素 is his claim: vegetarian in the womb, before he could choose. It is the strongest form of the statement available and he reaches straight for it.
He does not see what it is. He smells it. The chapter has him detect the danger through his nose while his eyes accept two dishes of what look like temple food, and that is a fair account of how he has handled every warning so far.
The phrase he uses to refuse is worth knowing. Vegetarian from inside the womb means the restriction was never a decision — he has never eaten meat, not once, not before he was born. It is the most absolute way of saying no that his vocabulary contains, and he uses it while rising politely with his palms together.
Notice the shape of the smell-word. It puts raw fish beside mutton, the two categories of flesh-stink, and covers the whole forbidden field in two characters. He cannot identify what is in the bowl. He can tell it is not what it is pretending to be.