Month: August 2022

味所入；酸入肝，辛入肺，苦入心，鹹入腎，甘入脾，是謂五入。

五味酸、辛、苦、咸、甘所入的分别是肝、肺、心、肾、脾.

氣所病：心為噫，肺為欬，肝為語，脾為吞，腎為欠為嚏，胃為氣逆為噦為恐，大腸小腸為泄，下焦溢為水，膀胱不利為癃，不約為遺溺，膽為怒，是謂五病。

五脏之气失调后所发生的病变：心气失调则嗳气；肺气失调则咳嗽；肝气失调则多言；脾气失调则吞酸；肾气失调则为呵欠、喷嚏；胃气失调则为气逆为哕，或有恐惧感；大肠、小肠病则不能泌别清浊，传送糟粕，而为泄泻；下焦不能通调水道，则水液泛溢与皮肤而为水肿；膀胱之气化不利，则为癃闭，不能约制，则为遗尿；胆气失调则易发怒。这是五脏之气失调而发生的病变。

精所并：精氣并於心則喜，并於肺則悲，并於肝則憂，并於脾則畏，并於腎則恐，是謂五并，虛而相并者也。

五脏之精气相并所发生的疾病：精气并与心则喜，精气并于肺则悲，精气并于肝则忧，精气并于脾则畏，精气并于肾则恐。这就是所说的五并，都是由于五脏乘虚相并所致。

藏所惡：心惡熱，肺惡寒，肝惡風，脾惡濕，腎惡燥，是謂五惡。

五脏所厌恶的：心厌恶热，肺厌恶寒，肝厌恶邪风，脾厌恶潮湿，肾厌恶燥热。这是五恶。

藏化液：心為汗，肺為涕，肝為淚，脾為涎，腎為唾，是謂五液。

五脏化生的液体：心之液化为汗，肺之液化为涕，肝之液化为泪，脾之液化为涎，肾之液化为唾。这是五脏化生的五液。

味所禁：辛走氣，氣病無多食辛；鹹走血，血病無多食鹹；苦走骨，骨病無多食苦；甘走肉，肉病無多食甘；酸走筋，筋病無多食酸；是謂五禁，無令多食。

五味所禁：辛味走气，气病不可多食辛味；咸味走血，血病不可多食咸味；苦味走骨，骨病不可多食苦味；甜味走肉，肉病不可多食甜味；酸味走筋，筋病不可多食酸味。这就是五味的禁忌，不可使之多食。

病所發：陰病發於骨，陽病發於血，陰病發於肉，陽病發於冬，陰病發於夏，是謂五發。

五种病的发生：阴病发生于骨，阳病发生于血，阴病发生于肉，阳病发生于冬，阴病发生于夏。这是五病所发。

邪所亂：邪入於陽則狂，邪入於陰則痺，搏陽則為巔疾，搏陰則為瘖，陽入之陰則靜，陰出之陽則怒，是謂五亂。

五邪所乱：邪入于阳分，则阳偏盛，而发为痹病；邪搏于阳则阳气受伤，而发为癫疾；邪搏于阴侧则阴气受伤，而发为音哑之疾；邪由阳而入于阴，则从阴而为静；邪由阴而出于阳，则从阳而为怒。这就是所谓五乱。

邪所見：春得秋脈，夏得冬脈，長夏得春脈，秋得夏脈，冬得長夏脈，名曰陰出之陽，病善怒不治，是謂五邪，皆同命，死不治。

五脏克贼之邪所表现的脉象：春天见到秋天的毛脉，是金克木；夏天见到冬天的石脉，是水克火；长夏见到春天的弦脉，是木克土；秋天见到夏天的洪脉，是火克金；冬天见到长夏的濡缓脉，是土克水。这就是所谓的五邪脉。其预后相同，都属于不治的死证。

藏所藏：心藏神，肺藏魄，肝藏魂，脾藏意，腎藏志，是謂五藏所藏。

五脏所藏：心藏神、肺藏魄、肝藏魂、脾藏意、肾藏志.这就是五脏所藏。

藏所主：心主脈，肺主皮，肝主筋，脾主肉，腎主骨，是謂五主。

五脏所主：心主脉、肺主皮、肝主筋、脾主肉、肾主骨。这就是五脏所主的部位。

勞所傷：久視傷血，久臥傷氣，久坐傷肉，久立傷骨，久行傷筋，是謂五勞所傷。

五种过度的疲劳可以伤耗五脏的精气：如久视则劳于精气而伤血，久卧则阳气不伸而伤气，久坐则血脉灌输不畅而伤肉，久立则劳于肾及腰、膝、胫等而伤骨，久行则劳于筋脉而伤筋。这就是五劳所伤。

脈應象：肝脈絃，心脈鉤，脾脈代，肺脈毛，腎脈石，是謂五藏之脈。

五脏应四时的脉象：肝脏应春，端直而长，其脉象弦；心脉应夏，来盛去衰，其脉象钩；脾旺于长夏，其脉弱，随长夏而更代；肺脉应秋，轻虚而浮，其脉象毛；肾脉应冬，其脉沉坚象石。这就是所谓的应于四时的五脏平脉。

黃帝問於歧伯曰：水穀入于口，輸於腸胃，其液別為五，天寒衣薄，則為溺與氣，天熱衣厚則為汗，悲哀氣並則為泣，中熱胃緩則為唾。邪氣內逆，則氣為之閉塞而不行，不行則為水脹，余知其然也，不知其何由生？願聞其道。

黄帝问岐伯说：水谷从口而入，输送到肠胃里，生成的津液分为五种，如果天寒，穿衣又薄则化为尿和气；天气炎热，穿衣又多则化为汗液；如果悲哀气合，则化为眼泪；中焦热，胃气弛缓则化为唾液。邪气内犯，则正气因之闭塞而不运行，正气不行则生成水胀之病。我知道这些现象，但不知这些现象是如何生成的。我想要了解其中的道理。

歧伯曰：水穀皆入于口，其味有五，各注其海。津液各走其道，故三焦出氣，以溫肌肉，充皮膚，為其津，其流而不行者為液。

岐伯说：水谷都是从口而入，有五味。五味分别注入四海，由水谷化成的津液也各行其道。因此，上焦输出卫气，用来温养肌肉，充养皮肤，这就是津；其留而不行的是液。

天暑衣厚則腠理開，故汗出，寒留於分肉之間，聚沫則為痛。

天入暑，穿衣厚，就会使腠理张开，所以汗就流出来。寒气留在分肉之间，聚津液成沫就会疼痛。

天寒則腠理閉，氣濕不行，水下留於膀胱，則為溺與氣。

天寒就会使腠理闭合，气涩而不从汗孔排出，水液下流入膀胱，就变成尿与气。

五藏六府，心為之主，耳為之聽，目為之候，肺為之相，肝為之將，脾為之衛，腎為之主外。故五藏六府之津液，盡上滲於目，心悲氣並，則心系急。心系急則肺舉，肺舉則液上溢。夫心系與肺，不能常舉，乍上乍下，故欬而泣出矣。

在五脏六腑中，心是主宰，耳主听觉，眼主视觉，肺象丞相那样起辅佐作用，肝象将军一样起抵御外侵的作用，脾起卫护作用，肾主骨向外支撑形体。所以，五脏六腑的津液都向上渗入眼睛。心里悲伤，就舍使五脏六腑之气都并于心中，引起连心的脉络急紧，连心的脉络急紧就会使肺上抬，肺上抬就会使津液上溢。心之脉络急紧，而肺不能常久上抬，忽上忽下，因此引起咳嗽而且流眼泪。

中熱則胃中消穀，消穀則蟲上下作。腸胃充郭，故胃緩，胃緩則氣逆，故唾出。

中焦有热，就会使胃中谷物消化过快，谷物消化后，则肠中的寄生虫就会上下蠕动，而虫子蠕动纠缠就会使肠梗满，因此导致胃运动缓慢，胃运动缓慢就会使气上逆，因而唾液向上排出。

五穀之津液，和合而為膏者，內滲入于骨空，補益腦髓，而下流於陰股。

五谷所生成的津液，汇合而成为脂膏，内渗入骨空中，向上可滋补脑髓，向下流入阴窍。

陰陽不和，則使液溢而下流於陰，髓液皆減而下，下過度則虛，虛，故腰背痛而脛痠。

如果阴阳不调，就会使津液溢出而向下流入阴窍，供应脑髓的津液就会减少且下流。房事过度就会使身体虚弱，体虚则腰背痛且小腿酸软无力。

陰陽氣道不通，四海閉塞，三焦不寫，津液不化，水穀並行腸胃之中，別於回腸，留於下焦，不得滲膀胱，則下焦脹，水溢則為水脹，此津液五別之逆順也。

如果阴阳气道不通畅，就会使人体四海闭塞，三焦不能输泻，津液不能化生，此时水谷都留在肠胃之中，最后入于大肠，留在下焦，不能渗入膀胱，这样就会导致下焦充胀，若是水液充溢就会成为水胀。这就是五种津液运行的顺逆情况。

黃帝問于歧伯曰：凡刺之法，先必本于神。血、脈、營、氣、精神，此五藏之所藏也。至其淫泆離藏則精失、魂魄飛揚、志意恍亂、智慮去身者，何因而然乎？天之罪與？人之過乎？何謂德、氣、生、精、神、魂、魄、心、意、志、思、智、慮？請問其故。

黄帝向岐伯问道：针刺的法则，必须先以病人的神气为依据。因为血、脉、营、气、精，都是五脏所贮藏的。如果失常，离开了贮藏之脏，五脏的精气就会失掉，出现魂魄飞扬、志意烦乱，本身失去思想，这是什么原因呢？是自然的病态呢，还是人为的过失呢？为什么说德气能够产生精、神、魂、魄、心、意、志、思、智、虑？希望听听其中的道理。

歧伯答曰：天之在我者德也，地之在我者氣也。德流氣薄而生者也。故生之來謂之精；兩精相搏謂之神；隨神往來者謂之魂；並精而出入者謂之魄；所以任物者謂之心；心有所憶謂之意；意之所存謂之志；因志而存變謂之思；因思而遠慕謂之慮；因慮而處物謂之智。

岐伯回答说：天之生我的是德，地之生我的是气，天德地气交流搏击就生成了人。因此，演化成人体的原始物质叫做精，阴阳两精结合而产生的生命运动叫做神，随着神的往来活动而出现的知觉机能叫做魂，跟精气一起出入而产生的运动机能叫做魄，可以支配外来事物的叫做心，心对外来事物有所记忆而留下的印象叫做意，意念积累而形成的认识叫做志，根据认识而研究事物的变化叫做思，由思考而产生远的推想叫做虑，依靠思虑能抓住事物发展规律处理得当叫做智。

故智者之養生也，必順四時而適寒暑，和喜怒而安居處，節陰陽而調剛柔。如是，則僻邪不至，長生久視。

因此，明智之人的养生方法，必定顺应四时寒暑气候的变化，调和喜怒而安定起居，节制阴阳之偏而调谐刚柔，象这样，才不至被虚邪贼风所侵袭，可以长生不老。

是故怵惕思慮者則傷神，神傷則恐懼流淫而不止。因悲哀動中者，竭絕而失生。喜樂者，神憚散而不藏。愁憂者，氣閉塞而不行。盛怒者，迷惑而不治。恐懼者，神蕩憚而不收。

所以过度的惊恐思虑，会伤神气，伤了神气会使阴气流失而不能固摄。悲哀过度的，会使气绝而丧命。喜乐过度的，会使气散而不能收藏。忧愁过度的，会使神气闭塞而不能流畅。过分的恼怒，会使神志昏迷，失去常态。恐惧过度的，会由于精神动荡而精气不能收敛。

心，怵惕思慮則傷神，神傷則恐懼自失。破䐃脫肉，毛悴色夭死于冬。

脾愁憂而不解則傷意，意傷則悗亂，四肢不舉，毛悴色夭死於春。

肝悲哀動中則傷魂，魂傷則狂忘不精，不精則不正，當人陰縮而攣筋，兩脅骨不舉，毛悴色夭死於秋。

肺喜樂無極則傷魄，魄傷則狂，狂者意不存人，皮革焦，毛悴色夭死於夏。

腎盛怒而不止則傷志，志傷則喜忘其前言，腰脊不可以俛仰屈伸，毛悴色夭死於季夏。

恐懼而不解則傷精，精傷則骨痠痿厥，精時自下。是故五藏主藏精者也，不可傷，傷則失守而陰虛；陰虛則無氣，無氣則死矣。

过度的惊恐思虑，会伤神气，神伤就会恐惧自己控制不住，日久则内耗伤，肌肉脱消，皮毛憔悴，颜色异常，必死于冬季。

过度的忧愁而得不到解除，就会伤意，意伤就会苦闷烦乱，四肢无力，不能举动，皮毛憔悴，颜色枯槁，必死于春季。

过度悲哀影响到内脏，就会伤魂，魂伤会出现精神紊乱，致使肝脏失去藏血功能，阴器收缩，筋脉拘挛，两胁骨痛，毛发憔悴，颜色枯槁，必死于秋季。

过度的喜乐就会伤魄，魄伤就会神乱发狂，对意识活动失去观察能力，其人皮肤枯焦，毛发憔悴，颜色异常，必死于夏季。

大怒不止会伤志，志伤则经常忘掉自己从前说过的话，腰脊不能俯仰屈伸，毛发憔悴，颜色异常，必死于季夏(即夏末之月的六月)。

过度的恐惧而解除不了，就会伤精，精伤就会发生骨节酸楚和阳痿，常有遗精现象。

是故用鍼者，察觀病人之態，以知精、神、魂、魄之存亡，得失之意，五者以傷，鍼不可以治之也。

因此，五脏是主藏精气的，精气不可被损伤，如伤就会使精气失守而形成阴虚，阴虚就不能气化，那样人就不能生存了。所以使用针刺的人，首先要观察病人的形态，从而了解他的精、神、魂、魄等精神活动的旺盛或衰亡，假若五脏的精气都受到损伤，针刺就不能治疗了。

