Jia Baoyu Falls Asleep
The dream begins
Jia Baoyu Falls Asleep
Jia Baoyu falls asleep, and winds up encountering the Goddess Who Unveils Illusion. He hears her sing a poem that is really challenging to any interpretation of Dream of the Red Chamber in general; more on that in tomorrow’s commentary post. This is another short segment, but it’s rich in meaning, and is important to any interpretation of the book.
My Translation
As soon as Baoyu closed his eyes, he drifted into a trance like slumber. It was as if Lady Qin were still in front of him. In that haze, and as if he were floating in the air, he followed Lady Qin to a different place.
There he saw red railings and jade steps, green trees and clear streams. This was a place untouched by human footprints, a place far away from the mundane world.
“What an amazing place!” thought Baoyu, delighted at his dream. “If I could spend my whole life here, I’d be happy even if I had to lose my home. This is far better than being constricted by my parents and teachers every single day!”
Just as his mind started to wander, he heard a voice singing from beyond the hills:
Spring dreams scatter like clouds on the wind,
Flying petals follow flowing streams.
I send these words to all young people:
Why needlessly chase after grief?
Translation Critique
Hawkes
Hawkes’ rendition of the poem is more interpretation than actual translation.
First of all, he translates 寄言眾兒女 (“I deliver these words to all young men and women”) as “Then tell each nymph and swain.” Nymph will either make you think of the larvae of certain insects or of female spirits in the forest, though, in this sense, it means “an attractive young girl.” Swain, meanwhile, is an poetic word for a male sweetheart in a pastoral setting; in older works, it means a young servant boy.
Hawkes needs to use these unusual terms to complete his translation of the last line: “’Tis folly to invite love’s pain!” Hawkes, of course, wants to create a rhyme to show the poetic nature of the work. Never mind the fact that the original poem does not actually rhyme!
Anyway, that last line, 何必覓閒愁, translates to “why do you search in vain after heartache?” Talking here about “love’s pain” is absolutely an interpretation of what the poem means, and, in my mind, goes too far. It’s not necessarily true that the愁, or grief, is related to love – or that it is only the pain of love. This is yet another example of David Hawkes imposing his interpretation of the work onto his translation.
Yang
The Yangs have Jia Baoyu think to himself, “For that I’d gladly give up my home where my parents and teachers keep caning me every day.” Now, it’s not out of the question to think that Jia Baoyu was frustrated with receiving corporal punishment in the home. However, there’s no textual evidence anywhere that he was being caned every day, and he doesn’t actually say that in the original. In the original he’s worried about the “管束” he receives from his parents and teachers every day. 管束 (guǎnshù) means “to control” and has nothing to do with corporal punishment of any sort.
The Yangs do a better job with the poem, though there’s a bit of interpretation on their part as well:
Young lovers all, be warned by me,
Cease courting needless misery.
Once again, there’s really no evidence in the poem that the speaker is talking to “lovers” in particular.
Chinese Text
那寶玉才合上眼，便恍恍惚惚的睡去，猶似秦氏在前，悠悠盪盪，跟著秦氏到了一處。但見朱欄玉砌，綠樹清溪，真是人跡不逢，飛塵罕到。寶玉在夢中歡喜，想道：「這個地方兒有趣！我若能在這裡過一生，雖然失了家也願意，強如天天被父母先生管束呢！」正在胡思之間，聽見山後有人作歌曰：
春夢隨雲散，飛花逐水流。寄言眾兒女，何必覓閒愁？
Translation Notes
恍恍惚惚 means in a trance or in a confused manner. 悠悠盪盪 means as if floating about. Notice the reduplication: Chinese tends to turn two character adjectives (i.e. 恍惚 and 悠盪) into reduplicated four character adjective phrases for emphasis or to increase intensity.
砌 is a step like in a staircase.
人跡不逢，飛塵罕到 is an interesting poetic phrase. 人跡 means human footprints; 人跡不逢 means that this was a place that rarely encountered human footprints. 飛塵 literally means “flying dust,” but usually implies human or worldly affairs. 罕 means rarely, and 到 means to arrive. The phrase means that this was a place untouched by human footprints, one rarely reached by the mundane things of the world.