原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
一壺暖酒 A Pot of Warmed Wine
又問：「可吃素酒？」行者道：「止唐大官不用，我們也吃幾杯。」寡婦又取了一壺暖酒。又问：「可吃素酒？」行者道：「止唐大官不用，我们也吃几杯。」寡妇又取了一壶暖酒。
逐句解 Line by line
又問：「可吃素酒？」
又问：「可吃素酒？」
She asked again: "Will you take plain wine?"
素酒 is wine reckoned fit for a fast day — the distinction was real and the rules varied, but grain wine without meat at the table generally passed.
行者道：「止唐大官不用，我們也吃幾杯。」
行者道：「止唐大官不用，我们也吃几杯。」
Pilgrim said: "Only Tang the Senior will not. The rest of us will take a few cups."
止 is only, no more than — the older form of the word. The exemption is given to Tripitaka alone, and it is the one concession to the truth anybody makes all evening.
寡婦又取了一壺暖酒。
寡妇又取了一壶暖酒。
The widow fetched a pot of warmed wine.
Wine was warmed before drinking as a matter of course, and the pot for it was standard equipment in any inn.
Three of the four monks are about to drink, at a table, in a kingdom that executes monks, wearing stolen clothes. The novel reports it without comment.
Only Tripitaka abstains, and Pilgrim covers for him before he can be asked. It is the same protective reflex as the lantern's shadow on the stairs — the master is handled, not consulted.