Jia Yucun Gossips

Also: the birth of Jia Baoyu

Jia Yucun Gossips

We’ve got a long one for today. Jia Yucun runs into his friend Leng Zixing at a bar and talks with him. This section is filled with gossip and names that you don’t really have to worry about much yet. We’ll get to know the characters as the novel continues to progress. The birth of Jia Baoyu, though, is obviously important – and is described here in some detail.

I kept this section deliberately long in hopes of getting through as much of this gossip as possible. The next translation section will also be pretty long.

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Chinese Text

剛入肆門，只見座上吃酒之客，有一人起身大笑，接了出來，口內說：「奇遇，奇遇！」雨村忙看時，此人是都中古董行中貿易，姓冷號子興的，舊日在都相識。雨村最贊這冷子興是個有作為大本領的人，這子興又借雨村斯文之名，故二人最相投契。雨村忙亦笑問：「老兄何日到此？弟竟不知。今日偶遇，真奇緣也！」子興道：「去歲年底到家。今因還要入都，從此順路找個敝友說一句話，承他的情，留我多住兩日。我也無甚緊事，且盤桓兩日，待月半時也就起身了。今日敝友有事，我因閒走到此，不期這樣巧遇！」一面說，一面讓雨村同席坐了，另整上酒餚來，二人閒談慢飲，敘些別後之事。

雨村因問：「近日都中可有新聞沒有？」子興道：「倒沒有什麼新聞，倒是老先生的貴同宗家出了一件小小的異事。」雨村笑道：「弟族中無人在都，何談及此？」子興笑道：「你們同姓，豈非一族？」雨村問：「是誰家？」子興笑道：「榮國賈府中，可也不玷辱老先生的門楣了！」雨村道：「原來是他家。若論起來，寒族人丁卻自不少，東漢賈復以來，支派繁盛，各省皆有，誰能逐細考查？若論榮國一支，卻是同譜。但他那等榮耀，我們不便去認他，故越發生疏了。」子興嘆道：「老先生，休這樣說！如今的這榮寧二府也都蕭索了，不比先時的光景。」雨村道：「當日榮寧兩宅，人口也極多，如何便蕭索了呢？」子興道：「正是，說來也話長。」雨村道：「去歲我到金陵時，因欲遊覽六朝遺蹟，那日進了石頭城，從他宅門前經過，街東是寧國府，街西是榮國府，二宅相連，竟將大半條街佔了。大門外雖冷落無人，隔著圍牆一望，裡面廳殿樓閣，也還都崢嶸軒峻；就是後邊一帶花園裡，樹木山石，也都還有蔥蔚洇潤之氣：那裡像個衰敗之家？」子興笑道：「虧你是進士出身！原來不通！古人有言，『百足之蟲，死而不僵』，如今雖說不似先年那樣興盛，較之平常仕宦人家，到底氣象不同。如今人口日多，事務日盛，主僕上下都是安富尊榮，運籌謀畫的竟無一個。那日用排場，又不能將就省儉。如今外面的架子雖未甚倒，內囊卻也盡上來了。這也是小事，更有一件大事：誰知這樣鐘鳴鼎食的人家兒，如今養的兒孫竟一代不如一代了！」雨村聽說，也道：「這樣詩禮之家，豈有不善教育之理？別門不知，只說這寧榮兩宅，是最教子有方的，何至如此？」

