Lin Daiyu Meets Jia Baoyu

Their first encounter

Lin Daiyu Meets Jia Baoyu

I suppose we could say that this is where the sparks finally start to fly. Lin Daiyu meets Jia Baoyu, and discovers that she isn’t quite the sort of boy she expected him to be. As usual, there’s a lot going on here, though we’ll refrain from reading too much into Baoyu’s clothing and will focus instead on the main points.

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My Translation

“You may leave now,” said Grandmother Jia. “Let’s stay and chat a little.”

Lady Wang rose to her feet. After a few more casual remarks, she left, taking Li Wan and Xifeng with her.

Grandmother Jia asked Daiyu what books she had been studying.

“I’ve just finished reading The Four Books,” replied Daiyu. Daiyu then asked what books the other girls were reading.

“Books?” replied Grandmother Jia. “They’ve only learned a few characters – that’s all.”

Before she could finish speaking, however, there was a flurry of footsteps outside. A maid rushed in, announcing that Baoyu had just arrived.

“I wonder what kind of unruly scamp this Baoyu is,” thought Daiyu to herself. And yet, when he entered, she saw a young, attractive gentleman.

He had a purple and gold crown upon his head that was inlaid with jewels. The crown was fastened at the brow with a golden headband, which was embroidered with a motif of two dragons playing with a pearl. His robe, a vibrant crimson archer’s sleeve adorned with butterflies and flowers in two colored golden thread, was cinched at the waist by a long, tasseled multicolored silk sash which was tied into floral knots. He had a blue satin mandarin jacket on top of this, which was embroidered with eight floral medallions and trimmed with dangling fringe. On his feet were court boots made of black satin with white soles.

His face was as round as the mid-autumn moon, and his complexion was as fresh as the first bloom of the start of spring. His hairline was as sharp as if it were cut by a blade, his eyebrows were as dark as ink paintings. His nose has a noble arch to it, and his eyes shimmered like autumn waves.

Even when he was anger, he seemed to smile. His sternest gaze still held tenderness. There was a golden chained pendant of coiled dragons around his neck, as well as a five colored silk cord, from which hung a beautiful piece of jade.

Daiyu was shocked as she first saw him. “How extraordinary!” she thought to herself. “It’s as if I’ve seen him before. Why does he look so familiar?”

Meanwhile, Baoyu greeted Grandmother Jia, who said to him, “go and greet your mother.”

When Baoyu returned shortly afterwards, he had changed into informal clothes. The short hair around his head was now braided into tiny plaits tied with red silk threads, all of which were gathered into the longer hair at the top of his head and woven into one thick, glossy, deep black braid. The braid was adorned from root to tip with four large pearls and fastened at the end with a golden ornament of the eight treasures. He wore a well-worn silver and red floral jacket, which was still adorned with his golden necklet, precious jade, protective amulets, and the longevity lock from his childhood naming ceremony. Below this were loose emerald-green silk trousers with scattered blossoms, paired with ink-splashed stockings trimmed in brocade and thick-soled scarlet shoes.

His powdered face seemed even more radiant, and his lips looked as if they were colored with carmine. Every glance sparkled with tender feeling, and every word seemed to smile. There was a natural charm in the arch of his eyebrows, while a lifetime of romantic longing gathered at the corners of his eyes.

At first glance his appearance was exceptional. And yet his true nature remained elusive. Later commentators captured this perfectly in two poems from The Moon on the West River.

The first poem read:

Without cause, he courts sorrow and hunts grief,

Now playing the fool, now the madman.

That fine skin wrapped around him,

A belly stuffed with reckless weeds.

Drifting through life, he spurns worldly ways;

Dull and stubborn, he flees from books.

Eccentric in deed, perverse in temper,

Who cares if the whole world scolds?

The second poem read:

In wealth, he knows no joy in work;

In poverty, he would bear no hardship.

Wretched, he wastes his precious youth,

Useless to state and household.

Number one in uselessness under heaven,

Historically unmatched in unfilialness.

A message to wealthy people everywhere:

Never copy this child’s manner!

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

Hawkes doesn’t quite translate Daiyu’s exchange with Grandmother Jia correctly. Lin Daiyu indicates that she has just finished reading the Four Books (the four Confucian classics). Hawkes indicates that Daiyu is currently reading them.

Hawkes does nicely with some of the descriptive poems. For example, he describes Jia Baoyu as having:

eyes clear as limpid pools,

that even in anger seemed to smile,

and, as they glared, beamed tenderness the while.

This can be a little bit off-putting if you don’t know what the original said, however. I prefer a more plain and direct translation to this kind of lyricism.

Hawkes similarly describes Baoyu’s natural charm in a poetic style:

His glance was soulful,

yet from his lips the laughter often leaped;

a world of charm upon that brow was heaped;

a world of feeling from those dark eyes peeped.

Harum-scarum means wild, careless, or irresponsible as an adjective, or a giddy and rash person as a noun. Hawkes uses it as a noun in the first poem.

Yang

The Yangs have Lin Daiyu add in “but I’m very ignorant” after she announces that she had just finished reading the Four Books. They also miss the “girls don’t need to read” implication Grandmother Jia has in her “ 不過認幾個字罷了” phrase.

