Qin Zhong officially passes away in the beginning of chapter 17, and it’s got kind of an anticlimactic feel to it.

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My Translation

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This is one of the best passages that we’ve seen so far in this book. I’ll let it speak for itself.

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My Translation

Since Jia Zheng was so preoccupied with the major events happening in the household, he didn’t have time to worry about Jia Baoyu’s studies. And so Baoyu was extremely pleased.

However, Qin Zhong’s sickness was getting more serious by the day. Baoyu started to get extremely worried about this, and so he wasn’t able to feel truly happy.

On this particular morning, Baoyu got up early and quickly finished washing up and dressing. He was about to go tell Grandmother Jia that he was going to visit Qin Zhong. While he was walking there, he saw Mingyan hovering at the edge of the second gate, nervously looking here and there. When Baoyu saw him, he hurried over and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Young Master Qin is close to death,” replied Mingyan.

This news absolutely shocked Baoyu. “But I just saw him yesterday,” he replied quickly. “He was perfectly lucid! How can he suddenly be close to death?”

“I don’t know either,” replied Mingyan. “Just now one of the older servants from his household told me.”

Once he heard this, Baoyu went straight to Grandmother Jia to tell her the news. Grandmother Jia ordered a few servants to go along with them. “Hurry up and go there to fulfill your duties as a classmate,” she told him, “and come straight back. You must return without delay.”

Baoyu hurried out to change his clothes. When he arrived at the outer courtyard, the carriage was still not ready. He felt so anxious that he started pacing in circles frantically around the hall.

Before long, the carriage had finally arrived. He climbed aboard, with Li Gui, Mingyan, and the others following along.

When they reached the Qin family gate, there was not a soul in sight. They swarmed forward straight into the inner chamber. This was sho shocking to Qin Zhong’s two distant aunts, his sisters-in-law, and several of his female cousins that they all scrambled frantically to hide themselves, just managing to get out of sight in time.

Qin Zhong was on his deathbed and had been in and out of consciousness by this time, and had already fainted two or three times. When Baoyu saw him, he couldn’t help but burst into loud sobs.

Li Gui hurried over to try to stop him. “Don’t cry,” he told Baoyu. “Brother Qin is weak from his illness. He found the kang too hard and uncomfortable, and so we temporarily moved him over here to help him get some relief. Brother, if you cry like this, it will only make his sickness worse.”

Baoyu held back his tears when he heard this. He stepped closer and saw that Qin Zhong’s face was as pale as wax, that his eyes were closed, and that his breathing was shallow as he turned and tossed on his pillow.

“Oh dear brother, Baoyu is here,” said Baoyu. Baoyu said this two or three times, but Qin Zhong didn’t respond. “Baoyu is here,” said Baoyu again.

By this time, Qin Zhong’s spirit had already departed his body, leaving behind only a faint, lingering wisp of breath in his chest. Qin Zhong saw a host of ghastly demons and judges holding summons placards and dragging iron chains, coming over to seize him.

But how could Qin Zhong’s spirit be willing to depart like that? He was still worried about the fact that there was nobody left in his household to manage family affairs, and he was also worried about Zhineng, whose whereabouts were still unknown. And so he begged and pleaded with the ghostly judges in every possible way.

Unfortunately, none of those judges were willing to bend the rules for him. On the contrary, they sharply rebuked him “To think that you consider yourself an educated man!” they scolded. “Have you never heard the common saying that ‘If King Yama summons you at the third watch, who would dare hold you back until the fifth watch?’ Here in the underworld we are completely just and incorruptible. We are not like the world of the living, where people make allowances for feelings and sentiments, and where there are so many entanglements and complications that get in the way!”

With all of this commotion, Qin Zhong’s spirit suddenly heard the words “Baoyu is here.”

Qin Zhong began pleading with the officers again. “Honorable divine officers, please show a bit of mercy and allow me to go back just for a moment to say a word to a dear friend. I’ll come straight back.”

“What good friend is that?” asked the ghosts.

“To be frank with you,” said Qin Zhong, “he is the grandson of the Duke of Rongguo; his childhood name is Baoyu.”

When the presiding judge heard this, he was struck with a sense of panic. He began to berate the lesser ghosts, saying, “I told you to let him go back for a while, but you wouldn’t listen to me! Now you’ve stirred things up until you’ve summoned a person in the midst of prosperity and fortune. What are we going to do?”

When the ghosts saw the judge in this state, they were also confused. At the same time, however, they complained among themselves. “Sir, you were all thunder and lightning just now,” they said, “and it turns out that you can’t even bear the thought of the name ‘Baoyu!’ As we see it, he belongs to the world of the living, and we belong to the world of the dead. What do we have to fear from him?”

This only made the chief judge more frantic, and he began to shout even louder.

Does Qin Zhong live or die? See the next chapter to find out.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

Hawkes has Grandmother Jia tell Jia Baoyu that he can see Qin Zhong “since you have been such good friends.” This seems natural to a Western audience, but is actually a mistranslation. Grandmother Jia specifically refers to fulfilling 同窗之情, or the duties of a classmate. She’s basically telling him that he can pay his respects as a classmate of Qin Zhong, and that he needs to leave as soon as possible – it’s the opposite of referring to their friendship.

Always the scholar, David Hawkes makes a parenthetical reference to local custom: Qin Zhong “in accordance with the Northern custom which forbids a sick man to breathe his last on the kang, had some time since been lifted on to a trestle bed to die.” The lengthy explanation is not in the Chinese original, but it is somewhat helpful to the reader. My only wish is that it weren’t written in such a dry and formal style, since it takes away from the emotion of the event.