肝藏血，血舍魂，肝氣虛則恐，實則怒。

脾藏營，營舍意，脾氣虛則四肢不用，五藏不安，實則腹脹經溲不利。

心藏脈，脈舍神，心氣虛則悲，實則笑不休。

肺藏氣，氣舍魄，肺氣虛，則鼻塞不利少氣，實則喘喝胸盈仰息。

腎藏精，精舍志，腎氣虛則厥，實則脹。五藏不安。必審五藏之病形，以知其氣之虛實，謹而調之也。

肝是藏血的器官，魂又是依附于血液的，肝气虚就会恐惧，肝气盛就会发怒。

脾是藏营气的器官，意又是依附于营气的，脾气虚就会使四肢活动不灵，五脏也不安和，脾气过实就会发生腹胀、月经及大小便不利。

心是藏脉气的器官，神则依附于脉，心气虚就会产生悲伤情绪，心气太盛就会狂笑不止。

肺是藏气的器官，魄是依附于气的，肺气虚就会发生鼻塞、呼吸不利，气短，肺气太实就会发生大喘、胸满甚至仰面而喘。

肾是藏精的器官；人的意志是依附于精气的，肾气虚就会四肢发冷，肾气太盛就会有胀满、五脏不安之状。

因此，五脏如患病，一定要审察其病形，了解元气的虚实，从而谨慎加以调治。

黃帝問於歧伯曰：經脈十二者，外合於十二經水，而內屬於五藏六府。夫十二經水者，其有大小、深淺、廣狹、遠近各不同；五藏六府之高下、大小、受谷之多少亦不等，相應奈何？夫經水者，受水而行之；五藏者，合神氣魂魄而藏之；六府者，受穀而行之，受氣而揚之；經脈者，受血而營之。合而以治，奈何？刺之深淺，灸之壯數，可得聞乎？

黄帝向岐伯问道：人体十二经脉，外与大地之十二经水(泾、渭、海、湖、汝、沔、淮、漯、江、河、济、漳十二水)相应，内则连属五脏六腑。这十二经水，有大小、深浅、广狭、远近，各不相同，五脏六腑也有上下、大小以及盛受水谷多少的差别，它们是怎样相应的呢？经水受纳大地之水，而流行不息；五脏结合神气魂魄，而收藏于内；六腑受纳水谷，而传导变化，汲取精气而散布于全身内外；经脉受纳血液，而周流全身、营养百体。把以上这些情况相应结合起来，运用到治疗上，是怎样的呢？针刺的深浅、施灸的壮数，可以说给我听吗？

歧伯答曰：善哉問也！天至高不可度，地至廣不可量，此之謂也。且夫人生於天地之間，六合之內，此天之高，地之廣也，非人力之所能度量而至也。若夫八尺之士，皮肉在此，外可度量切循而得之，其死可解剖而視之。其藏之堅脆，府之大小，穀之多少，脈之長短，血之清濁，氣之多少，十二經之多血少氣，與其少血多氣，與其皆多血氣，與其皆少血氣，皆有大數。其治以鍼艾，各調其經氣，固其常有合乎。

　　
岐伯回答说：问得很好啊！天很高，而其高不好计算，地很广，而其阔也难以测量。这是通常的说法。人生于天地之间、六合之内，对于天的高度、地的广度，那不是人力所能度量准确的。而对八尺长的躯体来说，有皮肉血脉，如果活着，可观察探摸，死人则可解剖而详细看看，那五脏的强弱、六腑的大小、受谷的多少、经脉的长短、血液的清浊、气分的多少，以及十二经脉中有的多血少气，有的少血多气，有的血气都多，有的血气都少，皆有一定的标准。根据这个标准，使用针灸治疗，分别调和经气的虚实，其道理不也是相同的吗？

黃帝曰：余聞之，快於耳不解於心，願卒聞之。歧伯答曰：此人之所以參天地而應陰陽也，不可不察。足太陽外合清水，內屬膀胱，而通水道焉。足少陽外合于渭水，內屬于膽。足陽明外合于海水，內屬于胃。足太陰外合于湖水，內屬于脾。足少陰外合于汝水，內屬于腎。足厥陰外合于澠水，內屬于肝。手太陽外合淮水，內屬小腸，而水道出焉。手少陽外合于漯水，內屬于三焦。手陽明外合于江水，內屬于大腸。手太陰外合于河水，內屬于肺。手少陰外合于濟水，內屬于心。手心主外合于漳水，內屬于心包。凡此五藏六府十二經水者，外有源泉，而內有所稟，此皆內外相貫，如環無端，人經亦然。故天為陽，地為陰，腰以上為天，腰以下為地。故海以北者為陰，湖以北者為陰中之陰；漳以南者為陽，河以北至漳者為陽中之陰；漯以南至江者，為陽中之太陽，此一隅之陰陽也，所以人與天地相參也。

　黄帝说：我听了你的话，耳里觉得很愉快，但心里仍不太理解，希望你再详细地讲解一下。

岐伯回答说：这就是人的身体配合天地而适应阴阳的道理，不可不清楚。

足太阳膀胱经外可配合泾水，内则连属膀胱本腑，而与全身的水道相通。足少阳胆经外可配合渭水，内则连属胆腑。足阳明胃经外可配合海水，内则连属胃腑。

足太阴脾经外可配合湖水，内则连属脾脏。足少阴肾经外可配合汝水，内则连属肾脏。足厥阴肝经外可配合沔水，内则连属肝脏。

手太阳小肠经外可配合淮水，内则连属小肠，小肠分别清浊之后由水道而出。手少阳三焦经外可配合漯水，内则连属三焦本腑。手阳明大肠经外可配合江水，内则连属大肠本腑。

手太阴肺经外可配合河水，内则连属肺脏。手少阴心经外可配合济水，内则连属心脏。手心主心包络经外可配合漳水，内则连属心包络。

这五脏六腑、十二经水，外有源泉，内有所禀之水，都是内外互相贯通，象圆环一样周而复始，人的经脉也是这样的。所以天在上为阳，地在下为阴，人的腰部以上为天属阳，腰部以下为地属阴，海水以北称为阴，湖水以北为阴中之阴，漳水以南称为阳，河水以北至漳水部位为阳中之阴，漯水以南至江水部位为阳中之太阳。这只是举一隅的阴阳，说明人身与天地相应的意义。

黃帝曰：夫經水之應經脈也，其遠近淺深，水血之多少，各不同，合而以刺之奈何？歧伯答曰：足陽明，五藏六府之海也，其脈大，血多氣盛，熱壯，刺此者不深勿散，不留不寫也。足陽明刺深六分，留十呼。足太陽深五分，留七呼。足少陽深四分，留五呼。足太陰深三分，留四呼。足少陰深二分，留三呼。足厥陰深一分，留二呼。手之陰陽，其受氣之道近，其氣之來疾，其刺深者，皆無過二分，其留，皆無過一呼。其少長、大小、肥瘦，以心擦之，命曰法天之常，灸之亦然。灸而過此者，得惡火則骨枯脈澀，刺而過此者，則脫氣。

黄帝说：经水与经脉相应，它们两者之间的远近浅深以及气血的多少，各不相同，这两者结合起来应用到针刺上是怎样的呢？

岐伯回答说：足阳明胃经，是五脏六腑之海，其经脉最大，而且血多，气盛、热壮，针刺时，不深刺则邪不能散，不留针则邪不能泻。足阳明经，针刺六分深，留针的时间是十呼。足太阳经，针刺五分深，留针的时间是七呼。足少阳经，针刺四分深，留针五呼。足太阴经，针刺三分深，留针四呼。足少阴经，针刺二分深，留针三呼。足厥阴经，针刺一分深，留针二呼。手的三阴三阳经脉，由于它们接受脏气的道近，气行也快，针刺的深度，一般不超过二分，留针的时间，一般不超过一呼。但人有老少、长短、肥瘦的不同，还必须根据具体情况，使之合乎自然之理。灸法也是这样的。灸而过度，可成恶火，造成骨髓枯槁、血脉凝涩。刺而过度，会发生气脱，使正气受伤。

黃帝曰：夫經脈之大小，血之多少，膚之厚薄，肉之堅脆及膕之大小，可為量度乎？歧伯答曰：其可為度量者，取其中度也。不甚脫肉，而血氣不衰也。若夫度之人，消瘦而形肉脫者，惡可以度量刺乎。審、切、循、捫、按，視其寒溫盛衰而調之，是謂因適而為之真也。

黄帝说：人体经脉的大小、血气的多少、皮肤的厚薄、肌肉的坚脆，以及肌肉凸起部位的大小，可以确定一个衡量的标准吗？

岐伯回答说：那些可度量的，要取其身材适中，肌肉不很消瘦而血气又不衰败的。如果一个人身体消瘦、形肉已脱，怎么可用他来确定针刺的深浅呢？应该通过审察、切寸口、循尺肤、按摸皮肤肌肉，然后再察看他的温热虚实，根据病情用针刺或灸法调治。这是根据不同对象运用不同治法的真决。

黃帝曰：夫百病之所始生者，必起於燥溫寒暑風雨陰陽喜怒飲食居處，氣合而有形，得藏而有名，余知其然也。夫百病者，多以旦慧晝安，夕加夜甚，何也？歧伯曰：四時之氣使然。

黄帝说：百病的最初生成，一定是由于燥湿、寒暑、风雨等外界变化和阴阳、喜怒、饮食居住失常等内伤所致，邪气合而入体，就会有脉症显现，邪气入脏，就会引起名称不同的疾病，我已经知道这些情况了。而各种疾病，病人大多是早晨感觉神气清爽，白天安静，傍晚病情加重，夜间最严重，这是为什么？

岐伯说：这是由于四季的气候变化造成的。

黃帝曰：願聞四時之氣。歧伯曰：春生，夏長，秋收，冬藏，是氣之常也，人亦應之，以一日分為四時，朝則為春，日中為夏，日入為秋，夜半為冬。朝則人氣始生，病氣衰，故旦慧；日中人氣長，長則勝邪，故安；夕則人氣始衰，邪氣始生，故加；夜半人氣入藏，邪氣獨居於身，故甚也。

黄帝说：我想了解四季的气候变化情况。

岐伯说：春天生发，夏天成长，秋天收敛，冬天闭藏，这是四季的气候变化的规律，人体也是与之相应。将一日分为四时，早晨则为春天，中午则为夏天，傍晚则为秋天，夜半就是冬天。早晨人体正气开始上升，病气衰落，所以病人早晨神气清爽；中午人体正气成长至盛，正气盛就会胜过邪气，所以白天病人安静；傍晚人体正气开始衰落，邪气开始生长，所以，病人病情加重；夜半人体正气闭藏，邪气独占全身，所以病情此时最重。

黃帝曰：有時有反者何也？歧伯曰：是不應四時之氣，藏獨主其病者，是必以藏氣之所不勝時者甚，以其所勝時者起也。黃帝曰：治之奈何？歧伯曰：順天之時，而病可與期。順者為工，逆者為麤。

麤 cū：同“粗”。

黄帝问：疾病变化时常与前述的情况不合，这是为什么？

岐伯说：这是因为病与四时之气不相应，某一内脏单独生了病的缘故，这种情况在脏气所属之五行被时日所属之五行所克时，病情加重，在脏气所属之五行与时日所属之五行相同或克时日所属之五行时，病情好转。

黄帝问：怎么样治疗呢？

岐伯说：顺应自然界时日的五行属性的变化加以治疗，疾病就可望治愈。能够顺应自然界时日的五行属性变化来治病的医生就是高明的医生，不能顺应这种变化来治病的医生就是粗陋无知的医生。

黃帝曰：善，余聞刺有五變，以主五輸。願聞其數。歧伯曰：人有五藏，五藏有五變。五變有五輸，故五五二十五輸，以應五時。

黄帝说：说得对。我听说针刺之法有五种变化，来针刺井、荥、输、经、合五种腧穴，我想知道其中的规律。

岐伯说：人有五脏，五脏有五时、五行、五音、五色、五味这五类变化，每类变化都有五种腧穴与之相应，所以有五五二十五个腧穴与五季相应。

黃帝曰：願聞五變。歧伯曰：肝為牡藏，其色青，其時春，其音角，其味酸，其日甲乙；心為牡藏，其色赤，其時夏，其日丙丁，其音徵，其味苦；脾為牝藏，其色黃，其時長夏，其日戊己，其音宮，其味甘；肺為牝藏，其色白，其音商，其時徵，其日庚辛，其味辛；腎為牝藏，其色黑，其時冬，其日壬癸，其音羽，其味鹹。是為五變。

黄帝说：我想要了解五脏的五种变化。

岐伯说：肝属木，为阴中之少阳，是牡脏，在五色里为青，在五时中为春，在五音中为角，在五味中为酸，在日为甲乙。心属火，为阳中之太阳，是牡脏，在五色里为赤，在五时里为夏，在日为丙丁，在五音中为徵，在五味中为苦。脾属土，为阴中之至阴，是牝脏，在五色中为黄，在五时中为长夏(即六月)，在日为戊己，在五音中为宫，在五味中为甜。肺属金，为阳中之少阴，是牝脏，在五色中为白，在五音中为商，在五时中为秋，在日为庚辛，在五味为辛。肾属水，属阴中之太阴，是牝脏，在五色中为黑，在五时中为冬，在日为壬癸，在五音中为羽，在五味中为咸。以上就是五脏的五变。

