If it's a comic farce, is the joke on the master here? His servant girl's the one who behaves with propriety - taking a beating rather than betray the mistress or poison him - then after it fell to his friends to point out the plot in his own household, his response is to cry over the head wounds he (quite legitimately and sensibly) inflicted on the servant for spilling the wine, and promote her to top concubine! 尊卑倒混，子亦責父乎？如此齊家，安曰修身哉！哈哈哈！What an oaf!
Yeah, that's definitely a reasonable reading. It's entirely possible that we're missing some crucial background here: maybe some folktale or pantomime that everyone at the time would have recognised - and would then know how to react appropriately to the various characters. If I ever track down its origins, I will rework the translation, but until we know, I think we're free to read it as we please.
If it's a comic farce, is the joke on the master here? His servant girl's the one who behaves with propriety - taking a beating rather than betray the mistress or poison him - then after it fell to his friends to point out the plot in his own household, his response is to cry over the head wounds he (quite legitimately and sensibly) inflicted on the servant for spilling the wine, and promote her to top concubine! 尊卑倒混，子亦責父乎？如此齊家，安曰修身哉！哈哈哈！What an oaf!
Yeah, that's definitely a reasonable reading. It's entirely possible that we're missing some crucial background here: maybe some folktale or pantomime that everyone at the time would have recognised - and would then know how to react appropriately to the various characters. If I ever track down its origins, I will rework the translation, but until we know, I think we're free to read it as we please.