原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
救母勸阻
Dissuading the Mother
丞相直入衙內正廳坐下，請小姐出來相見。小姐欲待要出，羞見父親，就要自縊。玄奘聞知，急急將母解救，雙膝跪下，對母道：「兒與外公統兵至此，與父報仇。今日賊已擒捉，母親何故反要尋死？母親若死，孩兒豈能存乎？」丞相亦進衙勸解。小姐道：「吾聞『婦人從一而終』。痛夫已被賊人所殺，豈可靦顏從賊？止因遺腹在身，只得忍恥偷生。今幸兒已長大，又見老父提兵報仇，為女兒者，有何面目相見？惟有一死以報丈夫耳。」丞相道：「此非我兒以盛衰改節，皆因出乎不得已，何得為恥？」父子相抱而哭，玄奘亦哀哀不止。丞相直入衙内正厅坐下，请小姐出来相见。小姐欲待要出，羞见父亲，就要自缢。玄奘闻知，急急将母解救，双膝跪下，对母道：「儿与外公统兵至此，与父报仇。今日贼已擒捉，母亲何故反要寻死？母亲若死，孩儿岂能存乎？」丞相亦进衙劝解。小姐道：「吾闻『妇人从一而终』。痛夫已被贼人所杀，岂可腼颜从贼？止因遗腹在身，只得忍耻偷生。今幸儿已长大，又见老父提兵报仇，为女儿者，有何面目相见？惟有一死以报丈夫耳。」丞相道：「此非我儿以盛衰改节，皆因出乎不得已，何得为耻？」父子相抱而哭，玄奘亦哀哀不止。
逐句解 Line by line
丞相直入衙內正廳坐下，請小姐出來相見。
丞相直入衙内正厅坐下，请小姐出来相见。
The Chancellor went straight into the yamen, took his seat in the main hall, and asked the lady to come out and meet him.
丞相, Chancellor — the first 相 is xiàng; 相見, to meet (reciprocal 相, xiāng).
小姐欲待要出，羞見父親，就要自縊。
小姐欲待要出，羞见父亲，就要自缢。
The lady wished to go out, but ashamed to face her father, was about to hang herself.
自縊, to hang oneself — shame, not guilt, drives her.
玄奘聞知，急急將母解救，雙膝跪下，對母道：
玄奘闻知，急急将母解救，双膝跪下，对母道：
Xuanzang, learning of it, rushed to save his mother, fell to both knees, and said to her:
急急將母解救, hurriedly rescued his mother.
「兒與外公統兵至此，與父報仇。
「儿与外公统兵至此，与父报仇。
'I came with troops at my grandfather's side to avenge my father.'
外公, maternal grandfather.
今日賊已擒捉，母親何故反要尋死？
今日贼已擒捉，母亲何故反要寻死？
'Today the villain is taken — why, mother, would you instead seek death?'
何故, for what reason.
母親若死，孩兒豈能存乎？」
母亲若死，孩儿岂能存乎？」
'If you die, mother, how can your child live on?'
豈能存乎, how could [I] survive.
丞相亦進衙勸解。
丞相亦进衙劝解。
The Chancellor also came into the yamen to console her.
丞相, 相 = xiàng; 勸解, to console and reason with.
小姐道：「吾聞『婦人從一而終』。
小姐道：「吾闻『妇人从一而终』。
The lady said, 'I have heard that “a woman follows one husband to the end.”'
婦人從一而終, the Confucian ideal of the once-married woman; under sandhi, 從一 reads 一 → yì.
痛夫已被賊人所殺，豈可靦顏從賊？
痛夫已被贼人所杀，岂可腼颜从贼？
'Grieving that my husband was slain by the villain, how could I brazenly give myself to him?'
靦顏, to be shamelessly brazen-faced; 從賊, to submit to the villain.
止因遺腹在身，只得忍恥偷生。
止因遗腹在身，只得忍耻偷生。
'Only because I carried an unborn child did I swallow shame and live on.'
遺腹, a child in the womb at its father's death; 忍恥偷生, to bear disgrace and cling to life.
今幸兒已長大，又見老父提兵報仇，
今幸儿已长大，又见老父提兵报仇，
'Now happily my son is grown, and I have seen my old father raise troops for revenge;'
長大, grown up — 長 = zhǎng.
為女兒者，有何面目相見？
为女儿者，有何面目相见？
'but as a daughter, with what face can I meet you?'
為女兒者, 'as one who is a daughter' — 為 here is wéi; 相見, reciprocal 相 (xiāng).
惟有一死以報丈夫耳。」
惟有一死以报丈夫耳。」
'There is only a single death, to requite my husband.'
惟有一死, only death remains.
丞相道：「此非我兒以盛衰改節，
丞相道：「此非我儿以盛衰改节，
The Chancellor said, 'This is not my child changing her virtue with fortune's rise and fall;'
以盛衰改節, to alter one's fidelity according to prosperity or ruin; 丞相, 相 = xiàng.
皆因出乎不得已，何得為恥？」
皆因出乎不得已，何得为耻？」
'it all came of utter necessity — how can it be a disgrace?'
出乎不得已, born of inescapable necessity; 為恥, to be a shame — 為 here is wéi.
父子相抱而哭，玄奘亦哀哀不止。
父子相抱而哭，玄奘亦哀哀不止。
Father and daughter embraced and wept, and Xuanzang too grieved without end.
父子相抱 — here 子 (the daughter) is zǐ, with reciprocal 相 (xiāng).
總評 Commentary
The mother's near-suicide stages, in miniature, the cruelest demand the chastity cult placed on women: having been forced (不得已) to live as the murderer's wife to save her unborn child, Yin Wenjiao now feels that only death can restore her honor — 婦人從一而終, 'a woman follows one husband to the end.' The scene is resolved not by overriding that ideal but by reinterpreting it: her father insists she did not change her fidelity with fortune (以盛衰改節) but acted under absolute necessity, so there is no disgrace. It is a humane casuistry, letting filial and maternal duty outweigh the letter of the chastity code — though the novel lets the tension stand rather than dissolve it.