When describing how the judges of the underworld reacted to hearing the name Jia Baoyu, Hawkes throws in an inappropriate interpretation:

The trepidation of their leader, who was perhaps thinking more of Bao-yu’s demon-repelling talisman than of its wearer, was far from comforted by this reflection.

This is entirely inappropriate because 運旺時盛 refers to Baoyu being at the height of life and happiness and prosperity in the mortal world. The judges are not worried about the jade or any talisman or anything like this. This is entirely a product of David Hawkes’ imagination.

Hawkes also has Qin Zhong wake up momentarily before the end of the chapter, which might come from an earlier Chinese manuscript.

Yang

The Yangs leave out the references to Chinese customs and the reference to Baoyu’s “demon-repelling talisman” that Hawkes inserts.

However, the end of this chapter in the Yang translation also has Qin Zhong momentarily wake up to speak with Baoyu, which tells me that they’re probably using an earlier Chinese manuscript as well.

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Chinese Text

且說寶玉近因家中有這等大事，賈政不來問他的書，心中自是暢快。無奈秦鍾之病日重一日，也著實懸心，不能快樂。這日一早起來，才梳洗了，意欲回了賈母去望候秦鍾，忽見茗煙在二門影壁前探頭縮腦，寶玉忙出來問他：「做什麼？」茗煙道：「秦大爺不中用了。」寶玉聽了，嚇了一跳，忙問道：「我昨兒才瞧了他，還明明白白的，怎麼就說不中用了呢？」茗煙道：「我也不知道，剛才是他家的老頭子來特告訴我的。」

寶玉聽畢，忙轉身回明賈母。賈母吩咐派妥當人跟去，「到那裡盡一盡同窗之情，就回來，不許多耽擱了。」寶玉忙出來更衣，到外邊，車猶未備，急的滿廳亂轉。一時，催促的車到，忙上了車，李貴茗煙等跟隨。來至秦家門首，悄無一人，遂蜂擁至內室。嚇的秦鐘的兩個遠房嬸孃、嫂子並幾個姐妹都藏之不迭。

此時秦鍾已發過兩三次昏，易簀多時矣。寶玉一見，便不禁失聲的哭起來。李貴忙勸道：「不可。秦哥兒是弱症，怕炕上硌的不受用，所以暫且挪下來鬆泛些。哥兒這一哭倒添了他的病了。」寶玉聽了，方忍住，近前見秦鍾面如白蠟，合目呼吸，展轉枕上。寶玉忙叫道：「鯨哥，寶玉來了。」連叫了兩三聲，秦鐘不睬。寶玉又叫道：「寶玉來了。」

那秦鍾早已魂魄離身，只剩得一口悠悠餘氣在胸，正見許多鬼判持牌提索來捉他。那秦鍾魂魄那裡肯就去？又記念著家中無人管理家務，又惦記著智能兒尚無下落，因此百般求告鬼判。無奈這些鬼判都不肯徇私，反叱吒秦鍾道：「虧你還是讀過書的人！豈不知俗語說的：『閻王叫你三更死，誰敢留人到五更？』我們陰間，上下都是鐵面無私的，不比陽間瞻情顧意，有許多的關礙處！」

正鬧著，那秦鐘的魂魄忽聽見「寶玉來了」四字，便忙又央求道：「列位神差略慈悲慈悲，讓我回去和一個好朋友說一句話就來了。」眾鬼道：「又是什麼好朋友？」秦鍾道：「不瞞列位，就是榮國公的孫子，小名兒叫寶玉的。」那判官聽了，先就唬的慌張起來，忙喝罵那些小鬼道：「我說你們放了他回去走走罷，你們不依我的話；如今鬧的請出個運旺時盛的人來了，怎麼好？」眾鬼見都判如此，也都忙了手腳，一面又抱怨道：「你老人家先是那麼雷霆火炮，原來見不得『寶玉』二字！依我們想來：他是陽間，我們是陰間，怕他亦無益。」那都判越發著急，吆喝起來。

畢竟秦鍾死活如何，且聽下回分解。

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Translation Notes

暢快 means carefree and happy. Note that this adjective is contrasted here with 快樂, which also means happy. It seems that 快樂 is used as a more intense form of happiness, which is why I’ve somewhat arbitrarily translated 暢快 as “pleased.”

著實 (pronounced zhuóshí) is an intensifying adverb that means “really” or “very.”

懸心 means to worry or feel anxious

無奈 almost certainly means “however” or “yet” in this context

探頭縮腦 means something like stretching your head out and then shrinking it back. The thing that isn’t being said explicitly here is that the 二門, or the “second gate,” was the gate that separated the outer male quarters from the inner female quarters. Mingyan is Baoyu’s servant, though we haven’t read much about him for a little while. It’s obvious that Mingyan is trying to find Baoyu.

不中用 in this context means dying or approaching death.

When Grandmother Jia talks about 同窗之情, she’s referring to a formal obligation that Jia Baoyu has to his classmate. It feels almost like a Confucian obligation, as if she were telling him to “fulfill the duties of a classmate” instead of telling him to go visit his friend one last time. This is amplified by her admonition that he return right away (就回來，不許多耽擱了), which, of course, means that he should not linger. The irony, of course, is that our favorite word 情 has emerged once again.