黃帝曰：以主五輸奈何？藏主冬，冬刺井；色主春，春刺滎；時主夏，夏刺輸；音主長夏，長夏刺經；味主秋，秋刺合。是謂五變，以主五輸。

黄帝问：五脏的五变所主的五个腧穴是怎样的呢？

岐伯说：五脏主冬，所以冬季针刺五脏的井穴；五色主春，所以春季针刺五脏的荥穴；五时主夏，所以夏季针刺五脏的腧穴；五音主长夏，所以长夏时节针刺五脏的经穴；五味主秋，所以秋季针刺五脏的合穴。这就是所谓的五变所主的五腧穴。

黃帝曰：諸原安和，以致五輸。歧伯曰：原獨不應五時，以經合之，以應其數，故六六三十六輸。
黃帝曰：何謂藏主冬，時主夏，音主長夏，味主秋，色主春。願聞其故。歧伯曰：病在藏者，取之井；病變於色者，取之滎；病時間時甚者，取之輸；病變於音者，取之經；經滿而血者，病在胃；及以飲食不節得病者，取之於合，故命曰味主合。是謂五變也。

黄帝问：各个原穴如何配合，才能将井、荥、腧、经、合、原六个腧穴都配合好呢？

岐伯说：原穴唯独与五时不相应和，而是归属于本经的经穴来配合，以对应五变主五腧的数目，因此仍是六六三十六个腧穴。

黄帝说：什么叫五脏主冬，五时主夏，五音主长夏，五味主秋，五色主春？我想知道其中的道理。

岐伯说：疾病在五脏的，取井穴针刺；疾病显现在气色上的，取荥穴针刺；病情时轻时重的，取输穴针刺；疾病影响声音变化的，取经穴针刺，特别是在经脉盛满而有淤血的情况下；疾病在胃，以及由于饮食不加节制所致的病，取合穴针刺。因为胃病及由于饮食不加节制所致的病都与食之五味有关，所以称为味主合。以上就是所谓的五病的针刺法则。

黃帝曰：五藏者，所以藏精神魂魄者也；六府者，所以受水谷而行化物者也。其氣內干五藏，而外絡肢節。其浮氣之不循經者，為衛氣；其精氣之行於經者，為營氣。陰陽相隨，外內相貫，如環之無端。亭亭淳淳乎，孰能竊之。然其分別陰陽，皆有標本虛實所離之處。能別陰陽十二經者，知病之所生；候虛實之所在者，能得病之高下；知六府之氣街者，能知解結契紹於門戶；能知虛石之堅軟者，知補寫之所在；能知六經標本者，可以無惑於天下。

黄帝说：五脏是藏精神魂魄的，六腑是纳受水谷而且消化、输送它们的。水谷化生之气，内则入于五脏，外则布覆于四肢百节。其中流布浅表、不循经脉而行的浮气，叫做卫气；行于经脉之中的精气，叫做营气。阴阳相互随逐，内外相互贯通，象圆环似的无头无尾，不停息地浑然流动，谁能穷其究竟！然而，它们区分为阴阳，俱都有标有本，有虚有实，各有其循行、经历之处。能辨别阴阳十二经脉，便可了解疾病发生的原因；能候察、诊知虚实所在之处，便可寻找出发病部位在上还是在下；知道六腑之气往来运行的路径，就知道怎样解开结聚，使腧穴畅通；能了解虚实的属坚还是属软，就知道哪里该补，哪里该泻；能知手足六经的标部与本部，便可对天下疾病了然于胸，没有疑惑了。

歧伯曰：博哉！聖帝之論。臣請盡意悉言之。足太陽之本，在限以上五寸中，標在兩絡命門。命門者，目也。足少陽之本，在竅陰之間，標在窗籠之前。窗籠者，耳也。足少陰之本，在內踝下上三寸中，標在背輸與舌下兩脈也。足厥陰之本，在行間上五寸所，標在背腧也。足陽明之本，在厲兌，標在人迎，頰挾頏顙也。足太陰之本，在中封前上四寸之中，標在背腧與舌本也。

岐伯说：你以上所论，真是广博啊！让我来紧接你的论述，更详尽地谈一谈。

足太阳经脉之本，在足跟以上五寸处，其标在左右两络命门的睛明穴。命门，指眼。足少阳经脉之本，在窍阴穴，其标在窗笼之前的听宫穴。窗笼，指耳。足少阴经脉之本，在足内踝上二寸处的交信穴，其标在背部肾腧穴及舌下两脉的廉泉穴。足厥阴经脉之本，在行间穴上五寸处的中封穴，其标在背部肝腧穴。足阳明经脉之本，在厉兑穴，其标在颊下夹喉颡处的人迎穴。足太阴经脉之本，在中封穴前方向上四寸处的三阴交穴，其标在背部脾腧穴及舌根处。

手太陽之本，在外踝之後，標在命門之上一寸也。手少陽之本，在小指次指之間上二寸，標在耳後上角下外眥也。手陽明之本，在肘骨中，上至別陽，標在顏下合鉗上也。手太陰之本，在寸口之中，標在腋內動也。手少陰之本，在銳骨之端，標在背腧也。手心主之本，在掌後兩筋之間二寸中，標在腋下下三寸也。

手太阳经脉之本，在手外踝之后的养老穴，其标在命门的睛明穴之上一寸处。手少阳经脉之本，在手小指次指之间向上二寸处，其标在耳后上角的角孙穴及下外眦的丝竹空穴。手阳明经脉之本，在肘骨之中的曲池穴，上至臂臑处；其标在额下，与夹耳两旁的头维穴会合。手太阴经脉之本，在寸口中的太渊穴，其标在腋下动脉天府穴。手少阴经脉之本，在掌后锐骨之端的神门穴，其标在背部的心腧穴。手心主经脉之本，在掌后腕上二寸两筋间的内关穴，其标在腋下三寸的天池穴。

凡候此者，下虛則厥，下盛則熱；上虛則眩，上盛則熱痛。故石者，絕而止之，虛者，引而起之。

观察这十二经脉标本虚实的病变，凡本部阳虚的就会发生寒厥，凡本部阳盛的就会发生热厥，凡标部阴虚的就会发生眩晕，凡标部阴盛的就会发生热痛。对实症，就应泻除邪气以制止其发展；对虚症，就应导引正气而使之充实。

請言氣街，胸氣有街，腹氣有街，頭氣有街，脛氣有街。故氣在頭者，止之於腦；氣在胸者，止之膺與背腧；氣在腹者，止之背腧，與沖脈於臍左右之動脈者；氣在脛者，止之於氣街，與承山踝上以下。取此者，用毫鍼，必先按而在久應於手，乃刺而予之。所治者，頭痛眩仆，腹痛中滿暴脹，及有新積。痛可移者，易已也；積不痛，難已也。

让我再谈谈气街。胸气有它所行的街道，腹气有它所行的街道，头气有它所行的街道，胫气有它所行的街道。气在头部的，其气终止于脑的百会穴；气在胸部的，其气终止于胸前两膺与背部肺腧穴；气在腹部的，其气终止于背部的脾腧穴与冲脉，以及肚脐左右动脉的肓腧、天枢等穴；气在胫部的，其气终止于气冲穴与承山穴及足踝上下处。取以上这些穴位针刺时，要用毫针，而且一定先要用手指按压较长时间，等到气至应手，才可施针予以补泻。这些穴位主治的病症，有头痛、眩仆、腹痛、中满、暴胀以及初起的积聚等症。疼痛部位可以移动的，容易治愈；如果积聚处不痛，则难以治愈。

黃帝問于歧伯曰：余聞鍼道于夫子，眾多畢悉矣。夫子之道，應若失，而據未有堅然者也。夫子之問學熟乎，將審察于物而心生之乎？歧伯曰：聖人之為道者，上合于天，下合于地，中合于人事，必有明法，以起度數，法式檢押，乃後可傳焉。故匠人不能釋尺寸而意短長，廢繩墨而起平水也，工人不能置規而為圓，去矩而為方。知用此者，固自然之物，易用之教，逆順之常也。

黄帝问岐伯说：我从先生这里听到了针刺治疗的道理，许多内容都已理解了。先生讲的道理与实际情况相符得如箭之中的，但根据却是不固定的，先生的学问是继承谁的呢，还是经过仔细观察事物而后心中思考琢磨出来的呢？

岐伯说：圣人创立的理论，上合于天，下合于地，中与人事相符，一定要有明确的法规，来确立度量标准、模式规矩，然后才能传于后世。所以，工匠不能丢掉尺寸而随意定长短，不能放弃绳墨而求平直，不能不用圆规而画圆，也不能抛开矩尺而画方形。知道运用这些法则，就可以顺应自然，用简单易懂的方法，掌握顺逆的常规。

黃帝曰：願聞自然奈何？歧伯曰：臨深決水，不用功力，而水可竭也。循拙決沖，而經可通也。此言氣之滑澀，血水清濁，行之逆順也。

黄帝说：我想知道顺应自然是怎样的。

岐伯说：面临深沟而放水，不用功力，就可以将水放尽；顺着窟窿挖地道，不管地有多坚实，就可以开通小路。用它们来比喻说明人身之气有滑有涩，血有清有浊，气血运行有顺有逆这些人身的自然。　　

黃帝曰：願聞人之白黑肥瘦小長，各有數乎？歧伯曰：年質壯大，血氣充盈，膚革堅固，因加以邪，刺此者，深而留之，此肥人也。廣肩腋項，肉薄厚皮而黑色，唇臨臨然，其血黑以濁，其氣澀以遲。其為人也，貪于取與，刺此者，深而留之，多益其數也。

黄帝问：我想知道人的皮肤黑白、身体胖瘦、身材高矮，在针刺时有分别吗？

岐伯说：壮年而且体质健壮的人，血气充足旺盛，皮肤坚固，因受外邪而患病，针刺这种人，要深刺而且留针，这是针刺治疗肥壮之人的方法。如果是宽肩、腋下厚实、粗项、肉薄皮厚且肤色发黑、嘴唇厚大的人，他们血色黑浊不清，他的气涩且运行迟滞，他的为人贪图获取和不劳而获。针刺这种人，要深刺而且留针，多增加针刺的次数。

黃帝曰：刺瘦人奈何？歧伯曰：瘦人者，皮薄色少，肉廉廉然，薄唇輕言，其血清氣滑，易脫于氣，易損于血，刺此者，淺而疾之。

黄帝问：怎样针刺瘦人呢？

岐伯说：瘦人皮薄，血色不足，肌肉消瘦，嘴唇薄，说话声音轻，他的血清稀气滑，气容易虚脱，血也容易耗损。针刺这种人，要浅刺，快速出针。

黃帝曰：刺常人奈何？歧伯曰：視其白黑，各為調之，其端正敦厚者，其血氣和調，刺此者，無失常數也。

黄帝问：怎样针刺平常不肥不瘦的人呢？

岐伯说：看他的肤色黑白，分别用不同的刺法调治。如果是品行端正敦厚的人，他的气血和调。针刺这样的人，不要违背正常的刺法。

黃帝曰：刺壯士真骨者，奈何？歧伯曰：刺壯士真骨，堅肉緩節，監監然，此人重則氣澀血濁，刺此者，深而留之，多益其數；勁則氣滑血清，刺此者，淺而疾之。

黄帝问：怎样针刺壮士呢？

岐伯说：壮士骨骼坚固，肌肉坚实，关节运转自如有力，此人如果性情稳重，就会气行涩且血混浊。针刺这种人，应深刺且留针，多增加针刺的次数。此人如果性情轻浮好动，就会气滑血清。针刺这种人，应浅刺且急速出针。

黃帝曰：刺嬰兒奈何？歧伯曰：嬰兒者，其肉脆，血少氣弱，刺此者，以豪刺，淺刺而疾拔鍼，日再可也。

黄帝问：怎样针刺婴儿呢？

岐伯说：婴儿的肌肉柔软，血少气弱，针刺婴儿，应当用毫针浅刺而且快速进针，一天针刺两次就可以了。

黃帝曰：臨深決水，奈何？歧伯曰：血清氣濁，疾寫之則氣竭焉。黃帝曰：循拙決沖，奈何？歧伯曰：血濁氣澀，疾寫之，則經可通也。

黄帝问：临深决水在针刺上是怎样解释？

岐伯说：血清气滑的病人，如果急用泻法，就会导致真气衰竭。

黄帝问：循掘决冲在针刺上是怎样解释？

岐伯说：血浊气涩的病人，如果急用泻法，就会使气能够通畅。

黃帝曰：脈行之逆順，奈何？歧伯曰：手之三陰，從藏走手；手之三陽，從手走頭；足之三陽，從頭走足；足之三陰，從足走腹。

黄帝问：经脉循行的顺逆情况是怎样的？

岐伯说：手三阴经，从心肺走到手指。手三阳经，从手走到头部。足三阳经，从头部走到脚趾端。足三阴经，从脚走到腹部。

黃帝曰：少陰之脈獨下行，何也？歧伯曰：不然，夫沖脈者，五藏六府之海也，五藏六府皆稟焉。其上者，出于頏顙，滲諸陽，灌諸精；其下者，注少陰之大絡，出于氣街，循陰股內廉入膕中，伏行骭骨內，下至內踝之後屬而別。其下者，並于少陰之經，滲三陰；其前者，伏行出跗屬，下循跗，入大指間，滲諸絡而溫肌肉。故別絡結則附上不動，不動則厥，厥則寒矣。黃帝曰：何以明之？歧伯曰：以言導之，切而驗之，其非必動，然後仍可明逆順之行也。黃帝曰：窘乎哉！聖人之為道也。明于日月，微于毫釐，其非夫子，孰能道之也。