Obloquy means abusive language or disgrace. In an older sense, it can also mean false accusations or malevolent rumors. Here the Yangs likely meant it to mean “abusive language.” Note that the Chinese original is much more mild: 誹謗, or criticism.

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Chinese Text

賈母便說：「你們去罷，讓我們自在說說話兒。」王夫人遂起身，又說了兩句閒話兒，方引李鳳二人去了。賈母因問黛玉念何書，黛玉道：「剛唸了《四書》。」黛玉又問姊妹們讀何書，賈母道：「讀什麼書！不過認幾個字罷了。」

一語未了，只聽外面一陣腳步響，丫鬟進來報道寶玉來了。黛玉心想：「這個寶玉不知是怎樣個憊懶人呢。」及至進來一看，卻是位青年公子。頭上戴著束髮嵌寶紫金冠，齊眉勒著二龍戲珠金抹額；一件二色金百蝶穿花大紅箭袖，束著五彩絲攢花結長穗宮絛，外罩石青起花八團倭緞排穗褂；登著青緞粉底小朝靴。面若中秋之月，色如春曉之花，鬢若刀裁，眉如墨畫，鼻如懸膽，睛若秋波。雖怒時而似笑，即瞋視而有情。項上金螭纓絡，又有一根五色絲絛，繫著一塊美玉。

黛玉一見便吃一大驚，心中想道：「好生奇怪！倒像在那裡見過的？何等眼熟！」只見這寶玉向賈母請了安，賈母便命：「去見你娘來。」即轉身去了。一回再來時，已換了冠帶。頭上周圍一轉的短髮，都結成小辮，紅絲結束，共攢至頂中胎髮，總編一根大辮，黑亮如漆，從頂至梢，一串四顆大珠，用金八寶墜腳。身上穿著銀紅撒花半舊大襖，仍舊戴著項圈、寶玉、寄名鎖、護身符等物；下面半露鬆綠撒花綾褲，錦邊彈墨襪，厚底大紅鞋。越顯得面如敷粉，脣若施脂，轉盼多情，語言若笑。天然一段風韻，全在眉梢；平生萬種情思，悉堆眼角。

看其外貌是極好，卻難知其底細。後人有《西江月》二詞，批的極確。詞曰：

無故尋愁覓恨，有時似傻如狂。

縱然生得好皮囊，腹內原來草莽。

潦倒不通世務，愚頑怕讀文章。

行為偏僻性乖張，那管世人誹謗？

又曰：

富貴不知樂業，貧窮難耐淒涼。

可憐辜負好時光，於國於家無望。

天下無能第一，古今不肖無雙。

寄言紈袴與膏粱：莫效此兒形狀！

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Translation Notes

罷了 (that’s all) implies finality – in other words, Grandmother Jia’s implication here is that the girls don’t really need to be literate. Knowing a few characters suffices in her mind.

憊懶 means lazy or mischievous

公子 is a noble child. It’s more than just “young man;” it has a connotation of aristocratic grace.

齊眉 here means “level with the eyebrows.” The 抹額 was a kind of band around the forehead that was worn level with Jia Baoyu’s eyebrows. 二龍戲珠, or “two dragons playing with a pearl,” is the artistic motif on the band.

箭袖 was a specific kind of sleeve originally designed to make it easier for archers to shoot arrows.

穗宮絛 was a kind of ornate belt with a tassel or fringe at the end. 穗 means “tassel” or “fringe,” 宮 means “palace” or “imperial” (i.e. this wasn’t common clothing), and 絛 was a braided silk cord or sash used to hold clothes together.

We’ve mentioned before that 青緞 was likely black satin, not blue. Similarly, though 粉 means “pink,” 粉底 is almost certainly a white painted foot sole.

鼻如懸膽 literally means that his nose was “like a suspended gallbladder,” which is a pretty odd phrase in English. The nose had a noble oval shape.

雖怒時而似笑，即瞋視而有情 is a poetic phrase with a perfect parallel structure. 瞋 means to glare at angrily with wide eyes.

寄名鎖 is a “longevity lock” or a “naming lock.” It was a lock-shaped amulet given to a child during a naming ritual.

風韻 describes graceful bearing or poise and usually refers to women. In other words, the “charm” in Jia Baoyu’s eyebrows was a feminine charm.

底細 means the details or ins and outs – here it clearly refers to Baoyu’s character.

西江月 literally means “Moon on the West River,” which is how I’ve translated it here. There is a group of poems called 西江月, but those poems are not the poems presented here. These are actually original compositions by Cao Xueqin describing Jia Baoyu’s character, and mimic the Song “ci” (詞) style.

皮囊 literally means a “skin bag.” This is a Buddhist term for the mortal body (कोश or kóśa), referring to the frame of the body that envelops the soul. On the other hand, 草莽, which refers to wild and uncultivated vegetation, refers to somebody who is unrefined or crude, who exists outside civilized norms. In other words, Jia Baoyu is kind of a rebel at heart.

紈袴 means luxurious clothes. We actually saw this word back in the first paragraph of the book.

膏粱 literally means fatty meat and refined grain. It usually refers figuratively to a rich person.