Jia Baoyu’s First Love
Jia Baoyu meets Qin Zhong for the first time in this segment. Their first meeting has a lot of romantic connotations that actually mirror those that Jia Baoyu experienced when he first met Lin Daiyu. In the world of 才子佳人 (capable scholar and beautiful woman) romantic novels that Cao Xueqin is subverting in this book, you really don’t see a lot of examples of the male protagonist meeting up with an effeminate male partner. This is a fascinating scene – and I’ll have more to say about it in tomorrow’s commentary post.
My Translation
“Go with him and help him,” Lady You instructed a few servants.
“In that case,” said Xifeng, “why not ask him to come here? I’d like to meet him, too.”
“No, there’s no need,” laughed Lady You. “After all, the children in our family are wild and uncultured. Lady Qin’s brother is properly refined and delicate. He’s never met a shrew like you before; in fact, I’m sure he’d die of laughter!”
“Him laugh at me?” said Wang Xifeng with a smile. “He’d be lucky if I didn’t laugh at him!”
“He’s extremely shy,” said Jia Rong, “and hasn’t experienced much. We’re only worried that you’d be annoyed by him if you met him.”
“Phooey!” spat out Xifeng contemptuously. “Nonsense! Even if he’s Nezha, I still want to meet him! Cut the crap! If you don’t bring him in right now, I’ll slap you in the face!”
Jia Rong shot her a long glance, and then smiled. “There’s no need for you to be so fierce, Aunt,” he said. “We’ll bring him in.” Wang Xifeng laughed at this.
Having said that, Jia Rong went out. He returned a short while later, leading a young boy by the hand. The boy wa sa little bit slimmer than Baoyu. He had clear, bright eyes and fine eyebrows, as well as a fair complexion and deep red lips. He was handsome, with a refined and graceful art about him. In fact, in some ways he seemed to surpass even Baoyu.
And yet he was timid and shy, and had a certain feminine style. He was bashful and faltering as he bowed to Wang Xifeng and asked how she was.
Xifeng was delighted. “He outclasses you!” she said to Baoyu, giving him a nudge. She then leaned forward, grasped the boy by the hand, and had him sit next to her. Wang Xifeng gently asked him about his age, his studies, and a few other matters. She learned that his name was Qin Zhong.
Now, some of the maids who were with Xifeng noticed that she had not come prepared with a ceremonial gift for her first meeting with Qin Zhong. They hurried back over to the Rongguo Mansion to tell Ping’er.
Ping’er knew full well how close Wang Xifeng was with Lady Qin, and therefore chose some cloth and two gold medallions that contained the phrase “Number One Graduate.” She gave them to somebody to take back to the Ningguo Mansion.
“I’m afraid it’s too simple,” said Xifeng when she gave it to Qin Zhong, but Lady Qin and the other expressed their thanks for the gift.
Not long afterwards, once they were done eating, Lady You, Xifeng, Lady Qin and the others spent their time playing dominoes. But no more of this for now.
While the ladies were busy, Baoyu and Qin Zhong relaxed, sat around, and began to chat.
From the very moment Baoyu laid eyes on Qin Zhong, he felt as if he’d lost a part of himself. He was in a stupefied trance for a little while. And then a foolish fantasy sprung up in his heart.
“It turns out there’s a person like this in the world!” though Baoyu to himself. “Now that I’ve seen him, I feel like I’m no better than a mud covered pig or a sickly dog. Isn’t it awful that I was born in a house of nobles and ministers? If only I had been born in the family of a poor scholar or low ranking official, I would have met him earlier, and my life would not have been spent in vain.
“Though my status is higher than his, yet all my silks and satins do nothing but cover up the rotten, dead wood. My fine food and wine does nothing but fill up my cesspool and sewer. ‘Wealth’ and ‘nobility’ – these two words have truly poisoned me!”
Qin Zhong saw that Baoyu looked outstanding. He saw that his manner was unlike anybody else, that he wore a golden crown and embroidered robes, and that there were elegant maids and well dressed servants attending him.
“So this is why my sister never stops praising him when she mentions him,” thought Qin Zhong. “How unfortunate that I was born to such a poor family! If I could be close to him, it would certainly be good fate!”
And so both boys were lost in their own imaginations.
Baoyu asked Qin Zhong what books he was reading. Qin Zhong answered him truthfully. And their conversation started to flow. In only a dozen sentences or so, the two felt themselves growing closer.
Translation Critique
Hawkes
Hawkes has Lady You remark to Wang Xifeng that “some people’s children aren’t used to rackety ways like ours.” Here rackety means “noisy.”
Hawkes then has Lady You jokingly call Wang Xifeng a “termagant.” A termagant is a censorious, nagging, and quarrelsome woman; it’s probably easier to use the word “shrew.” The word originally comes from a fictitious deity with a violent temperament that was believed to be worshiped by non-Christians, and can be traced back to Old French. I’m not quite sure why Hawkes used the word “termagant” instead of “shrew,” but it seems to fit the Chinese word 潑辣貨.
