New Here? This is Chapter 21 of Dream of the Red Chamber, China's greatest novel, translated into modern English one scene at a time. Start with the Start Here guide, or meet the family on the Characters page.
Last night Jia Baoyu went to bed after writing a few lines about how much better life would be without the girls who keep lecturing him. He slept like a baby.
Hua Xiren didn’t sleep at all. She had a plan to bring him around, and it didn’t work, and now it’s morning. Baoyu wakes up cheerful. Xiren has had all night to think about what she’s going to say.
Previously: Alone and a little drunk, Baoyu read Zhuangzi and wrote his own continuation, with two of his maids hidden inside the words “flower” and “musk.” (See Two Cups of Wine and Zhuangzi, and the explainer, Did Baoyu Mean It?)
Who’s here: Jia Baoyu · Hua Xiren · and, in name only, Si’er
Two Translators Disagree. The novel explains Xiren’s sleepless night in a couple of short sentences. David Hawkes needs one sentence of about seventy words for the hardest part. The Yangs get through it in two short ones. You’ll see both below.
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He slept like a baby and she didn't sleep at all. Who's being more unreasonable? Tell me in the comments.