子興嘆道：「正說的是這兩門呢！待我告訴你：當日寧國公與榮國公是一母同胞弟兄兩個。寧公居長，生了兩個兒子。寧公死後，長子賈代化襲了官，也養了兩個兒子。長子名賈敷，八九歲上死了。只剩了一個次子賈敬，襲了官，如今一味好道，只愛燒丹鍊汞，別事一概不管。幸而早年留下一個兒子，名喚賈珍，因他父親一心想作神仙，把官倒讓他襲了。他父親又不肯住在家裡，只在都中城外和那些道士們胡羼。這位珍爺也生了一個兒子，今年才十六歲，名叫賈蓉。如今敬老爺不管事了。這珍爺那裡幹正事？只一味高樂不了，把那寧國府竟翻過來了，也沒有敢來管他的人。再說榮府你聽：方才所說異事就出在這裡。自榮公死後，長子賈代善襲了官，娶的是金陵世勳史侯家的小姐為妻，生了兩個兒子：長名賈赦，次名賈政。如今代善早已去世，太夫人尚在。長子賈赦襲了官，為人卻也中平，也不管理家事。惟有次子賈政，自幼酷喜讀書，為人端方正直，祖父鍾愛，原要他從科甲出身；不料代善臨終，遺本一上，皇上憐念先臣，即叫長子襲了官，又問還有幾個兒子，立刻引見，又將這政老爺賜了個額外主事職銜，叫他入部習學，如今現已升了員外郎。這政老爺的夫人王氏，頭胎生的公子名叫賈珠，十四歲進學，後來娶了妻，生了子，不到二十歲，一病就死了。第二胎生了一位小姐，生在大年初一，就奇了。不想隔了十幾年又生了一位公子，說來更奇：一落胞胎，嘴裡便銜下一塊五彩晶瑩的玉來，還有許多字跡。你道是新聞不是？」

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Translation Notes

冷子興 (Leng Zixing) is likely another of Cao Xueqin’s homophonic names. My guess is that it might stand for something like 冷自醒, translated literally as cold self-awakening. 冷 (cold) as a surname presents a bit of difficulty, since there aren’t many other characters with the same pronunciation.

借 here literally means “to borrow.” The idea, though, isn’t that Leng Zixing somehow “borrowed” Jia Yucun’s name and reputation. Rather, he took advantage of it to further whatever his own ambitions were. Notice that the “good relations” (投契) between the two men are almost strictly transactional. The relationship was part of the social economy of reputation as opposed to being an actual friendship. In other words, they were only “friends” as long as each saw the other person as beneficial to his own rise.

盤桓 means not just to “stay,” but, rather, to “linger,” almost like you’re wandering around the place with nothing else to do. It’s similar to 溜達 in colloquial northeastern Mandarin.

別後 here means “after parting,” or after the last time they last met.

賈復 was a renowned general under Emperor Guangwu, and helped in the establishment of the Han dynasty. Notice how vague Jia Yucun is here. It’s possible that his connection to the Jia family has been fabricated.

蕭索 means “bleak and chilly” or “desolate” – and here it refers to the decline of the house.

金陵 (Jinling) is the ancient name of Nanjing, and 石頭城 (Stone City) is the site of an ancient fortified city within Nanjing. Almost all of the original city is gone,though you can still see the old massive city wall; it’s a tourist attraction.

宅門 is the word for a gate of an old-style large house, and can also refer to the family living in a large house like that.

崢嶸 normally refers to jagged mountains that pierce the clouds; they’re used here to describe tall buildings. 軒 refers to ancient Chinese pavilions with upward-curving eaves, and 峻 means steep or very high.

蔥蔚洇潤 describes a landscape so saturated with life that it feels alive. 蔥 is extremely green, like a young plant; 蔚 refers to a flourishing profusion of plant life; 洇 is to moisten or seep moisture (like leaves), and 潤, a more common character, refers to a shimmering, well-watered type of sleekness.

百足之蟲，死而不僵 is a slight modification of the original phrase, which comes from the 文選 (Wen Xuan), an anthology of poetry covering the Warring States period. The original phrase is 百足之蟲，至死不僵, which means “a centipede stays rigid until death.” The idea is the same in both phrases: entrenched systems die off slowly.

鐘鳴鼎食 is a general idiom for an “extravagant lifestyle.” It literally means the tinkling of bells and eating in ancient three-legged bronze cauldrons.

詩禮之家 literally means “a family of poetry and rites,” which I’ve simplified to “a refined family.”