Hawkes has Wang Xifeng shout “fiddlestick!” when she says 呸！扯臊！ “Fiddlestick” is a pretty mild expletive. Wang Xifeng is really shouting something like “bullshit!”
Hawkes refers to Nezha (哪吒) as “a three-faced wonder with eight arms,” which fits in with a Buddhist depiction of the traditional concept of Nezha. While it’s a bit more descriptive to a Western audience, it’s really not a description that fits in with the text anywhere. In other words, it’s not as important precisely who Nezha is or what he looks like. What’s important is that Wang Xifeng is saying “I don’t care who he is, I want to meet him.”
Hawkes then has Jia Rong cringe “in mock alarm.” This is not correct at all. The Chinese phrase is 溜湫著眼兒 and clearly means that Jia Rong looked at her for a while out of the corner of his eye. He was trying to see if she was serious or not (or perhaps just prolonging the joke), not cringing at the thought of her slapping him in the face.
After all this criticism of Hawkes’ translation, I should give him credit. He translates Baoyu’s inner thought of 『富貴』二字，真真把人荼毒了！as “O rank and riches! How you poison everything!” This is an absolutely fantastic poetic translation, and fits with the original brilliantly.
Yang
The Yangs translate the reference to Nezha as “Even if he’s a monster, I insist on seeing him.” This is sort of correct, but kind of misses the point. A more proper translation that doesn’t reference Nezha would be “I don’t care who he is, I insist on seeing him.”
The Yangs translate Baoyu’s feeling at first seeing Qin Zhong in an unusual way: “At the sight of Chin Chung, Pao-yu had felt quite eclipsed.” I don’t really understand what an “eclipsed” feeling is supposed to be. The truth is that Baoyu felt that something was missing in his soul, which is literally what 如有所失 means. I wonder if there might have been a cultural or political reason to censor what seems to be an obvious reference to bisexuality.
The Yangs translate that 『富貴』二字，真真把人荼毒了！line as “Riches and rank are anathema to me.” That weakens the meaning, unfortunately. Anathema is an ecclesiastic word that means a ban or curse often associated with excommunication, and is frequently used in a literary context to mean something accursed. But why not just write something like “The poison of riches and rank are truly a curse?”
Chinese Text
尤氏忙吩咐人：「小心伺候著，跟了去。」鳳姐道：「既這麼著，為什麼不請進來，我也見見呢？」尤氏笑道：「罷，罷！可以不必見。比不得咱們家的孩子，胡打海摔的慣了的。人家的孩子都是斯斯文文的，沒見過你這樣『潑辣貨』，還叫人家笑話死呢。」鳳姐笑道：「我不笑話他就罷了，他敢笑話我！」賈蓉道：「他生的靦腆，沒見過大陣仗兒，嬸子見了沒的生氣。」鳳姐啐道：「呸！扯臊！他是哪吒，我也要見見。別放你孃的屁了！再不帶來，打你頓好嘴巴子！」賈蓉溜湫著眼兒，笑道：「何苦嬸子又使利害？我們帶了來就是了。」鳳姐也笑了。
說著出去，一會兒，果然帶了個後生來。比寶玉略瘦些，眉清目秀，粉面朱脣，身材俊俏，舉止風流，似更在寶玉之上。只是怯怯羞羞，有些女兒之態，靦腆含糊的向鳳姐請安問好。鳳姐喜的先推寶玉，笑道：「比下去了！」便探身一把攥了這孩子的手，叫他身旁坐下，慢慢問他年紀、讀書等事，方知他學名叫秦鍾。
早有鳳姐跟的丫鬟、媳婦們，看見鳳姐初見秦鍾，並未備得表禮來，遂忙過那邊去告訴平兒。平兒素知鳳姐和秦氏厚密，遂自作主意，拿了一疋尺頭，兩個「狀元及第」的小金錁子，交付來人送過去。鳳姐還說：「太簡薄些。」秦氏等謝畢。一時，吃過了飯，尤氏、鳳姐、秦氏等抹骨牌，不在話下。
寶玉、秦鍾二人隨便起坐說話兒。那寶玉自一見秦鍾，心中便如有所失。痴了半日，自己心中又起了個呆想，乃自思道：「天下竟有這等的人物！如今看了，我竟成了泥豬癩狗了。可恨我為什麼生在這侯門公府之家？要也生在寒儒薄宦的家裡，早得和他交接，也不枉生了一世。我雖比他尊貴，但綾錦紗羅，也不過裹了我這枯株朽木；羊羔美酒，也不過填了我這糞窟泥溝。『富貴』二字，真真把人荼毒了！」
那秦鍾見了寶玉形容出眾，舉止不凡，更兼金冠繡服，嬌婢侈童：「果然怨不得姐姐素日提起來就誇不絕口。我偏偏生於清寒之家，怎能和他交接，親厚一番，也是緣法！」
二人一樣胡思亂想。寶玉又問他讀什麼書。秦鍾見問，便依實而答。二人你言我語，十來句話，越覺親密起來了。
Translation Notes
胡打海摔 means wild and uncultured.
