Wang Xifeng’s Second Trap
Wang Xifeng sets her second trap for Jia Rui. This one is a lot of fun, though I’m keeping the conclusion of this part for next time.
My Translation
But this incident didn’t change Jia Rui’s wicked heart. In fact, it never occurred to him that Wang Xifeng had played a trick on him.
After two days, as soon as he had a free moment, Jia Rui went looking for wang Xifeng again. Xifeng complained that Jia Rui hadn’t kept his promise, and Jia Rui became so anxious that he swore to her that he didn’t abandon her.
Since he was walking right into her trap, Wang Xifeng had no choice but to come up with another plan to teach him a lesson. And so she made another date with him.
“Don’t go back to that place tonight,” she told him. “Wait for me in the empty room in the small passage behind my quarters. And don’t be so careless this time!”
“Do you really mean it,” asked Jia Rui.
“If you don’t believe me, then don’t come!” replied Xifeng emphatically.
“I’ll come; of course I’ll come,” replied Jia Rui. “Even if I die, I’ll still come!”
“You’d better leave now,” said Wang Xifeng.
Jia Rui was convinced that everything would work this time, and so he left.
Meanwhile, Wang Xifeng set up her trap and put all of her plans in motion.
Jia Rui hoped that the day would end soon, but, unfortunately, some relatives came to visit his family. He couldn’t leave until after dinner. By that time the laps were already being lit, and he had to wait until his grandfather had gone to bed before he could depart. He made his way into the Rongguo Mansion and stealthily went to the room Wang Xifeng had told him to visit, as restless as an ant on a hot frying pan.
But he couldn’t see even the shadow of a person to his left, and he couldn’t hear any voices to his right. He began to feel uneasy. He couldn’t stop himself from wondering “what if she doesn’t come? Will I wind up freezing again all night for nothing?”
Just as he was filled with worry, he saw a person sneak in through the pitch black darkness.
Jia Rui was convinced that this was Wang Xifeng. Without bothering to find out the truth, as soon as the person was in front of him, he acted like a starving tiger capturing his prey, or a cat catching a mouse. Throwing his arms around the person, he cried out, “Oh, sister-in-law! I’ve waited for you for so long!”
As he said that, he grabbed onto the person, started kissing them, and started pulling down their pants. He began babbling wildly, saying terms of endearment such as “dear daddy” and “dear mommy.” Meanwhile, the other person remained completely silent.
Jia Rui pulled down his own pants, and, stiff as a board, was about to penetrate. And then there was a sudden flash of light.
This was Jia Qiang holding up a candlestick, calling out, “Who’s in there?”
“Uncle Rui wants to fuck me!” laughed the person on the couch.
Translation Critique
Hawkes
This is where David Hawkes’ choice of words starts to drive me nuts. Hawkes has Wang Xifeng propose “another assignation” with Jia Rui. Assignation in this case means an appointment for a romantic meaning. It’s a perfectly fine word, I suppose, but it’s also quite dated. The Chinese original says 故又約他, or she deliberately set another date with him. Why not just say “date” instead of “assignation?”
Hawkes also spoils the surprise a little bit by translating 肏 as “bugger” instead of “fuck.” More on that next time.
Yang
The Yangs translate 點兵派將 as having Wang Xifeng hold “a council of war.” It’s not clear what the original means by this language, though I think the implication is that she made sure other people were in on the scheme.
The Yangs also use the word “bugger” as a translation of 肏.
Chinese Text
此時賈瑞邪心未改，再不想到鳳姐捉弄他。過了兩日，得了空兒，仍來找尋鳳姐。鳳姐故意抱怨他失信，賈瑞急的起誓。鳳姐因他自投羅網，少不的再尋別計，令他知改，故又約他道：「今日晚上，你別在那裡了，你在我這房後小過道兒裡頭那間空屋子裡等我。可別冒撞了！」賈瑞道：「果真麼？」鳳姐道：「你不信，就別來！」賈瑞道：「必來，必來。死也要來的！」鳳姐道：「這會子你先去罷。」賈瑞料定晚間必妥，此時先去了。鳳姐在這裡便點兵派將，設下圈套。
那賈瑞只盼不到晚，偏偏家裡親戚又來了，吃了晚飯才去。那天已有掌燈時候，又等他祖父安歇，方溜進榮府，往那夾道中屋子裡來等著，熱鍋上螞蟻一般。只是左等不見人影，右聽也沒聲響，心中害怕，不住猜疑道：「別是不來了，又凍我一夜不成？」正自胡猜，只見黑魆魆的進來一個人。賈瑞便打定是鳳姐，不管青紅皁白，那人剛到面前，便如餓虎撲食，貓兒捕鼠的一般，抱住叫道：「親嫂子！等死我了！」說著，抱到屋裡炕上就親嘴扯褲子，滿口裡「親爹」「親孃」的亂叫起來。那人只不做聲。賈瑞便扯下自己的褲子來，硬幫幫就想頂入。忽然燈光一閃，只見賈薔舉著個蠟臺照道：「誰在這屋裡呢？」只見炕上那人笑道：「瑞大叔要肏我呢！」
Translation Notes
失信 means to go back on one’s word or to break one’s promise.
起誓 means to take an oath or to swear. It doesn’t specify here precisely what kind of oath Jia Rui swore, though we can infer from the context that he swore to Wang Xifeng some sort of oath regarding his fidelity to her.
冒撞 means to act rashly or be careless
點兵派將 means to set up your generals and commanders. Here, it figuratively means to set up everything.
溜 means to slide or slip. This is a pretty expressive verb: Jia Rui sneaks over to the Rongguo Mansion as if he’s slipping his way in, instead of just going there directly.
黑魆魆 means pitch black.
青紅皁白 literally means the wheat and the chaff; here it means whether something is right or wrong. 不管青紅皁白 taken together means regardless of whether he was right or wrong and is a set phrase.
餓虎撲食 means a starving tiger pouncing on its prey. It means acting in an insatiable way.
貓兒捕鼠 means the same thing, though it’s easier to understand: a cat catching a mouse.
硬幫幫 is an alternative way of writing 硬邦邦. It means frozen hard or stiff; here it means something like “stiff as a board.”