原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
鄉老且退 The Elders Dismissed
國王道：「鄉老且退，就有雨來也。」鄉老謝恩而出。国王道：「乡老且退，就有雨来也。」乡老谢恩而出。
逐句解 Line by line
國王道：「鄉老且退，就有雨來也。」
国王道：「乡老且退，就有雨来也。」
The king said, “Elders, withdraw for now — rain will be coming shortly.”
且退 “withdraw for the present.” 就有雨來也 “rain will come presently” — the king's confidence in his Preceptors.
鄉老謝恩而出。
乡老谢恩而出。
The elders gave thanks and went out.
謝恩而出 “thanked (him) for the favour and withdrew.”
A brief transition: the king, sure of his Daoists, sends the petitioners off with a promise of rain — a confidence the contest is about to test. The dismissal also clears the stage for him to explain, in the next passage, just why he trusts the immortals so completely.