黄帝问：唯独足少阴经下行，这是为什么？

岐伯说：不是足少阴经，而是冲脉。冲脉，是五脏六腑汇聚之海，五脏六腑都禀受它的气血的滋养。冲脉上行支脉，出于上口腔的鼻道，渗入各阳经，灌于阴经；冲脉下行支脉，灌注于少阴经的大络，出于气冲穴，顺着大腿内侧，进入膝腘窝中，潜行于小腿骨内侧，下至内踝胫骨与跗骨相连处而又别行。冲脉下行支脉，与足少阴经并行，渗入三阴经；下行支脉的前行支脉，潜行出于外踝接近胫骨与跗骨相连处，再下行循着脚背进入足大趾间，渗入各络脉而滋养肌肉。因此，冲脉在下分出的支络淤结就会使足背上的脉不跳动，脉不跳动就会导致卫气不行而成厥逆，出现厥逆就会感到寒冷。

黄帝问：用什么来证明是冲脉还是足少阴经下行呢？

岐伯说：用言语开导，用手切足部脉来验证，若不是足少阴经而是冲脉的话，冲脉一定是跳动的，然后就可以明白足少阴经和冲脉的上下行的逆顺关系。

黄帝说：圣人讲得这些道理真重要啊！它象日月一样光明，象毫厘一样细致入微，如果不是先生，谁能够讲解它呢？

CHAPTER 3 Lin Ru-hai recommends a private tutor to his brother-in-law And old Lady Jia extends a compassionate welcome to the motherless child

卻說雨村回頭看時，不是別人，乃是當日同僚一案參革的張如圭。他係此地人，革後家居。今打聽得都中奏准起復舊員之信，他便四下裡尋情找門路，忽遇見雨村，故忙道喜。二人見了禮，張如圭便將此信告知雨村。雨村歡喜。忙忙敘了兩句，遂作別各自回家。冷子興聽得此言，便忙獻計，令雨村央求林如海，轉向都中去央煩賈政。

When Yu-cun turned to look, he was surprised to see that it was Zhang Ru-gui, a former colleague who had been cashiered at the same time and for the same reason as himself. Zhang Ru-gui was a native of these parts, and had been living at home since his dismissal. Having just wormed out the information that a motion put forward in the capital for the reinstatement of ex-officials had been approved, he had been dashing about ever since, pulling strings and soliciting help from potential backers, and was engaged in this activity when he unexpectedly ran into Yu-cun. Hence the tone of his greeting. As soon as they had finished bowing to each other, Zhang Ru-gui told Yu-cun the good news, and after further hurried conversation they went their separate ways. Leng Zi-xing, who had overheard the news, proposed a plan. Why should not Yu-cun ask his employer Lin Ru-hai to write to his brother-in-law Jia Zheng in the capital and enlist his support on his, Yu-cun’s, behalf?

1. wormed out:  to try and get information
2. dashing: attractive in a confident, exciting, and stylish way
3. soliciting: to try to obtain by usually urgent requests or pleas
4. backer: someone who gives financial support to something

雨村領其意而別，回至館中，忙尋邸報看真確了。次日，面謀林如海。如海道：「天緣湊巧：因賤荊去世，都中家岳母念及小女無人依傍，前已遣了男女船隻來接，因小女未曾大痊，故未及行，此刻正思送女進京。因向蒙教誨之恩，未經酬報，遇此機會，豈有不盡心圖報之理！弟已預籌之，修下薦書一封，託內兄務為周全，方可稍盡弟之鄙誠。即有所費，弟於內家信中寫明，不勞吾兄多慮。」雨村一面打恭，謝不釋口，一面又問：「不知令親大人現居何職？只怕晚生草率，不敢進謁。」如海笑道：「若論舍親，與尊兄猶係一家，乃榮公之孫。大內兄現襲一等將軍之職，名赦，字恩侯。二內兄名政，字存周，現任工部員外郎。其為人謙恭厚道，大有祖父遺風，非膏粱輕薄之流，故弟致書煩託。否則不但有污尊兄清操，即弟亦不屑為矣。」雨村聽了，心下方信了昨日子興之言，於是又謝了林如海。如海又說：「擇了出月初二日小女入都，吾兄即同路而往，豈不兩便？」雨村唯唯聽命，心中十分得意。如海遂打點禮物並餞行之事，雨村一一領了。

Yu-cun agreed to follow this suggestion, and presently the two friends separated. Back in his quarters, Yu-cun quickly hunted out a copy of the Gazette, and having satisfied himself that the news was authentic, broached the matter next day with Lin Ru-hai. ‘It so happens that an opportunity of helping you has just presented itself,’ said Ru-hai. ‘Since my poor wife passed on, my mother-in-law in the capital has been worried about the little girl having no one to look after her, and has already sent some of her folk here by barge to fetch her away.

1. authentic: If something is authentic, it is real, true, or what people say it is
2. broached: to begin a discussion of something difficult
3. barge: a long boat with a flat bottom

The only reason she has so far not gone is that she has not been quite recovered from her illness. I was, however, only just now thinking that the moment to send her had arrived. And as I have still done nothing to repay you for your kindness in tutoring her for me, you may be sure that now this opportunity has presented itself I shall do my very best to help you. ‘As a matter of fact, I have already made a few arrangements. I have written this letter here entrusting my brother-in-law with your affair, explaining my indebtedness to you and urging him to see it properly settled. I have also made it quite clear in my letter that any expenses which may be involved are to be taken care of; so you have nothing to worry about on that account.’Yu-cun made an elaborate bow to his patron and thanked him profusely.

1. indebtedness: the condition of owing money, or the amount of money owed
2. elaborate: containing a lot of careful detail or many detailed parts
3. profusely: in large amounts

He then ventured a question. ‘I am afraid I do not know what your relation’s position is at the capital. Might it not be a little embarrassing for a person in my situation to thrust himself upon him?’ Ru-hai laughed. ‘You need have no anxiety on that score. My brothers-in-law in the capital are your own kinsmen. They are grandsons of the former Duke of Rong-guo. The elder one, Jia She, is an hereditary official of the First Rank and an honorary colonel; the younger one, Jia Zheng, is an Under Secretary in the Ministry of Works. He takes very much after his late grandfather: a modest, generous man, quite without the arrogance of the pampered aristocrat.

1. colonel: an officer of high rank in the army or air force
2. arrogance: the quality of being unpleasantly proud and behaving as if you are more important than, or know more than, other people
3. pampered: given special treatment that makes you feel as comfortable as possible or gives you whatever you want
4. aristocrat: a class of people who hold high social rank:

That is why I have addressed this letter to him. If I did not have complete confidence in his willingness to help you, I should not have put your honour at risk by soliciting him; nor, for that matter, should I have taken the trouble to write the letter.’ Yu-cun now knew that what Zi-xing had told him was the truth and he thanked Lin Ru-hai once again. ‘I have fixed the second day of next month for my little girl’s journey to the capital,’ said Ru-hai. ‘If you cared to travel with her, it would be convenient for both of us.’ Yu-cun accepted the suggestion with eager deference. Everything, he thought to himself, was turning out very satisfactorily. Ru-hai for his part set about preparing presents for his wife’s family and parting gifts for Yu-cun, all of which Yu-cun in due course took charge of.

1. eager: wanting very much to do or have something, especially something interesting or enjoyable
2. deference: respect and politeness

那女學生原不忍離親而去，無奈他外祖母必欲其往，且兼如海說：「汝父年已半百，再無續室之意；且汝多病，年又極小，上無親母教養，下無姊妹扶持：今去依傍外祖母及舅氏姊妹，正好減我內顧之憂，如何不去？」黛玉聽了，方灑淚拜別，隨了奶娘及榮府中幾個老婦，登舟而去。雨村另有一隻船，帶了兩個小童，依附黛玉而行。

At first his little pupil could not be persuaded to part from her father; but her grandmother was insistent that she should go, and Ru-hai added his own reasons. ‘I’m half a century old now, my dear, and I have no intention of taking a second wife; so there will be no one here to act as a mother to you. It isn’t, either, as if you had sisters who could help to take care of you. You know how often you are poorly. And you are still very young. It would be a great weight off my mind to know that you had your Grandmother Jia and your uncles’ girls to fall back on. I really think you ought to go.’ After this Dai-yu could only take a tearful leave of her father and go down to the boat with her nurse and the old women from the Rong mansion who had been sent to fetch her. There was a separate boat for Yu-cun and a couple of servant-boys to wait on him, and he too now embarked in the capacity of Dai-yu’s escort.

一日，到了京都，雨村先整了衣冠，帶著童僕，拿了「宗姪」的名帖，至榮府門上投了。彼時賈政已看了妹丈之書，即忙請入相會。見雨村相貌魁偉，言談不俗。且這賈政最喜的是讀書人，禮賢下士，拯溺救危，大有祖風，況又係妹丈致意，因此優待雨村，更又不同，便極力幫助。題奏之日，謀了一個復職。不上兩月，便選了金陵應天府，辭了賈政，擇日到任去了。不在話下。

In due course they arrived in the capital, and Yu-cun, dressed in his best and with the two servant-boys at his heels, betook himself to the gate of the Rong mansion and handed in his visiting-card, on which he had been careful to prefix the word ‘kinsman’ to his own name. By this time Jia Zheng had already seen his brother-in-law’s letter, and accorded him an interview without delay. Yu-cun’s imposing looks and cultivated speech made an excellent impression on Jia Zheng, who was in any case always well-disposed towards scholars, and preserved much of his grandfather’s affability with men of letters and readiness to help them in any sort of trouble or distress. And since his own inclinations were in this case reinforced by his brother-in-law’s strong recommendation, the treatment he extended to Yu-cun was exceptionally favourable. He exerted himself on his behalf to such good effect that on the very day his petition was presented Yu-cun’s reinstatement was approved, and before two months were out he was appointed to the magistracy of Ying-tian-fu in Nanking. Thither, having chosen a suitable day on which to commence his journey, and having first taken his leave of Jia Zheng, he now repaired to take up his duties. But of him, for the time being, no more.

且說黛玉自那日棄舟登岸時，便有榮府打發轎子並拉行李的車輛伺候。這黛玉嘗聽得母親說他外祖母家與別人家不同，他近日所見的這幾個三等的僕婦，吃穿用度，已是不凡，何況今至其家。因此步步留心，時時在意，不多說一句話，不多行一步路，恐被人恥笑了去。自上了轎，進了城，從紗窗向外瞧了一瞧，其街市之繁華，人煙之阜盛，自非別處可比。又行了半日，忽見街北蹲著兩個大石獅子，三間獸頭大門，門前列坐著十來個華冠麗服之人。正門不開，只東西兩角門有人出入。正門之上有一匾，匾上大書「敕造寧國府」五個大字。

On the day of her arrival in the capital, Dai-yu stepped ashore to find covered chairs from the Rong mansion for her and her women and a cart for the luggage ready waiting on the quay. She had often heard her mother say that her Grandmother Jia’s home was not like other people’s houses. The servants she had been in contact with during the past few days were comparatively low-ranking ones in the domestic hierarchy, yet the food they ate, the clothes they wore, and everything about them was quite out of the ordinary. Dai-yu tried to imagine what the people who employed these superior beings must be like. When she arrived at their house she would have to watch every step she took and weigh every word she said, for if she put a foot wrong they would surely laugh her to scorn.

Dai-yu got into her chair and was soon carried through the city walls. Peeping through the gauze panel which served as a window, she could see streets and buildings more rich and elegant and throngs of people more lively and numerous than she had ever seen in her life before. After being carried for what seemed a very great length of time, she saw, on the north front of the east-west street through which they were passing, two great stone lions crouched one on each side of a triple gateway whose doors were embellished with animal-heads. In front of the gateway ten or so splendidly dressed flunkeys sat in a row. The centre of the three gates was closed, but people were going in and out of the two side ones. There was a board above the centre gate on which were written in large characters the words:

NING-GUO HOUSE Founded and Constructed by Imperial Command

黛玉想道：「這是外祖的長房了。」又往西不遠，照樣也是三間大門，方是榮國府，卻不進正門，只由西角門而入。轎子抬著走了一射之地，將轉彎時，便歇了轎，後面的婆子也都下來了。另換了四個眉目秀潔十七八歲的小廝上來抬著轎子，眾婆子步下跟隨。至一垂花門前落下，眾小廝俱肅然退出，眾婆子上前打起轎簾，扶黛玉下了轎。

Dai-yu realized that this must be where the elder branch of her grandmother’s family lived. The chair proceeded some distance more down the street and presently there was another triple gate, this time with the legend RONG-GUO HOUSE above it. Ignoring the central gate, her bearers went in by the western entrance and after traversing the distance of a bow-shot inside, half turned a corner and set the chair down. The chairs of her female attendants which were following behind were set down simultaneously and the old women got out. The places of Dai-yu’s bearers were taken by four handsome, fresh-faced pages of seventeen or eighteen. They shouldered her chair and, with the old women now following on foot, carried it as far as an ornamental inner gate. There they set it down again and then retired in respectful silence. The old women came forward to the front of the chair, held up the curtain, and helped Dai-yu to get out.