公 in 寧國公 and 榮國公 is frustrating. “Duke” is the traditional translation of this term, and the fact that 公 was the highest hereditary rank makes it the equivalent to a Western Duke. “Lord” sounds too generic and has a religious overtone; “Prince” overstates the title; “State Duke” is clunky, and so we’ll stick with “Duke,” though reluctantly. Note, however, that this had nothing to do with a territorial fiefdom the way it did in Europe. It was merely a hereditary title that kept the household on the official payroll.

襲官 means to inherit an official title.

燒丹 and 鍊汞 are two Taoist alchemical practices. 燒丹 refers to heating cinnabar to extract mercury, which was believed to be necessary for immortality elixirs. 鍊汞 refers to cycling mercury through sublimation, which was thought to confer eternal youth. It’s notable that numerous Ming dynasty emperors actually died from mercury poisoning after trying this stuff out. By the time Cao Xueqin came along, these practices were widely satirized as the delusion of the decadent elite.

The name 賈代化 likely represents 假呆話, or “false foolish talk,” which could refer to the inherited title being nothing more than empty rhetoric. 賈敬 likely stands for 假敬, or “false reverence,” which is clearly shown by his abandonment of Confucian filial virtues. 賈珍 is almost certainly 假真: “false reality” or “false truth.” 賈蓉 likely stands for 假榮, or “fake glory.” There’s also further irony with the name 賈蓉: 蓉 is a lotus pedal, or a flower that grows from the mud – and 賈蓉 grows up in filth.

侯 suffers from a similar problem as 公. 侯 was the second-highest hereditary title in the Ming and Qing dynasty nobility and fit in right under 公. It was another rank that did not include a fiefdom or any territory, and was often an unpaid honorific title.

賈代善 probably stands for 假呆善, or “false and hollow virtue.” 賈赦 likely stands for 假赦, or “false clemency,” and is another character devoid of actual virtue. And 賈政 likely stands for 假政, or “false governance;” we’ll see that his rigid Confucian approach is largely ineffective.

額外主事 and 員外郎 are both impressive sounding bureaucratic titles that were essentially meaningless. 額外 means “outside the quota,” which means it was a role created outside the formal bureaucracy. 員外 is similar. Both of these roles involved minimal work and were chiefly ceremonial: they were empty shell roles. It’s ironic, because Jia Zheng’s grandfather wanted him to enter bureaucracy the proper way. All he could get, though, was a made-up role with no real responsibilities.

大年初一 refers to the first day of the Lunar New Year, which was obviously a very auspicious day for childbirth.

新聞 means “extraordinary gossip” or “news you’ve never heard before,” and is not the same as the modern term “news.”

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

David Hawkes has a tendency to quote the dialogue without referring to who is speaking. Not only is this annoyingly difficult to follow in English, but it’s also not really an accurate translation of the Chinese. Cao Xueqin indicated who was saying each line of dialogue, almost as if this were a line from a play.

Hawkes translates 百足之蟲，死而不僵 as “The beast with a hundred legs is a long time dying,” which is a pretty strange translation. 百足之蟲 is clearly a centipede (蟲 means “insect”), and 死而不僵 means something like “it dies without going stiff.” The implication is correct: corrupt institutions like the Jia family stay alive long past their usefulness.

Hawkes translates the inherited rank as “emoluments.” That works fine, but is a bit old-fashioned for modern readers.

Hawkes also makes no mention of the fact that 額外主事 and 員外郎 are clearly figurative and meaningless ranks. This is clear from the Chinese names.

After describing the jade in the baby’s mouth, Hawkes adds in: “They gave him the name ‘Bao-yu’ as a consequence.” This does not appear in the original. Now, Hawkes is correct in that the name 寶玉 stands for 抱玉, or “holds jade” (i.e. in the mouth). However, this is an addition that can only be credited to David Hawkes.

Yang

The Yangs have a much more helpful translation. Footnotes explain Jinling and Stone City, and 百足之蟲，死而不僵 is correctly translated as “A centipede dies but never falls down.”

However, the Yangs also miss the irony in the sinecure ranks. They are translated as “Assistant Secretary” and “Under-Secretary,” which completely misses out on the fact that these are empty ranks that are meaningless.

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My Translation