易簀多時矣 is a classical Chinese phrase that can be difficult to understand. 易簀 literally means to “change the mat.” It’s an allusion to the Book of Rites that tells the story of the philosopher Zengzi who asked that his mat (簀) be changed on his deathbed. A 簀 literally means a “bamboo bed mat,” and was considered more comfortable than the hard kang (炕) that most people sat on and slept on. By using the phrase 易簀, Cao Xueqin is telling us that Qin Zhong has been in this state for a long time, and is also making a strong classical allusion to Qin Zhong’s pending demise.

鬆泛 is a very specific word that means comfortable in the sense of being relaxed or not tight. 舒服 is the more general term that you’d expect to see. Li Gui is using this particular term to try to calm Jia Baoyu down and to downplay the seriousness of Qin Zhong’s illness.

鯨哥 refers to Qin Zhong’s nickname, which is 鯨 (Jing).

魂魄離身 refers to the traditional Chinese belief in the 魂, which is the intellectual spirit that ascends to heaven upon death, and the 魄, which is the earthly soul that descends to the earth upon death. In this case, Qin Zhong’s spirits have already separated the body, which means that Qin Zhong is truly on death’s door.

Qin Zhong sees 許多鬼判持牌提索來捉他, or many ghostly demons and judges summoning him over and trying to capture him with an iron chain. This refers to the traditional Chinese belief in judgment for the deceased after life. It’s always interesting to note that even the pits of hell were bureaucratic in the ancient Chinese tradition.

徇私 means to act in a biased way or to practice favoritism.

閻王叫你三更死，誰敢留人到五更 is basically a way to say that you can’t delay inevitable death. 三更 and 五更 refer to different hours of the night in the traditional Chinese timekeeping system; one 更 is equal to about two hours. This phrase exists in a very similar form in Journey to the West, which was published several centuries before Dream of the Red Chamber.

陰間 is the afterworld, and is contrasted here to 陽間, or the world of the living.

鐵面無私 means strictly impartial and incorruptible

瞻情顧意 literally means looking to sentiment and caring for personal feelings.

關礙 means to interfere or hinder

The phrase 運旺時盛 (at the height of fortune and prosperity) can be confusing here. It seems that such prosperity and happiness meant that Baoyu was at the height of his worldly (陽間) existence, which meant that their sheer life force meant that the outerworldly and demonic elements of death (陰間) could not harm them. There’s a bit of an implication here that the underworld is subservient to the world of the living. Of course, there is a lot of intentional irony and humor in the fact that the judge of the underworld is frantically berating his servants for a decision that he has already made.

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We have another glimpse today of the construction of the marvelous garden. The interesting part here is to see how authority and the work itself was delegated.

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Today we get the first look at what will eventually become the most important location in all of Dream of the Red Chamber.

My Translation

Jia Lian woke up the next morning, went to briefly see Jia She and Jia Zheng, and then went straight over to the Ningguo Mansion. He met there with some of the older household servants and some of the resident scholars from families close to the Jia family. They went out together to inspect the grounds of both houses and drew up plans for the reception halls and pavillions that they would need for the coming imperial visit. They also looked into how many people they would need for the project.

From that day on, artisans and laborers of every trade assembled together. Gold, silver, copper, tin, timber, earth, bricks, tiles, and other goods were constantly coming in.

The workers started off by dismantling the walls, towers, and pavilions of Ningguo Mansion’s Huifang Garden. This opened up a direct connection to the eastern side of the Rongguo Mansion. Meanwhile, the entire row of servants’ rooms on the eastern side of the Rongguo Mansion was demolished.

Although there was a small alley that prevented the two mansions from connecting, the land was private property, not a public road. And so it was naturally possible to join the two compounds.

The Huifang Garden already had a source of running water that came in from the northern corner of the now demolished garden walls, which meant that there was no need for a new water supply. Though the rocks, trees, and garden features of the old garden would not suffice, Jia She’s residence included the original garden of the Rongguo Mansion. Its bamboo groves, trees, rocks, pavilions, terraces, balustrades, and so on could all be relocated and reused. In fact, since that garden was also very close by, the two could be combined into one, which would save considerable expense and labor. Rough estimates suggested that the additional financial outlay would be relatively low.

All of this was thanks to an old master named Hu, who they called “Mountain Wilds.” He drew up every detail of the plans and supervised the entire construction process.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

David Hawkes translates 老管事的家人等並幾位世交門下清客相公們 as “a group consisting of the older stewards and domestics and a few friends and clients of the family.” This isn’t entirely correct. 老管事的家人 clearly refers to older family servants. However, 世交門下清客相公 refers specifically to resident scholars living with the Jia family who have long standing close family relationships.

Hawkes notes here that “the All-scents Garden had been watered by a stream led in by a culvert which ran under a corner of the north wall.” A culvert is a channel that crosses under a road or a railway to drain water.

Yang

The Yangs refer to the water that ran under the wall as a “stream.” In this case, I think the David Hawkes translation is probably more accurate.

