Wang Xifeng’s Marriage Frustration
We get a closer look at Wang Xifeng’s relationship with Jia Lian today. This snippet really says a lot.
My Translation
While Wang Xifeng was talking with Jia Lian, they heard voices coming from outside the room.
“Who’s there?” asked Xifeng.
“Aunt Xue sent Xiangling over to ask me something,” replied Ping’er. “I’ve already answered her and sent her back.”
“That reminds me,” said Jia Lian with a laugh. “Just now, when I went to see Aunt Xue, I came face to face with a young woman on the way. She looked very proper and pleasing, and I thought to myself that there was no way we had a girl like her in our household.
“And so I asked Aunt Xue about it. It turns out that she was the slave girl from that lawsuit, the one called Xiangling. And she’s actually been given to that fool Xue Pan as a wife. She’s already had her facial hairs removed, and has only become more delicate and beautiful as a result. That fool Xue Pan has really polluted her!”
“Ha!” sneered Xifeng in response. “You’ve been all the way to Suzhou and Hangzhou, and you’ve seen quite a bit of the world. And yet here you are, as greedy as ever!
“If you love her, then where’s the problem? I’ll go trade Ping’er for her; how does that sound?
“That oaf Xue Pan is just the same as you, always looking around while he eats what is in his bowl. When he first came here a year ago he was absolutely desperate to get his hands on Xiangling, and he caused a lot of trouble for his own mother, Aunt Xue, just to get her.
“Aunt Xue didn’t decide to give Xiangling to Xue Pan beecause she had a pretty face. Actually, her conduct is completely different from ordinary girls. She’s gentle and quiet in a way that even the most proper young ladies can’t match.
“And so Aunt Xue went to the trouble of putting together a feast and inviting guest, and made her his wife fully and properly. Naturally, less than half a month later, Xue Pan was off chasing after another group of women.”
Before Xifeng had finished speaking, one of the servants from the inner gate came in to make an announcement. “Jia Zheng is waiting for Jia Lian in the large study room.” Jia Lian quickly straightened out his clothes and left.
Translation Critique
Hawkes
If you’ve forgotten, David Hawkes calls Xianglian “Caltrop.”
Hawkes describes how Wang Xifeng “made a little moue” in response to Jia Lian’s remarks about Xianglian’s appearance. Moue is originally a French word that means to “pout,” especially in either mock annoyance or while flirting. The Chinese original says 鳳姐把嘴一撇, which is kind of similar to a “pout” or a frown. However, this isn’t mock annoyance or flirting. Wang Xifeng is legitimately upset that her husband keeps looking at other women.
Yang
Interestingly, the Yangs take away the reference to Wang Xifeng’s changed facial expression. This is par for the course in A Dream of Red Mansions, where the Yangs apparently decided that a lot of the descriptions in the book were unnecessary and took them out.
Chinese Text
說著，只聽外間有人說話。鳳姐便問：「是誰？」平兒進來回道：「姨太太打發香菱妹子來問我一句話，我已經說了，打發他回去了。」賈璉笑道：「正是呢。我方才見姨媽去，和一個年輕的小媳婦子剛走了個對臉兒，長得好齊整模樣兒。我想咱們家沒這個人哪。說話時問姨媽，才知道是打官司的那小丫頭子，叫什麼香菱的，竟給薛大傻子作了屋裡人，開了臉，越發出挑的標緻了。那薛大傻子真玷辱了他！」
鳳姐把嘴一撇道：「哎！往蘇杭走了一趟回來，也該見點世面了，還是這麼眼饞肚飽的！你要愛他，不值什麼，我拿平兒換了他來，好不好？那薛老大也是吃著碗裡瞧著鍋裡的。這一年來的時候，他為香菱兒不能到手，和姑媽打了多少饑荒。姑媽看著香菱的模樣兒好還是小事，因他做人行事又比別的女孩子不同，溫柔安靜，差不多兒的主子姑娘還跟不上他，才擺酒請客的費事，明堂正道給他做了屋裡人。過了沒半月，也沒事人一大堆了！」一語未了，二門上的小廝傳報：「老爺在大書房裡等著二爺呢。」賈璉聽了，忙忙整衣出去。
Translation Notes
香菱 (Xiangling) is the same person as Zhen Yinglian, the daughter of Zhen Shiyin that we read about way back in the first chapter of the book.
You might have forgotten about Xiangling, since the last time we saw her was back in chapter 7. That was in this post:
對臉 means to meet face to face.
開臉is the practice of removing the hairs on a woman’s face to prepare her for marriage. There are other words for this in Chinese; 絞面 is probably the most common. It’s apparently referred to as “threading” in English. If you’re interested, there’s also another brief mention about this practice here, which indicates that the hairs that were removed were likely on the side of the girl’s face.
眼饞肚飽 means to have eyes bigger than one’s stomach. Here a jealous Wang Xifeng uses it to refer to Jia Lian’s interest in beautiful women.
吃著碗裡瞧著鍋裡 is probably more frequently stated as “吃著碗裡，看著鍋裡”. It originally comes from The Plum in the Golden Vase (金瓶梅), and refers specifically to a married man who is interested in other women. Note that the words 瞧 and 看 are synonymous (to look).
打饑荒 originally means to endure through a period where you have no food (饑荒 means to starve). Here it means to cause a lot of trouble.
費事 means to take a lot of trouble to do something