The True Head Of Household
As Zhou Rui’s wife continues to speak with Granny Liu, we get a better understanding of the internal Jia family politics. This might seem to be an uninteresting segment, but it actually helps explain a lot of the conflict at the heart of Dream of the Red Chamber.
My Translation
When she had heard that, Zhou Rui’s wife more or less guessed why Granny Liu had visited. First of all, since Zhou Rui had received help from Gou’er’s father in a dispute over the purchase of some land years before, Zhou Rui’s wife felt obliged to help Granny Liu. On the other hand, Zhou Rui’s wife was also eager to show off how important she was.
“Don’t worry, grandma,” she said with a smile. “You’ve come such a long way, and with such sincere good will. How could I possibly not help you see the true Buddha?
“Normally, when family and guests come to visit us, it really doesn’t have anything to do with me. See, in our household we all have our own specific duties. My husband only manages land rents in the spring and autumn. When he’s got time, his only other task is to take the young gentlemen out when they leave the house. And I’m only in charge of taking the ladies when they go out.
“But I can see that you came to me for help because you are Her Ladyship’s relative, and because you see me as someone worth speaking to. And so I’ll make an exception to the rule and will put a message through for you.
“However, there is one thing that you’re probably not aware of. Things aren’t like they were five years ago. Her Ladyship doesn’t handle domestic affairs anymore. The wife of Jia Lian manages the household now. Do you know who Jia Lian’s wife is? She is Her Ladyship’s niece, the daughter of her esteemed elder brother. Her childhood name is Fengge.”
“Oh, so it’s her?” replied Granny Liu as soon as she heard this. “No wonder! I always thought she wasn’t bad. Speaking of which – is there a chance I could see her today?”
“Naturally,” replied Zhou Rui’s wife. “These days, whenever we have visitors, it’s always Wang Xifeng who talks with them and takes care of them. Even if you don’t wind up seeing Lady Wang today, you absolutely must see Wang Xifeng. Otherwise, your whole trip will have been for nothing.”
“Oh Dear Buddha!” exclaimed Granny Liu. “I’m totally relying on you, dear sister!”
“What kind of talk is that?” asked Zhou Rui’s wife. “As the saying goes: ‘to help another is to help yourself.’ It’s just a matter of me saying something on your behalf; it’s no big deal.”
As she said this, she told a young maid to go to the reception hall to quietly ask whether the old lady’s room had served the meal yet. The maid went on her errand.
Translation Critique
Hawkes
David Hawkes skips over Granny Liu’s reaction after hearing that Wang Xifeng was now running the household. Hawkes skips over to Granny Liu thanking Zhou Rui’s wife for being so helpful.
This isn’t necessarily a major problem, since the status of Wang Xifeng in the household is already made clear by the rest of the conversation. However, it is interesting to note given Hawkes’ stated policy of translating everything in the book.
Yang
The Yangs have Granny Liu claiming to have “predicted great things” for Wang Xifeng when she was a child. There isn’t any evidence of that in the 1792 version of the text.
Chinese Text
周瑞家的聽了，便已猜著幾分來意。只因他丈夫昔年爭買田地一事多得狗兒他父親之力，今見劉姥姥如此，心中難卻其意；二則也要顯弄自己的體面。便笑說：「姥姥，你放心。大遠的誠心誠意來了，豈有個不叫你見個真佛兒去的呢？論理，人來客至，卻都不與我相干。我們這裡都是各一樣兒：我們男的只管春秋兩季地租子，閒了時帶著小爺們出門就完了；我只管跟太太奶奶們出門的事。皆因你是太太的親戚，又拿我當個人，投奔了我來，我竟破個例給你通個信兒去。但只一件，你還不知道呢，我們這裡不比五年前了，如今太太不理事，都是璉二奶奶當家。你打量璉二奶奶是誰？就是太太的內侄女兒，大舅老爺的女孩兒，小名兒叫鳳哥的。」劉姥姥聽了，忙問道：「原來是他？怪道呢！我當日就說他不錯。這麼說起來，我今兒還得見他了？」周瑞家的道：「這個自然，如今有客來，都是鳳姑娘周旋接待。今兒寧可不見太太，倒得見他一面，才不枉走這一遭兒。」劉姥姥道：「阿彌陀佛！這全仗嫂子方便了。」周瑞家的說：「姥姥說那裡話？俗語說的好：『與人方便，自己方便。』不過用我一句話，又費不著我什麼事。」說著，便喚小丫頭到倒廳兒上悄悄的打聽老太太屋裡擺了飯了沒有。小丫頭去了。
Translation Notes
卻 here means to decline or refuse. 難卻其意 means that Zhou Rui’s wife found it hard to refuse what Granny Liu was asking her to do.
體面 means dignity or face. Zhou Rui wants to give herself face by showing how useful she is to Granny Liu.
真佛兒, or “the true Buddha,” is used here as a metaphor for somebody in a real position of power and authority. This means Wang Xifeng, who is currently the most powerful person in the household.
不理事 literally means that Lady Wang (Jia Baoyu’s mother) no longer pays attention to affairs. From the context, it’s clear that this refers to domestic affairs, or managing the household.
璉二奶奶 refers to Wang Xifeng. 璉 here is a direct reference to Jia Lian (賈璉), who is Wang Xifeng’s husband. 奶奶 here means lady, not grandmother; Dream of the Red Chamber tends to use the term 姥姥 for “grandmother.” The 二 refers to the fact that Jia Lian is the second in line in his generation. Jia Zhu, who was Li Wan’s husband before he passed away at a young age, was the oldest son, or 大爺. Jia Lian was second oldest among this generation, and would therefore be 二爺; hence the “二” here. Jia Baoyu is the second son born to Jia Zheng and Lady Wang (Jia Zhu was the first), and is often referred to as 寶二爺. Meanwhile, Jia Huan, the son of Jia Zheng and his concubine Lady Zhao, is referred to as 三爺. More on this in tomorrow’s commentary post.