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Chinese Text

次早，賈璉起來，見過賈赦賈政，便往寧國府中來，合同老管事的家人等並幾位世交門下清客相公們審察兩府地方，繕畫省親殿宇，一面參度辦理人丁。自此後，各行匠役齊全，金銀銅錫以及土木磚瓦之物，搬運移送不歇。先令匠役拆寧府會芳園的牆垣樓閣，直接入榮府東大院中。榮府東邊所有下人一帶群房已盡拆去。當日寧榮二宅雖有一條小巷界斷不通，然亦系私地，並非官道，故可以聯絡。會芳園本是從北牆角下引了來的一股活水，今亦無煩再引。其山樹木石雖不敷用，賈赦住的乃是榮府舊園，其中竹樹山石以及亭榭欄杆等物，皆可挪就前來。如此兩處又甚近，便湊成一處，省許多財力。大概算計起來，所添有限。全虧一個胡老名公，號「山子野」，一一籌劃起造。

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Translation Notes

When the Chinese original mentions 會芳園本是從北牆角下引了來的一股活水，今亦無煩再引, or the fact that there was already a source of water from the northern corner of the old garden walls, keep in mind that the walls had already been demolished. It seems that this water source likely came from some sort of pipe running under the old walls.

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This is a short passage that hints deeply at the corruption and gift giving that has become an integral part of the Jia family’s operations.

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Here’s another one of those longer passages. This one makes it quite clear that Wang Xifeng is in charge of what is going on, and that her husband Jia Lian is actually quite useless.

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We’ve got an extremely long passage today. However, this is important, and there really isn’t a good way to cut it up into two different passages. We see here a bit of highly significant teasing between Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian, as well as the first direct references we’ve seen to the political reality behind Dream of the Red Chamber. There’s a lot to unpack here.

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My Translation

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Today we have some interesting interplay between Wang Xifeng and Ping’er. It’s clear here that Ping’er knows quite a bit about what is really going on between Wang Xifeng and Jia Lian.

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We get a closer look at Wang Xifeng’s relationship with Jia Lian today. This snippet really says a lot.

My Translation

While Wang Xifeng was talking with Jia Lian, they heard voices coming from outside the room.

“Who’s there?” asked Xifeng.

“Aunt Xue sent Xiangling over to ask me something,” replied Ping’er. “I’ve already answered her and sent her back.”

“That reminds me,” said Jia Lian with a laugh. “Just now, when I went to see Aunt Xue, I came face to face with a young woman on the way. She looked very proper and pleasing, and I thought to myself that there was no way we had a girl like her in our household.

“And so I asked Aunt Xue about it. It turns out that she was the slave girl from that lawsuit, the one called Xiangling. And she’s actually been given to that fool Xue Pan as a wife. She’s already had her facial hairs removed, and has only become more delicate and beautiful as a result. That fool Xue Pan has really polluted her!”

“Ha!” sneered Xifeng in response. “You’ve been all the way to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and you’ve seen quite a bit of the world. And yet here you are, as greedy as ever!

“If you love her, then where’s the problem? I’ll go trade Ping’er for her; how does that sound?

“That oaf Xue Pan is just the same as you, always looking around while he eats what is in his bowl. When he first came here a year ago he was absolutely desperate to get his hands on Xiangling, and he caused a lot of trouble for his own mother, Aunt Xue, just to get her.

“Aunt Xue didn’t decide to give Xiangling to Xue Pan beecause she had a pretty face. Actually, her conduct is completely different from ordinary girls. She’s gentle and quiet in a way that even the most proper young ladies can’t match.

“And so Aunt Xue went to the trouble of putting together a feast and inviting guest, and made her his wife fully and properly. Naturally, less than half a month later, Xue Pan was off chasing after another group of women.”

Before Xifeng had finished speaking, one of the servants from the inner gate came in to make an announcement. “Jia Zheng is waiting for Jia Lian in the large study room.” Jia Lian quickly straightened out his clothes and left.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

If you’ve forgotten, David Hawkes calls Xianglian “Caltrop.”

Hawkes describes how Wang Xifeng “made a little moue” in response to Jia Lian’s remarks about Xianglian’s appearance. Moue is originally a French word that means to “pout,” especially in either mock annoyance or while flirting. The Chinese original says 鳳姐把嘴一撇, which is kind of similar to a “pout” or a frown. However, this isn’t mock annoyance or flirting. Wang Xifeng is legitimately upset that her husband keeps looking at other women.

Yang

Interestingly, the Yangs take away the reference to Wang Xifeng’s changed facial expression. This is par for the course in A Dream of Red Mansions, where the Yangs apparently decided that a lot of the descriptions in the book were unnecessary and took them out.

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Chinese Text

說著，只聽外間有人說話。鳳姐便問：「是誰？」平兒進來回道：「姨太太打發香菱妹子來問我一句話，我已經說了，打發他回去了。」賈璉笑道：「正是呢。我方才見姨媽去，和一個年輕的小媳婦子剛走了個對臉兒，長得好齊整模樣兒。我想咱們家沒這個人哪。說話時問姨媽，才知道是打官司的那小丫頭子，叫什麼香菱的，竟給薛大傻子作了屋裡人，開了臉，越發出挑的標緻了。那薛大傻子真玷辱了他！」

鳳姐把嘴一撇道：「哎！往蘇杭走了一趟回來，也該見點世面了，還是這麼眼饞肚飽的！你要愛他，不值什麼，我拿平兒換了他來，好不好？那薛老大也是吃著碗裡瞧著鍋裡的。這一年來的時候，他為香菱兒不能到手，和姑媽打了多少饑荒。姑媽看著香菱的模樣兒好還是小事，因他做人行事又比別的女孩子不同，溫柔安靜，差不多兒的主子姑娘還跟不上他，才擺酒請客的費事，明堂正道給他做了屋裡人。過了沒半月，也沒事人一大堆了！」一語未了，二門上的小廝傳報：「老爺在大書房裡等著二爺呢。」賈璉聽了，忙忙整衣出去。

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Translation Notes

香菱 (Xiangling) is the same person as Zhen Yinglian, the daughter of Zhen Shiyin that we read about way back in the first chapter of the book.