黛玉扶著婆子的手，進了垂花門。兩邊是超手遊廊，正中是穿堂，當地放著一個紫檀架子大理石屏風。轉過屏風，小小三間廳房，廳後便是正房大院。正面五間上房，皆是雕梁畫棟。兩邊穿山遊廊廂房，掛著各色鸚鵡畫眉等雀鳥。台階上坐著幾個穿紅著綠的丫頭，一見他們來了，都笑迎上來，道：「剛纔老太太還念著呢，可巧就來了。」於是三四人爭著打簾子。一面聽得人說：「林姑娘來了！」

passed through the ornamental gate into a courtyard which had balustraded loggias running along its sides and a covered passage-way through the center. The foreground of the courtyard beyond was partially hidden by a screen of polished marble set in an elaborate red sandalwood frame. Passing round the screen and through a small reception hall beyond it, they entered the large courtyard of the mansion’s principal apartments. These were housed in an imposing five-frame building resplendent with carved and painted beams and rafters which faced them across the courtyard. Running along either side of the courtyard were galleries hung with cages containing a variety of different-coloured parrots, cockatoos, white-eyes, and other birds. Some gaily-dressed maids were sitting on the steps of the main building opposite. At the appearance of the visitors they rose to their feet and came forward with smiling faces to welcome them. ‘You’ve come just at the right time! Lady Jia was only this moment asking about you.’ Three or four of them ran to lift up the door-curtain, while another of them announced in loud tones, ‘Miss Lin is here!’

黛玉方進房，只見兩個人扶著一位鬢髮如銀的老母迎上來。黛玉知是外祖母，正欲下拜，早被外祖母抱住，摟入懷中，「心肝兒肉」叫著大哭起來。當下侍立之人無不落淚，黛玉也哭個不休。待眾人慢慢勸解住了，那黛玉方拜見了外祖母，賈母方一一指與黛玉道：「這是你大舅母。這是二舅母。這是你先前珠大哥的媳婦珠大嫂子。」黛玉一一拜見了。賈母又叫：「請姑娘們來。今日遠客來了，可以不必上學去。」眾人答應了一聲，便去了兩個。

Each hand resting on the outstretched hand of an elderly attendant, Dai-yu As Dai-yu entered the room she saw a silver-haired old lady advancing to meet her, supported on either side by a servant. She knew that this must be her Grandmother Jia and would have fallen on her knees and made her kotow, but before she could do so her grandmother had caught her in her arms and pressing her to her bosom with cries of ‘My pet!’ and ‘My poor lamb!’ burst into loud sobs, while all those present wept in sympathy, and Dai-yu felt herself crying as though she could never stop. It was some time before those present succeeded in calming them both down and Dai-yu was at last able to make her kotow. Grandmother Jia now introduced those present. ‘This is your elder uncle’s wife, Aunt Xing. This is your Uncle Zheng’s wife, Aunt Wang. This is Li Wan, the wife of your Cousin Zhu, who died.’ Dai-yu kowtowed to each of them in turn. ‘Call the girls!’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘Tell them that we have a very special visitor and that they need not do their lessons today.’

不一時，只見三個奶媽並五六個丫鬟擁著三位姑娘來了：第一個，肌膚微豐，身材合中，腮凝新荔，鼻膩鵝脂，溫柔沉默，觀之可親；第二個，削肩細腰，長挑身材，鴨蛋臉兒，俊眼修眉，顧盼神飛，文彩精華，見之忘俗；第三個，身量未足，形容尚小。其釵環裙襖，三人皆是一樣的粧束。黛玉忙起身迎上來見禮，互相廝認。歸了坐位，丫鬟送上茶來。不過敘些黛玉之母如何得病，如何請醫服藥，如何送死發喪。不免賈母又傷感起來，因說：「我這些女孩兒，所疼的獨有你母親，今一旦先我而亡，不得見面，怎不傷心！」說著，攜了黛玉的手，又哭起來。眾人都忙相勸慰，方略略止住。

There was a cry of ‘Yes ma’am’ from the assembled maids, and two of them went off to do her bidding. Presently three girls arrived, attended by three nurses and five or six maids. The first girl was of medium height and slightly plumpish, with cheeks as white and firm as a fresh lychee and a nose as white and shiny as soap made from the white goose-fat. She had a gentle, sweet, reserved manner. To look at her was to love her.

The second girl was rather tall, with sloping shoulders and a slender waist. She had an oval face under whose well-formed brows large, expressive eyes shot out glances that sparkled with animation. To look at her was to forget all that was mean or vulgar.

The third girl was undersized and her looks were still somewhat babyish and unformed. All three were dressed in identical skirts and dresses and wore identical sets of bracelets and hair ornaments. Dai-yu rose to meet them and exchanged curtseys and introductions. When she was seated once more, a maid served tea, and a conversation began on the subject of her mother: how her illness had started, what doctors had been called in, what medicines prescribed, what arrangements had been made for the funeral, and how the mourning had been observed. This conversation had the foreseeable effect of upsetting the old lady all over again. ‘Of all my girls your mother was the one I loved the best,’ she said, ‘and now she’s been the first to go, and without my even being able to see her again before the end. I can’t help being upset!’ And holding fast to Dai-yu’s hand, she once more burst into tears. The rest of the company did their best to comfort her, until at last she had more or less recovered.

眾人見黛玉年紀雖小，其舉止言談不俗，身體面貌雖弱不勝衣，卻有一段風流態度，便知他有不足之症。因問：「常服何藥？為何不治好了？」黛玉道：「我自來如此，從會吃飯時便吃藥到如今了。經過多少名醫，總未見效。那一年，我纔三歲，聽說來了一個癩頭和尚，說要化我去出家，我父母自是不從。他又說：『既捨不得他，但只怕他的病一生也不能好的！若要好時，除非從此以後總不許見哭聲，除父母之外，凡有外親一概不見，方可平安了此一生。』這和尚瘋瘋癲癲說了這些不經之談，也沒人理他。如今還是吃人參養榮丸。」賈母道：「這正好，我這裡正配丸藥呢，叫他們多配一料就是了。」

Everyone’s attention now centred on Dai-yu. They observed that although she was still young, her speech and manner already showed unusual refinement. They also noticed the frail body which seemed scarcely strong enough to bear the weight of its clothes, but which yet had an inexpressible grace about it, and realizing that she must be suffering from some deficiency, asked her what medicine she took for it and why it was still not better. ‘I have always been like this,’ said Dai-yu. ‘I have been taking medicine ever since I could eat and been looked at by ever so many well-known doctors, but it has never done me any good. Once, when I was only three, I can remember a scabby-headed old monk came and said he wanted to take me away and have me brought up as a nun; but of course, Mother and Father wouldn’t hear of it. So he said, “Since you are not prepared to give her up, I am afraid her illness will never get better as long as she lives. The only way it might get better would be if she were never to hear the sound of weeping from this day onwards and never to see any relations other than her own mother and father. Only in those conditions could she get through her life without trouble.” Of course, he was quite crazy, and no one took any notice of the things he said. I’m still taking Ginseng Tonic Pills.’ ‘Well, that’s handy,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘I take the Pills myself. We can easily tell them to make up a few more each time.’

一語未完，只聽後院中有笑語聲，說：「我來遲了，沒得迎接遠客！」黛玉思忖道：「這些人個個皆斂聲屏氣如此，這來者是誰，這樣放誕無禮？……」心下想時，只見一群媳婦丫鬟擁著一個麗人從後房門進來。這個人打扮與姑娘們不同：彩繡輝煌，恍若神妃仙子。頭上戴著金絲八寶攢珠髻，綰著朝陽五鳳掛珠釵；項上戴著赤金盤螭纓絡圈；身上穿著縷金百蝶穿花大紅雲緞窄裉襖，外罩五彩刻絲石青銀鼠褂；下著翡翠撒花洋縐裙。一雙丹鳳三角眼，兩彎柳葉弔梢眉。身量苗條，體格風騷。粉面含春威不露，丹唇未啟笑先聞。

She had scarcely finished speaking when someone could be heard talking and laughing in a very loud voice in the inner courtyard behind them. ‘Oh dear! I’m late,’ said the voice. ‘I’ve missed the arrival of our guest.’ ‘Everyone else around here seems to go about with bated breath,’ thought Dai-yu. ‘Who can this new arrival be who is so brash and unmannerly?

’ Even as she wondered, a beautiful young woman entered from the room behind the one they were sitting in, surrounded by a bevy of serving women and maids. She was dressed quite differently from the others present, gleaming like some fairy princess with sparkling jewels and gay embroideries. Her chignon was enclosed in a circlet of gold filigree and clustered pearls. It was fastened with a pin embellished with flying phoenixes, from whose beaks pearls were suspended on tiny chains.

Her necklet was of red gold in the form of a coiling dragon. Her dress had a fitted bodice and was made of dark red silk damask with a pattern of flowers and butterflies in raised gold thread. Her jacket was lined with ermine. It was of a slate-blue stuff with woven insets in coloured silks. Her under-skirt was of a turquoise-coloured imported silk crêpe embroidered with flowers.

She had, moreover, eyes like a painted phoenix, eyebrows like willow-eaves, a slender form, seductive grace; the ever-smiling summer face of hidden thunders showed no trace; the ever-bubbling laughter started almost before the lips were parted.

黛玉連忙起身接見。賈母笑道：「你不認得他。他是我們這裡有名的一個『潑辣貨』，南京所謂『辣子』你只叫他鳳辣子就是了。」黛玉正不知以何稱呼，眾姊妹都忙告訴黛玉道：「這是璉二嫂子。」黛玉雖不曾識面，聽見他母親說過：「大舅賈赦之子賈璉娶的就是二舅母王氏的內姪女，自幼假充男兒教養，學名叫做王熙鳳。」黛玉忙陪笑見禮，以「嫂」呼之。

‘You don’t know her,’ said Grandmother Jia merrily. ‘She’s a holy terror this one. What we used to call in Nanking a “peppercorn”. You just call her “Peppercorn Feng”. She’ll know who you mean!’ Dai-yu was at a loss to know how she was to address this Peppercorn Feng until one of the cousins whispered that it was ‘Cousin Lian’s wife’, and she emembered having heard her mother say that her elder uncle, Uncle She, had a son called Jia Lian who was married to the niece of her Uncle Zheng’s wife, Lady Wang. She had been brought up from earliest childhood just like a boy, and had acquired in the schoolroom the somewhat boyish-sounding name of Wang Xi-feng. Dai-yu accordingly smiled and curtseyed, greeting her by her correct name as she did so.

這熙鳳攜著黛玉的手，上下細細打量一回，便仍送至賈母身邊坐下，因笑道：「天下真有這樣標致人兒！我今日纔算看見了！況且這通身的氣派竟不像老祖宗的外孫女兒，竟是個嫡親的孫女兒似的。怨不得老祖宗天天嘴裡心裡放不下。－－只可憐我這妹妹這麼命苦：怎麼姑媽偏就去世了呢！」說著，便用手帕拭淚。賈母笑道：「我纔好了，你又來招我。你妹妹遠路纔來，身子又弱，也纔勸住了。快別再提了。」

Xi-feng took Dai-yu by the hand and for a few moments scrutinized her carefully from top to toe before conducting her back to her seat beside Grandmother Jia. ‘She’s a beauty, Grannie dear! If I hadn’t set eyes on her today, I shouldn’t have believed that such a beautiful creature could exist! And everything about her so distingu !She doesn’t take after your side of the family, Grannie. She’s more like a Jia. I don’t blame you for having gone on so about her during the past few days but poor little thing! What a cruel fate to have lost Auntie like that!’ and she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. ‘I’ve only just recovered,’ laughed Grandmother Jia. ‘Don’t you go trying to start me off again! Besides, your little cousin is not very strong, and we’ve only just managed to get her cheered up. So let’s have no more of this!’

熙鳳聽了，忙轉悲為喜道：「正是呢。我一見了妹妹，一心都在他身上，又是歡喜，又是傷心，竟忘了老祖宗了。該打，該打。」又忙拉著黛玉的手問道：「妹妹幾歲了？可也上過學？現吃什麼藥？在這裡別想家。要什麼吃的，什麼玩的，只管告訴我。丫頭老婆們不好，也只管告訴我。」黛玉一一答應。一面熙鳳又問人：「林姑娘的東西可搬進來了？帶了幾個人來？你們趕早打掃兩間下房，讓她們去歇歇。」

In obedience to the command Xi-feng at once exchanged her grief for merriment. ‘Yes of course. It was just that seeing my little cousin here put everything else out of my mind. It made me want to laugh and cry all at the same time. I’m afraid I quite forgot about you, Grannie dear. I deserve to be spanked, don’t I?’ She grabbed Dai-yu by the hand. ‘How old are you dear? Have you begun school yet? You mustn’t feel home sick here. If there’s anything you want to eat or anything you want to play with, just come and tell me. And you must tell me if any of the maids or the old nannies are nasty to you.’ Dai-yu made appropriate responses to all of these questions and injunctions. Xi-feng turned to the servants. ‘Have Miss Lin’s things been brought in yet? How many people did she bring with her? You’d better hurry up and get a couple of rooms swept out for them to rest in.’

說話時，已擺了茶果上來。熙鳳親自佈讓。又見二舅母問他：「月錢放完了沒有？」熙鳳道：「放完了。剛纔帶了人到後樓上找緞子，找了半日，也沒見昨兒太太說的那個，想必太太記錯了。」王夫人道：「有沒有，什麼要緊！」因又說道：「該隨手拿出兩個來給你這妹妹裁衣裳啊。等晚上想著再叫人去拿罷。」熙鳳道：「我倒先料著了。知道妹妹這兩日必到，我已經預備下了，等太太回去過了目好送來。」王夫人一笑，點頭不語。

While Xi-feng was speaking, the servants brought in tea and various plates of food, the distribution of which she proceeded to supervise in person. Dai-yu noticed her Aunt Wang questioning Xi-feng on the side: ‘Have this month’s allowances been paid out yet?’ ‘Yes. By the way, just now I went with some of the women to the upstairs storeroom at the back to look for that satin. We looked and looked, but we couldn’t find any like the one you described yesterday. Perhaps you misremembered.’ ‘Oh well, if you can’t find it, it doesn’t really matter,’ said Lady Wang. Then, after a moment’s reflection, ‘You’d better pick out a couple of lengths presently to have made up into clothes for your little cousin here. If you think of it, send someone round in the evening to fetch them!’ ‘It’s already been seen to. I knew she was going to arrive within a day or two, so I had some brought out in readiness. They are waiting back at your place for your approval. If you think they are all right, they can be sent over straight away.’ Lady Wang merely smiled and nodded her head without saying anything.

