Indirect Communication
On first glance, yesterday’s translation post doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Check out this passage again:
於是鳳姐兒起身回到家中，見了賈母，說：「蓉哥媳婦請老太太安，給老太太磕頭，說他好些了，求老祖宗放心罷。他再略好些，還給老太太磕頭請安來呢。」賈母道：「你瞧他是怎麼樣？」鳳姐兒說：「暫且無妨，精神還好呢。」賈母聽了，沉吟了半日，因向鳳姐說：「你換換衣裳，歇歇去罷。」
Then Wang Xifeng got up and went back home.
When Xifeng saw Grandmother Jia, she reported, “Qin Keqing sends you her respects, Grandmother. She kowtows to you and says that she’s feeling a bit better. She begs you not to worry. When she’s a little bit better, she’ll come in person to kowtow and pay her respects to you.”
“What did you see?” asked Grandmother Jia. “How is she really?”
“There’s no danger for the moment,” said Xifeng. “She’s still in good spirits.”
Grandmother Jia sank into thought for a while. She then spoke to Xifeng: “Go change your clothes and rest for a while.”
So what is going on? Why was Grandmother Jia so upset?