You might have forgotten about Xiangling, since the last time we saw her was back in chapter 7. That was in this post:

對臉 means to meet face to face.

開臉is the practice of removing the hairs on a woman’s face to prepare her for marriage. There are other words for this in Chinese; 絞面 is probably the most common. It’s apparently referred to as “threading” in English. If you’re interested, there’s also another brief mention about this practice here, which indicates that the hairs that were removed were likely on the side of the girl’s face.

眼饞肚飽 means to have eyes bigger than one’s stomach. Here a jealous Wang Xifeng uses it to refer to Jia Lian’s interest in beautiful women.

吃著碗裡瞧著鍋裡 is probably more frequently stated as “吃著碗裡，看著鍋裡”. It originally comes from The Plum in the Golden Vase (金瓶梅), and refers specifically to a married man who is interested in other women. Note that the words 瞧 and 看 are synonymous (to look).

打饑荒 originally means to endure through a period where you have no food (饑荒 means to starve). Here it means to cause a lot of trouble.

費事 means to take a lot of trouble to do something

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Wang Xifeng Plays Herself Down

In this segment, Wang Xifeng gives a long and ironic monologue to describe herself as helpless and bumbling. Of course, the exact opposite is true.

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In this passage Lin Daiyu refuses a gift that Jia Baoyu gives her on her return. This is pretty significant; there’s more about this coming in tomorrow’s post.

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My Translation

Fortunately, Jia Lian and Lin Daiyu were coming back. They had sent a messenger ahead to report that they would be arriving home the next day.

When Jia Baoyu heard this, he felt a bit happier. And, when he asked for more details, he learned that Jia Yucun was coming to the capital for an imperial appointment.

Thanks to Wang Ziteng’s repeated recommendations, Yucun had been summoned to wait for a vacancy in the capital. Because he was related to Jia Lian and because he had once worked as Daiyu’s tutor, he naturally chose to travel together with them.

Meanwhile, Lin Ruhai had been buried in the family cemetery, and all his affairs had been properly settled.

Under normal circumstances, Jia Lian would have traveled stage by stage from one post station to the next. He would not have returned until after the beginning of the next month. However, when he heard the good news about Jia Yuanchun being promoted, he was so excited that he decided to travel both day and night. The entire journey had been safe.

Baoyu only asked about how Daiyu was doing. He wasn’t interested in anything else.

It seemed to take forever, but the next day finally came. There was a report early that afternoon that “Jia Lian and Lin Daiyu have arrived at the mansion.” When Baoyu and Daiyu met again, their feelings were a mixture of sorrow and joy. They inevitably cried quite a bit, which was followed by words of consolation and celebration.

Baoyu looked closely at Daiyu. She had grown much prettier while she was gone. Daiyu had also brought quite a few books along with her. After settling in, she busied herself with cleaning her bedroom and arranging her belongings. She also gave out writing brushes and paper as gifts to Baochai, Yingchun, and Baoyu.

Baoyu carefully took out the fragrant prayer bead bracelet that the Prince of Beijing had given to him, and offered it to Daiyu.

“Why would I want something that a stinking man has handled?” asked Daiyu. “I don’t want this!” And she gave it back and refused to take it.

Baoyu had no choice but to take it back. And nothing more was said for the time being.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

Hawkes is careful to note that Jia Yucun was “a cousin (albeit a remote one) of Jia Lian.” This implies that Jia Yucun is not actually related to Jia Lian, but rather likely falsified his family background to try to ride the coattails of the Jia family’s success.

Hawkes also gives us one of the worst examples of an unnecessary run-on sentence I’ve seen so far:

Lin Ru-hai having been laid with his ancestors in the family burying-ground and his obsequies duly concluded, they would, if they had proceeded to the capital by the usual stages, have been arriving back some time in the following month; but when Jia Lian heard the news about Yuan-chun’s elevation, they had decided to make greater speed, travelling by night as well as by day.

There’s no reason at all for all of this to be a single sentence. You’ve got three different ideas here: the burial of Lin Ruhai, the fact that they normally would have taken a month to return, and the news about Jia Yuanchun being promoted. You need three sentences, not one.

Hawkes translates 越發出落的超逸了 as Jia Baoyu reognizing “the same ethereal quality he had always known in her.” Ethereal means something that transcends the world, almost like something spiritual or airy or light. The problem, of course, is that 出落 refers to a young girl becoming more beautiful as she goes through puberty.

Hawkes describes Lin Daiyu “arranging various objets d’art around” her room. Objects d’art is a French phrase that means artistic works.

Yang

The Yangs also describe Jia Baoyu noticing that Lin Daiyu “was looking even more ethereal.”