當下茶果已撤，賈母命兩個老嬤嬤帶黛玉去見兩個舅舅去。賈赦之妻邢氏忙起身笑回道：「我帶了外甥女兒過去，到底便宜些。」賈母笑道：「正是呢。你也去罷，不必過來了。」

The tea things and dishes were now cleared away, and Grandmother Jia ordered two old nurses to take Dai-yu round to see her uncles; but Uncle She’s wife, Lady Xing, hurriedly rose to her feet and suggested that it would be more convenient if she were to take her niece round herself. ‘Very well,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘You go now, then. There is no need for you to come back afterwards.’

那邢夫人答應了，遂帶著黛玉和王夫人作辭。大家送至穿堂垂花門前。早有眾小廝拉過一輛翠幄清油車來，邢夫人攜了黛玉坐上。眾婆子放下車簾，方命小廝們抬起，拉至寬處，駕上馴騾，出了西角門，往東過榮府正門，入一黑油漆大門內，至儀門前，方下了車。邢夫人挽著黛玉的手進入院中。黛玉度其處必是榮府中之花園隔斷過來的。進入三層儀門，果見正房廂房遊廊，悉皆小巧別致，不似那邊的軒峻壯麗，且院中隨處之樹木山石皆好。及進入正室，早有許多艷粧麗服之姬妾丫鬟迎著。

So having, together with Lady Wang, who was also returning to her quarters, taken leave of the old lady, Lady Xing went off with Dai-yu, attended across the courtyard as far as the covered way by the rest of the company. A carriage painted dark blue and hung with kingfisher-blue curtains had been drawn up in front of the ornamental gateway by some pages. Into this Aunt Xing ascended hand in hand with Dai-yu. The old women pulled down the carriage blind and ordered the pages to take up the shafts, the pages drew the carriage into an open space and harnessed mules to it, and Dai-yu and her aunt were driven out of the west gate, eastwards past the main gate of the Rong mansion, in again through a big black-lacquered gate, and up to an inner gate, where they were set down again. Holding Dai-yu by the hand, Aunt Xing led her into a courtyard in the middle of what she imagined must once have been part of the mansion’s gardens. This impression was strengthened when they passed through a third gateway into the quarters occupied by her uncle and aunt; for here the smaller scale and quiet elegance of the halls, galleries and loggias were quite unlike the heavy magnificence and imposing grandeur they had just come from, and ornamental trees and artificial rock formations, all in exquisite taste, were to be seen on every hand. As they entered the main reception hall, a number of heavily made-up and expensively dressed maids and concubines, who had been waiting in readiness, came forward to greet them.

邢夫人讓黛玉坐了，一面令人到外書房中請賈赦。一時回來說：「老爺說了：『連日身上不好，見了姑娘，彼此傷心，暫且不忍相見。勸姑娘不必傷懷想家，跟著老太太和舅母是和家裡一樣的。姐妹們雖拙，大家一處作伴，也可以解些煩悶。或有委屈之處，只管說，別外道了纔是。』」

Aunt Xing asked Dai-yu to be seated while she sent a servant to call Uncle She. After a considerable wait the servant returned with the following message: ‘The Master says he hasn’t been well these last few days, and as it would only upset them both if he were to see Miss Lin now, he doesn’t feel up to it for the time being. He says, tell Miss Lin not to grieve and not to feel homesick. She must think of her grandmother and her aunts as her own family now. He says that her cousins may not be very clever girls, but at least they should be company for her and help to take her mind off things. If she finds anything at all here to distress her, she is to speak up at once. She mustn’t feel like an outsider. She is to make herself completely at home.’

黛玉忙站起身來一一答應了，再坐一刻，便告辭。邢夫人苦留吃過飯纔去，黛玉笑回道：「舅母愛惜賜飯，原不應辭，只是還要過去拜見二舅舅，恐去遲了不恭。異日再領，望舅母容諒。」邢夫人笑道：「這倒是了。」遂命兩個嬤嬤用方纔坐來的車送過去。於是黛玉告辭。邢夫人送至儀門前，又囑咐了眾人幾句，眼看著車去了方回來。

Dai-yu stood up throughout this recital and murmured polite assent whenever assent seemed indicated. She then sat for about another quarter of an hour before rising to take her leave. Her Aunt Xing was very pressing that she should have a meal with her before she went, but Dai-yu smilingly replied that though it was very kind of her aunt to offer, and though she ought really not to refuse, nevertheless she still had to pay her respects to her Uncle Zheng, and feared that it would be disrespectful if she were to arrive late. She hoped that she might accept on another occasion and begged her aunt to excuse her.  ‘In that case, never mind,’ said Lady Xing, and instructed the old nurses to see her to her Uncle Zheng’s in the same carriage she had come by. Dai-yu formally took her leave, and Lady Xing saw her as far as the inner gate, where she issued a few more instructions to the servants and watched her niece’s carriage out of sight before returning to her rooms.

一時，黛玉進入榮府，下了車，只見一條大甬路，直接出大門來。眾嬤嬤引著，便往東轉彎，走過一座東西穿堂，向南大廳之後，至儀門內大院落。上面五間大正房，兩邊廂房，鹿頂耳門鑽山，四通八達，軒昂壯麗，比各處不同。黛玉便知這方是正內室。進入堂屋，抬頭迎面先見一個赤金九龍青地大匾，匾上寫著斗大三個字是「榮禧堂」。後有一行小字：「某年月日書賜榮國公賈源」，又有「萬機宸翰」之寶。大紫檀雕螭案上設著三尺多高青綠古銅鼎，懸著待漏隨朝墨龍大畫。一邊是鏨金彝，一邊是玻璃盆。地下兩溜十六張楠木圈椅。又有一副對聯，乃是烏木聯牌，鑲著鏨金字跡，道是：「座上珠璣昭日月，堂前黼黻煥煙霞。」下面一行小字是：「世教弟勳襲東安郡王穆蒔拜手書。」

Presently they re-entered the Rong mansion proper and Dai-yu got down from the carriage. There was a raised stone walk running all the way up to the main gate, along which the old nurses now conducted her. Turning right, they led her down a roofed passage-way along the back of a south-facing hall, then through an inner gate into a large courtyard. The big building at the head of the courtyard was connected at each end to galleries running through the length of the side buildings by means of ‘stag’s head’ roofing over the corners. The whole formed an architectural unit of greater sumptuousness and magnificence than anything Dai-yu had yet seen that day, from which she concluded that this must be the main inner hall of the whole mansion. High overhead on the wall facing her as she entered the hall was a great blue board framed in gilded dragons, on which

was written in large gold characters

THE HALL OF EXALTED FELICITY

with a column of smaller characters at the side giving a date and the words ‘…. written for Our beloved Subject, Jia Yuan,.Duke of Rong-guo’, followed by the Emperor’s private seal, a device containing the words ‘kingly cares’ and ‘royal brush’ in archaic seal-script. A long, high table of carved red sandalwood, ornamented with dragons, stood against the wall underneath. In the centre of this was a huge antique bronze ding, fully a yard high, covered with a green patina. On the wall above the ding hung a long vertical scroll with an ink-painting of a dragon emerging from clouds and waves, of the kind often presented to high court officials in token of their office. The ding was flanked on one side by a smaller antique bronze vessel with a pattern of gold inlay and on the other by a crystal bowl. At each side of the table stood a row of eight yellow cedar-wood armchairs with their backs to the wall; and above the chairs hung, one on each side, a pair of vertical ebony boards inlaid with a couplet in characters of gold:

 (on the right-hand one) May the jewel of learning shine in this house more effulgently than the sun and moon.

(on the left-hand one) May the insignia of honour glitter in these halls more brilliantly than the starry sky.

This was followed by a colophon in smaller characters: With the Respectful Compliments of your Fellow-

Student, Mu Shi, Hereditary Prince of Dong-an.

原來王夫人時常居坐宴息也不在這正室中，只在東邊的三間耳房內。於是嬤嬤們引黛玉進東房門來。臨窗大炕上鋪著猩紅洋毯，正面設著大紅金錢蟒引枕，秋香色金錢蟒大條褥。兩邊設一對梅花式洋漆小几：左邊几上擺著文王鼎，鼎旁匙箸香盒；右邊几上擺著汝窯美人觚，裡面插著時鮮花卉。地下面，西一溜四張大椅都搭著銀紅撒花椅搭，底下四副腳踏；兩邊又有一對高几，几上茗碗瓶花俱備。其餘陳設不必細說。

Lady Wang did not, however, normally spend her leisure hours in this main reception hall, but in a smaller room on the east side of the same building. Accordingly the nurses conducted Dai-yu through the door into this side apartment. Here there was a large kang underneath the window, covered with a scarlet Kashmir rug. In the middle of the kang was a dark-red bolster with a pattern of medallions in the form of tiny dragons, and a long russet-green seating strip in the same pattern. A low rose-shaped table of coloured lacquer-work stood at each side. On the left-hand one was a small, square, four-legged ding, together with a bronze ladle, metal chopsticks, and an incense container. On the right-hand one was a narrow-waisted Ru-ware imitation gu with a spray of freshly cut flowers in it. In the part of the room below the kang there was a row of four big chairs against the east wall. All had footstools in front of them and chair-backs and seat-covers in old rose brocade sprigged with flowers. There were also narrow side-tables on which tea things and vases of flowers were arranged, besides other furnishings which it would be superfluous to enumerate.

老嬤嬤讓黛玉上炕坐。炕沿上卻也有兩個錦褥對設。黛玉度其位次，便不上炕，只就東邊椅上坐了。本房的丫鬟忙捧上茶來。黛玉一面吃茶，一面打量這些丫鬟們，粧飾衣裙，舉止行動，果與別家不同。

The old nurses invited Dai-yu to get up on the kang; but guessing that the brocade cushions arranged one on each side near the edge of it must be her uncle’s and aunt’s places, she deemed it more proper to sit on one of the chairs against the wall below. The maids in charge of the apartment served tea, and as she sipped it Dai-yu observed that their clothing, make-up, and deportment were quite different from those of the maids she had seen so far in other parts of the mansion.

茶未吃了，只見一個穿紅綾襖青緞掐牙背心的丫鬟走來笑道：「太太說，請林姑娘到那邊坐罷。」老嬤嬤聽了，於是又引黛玉出來，到了東南三間小正房內。正面炕上橫設一張炕桌，上面堆著書籍茶具，靠東壁面西設著半舊的青緞靠背引枕。王夫人卻坐在西邊下首，－－亦是半舊青緞靠背坐褥－－見黛玉來了，便往東讓。黛玉心中料定這是賈政之位，因見挨炕一溜三張椅子上也搭著半舊的彈墨椅袱，黛玉便向椅上坐了。王夫人再三讓他上炕，他方挨王夫人坐下。王夫人因說：「你舅舅今日齋戒去了，再見罷。只是有一句話囑咐你：你三個姐妹倒都極好，以後一處念書，認字，學針線，或偶一頑笑，都有個儘讓的。我就只一件不放心：我有一個孽根禍胎，是家裡的『混世魔王』，今日因往廟裡還願去，尚未回來，晚上你看見就知道了。你只以後不要睬他，你這些姐姐妹妹都不敢沾惹他的。」

Before she had time to finish her tea, a smiling maid came in wearing a dress of red damask and a black silk sleeveless jacket which had scalloped borders of some coloured material. ‘The Mistress says will Miss Lin come over to the other side, please.’ The old nurses now led Dai-yu down the east gallery to a reception room at the side of the courtyard. This too had a kang. It was bisected by a long, low table piled with books and tea things. A much-used black satin back-rest was pushed up against the east wall. Lady Wang was seated on a black satin cushion and leaning against another comfortable-looking back-rest of black satin somewhat farther forward on the opposite side. Seeing her niece enter, she motioned her to sit opposite her on the kang, but Dai-yu felt sure that this must be her Uncle Zheng’s place. So, having observed a row of three chairs near the kang with covers of flower-sprigged brocade which looked as though they were in fairly constant use, she sat upon one of those instead. Only after much further pressing from her aunt would she get up on the kang, and even then she would only sit beside her and not in the position of honour opposite.

‘Your uncle is in retreat today,’ said Lady Wang. ‘He will see you another time. There is, however, something I have got to talk to you about. The three girls are very well-behaved children, and in future, when you are studying or sewing together, even if once in a while they may grow a bit high-spirited, I can depend on them not to go too far. There is only one thing that worries me. I have a little monster of a son who tyrannizes over all the rest of this household. He has gone off to the temple today in fulfillment of a vow and is not yet back; but you will see what I mean this evening. The thing to do is never to take any notice of him. None of your cousins dare provoke him.’