Lady You refers to “人家的孩子” as being refined and delicate (斯斯文文的). 人家 is one of those tricky words to translate. David Hawkes translates this as “some people’s children,” which I’m guessing has an emphasis on the word “some.” 人家 can mean a specific person whose name is unstated, or can also mean “me” in certain contexts. It’s pretty clear here that Lady You is referring to Qin Keqing’s brother.
When describing a woman, 潑辣 means shrewish or nagging. 潑辣貨 literally means “a shrewish or nagging thing.” Naturally, Lady You is poking fun at Wang Xifeng.
靦腆 means shy or bashful.
大陣仗 literally means a major battle. Here, it’s used figuratively to mean a big scene or a grand occasion. 沒見過大陣仗兒 means that he doesn’t have much experience. The 兒 added at the end is a northern Chinese flair, and is usually used to lighten the sense of what has been said.
沒的 here means something like “otherwise you might.” The 生氣 afterwards means “become annoyed” rather than “get angry.” It’s not that 生氣 has a different meaning here; rather, the overall mood of the scene indicates an emotion somewhat lighter than anger.
啐 here means to spit.
哪吒 means Nezha, the name of a protective deity in Chinese folk religion. You can read more about him here. Of course, Wang Xifeng is saying something like “I don’t care who he is, I still want to meet him!”
Wang Xifeng’s phrase 別放你孃的屁了 literally means “stop farting your mother’s farts.” It’s just as crude as it sounds.
溜湫 means to give a sideways look out of the corner of one’s eye. Jia Rong gave Wang Xifeng a long look, likely to see if she was serious or not.
後生 means a youngster – literally somebody from a younger generation.
含糊 likely means ambiguous or vague here. Qin Keqing’s brother is easily embarrassed and therefore somewhat mumbles his formal greeting.
Like almost all the other names in this novel, 秦鍾 (Qin Zhong) seems to be symbolic. In particular, the word 鍾 (bell, or clock in a more modern sense) is a homophone with the word 終 (to finish or to die). It’s also possible that the surname 秦 (Qin) might be closely tied to the word 情 (emotion), which is featured prominently all through this book.
疋 is a unit of measurement used to measure cloth. It’s usually translated as a “length” or a “measure” of cloth, and seems to be ambiguous.
狀元及第 literally means to pass the imperial examinations with the number one ranking. 狀元 means the top ranking, and 及第 means to pass the imperial exams.
錁子 means an ingot; I’ve translated it as “medallion” here because it makes a little bit more sense to a modern reader. Here the two medallions are a lucky charm.
抹骨牌 means to play Chinese dominoes. This seems to be similar to the game of dominoes that we’re familiar with in the west.
如有所失 means to feel as if a part of yourself is missing. And, yes, there is a romantic connotation to this, as odd as it may seem.
癩 means leprosy; we saw it back in chapter 1 when the crazy monk and scholar were being described.
寒儒 means a poor scholar. 寒 means cold, and implies poverty; 儒 is a direct reference to Confucian scholarship. Meanwhile, 薄宦 means a low ranking scholar. Of course, Jia Baoyu’s thoughts here make no sense at all. After all, the only reason he has met Qin Zhong is because of his family connections.
Baoyu’s thought “也不枉生了一世” is clearly ironic. He seems to be a moody teenager suddenly deciding that his life is worthwhile now that he’s met what he thinks is a kindred spirit. However, there is an ironic twist to this thought, which we’ll see before too long.
朽木 means rotten wood. Baoyu has concluded that the nice things he owns because of his wealth have done nothing but cover up the rotting reality inside him. Actually, 枯株朽木 is an idiom meaning something of no value or worth.
糞窟泥溝 is a pretty dirty phrase. 糞窟 means a cesspool or cesspit; 泥溝 means a mud ditch or a sewer.
荼毒 means to torment or inflict great suffering on someone. Jia Baoyu’s anger over his wealth might indeed just be normal teenage angst. However, if you remember the confused philosophic rantings of Jia Yucun in chapter 2, they describe quite well how “eccentrics” like Jia Baoyu react to a life of luxury.
誇不絕口 means to praise somebody without ceasing.
親厚 means to have a closer connection with somebody. 親, of course, is the same word used to describe relatives (親戚 in modern Chinese). Qin Zhong is hoping that he can get closer to Baoyu because he can see that it would be beneficial.
緣法 seems to mean the same thing as 緣分, or “fate.” See this dictionary entry. It’s not that Qin Zhong is hoping that he is fated to get to know Jia Baoyu. Rather, he thinks being on intimate terms with Jia Baoyu will help improve his own fate. And this makes sense, given how clearly wealthy Jia Baoyu appears to be.
你言我語 is the sort of idiom that makes me love reading books like this. It literally means “you speak and I talk,” and is used here to simply mean two people having a lively conversation.