Chinese Text

且喜賈璉與黛玉回來，先遣人來報信，明日就可到家了。寶玉聽了，方略有些喜意。細問原由，方知賈雨村也進京引見，皆由王子騰累上薦本，此來候補京缺。與賈璉是同宗弟兄，又與黛玉有師徒之誼，故同路作伴而來。林如海已葬入祖塋了，諸事停妥。

賈璉這番進京，若按站走時，本該出月到家；因聽見元春喜信，遂晝夜兼程而進，一路俱各平安。寶玉只問了黛玉好，餘者也就不在意了。好容易盼到明日午錯，果報：「璉二爺和林姑娘進府了。」見面時，彼此悲喜交集，未免大哭一場，又致慶慰之詞。

寶玉細看那黛玉時，越發出落的超逸了。黛玉又帶了許多書籍來，忙著打掃臥室，安排器具；又將些紙筆等物分送與寶釵、迎春、寶玉等。寶玉又將北靜王所贈蕶苓香串，珍重取出來，轉送黛玉。黛玉說：「什麼臭男人拿過的，我不要這東西！」遂擲還不取。寶玉只得收回，暫且無話。

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Translation Notes

In this case, 候補 means to be given a temporary post or assignment while waiting for an official assignment to open up. Jia Yucun seems to have been summoned to the capital in order to wait for his actual official assignment to open up.

塋 means grave or tomb.

停妥 means something like “concluded satisfactorily.”

若按站走時 can be a little bit difficult to understand. 站 here refers to certain post stations that were maintained by the government along main travel routes. These were places where travelers could change horses, rest, and get supplies. Normally travelers would go from one 站 to the next each day; however, Jia Lian and the others were excited and decided to travel faster than normal.

午錯 means the period of time just past 午. 午 generally refers to the period of time between 11 AM and 1 PM. 午錯, therefore, would be a brief period of time right around 1 PM.

悲喜交集 means mixed feelings of grief and joy

越發出落的超逸了 is a little bit complicated. It means that Lin Daiyu had grown prettier (出落) in a way that defied worldly conventions (超逸).

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Today we see how Jia Baoyu seems utterly uninterested in the recent good news. This actually gives us a pretty significant insight into Jia Baoyu’s personality and character.

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The Jia family is surprised by good news in this segment. We’ll see if this news winds up being a blessing or a burden as the book continues.

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This is a very meaningful and insightful passage. If you read most of the English translations of Dream of the Red Chamber, however, you won’t feel the full impact of this section. More on that tomorrow.

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My Translation

By this time, Wang Xifeng had already received Yun Guang’s reply. Everything had been settled. Jingxu informed the Zhang family of the outcome. There was nothing that the Brigadier could do, and so he swallowed his pride and accepted the return of the engagement gifts.

Who would have thoughts that parents who loved power and wealth would manage to raise a daughter who knew what was right and treasured love above all? When she heard that she would not be marrying the son of the Brigadier after all, and that she was going to join the Li household, she quietly took a sash and ended her own life.

And who would have thought that the son of the Brigadier also had a pure heart? When he heard that the girl had taken her own life, he threw himself into the river and drowned.

Unfortunately, the Zhang and Li families were both humiliated. In the end, both families lost both the girl and the money.

Meanwhile, Wang Xifeng was able to enjoy her three thousand taels without any regrets. And Lady Wang didn’t know a single thing about the whole affair.

From this point on, Xifeng became even more bold. The things she went on to do, following this pattern and exceeding it, are beyond counting.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

For some reason, David Hawkes decides to remind us here that Yun Guang was replying to a “bogus letter” that he supposed came from Jia Lian. I’m not sure why Hawkes decided to include this note, since the legitimacy or lack of legitimacy of the letter Wang Lai gave to Yun Guang doesn’t really matter. The point here is not to criticize Wang Xifeng for thinking up a clever way to solve the problem and get some extra money. Rather, the point here is the callous way that the three families involve treat the feelings of their children.

Hawkes uses the word affianced to describe the girl’s earlier fiance. Affianced is a rare adjective that means “engaged” or “betrothed.”

Hawkes translates 情種 as “a young person of unexpectedly romantic notions,” which is really not a good translation. More on this in tomorrow’s commentary post.

Hawkes translates 人財兩空 as “the maid and eke the money gone.” Eke is an archaic English word that means “also” or “in addition to.” Meanwhile, 人財兩空 is a common idiom and has nothing to do with any classical poems.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Hawkes’ translation here is simply poor, and that he’s obfuscating the actual power of the passage in question. I think he wanted to dress this up in archaic language and with a false archaic reference for a certain effect. However, in the end it’s all extremely confusing and distracts the reader from the power of the story.

Yang

The Yangs translate 知義多情 as “principled and feeling.” “Feeling” feels kind of like an odd adjective to use in this context, though at least the meaning is clear.

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Chinese Text

那鳳姐卻已得了雲光的回信，俱已妥協。老尼達知張家，那守備無奈何，忍氣吞聲，受了前聘之物。誰知愛勢貪財的父母，卻養了一個知義多情的女兒：聞得退了前夫，另許李門，他便一條汗巾，悄悄的尋了自盡。那守備之子誰知也是個情種，聞知金哥自縊，遂投河而死。可憐張李二家沒趣，真是「人財兩空」。這裡鳳姐卻安享了三千兩。王夫人連一點訊息也不知。自此，鳳姐膽識愈壯，以後所作所為，諸如此類，不可勝數。

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Translation Notes

妥協 normally means to compromise, though here it seems to mean to come to terms or to settle the problem.

忍氣吞聲 means to suppress your anger and quietly bear a humiliation

自盡 means to take your own life.

The word 情種 is a reference to the first line of the “Prelude to Dream of the Red Chamber” in chapter 5:

紅樓夢引子

開闢鴻蒙，誰為情種？

Prelude to The Dream of the Red Chamber

At the dawn of creation, who sowed the seed of emotion?

See more here:

Of course, it doesn’t make much sense in English to say that the boy “sowed the seed of emotion,” which is why I’ve translated this text this way.

自縊 means to hang oneself.