黛玉素聞母親說過，「有個內姪，乃啣玉而生，頑劣異常，不喜讀書，最喜在內幃廝混，外祖母又溺愛，無人敢管。」今見王夫人所說，便知是這位表兄，一面陪笑道：「舅母所說，可是那位啣玉而生的哥哥？在家時記得母親常說，這位哥哥比我大一歲，小名就叫寶玉，性雖憨頑，說待姊妹們卻是極好的。況我來了，自然和姊妹們一處，弟兄們是另院別房，豈有沾惹之理？」王夫人笑道：「你不知道原故。他和別人不同，自幼因老太太疼愛，原係和姐妹們一處嬌養慣了的。若姐妹們不理他，他倒還安靜些；若一日姐妹們和他多說了一句話，他心上一喜，便生出許多事來：所以囑咐你別理會他。他嘴裡一時甜言蜜語，一時有天沒日，瘋瘋傻傻，只休信他。」

Dai-yu had long ago been told by her mother that she had a boy cousin who was born with a piece of jade in his mouth and who was exceptionally wild and naughty. He hated study and liked to spend all his time in the women’s apartments with the girls, but because Grandmother Jia doted on him so much, no one ever dared to correct him. She realized that it must be this cousin her aunt was now referring to. ‘Do you mean the boy born with the jade, Aunt?’ she asked. ‘Mother often told me about him at home. She told me that he was one year older than me and that his name was Bao-yu. But she said that though he was very willful, he always behaved very nicely to girls. Now that I am here, I suppose I shall be spending all my time with my girl cousins and not in the same part of the house as the boys. Surely there will be no danger of my provoking him?’ Lady Wang gave a rueful smile. ‘You little know how things are here! Bao-yu is a law unto himself. Because your grandmother is so fond of him she has thoroughly spoiled him. When he was little he lived with the girls, so with the girls he remains now. As long as they take no notice of him, things run quietly enough. But if they give him the least encouragement, he at once becomes excitable, and then there is no end to the mischief he may get up to. That is why I counsel you to ignore him. He can be all honey-sweet words one minute and ranting and raving like a lunatic the next. So don’t believe anything he says.’

黛玉一一的都答應著。忽見一個丫鬟來說：「老太太那裡傳晚飯了。」王夫人忙攜了黛玉出後房門，由後廊往西出了角門，是一條南北甬路，南邊是倒座三間小小抱廈廳，北邊立著一個粉油大影壁，後有一個半大門，小小一所房屋。王夫人笑指向黛玉道：「這是你鳳姐姐的屋子，回來你好往這裡找他去。少什麼東西，只管和他說就是了。」這院門上也有幾個纔總角的小廝，都垂手侍立。

Dai-yu promised to follow her aunt’s advice. Just then a maid came in with a message that ‘Lady Jia said it was time for dinner’, whereupon Lady Wang took Dai-yu by the hand and hurried her out through a back door. Passing along a verandah which ran beneath the rear eaves of the hall they came to a corner gate through which they passed into an alley-way running north and south. At the south end it was traversed by a narrow little building with a short passage-way running through its middle. At the north end was a white painted screen wall masking a medium-sized gateway leading to a small courtyard in which stood a very little house. ‘That,’ said Lady Wang, pointing to the little house, ‘is where your Cousin Lian’s wife, Wang Xi-feng, lives, in case you want to see her later on. She is the person to talk to if there is anything you need.’ There were a few young pages at the gate of the courtyard who, when they saw Lady Wang coming, all stood to attention with their hands at their sides.

王夫人遂攜黛玉穿過一個東西穿堂，便是賈母的後院了，於是進入後房門。已有許多人在此伺候，見王夫人來，方安設桌椅。賈珠之妻李氏捧杯，熙鳳安箸，王夫人進羹。賈母正面榻上獨坐，兩旁四張空椅。熙鳳忙拉黛玉在左邊第一張椅子上坐下，黛玉十分推讓。賈母笑道：「你舅母和嫂子們是不在這裡吃飯的，你是客，原該這麼坐。」黛玉方告了坐，就坐了。賈母命王夫人也坐了。迎春姊妹三個告了坐方上來，迎春坐右手第一，探春左第二，惜春右第二。旁邊丫鬟執著拂塵漱盂巾帕。李紈鳳姐立於案旁佈讓。外間伺候的媳婦丫鬟雖多，卻連一聲咳嗽不聞。飯畢，各各有丫鬟用小茶盤捧上茶來。當日林家教女以惜福養身，每飯後必過片時方吃茶，不傷脾胃。今黛玉見了這裡許多規矩不似家中，也只得隨和著些。接了茶，又有人捧過漱盂來，黛玉也漱了口。又盥手畢，然後又捧上茶來，這方是吃的茶。

Lady Wang now led Dai-yu along a gallery, running from east to west, which brought them out into the courtyard behind Grandmother Jia’s apartments. Entering these by a back entrance, they found a number of servants waiting there who, as soon as they saw Lady Wang, began to arrange the table and chairs for dinner. The ladies of the house themselves took part in the service. Li Wan brought in the cups, Xi-feng laid out the chopsticks, and Lady Wang brought in the soup. The table at which Grandmother Jia presided, seated alone on a couch, had two empty chairs on either side. Xi-feng tried to seat Dai-yu in the one on the left nearer to her grandmother —an honour which she strenuously resisted until her grandmother explained that her aunt and her elder cousins’ wives would not be eating with them, so that, since she was a guest, the place was properly hers. Only then did she ask permission to sit, as etiquette prescribed. Grandmother Jia then ordered Lady Wang to be seated. This was the cue for the three girls to ask permission to sit. Ying-chun sat in the first place on the right opposite Dai-yu, Tan-chun sat second on the left, and Xi-chun sat second on the right. While Li Wan and Xi-feng stood by the table helping to distribute food from the dishes, maids holding fly-whisks, spittoons, and napkins ranged themselves on either side. In addition to these, there were numerous other maids and serving-women in attendance in the outer room, yet not so much as a cough was heard throughout the whole of the meal. When they had finished eating, a maid served each diner with tea on a little tray. Dai-yu’s parents had brought their daughter up to believe that good health was founded on careful habits, and in pursuance of this principle, had always insisted that after a meal one should allow a certain interval to elapse before taking tea in order to avoid indigestion. However, she could see that many of the rules in this household were different from the ones she had been used to at home; so, being anxious to conform as much as possible, she accepted the tea. But as she did so, another maid preferred a spittoon, from which she inferred that the tea was for rinsing her mouth with. And it was not, in fact, until they had all rinsed out their mouths and washed their hands that another lot of tea was served, this time for drinking.

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：「剛念了《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。」

Grandmother Jia now dismissed her lady servers, observing that she wished to enjoy a little chat with her young grand children without the restraint of their grown-up presence. Lady Wang obediently rose to her feet and, after exchanging a few pleasantries, went out, taking Li Wan and Wang Xi-feng with her. Grandmother Jia asked Dai-yu what books she was studying. ‘The Four Books,’  said Dai-yu, and inquired in turn what books her cousins were currently engaged on. ‘Gracious, child, they don’t study books,’ said her grandmother; ‘they can barely read and write!’

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。

While they were speaking, a flurry of footsteps could be heard outside and a maid came in to say that Bao-yu was back. ‘I wonder,’ thought Dai-yu, ‘just what sort of graceless creature this Bao-yu is going to be!’ The young gentleman who entered in answer to her un-spoken question had a small jewel-encrusted gold coronet on the top of his head and a golden headband low down over his brow in the form of two dragons playing with a large pearl. He was wearing a narrow-sleeved, full-skirted robe of dark red material with a pattern of flowers and butterflies in two shades of gold. It was confined at the waist with a court girdle of coloured silks braided at regular intervals into elaborate clusters of knotwork and terminating in long tassels. Over the upper part of his robe he wore a jacket of slate-blue Japanese silk damask with a raised pattern of eight large medallions on the front and with tasselled borders. On his feet he had half-length dress boots of black satin with thick white soles. As to his person, he had: a face like the moon of Mid-Autumn, a complexion like flowers at dawn, a hairline straight as a knife-cut, eyebrows that might have been painted by an artist’s brush, a shapely nose, and eyes clear as limpid pools, that even in anger seemed to smile, and, as they glared, beamed tenderness the while. Around his neck he wore a golden torque in the likeness of a dragon and a woven cord of coloured silks to which the famous jade was attached.

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；下面半露松綠撒花綾褲，錦邊彈墨襪，厚底大紅鞋。越顯得面如敷粉，唇若施脂，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！

Dai-yu looked at him with astonishment. How strange! How very strange! It was as though she had seen him somewhere before, he was so extraordinarily familiar. Bao-yu went straight past her and saluted his grandmother, who told him to come after he had seen his mother, whereupon he turned round and walked straight out again. Quite soon he was back once more, this time dressed in a completely different outfit. The crown and circlet had gone. She could now see that his side hair was dressed in a number of small braids plaited with red silk, which were drawn round to join the long hair at the back in a single large queue of glistening jet black, fastened at intervals from the nape downwards with four enormous pearls and ending in a jewelled gold clasp. He had changed his robe and jacket for a rather more worn-looking rose-coloured gown, sprigged with flowers. He wore the gold torque and his jade as before, and she observed that the collection of objects round his neck had been further augmented by a padlock-shaped amulet and a lucky charm. A pair of ivy-coloured embroidered silk trousers were partially visible beneath his gown, thrust into black and white socks trimmed with brocade. In place of the formal boots he was wearing thick-soled crimson slippers.

She was even more struck than before by his fresh complexion. The cheeks might have been brushed with powder and the lips touched with rouge, so bright was their natural colour. 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. In short, his outward appearance was very fine. But appearances can be misleading. A perceptive poet has supplied two sets of verses, to be sung to the tune of Moon On West River, which contain a more accurate appraisal of our hero than the foregoing descriptions.

Oft-times he sought out what would make him sad; Sometimes an idiot seemed and sometimes mad.

Though outwardly a handsome sausage-skin, He proved to have but sorry meat within.

A harum-scarum, to all duty blind, A doltish mule, to study disinclined;

His acts outlandish and his nature queer; Yet not a whit cared he how folk might jeer!

Prosperous, he could not play his part with grace, Nor, poor, bear hardship with a smiling face. So shamefully the precious hours he’d waste that both indoors and out he was disgraced. For uselessness the world’s prize he might bear; His gracelessness in history has no peer. Let gilded youths who every dainty sample Not imitate this rascal’s dire example!

卻說賈母見他進來，笑道：「外客沒見就脫了衣裳了？－－還不去見你妹妹呢。」寶玉早已看見了一個嬝嬝婷婷的女兒，便料定是林姑媽之女，忙來見禮。歸了座，細看時，真是與眾各別。只見：兩彎似蹙非蹙籠煙眉，一雙似喜非喜含情目。態生兩靨之愁，嬌襲一身之病。淚光點點，嬌喘微微。閒靜似嬌花照水，行動如弱柳扶風。心較比干多一竅，病如西子勝三分。

‘Fancy changing your clothes before you have welcomed the visitor!’ Grandmother Jia chided indulgently on seeing Bao-yu back again. ‘Aren’t you going to pay your respects to your cousin?’ Bao-yu had already caught sight of a slender, delicate girl whom he surmised to be his Aunt Lin’s daughter and quickly went over to greet her. Then, returning to his place and taking a seat, he studied her attentively. How different she seemed from the other girls he knew!

Her mist-wreathed brows at first seemed to frown, yet were not frowning;

Her passionate eyes at first seemed to smile, yet were not merry.

Habit had given a melancholy cast to her tender face; Nature had bestowed a sickly constitution on her delicate frame.

Often the eyes swam with glistening tears; Often the breath came in gentle gasps.

In stillness she made one think of a graceful flower reflected in the water; In motion she called to mind tender willow shoots caressed by the wind.

She had more chambers in her heart than the martyred Bi Gan; And suffered a tithe more pain in it than the beautiful Xi Shi.

寶玉看罷，笑道：「這個妹妹，我曾見過的。」賈母笑道：「又胡說了。你何曾見過？」寶玉笑道：「雖沒見過，卻看著面善，心裡倒像是舊相認識，恍若遠別重逢的一般。」賈母笑道：「好，好！這麼更相和睦了。」

Having completed his survey, Bao-yu gaved a laugh. ‘I have seen this cousin before.’ ‘Nonsense!’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘How could you possibly have done?’ ‘Well, perhaps not,’ said Bao-yu, ‘but her face seems so familiar that I have the impression of meeting her again after a long separation.’ ‘All the better,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘That means that you should get on well together.’

寶玉便走向黛玉身邊坐下，又細細打量一番，因問：「妹妹可曾讀書？」黛玉道：「不曾讀書，只上了一年學，些須認得幾個字。」寶玉又道：「妹妹尊名？」黛玉便說了名。寶玉又道：「表字？」黛玉道：「無字。」寶玉笑道：「我送妹妹一字，莫若『顰顰』二字，極妙。」探春便道：「何處出典？」寶玉道：「《古今人物通考》上說：『西方有石名黛，可代畫眉之墨。』況這妹妹，眉尖若蹙，取這個字，豈不甚美？」探春笑道：「只怕又是杜撰！」寶玉笑道：「除了《四書》，杜撰的也太多呢。」因又問黛玉：「可有玉沒有？」眾人都不解。黛玉便忖度著「因他有玉，所以纔問我的」，便答道：「我沒有玉。你那玉也是件稀罕物兒，豈能人人皆有？」

Bao-yu moved over again and, drawing a chair up beside Dai-yu, recommenced his scrutiny. Presently: ‘Do you study books yet, cousin?’ ‘No,’ said Dai-yu. ‘I have only been taking lessons for a year or so. I can barely read and write.’ ‘What’s your name?’ Dai-yu told him. ‘What’s your school-name?’ ‘I haven’t got one.’ Bao-yu laughed. ‘I’ll give you one, cousin. I think “Frowner” would suit you perfectly.’ ‘Where’s your reference?’ said Tan-chun. ‘In the Encyclopedia of Men and Objects Ancient and Modern it says that somewhere in the West there is a mineral called “dai” which can be used instead of eye-black for painting the eyebrows with. She has this “dai” in her name and she knits her brows together in a little frown. I think it’s a splendid name for her!’

‘I expect you made it up,’ said Tan-chun scornfully. ‘What if I did?’ said Bao-yu. ‘There are lots of made-up things in books—apart from the Four Books,  of course.’ He returned to his interrogation of Dai-yu. ‘Have you got a jade?’ The test of the company were puzzled, hut Dai-yu at once divined that he was asking her if she too had a jade like the one he was born with. ‘No,’ said Dal-yu. ‘That jade of yours is a very rare object. You can’t expect everybody to have one.’