沒趣 normally means that something is not fun or interesting. Here it seems to refer to both families being embarrassed or put in an awkward position.

人財兩空 (they lost both the person and the money) might seem odd here. The Zhang family received the engagement gifts back, but wound up paying the 3,000 taels that ended up with Wang Xifeng in the end. Meanwhile, the Li family had already given up the engagement gifts for a girl who wound up taking her own life. It’s a pretty sarcastic statement, and highlights the fact that these families really didn’t care about what their young people thought or wanted. The entire affair winds up looking completely transactional.

Meanwhile, 人財兩空 is a common idiom that means “to lose both people and money.”

膽識 means courage and insight.

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It’s time to start chapter 16. We’ve been going pretty quickly. There’s a bunch of interesting and important stuff in this chapter, so make sure to stick around!

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Today we reach the end of chapter 15. We’ve been making pretty good progress overall, and things are only going to get more interesting from here.

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This is a fun section. Qin Zhong goes after the girl that he’s interested in, and winds up getting a huge surprise.

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Our translation passage today is actually a really interesting anecdote with all sorts of direct mentions of bribery. It also makes you wonder just what Cao Xueqin thought about the religion of his day. After all, it’s not every day you hear about a nun offering a massive bribe.

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My Translation

Meanwhile, Wang Xifeng went to her room to rest, and the nun went along with her. Since there was nothing else going on, the older maids had left to rest, leaving only a few younger and trustworthy maids behind.

Jingxu seized the opportunity to say what she wanted. “There’s something I’d like to ask Grandmother Jia about at the mansion,” she said. “But could you please give me some advice first?”

“What is it?” asked Xifeng.

“Praise Buddha!” replied Jingxu. “It’s just that, when I first became a nun, I was at the Shancai Convent in Chang’an County. We had a donor there whose name was Zhang; he was very rich.

“He had a daughter who we called Jin Ge who came to burn incense at our convent. And it just so happened that she was seen there by the younger brother of the Prefect of Chang’an, a man named Mr. Li. Mr. Li took one look at Jin Ge and fell in love with her. And so he sent someone right away to propose marriage.

“But it just so happens that Jin Ge had already accepted the proposal of the son of the former Brigadier of Chang’an. The Zhangs thought about calling off that engagement, but they were worried that the Brigadier would be upset. And so they said that she was already engaged.

“But who would have thought that Mr. Li still insisted that he needed to marry her? And so the Zhang family was caught in a difficult situation and couldn’t do anythingt o solve the problem.

“And then, unexpectedly, the Brigadier’s family heard this news. Without looking into what was right and what was wrong, they started a massive argument. ‘She’s only one girl,’ they said, ‘and yet how many families are you going to promise her to?’ They absolutely refused to allow their engagement gift to be returned, and so the problem has gone to the courts.

“Anyway, the girl’s family is very worried. They sent people up to the capital to find some connections to solve the problem. They’re also furious and are insistent on returning the engagement gift.

“Now, I know that General Yun, the Military Governor of Chang’an, is a good friend of your family. I was wondering if you might ask Grandmother Jia and the master to write a letter to him to ask him to have a word with the Brigadier. I doubt he would dare refuse. If you are willing to help, the Zhang family would do whatever it takes, including spending their entire fortune in gratitude.”

“That sounds like a small matter,” said Xifeng with a smile. “I think it’s probably too minor for Grandmother Jia to intervene.”

“If she won’t handle it,” replied Jingxu, “perhaps you could take care of it.”

Xifeng laughed. “I don’t need the money,” she replied, “and I don’t do this sort of thing.”

When Jingxu heard this, she lost all hope. She was silent for a few moments. Then she said with a sigh, “Even though you say that, the Zhangs already know that we were going to ask your house for help. At this point, if we don’t do anything, they won’t say that you have no time or that you don’t care for their reward. They’ll think that your house doesn’t even have enough influence to help a little matter like this.”

Xifeng’s head perked up at once when she heard this. “You’ve known me for a long time,” she replied. “And you know that I’ve never believed in all that talk about hell or retribution. Whatever I say I’ll do, I’ll do it. Tell them to bring me three thousand taels of silver, and I’ll help them get this weight off their chests.”

Jingxu was delighted when she heard this. “We have the money!” she said. “That will be no problem at all.”

“I’m not like those other people who engage in crazy schemes just to get money,” added Xifeng. “These three thousand taels are merely to cover the travel expenses for the servants I’ll send to deliver the message, and allows them to earn a little bit of money on the side. I won’t take a penny of it. After all, even if we were talking about thirty thousand taels, I could get it right now.”

“I see,” replied Jingxu. “In that case, ma’am, could you be so kind as to begin tomorrow?”

“Look at how busy I am!” said Xifeng. “Is there anything I could stop doing? Now, since I promised you, I’ll naturally see it through.”

“A little thing like this would have most people so busy that they’d become confused,” replied Jingxu. “However, for you, ma’am, even if I were to add a little bit more, it wouldn’t be enough to keep you busy for long! Just as they say, ‘the able are always busy.’ Grandmother Jia sees how talented you are, and so she adds more and more things to you. But you must remember to take care of your precious health.”

With this steady stream of flattery, Xifeng felt more and more gratified. She no longer felt tired, and continued to chat.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

David Hawkes translates the 善才庵 as “The Treasures in Heaven Convent.” This is actually a really good translation, and conveys the same irony as the original Chinese text.

We see another difficult word in Hawkes’ translation here. He describes how Jingxu’s “face assumed an expression of great benignity.” If you’re like me and have no idea what benignity means, it refers to the state of being benign, or “kind, gentle, or mild.” The problem, of course, is that the Chinese text says 打去妄想, which means something like “her vain hopes were dashed away,” with nothing about Jingxu having a benign expression on her face.

Hawkes translates 能者多勞 as “the able man gets little leisure.” It’s a good enough translation of the idiom.

Yang

The Yangs opt for a more literal translation of 能者多勞: “The abler a man, the busier he gets.” Overall, their translation of this section seems to be a lot more faithful to the original text.

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Chinese Text

鳳姐也便回至淨室歇息，老尼相伴。此時眾婆子媳婦，見無事，都陸續散了，自去歇息，跟前不過幾個心腹小丫頭。老尼便趁機說道：「我有一事，要到府裡求太太，先請奶奶的示下。」鳳姐問道：「什麼事？」老尼道：「阿彌陀佛！只因當日我先在長安縣善才庵裡出家的時候兒，有個施主姓張，是大財主。他的女孩兒小名金哥，那年都往我廟裡來進香，不想遇見長安府太爺的小舅子李少爺。那李少爺一眼看見金哥，就愛上了，立刻打發人來求親。不想金哥已受了原任長安守備公子的聘定，張家欲待退親，又怕守備不依，因此說已有了人家了。誰知李少爺一定要娶。張家正在沒法，兩處為難。不料守備家聽見此信，也不問青紅皁白，就來吵鬧，說：『一個女孩兒，你許幾家子人家兒？』偏不許退定禮，就打起官司來。女家急了，只得著人上京找門路，賭氣偏要退定禮。我想如今長安節度雲老爺和府上相好，怎麼求太太和老爺說說，寫一封書子，求雲老爺和那守備說一聲，不怕他不依。要是肯行，張家那怕傾家孝順，也是情願的。」鳳姐聽了，笑道：「這事倒不大，只是太太再不管這些事。」老尼道：「太太不管，奶奶可以主張了。」鳳姐笑道：「我也不等銀子使，也不做這樣的事。」靜虛聽了，打去妄想，半晌，嘆道：「雖這麼說，只是張家已經知道求了府裡。如今不管，張家不說沒工夫，不希圖他的謝禮，倒像府裡連這點子手段也沒有似的。」

鳳姐聽了這話，便發了興頭，說道：「你是素日知道我的，從來不信什麼陰司地獄報應的。憑是什麼事，我說要行就行。你叫他拿三千兩銀子來，我就替他出這口氣。」老尼聽說，喜之不勝，忙說：「有，有。這個不難。」鳳姐又道：「我比不得他們扯篷拉縴的圖銀子。這三千兩銀子，不過是給打發說去的小廝們作盤纏，使他賺幾個辛苦錢兒，我一個錢也不要。就是三萬兩，我此刻還拿的出來。」老尼忙答應道：「既如此，奶奶明日就開恩罷了。」鳳姐道：「你瞧瞧我忙的，那一處少的了我？我既應了你，自然給你了結啊。」老尼道：「這點子事，要在別人，自然忙的不知怎麼樣；要是奶奶跟前，再添上些，也不夠奶奶一辦的！俗語說的：『能者多勞』。太太見奶奶這樣才情，越發都推給奶奶了，只是奶奶也要保重貴體些才是。」一路奉承，鳳姐越受用了，也不顧勞乏，更攀談起來。

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Translation Notes

老尼 means “the old nun,” and clearly refers to 靜虛 (Jing Xu).

心腹小丫頭 refers to younger maids that Wang Xifeng trusted (心腹 means trustworthy person).

示下 means advice or instruction

善才庵, or the Shancai Convent, seems to be a name of a fictional convent. Shancai (善才) is the Chinese transliteration of Sudhanakumāra, or Sudhana, which is translated as the Child of Wealth. The name is also written 善財. Choosing this figure is probably ironic because of what Jingxu is trying to do here.

施主 means an alms giver or a donor.

金哥 (Jin Ge) literally means “golden older brother.” It’s kind of an odd name for a girl, and seems to indicate that the Zhang family is not particularly refined despite being wealthy.

聘定 means a marriage proposal.

青紅皁白 litereally means “wheat and chaff.” It’s a common idiom that means “right and wrong.”

找門路 means to find a way to solve the problem. The implication here is that they’re going to find someone with connections who can make this legal headache go away.

傾家孝順 is kind of a complex phrase here. 傾家 means for one’s family, or family fortune, to be completely overturned. 孝順 means to be dutiful and obedient, as if you were obeying a parent. In this case, 傾家孝順 works as an euphemism: they’re basically saying “even if it bankrupts us, we would be more than happy to show you this great devotion for your help.” It’s not an outright bribe, but it’s obvious from the context that they’re talking about a bribe.

打去妄想 means that her wild hopes were struck away. 妄想 means a vain hope, as in a hope that really has no chance of coming true.

半晌 here implies that Jingxu was silent for a while, though it doesn’t outright say that she was silent.

扯篷拉縴 means to set up a sail and pull a towline. Here it’s an idiom that refers to acting as a broker or a go-between in various shady deals.

能者多勞 is an idiom that means “able men are always busy.”

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Today we dive into the attraction between Qin Zhong and Zhineng. There are a lot of interesting implications here that we’ll go deeper into tomorrow.

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This passage includes quite a bit of explanation about the Iron Threshold Monastery and some of the accomodations in the area.

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