寶玉聽了，登時發作起狂病來，摘下那玉，就狠命摔去，罵道：「什麼罕物！人的高下不識，還說靈不靈呢！我也不要這勞什子！」嚇的地下眾人一擁爭去拾玉。賈母急的摟了寶玉，道：「孽障！你生氣，要打罵人容易，何苦摔那命根子！」寶玉滿面淚痕，哭道：「家裡姐姐妹妹都沒有，單我有，我說沒趣兒；如今來了這個神仙似的妹妹也沒有，可知這不是個好東西。」賈母忙哄他道：「你這妹妹原有玉來著，因你姑媽去世時，捨不得你妹妹，無法可處，遂將他的玉帶了去：一則全殉葬之禮，盡你妹妹的孝心；二則你姑媽的陰靈兒也可權作見了你妹妹了。因此，他說沒有，也是不便誇張的意思啊。你還不好生帶上，仔細你娘知道！」說著，便向丫鬟手中接來，親與他帶上。寶玉聽如此說，想了一想，也就不生別論。

This sent Bao-yu off instantly into one of his mad fits. Snatching the jade from his neck he hurled it violently on the floor as if to smash it and began abusing it passionately. ‘Rare object! Rare object! What’s so lucky about a stone that can’t even tell which people are better than others? Beastly thing! I don’t want it!’ The maids all seemed terrified and rushed forward to pick it up, while Grandmother Jia clung to Bao-yu in alarm. ‘Naughty, naughty boy! Shout at someone or strike them if you like when you are in a nasty temper, but why go smashing that precious thing that your very life depends on?’ ‘None of the girls has got one,’ said Bao-yu, his face streaming with tears and sobbing hysterically. ‘Only I have got one. It always upsets me. And now this new cousin comes here who is as beautiful as an angel and she hasn’t got one either; so I know it can’t be any good.’ ‘Your cousin did have a jade once,’ said Grandmother Jia, coaxing him like a little child, ‘but because when Auntie died she couldn’t bear to leave her little girl behind, they had to let her take the jade with her instead. In that way your cousin could show her mamma how much she loved her by letting the jade be buried with her; and at the same time, whenever Auntie’s spirit looked at the jade, it would be just like looking at her own little girl again. ‘So when your cousin said she hadn’t got one, it was only because she didn’t want to boast about the good, kind thing she did when she gave it to her mamma. Now you put yours on again like a good boy, and mind your mother doesn’t find out how naughty you have been.’ So saying, she took the jade from the hands of one of the maids and hung it round his neck for him. And Bao-yu, after reflecting for a moment or two on what she had said, offered no further resistance.

當下奶娘來問黛玉房舍。賈母便說：「將寶玉挪出來，同我在套間暖閣裡，把林姑娘暫且安置在碧紗櫥裡。等過了殘冬，春天再給他們收拾房屋，另作一番安置罷。」寶玉道：「好祖宗！我就在碧紗櫥外的床上很妥當，又何必出來鬧的老祖宗不得安靜呢？」賈母想一想，說：「也罷了。」每人一個奶娘並一個丫頭照管，餘者在外間上夜聽喚。一面早有熙鳳命人送了一頂藕合色花帳並錦被緞褥之類。

At this point some of the older women came to inquire what room Dai-yu was to sleep in. ‘Move Bao-yu into the closet-bed with me,’ said Grandmother Jia, ‘and put Miss Lin for the time being in the green muslin summer-bed. We had better wait until spring when the last of the cold weather is over before seeing about the rooms for them and getting them settled permanently.’

‘Dearest Grannie,’ said Bao-yu pleadingly, ‘I should be perfectly all right next to the summer-bed. There’s no need to move me into your room. I should only keep you awake.’ Grandmother Jia, after a moment’s reflection, gave her consent. She further gave instructions that Dai-yu and Bao-yu were each to have one nurse and one maid to sleep with them. The rest of their servants were to do night duty by rota in the adjoining room. Xi-feng had already sent across some lilac-coloured hangings, brocade quilts, satin coverlets and the like for Dai-yu’s bedding.

黛玉只帶了兩個人來：一個是自己的奶娘王嬤嬤，一個是十歲的小丫頭，名喚雪雁。賈母見雪雁甚小，一團孩氣，王嬤嬤又極老，料黛玉皆不遂心，將自己身邊一個二等小丫頭，名喚鸚哥的，與了黛玉。亦如迎春等一般：每人除自幼乳母外，另有四個教引嬤嬤；除貼身掌管釵釧盥沐兩個丫頭外，另有四五個灑掃房屋來往使役的小丫頭。

Dai-yu had brought only two of her own people with her from home. One was her old wet-nurse Nannie Wang, the other was a little ten-year-old maid called Snowgoose. Considering Snowgoose too young and irresponsible and Nannie Wang too old and decrepit to be of much real service, Grandmother Jia gave Dai-yu one of her own maids, a body-servant of the second grade called Nightingale. She also gave orders that Dai-yu and Bao-yu were to be attended in other respects exactly like the three girls: that is to say, apart from the one wet-nurse, each was to have four other nurses to act as chaperones, two maids as body-servants to attend to their washing, dressing, and so forth, and four or five maids for dusting and cleaning, running errands and general duties.

當下王嬤嬤與鸚哥陪侍黛玉在碧紗櫥內；寶玉乳母李嬤嬤並大丫頭名喚襲人的陪侍在外面大床上。

These arrangements completed, Nannie Wang and Night-ingale accompanied Dai-yu to bed inside the tent-like summer-bed, while Bao-yu’s wet-nurse Nannie Li and his chief maid Aroma settled him down for the night in a big bed on the other side of the canopy.

原來這襲人亦是賈母之婢，本名蕊珠。賈母因溺愛寶玉，恐寶玉之婢不中使，素喜蕊珠心地純良，遂與寶玉。寶玉因知他本姓花，又曾見舊人詩句有「花氣襲人」之句，遂回明賈母，即把蕊珠更名襲人。

Like Nightingale, Aroma had previously been one of Grandmother Jia’s own maids. Her real name was Pearl. Bao-yu’s grandmother, fearful that the maids who already waited on her darling boy could not be trusted to look after him properly, had picked out Pearl as a girl of tried and conspicuous fidelity and put her in charge over them. It was Bao-yu who was responsible for the curious name ‘Aroma’. Discovering that Pearl’s surname was Hua, which means ‘Flowers’, and having recently come across the line The flowers’ aroma breathes of hotter days in a book of poems, he told his grandmother that he wanted to call his new maid ‘Aroma’, so ‘Aroma’ her name thenceforth became.

卻說這襲人倒有些癡處：伏侍賈母時，心中只有賈母；如今跟了寶玉，心中又只有寶玉了。只因寶玉性情乖僻，每每規諫，見寶玉不聽，心中著實憂鬱。是晚，寶玉李嬤嬤已睡了。他見裡面黛玉鸚哥猶未安歇，他自卸了粧，悄悄的進來，笑問：「姑娘怎麼還不安歇？」黛玉忙笑讓：「姐姐請坐。」襲人在床沿上坐了。鸚哥笑道：「林姑娘在這裡傷心，自己淌眼抹淚的說：『今兒纔來了，就惹出你家哥兒的狂病來。倘或摔壞了那玉，豈不是因我之過？』所以傷心。我好容易勸好了。」襲人道：「姑娘快別這麼著！將來只怕比這更奇怪的笑話兒還有呢。若為他這種行狀，你多心傷感，只怕你還傷感不了呢。快別多心！」黛玉道：「姐姐們說的，我記著就是了。」又敘了一回，方纔安歇。

Aroma had a certain dogged streak in her nature which had made her utterly devoted to Grandmother Jia as long as she was Grandmother Jia’s servant, but which caused her to become just as exclusively and single-mindedly devoted to Bao-yu when her services were transferred to him. Since she found his character strange and incomprehensible, her simple devotion frequently impelled her to remonstrate with him, and when, as invariably happened, he took not the least notice of what she said, she was worried and hurt. That night, when Bao-yu and Nannie Li were already asleep, Aroma could hear that Dai-yu and Nightingale on their side of the canopy had still not settled down, so, when she had finished taking down her hair and making herself ready for bed, she tiptoed through the muslin curtains and in a friendly way inquired what was the matter. Dai-yu invited her to sit down, and when she had seated herself on the edge of the bed, Nightingale proceeded to tell her what was troubling her new mistress.

‘Miss Lin is all upset. She has just been crying her eyes out because she says she only justy, and yet arrived here toda already she has started young hopeful off on one of his turns. She says if that jade had been really smashed, it would have been all her fault. That’s what she’s so upset about. I’ve had no end of a job trying to comfort her.’ ‘You mustn’t take on so, Miss,’ said Aroma. ‘You’ll see him do much stranger things than that before he’s finished. If you allow yourself to feel hurt every time he carries on like that, he will always be hurting you. Try not to be so sensitive; Miss!’

Dai-yu thanked her and promised to bear in mind what she had said, and after talking a little longer, they all settled down and went to sleep.

次早起來，省過賈母，因往王夫人處來。正值王夫人與熙鳳在一處拆金陵來的書信，又有王夫人的兄嫂處遣來的兩個媳婦兒來說話。黛玉雖不知原委，探春等卻曉得是議論金陵城中居住的薛家姨母之子－－表兄薛蟠，倚財仗勢打死人命，現在應天府案下審理。如今舅舅王子騰得了信，遣人來告訴這邊，意欲喚取進京之意。

Rising early next day, they visited Grandmother Jia to wish her a good morning and then went over to Lady Wang’s. They found her closeted with Wang Xi-feng, deep in discussion of a letter which had just arrived from Nanking, and attended by two women who had come with a message from Lady Wang’s elder brother and sister-in-law. Tan-chun and the girls told Dai-yu, who knew nothing of the matter under discussion, that they were talking about Xue Pan, the son of their Aunt Xue who lived in Nanking.

It seemed that Xue Pan, relying on wealth and family pull to protect him from the consequences, had taken another man’s life. The case was at present under investigation by the Ying-tian-fu yamen. Their uncle Wang Zi-teng had been informed of it, and had sent these messengers to the members of the family in the Rong mansion to suggest that they should invite Xue Pan to the capital.

畢竟怎的，下回分解。

But the outcome of this discussion will be dealt with in the following chapter.

CHAPTER 2 A daughter of the Jias ends her days in Yangchow city And Leng Zi-xing discourses on the Jias of Rong-guo House

卻說封肅聽見公差傳喚，忙出來陪笑啟問。那些人只嚷：「快請出甄爺來！」封肅忙陪笑道：「小人姓封，並不姓甄。只有當日小婿姓甄，今已出家一二年了。不知可是問他？」那些公人道：「我們也不知什麼『真』『假』！既是你的女婿，就帶了你去面稟太爺便了。」大家把封肅推擁而去。

Hearing the clamour of yamen runners outside, Feng Su hurried to the door, his face wreathed in smiles, to ask what they wanted. ‘Tell Mr Zhen to step outside,’ they were shouting. ‘Hurry!’ Feng Su’s smile became even more ingratiating. ‘My name is Feng, not Zhen. My son-in-law’s name is Zhen, but he left home to become a Taoist more than a year ago. Could he be the one you want?’ ‘“Feng” or “Zhen”, it’s all the same to us,’ said the runners; ‘but if you’re his father-in-law you’d better come along with us to see the magistrate.’

1. clamour: to make a loud complaint or demand （傳喚）
2. wreathed: to cover or surround something
3. ingratiating: ingratiating behavior is intended to make people like you （諂媚）
4. magistrate: a person who acts as a judge in a law court that deals with crimes that are less serious （縣太爺）

封家各各驚慌，不知何事。至二更時分，封肅方回來，眾人忙問端的。「原來新任太爺姓賈，名化，本湖州人氏，曾與女婿舊交，因在我家門首看見嬌杏丫頭買線，只當女婿移住此間，所以來傳。我將緣故回明，那太爺感傷歎息了一回，又問外孫女兒。我說：『看燈丟了。』太爺說：『不妨，待我差人去，務必找尋回來。』說了一回話，臨走又送我二兩銀子。」甄家娘子聽了，不覺感傷。一夜無話。

And they hustled him off, leaving the entire household in a state of panic, quite at a loss to know what the trouble could be. It was ten o’clock before Feng Su returned, and everyone pressed him to give a full account of what had transpired. ‘It seems that the new mandarin is a Hu-zhou man called Jia. He used to be an acquaintance of Shi-yin’s in the old days. He guessed that Shi-yin must have moved to these parts when he saw our Lucky in the doorway buying silks. That’s why he sent the runners here.

1. transpired: If it transpires that something has happened, this previously secret or unknown fact becomes known

I explained what had happened to Shi-yin, and he seemed very upset. Then he asked me about Ying-lian, and I said she was lost while out watching the lanterns. “Never mind,” he said, “wait till I send some people out to look for her. We shall have her back in no time.” Then we chatted a bit longer, and last as I was going, he gave me two taels of silver.’ Mrs Zhen could not help being affected by this account. But the rest of that night we pass over in silence.

次日早有雨村遣人送了兩封銀子，四疋錦緞，答謝甄家娘子；又一封密書與封肅，託他向甄家娘子要那嬌杏作二房。封肅喜得眉開眼笑，巴不得去奉承太爺，便在女兒前一力攛掇，當夜用一乘小轎，便把嬌杏送進衙內去了。雨村歡喜，自不必言，又封百金贈與封肅。又送甄家娘子許多禮物，命其且自過活，以待訪尋女兒下落。

Early next day a messenger arrived from Yu-cun bearing two packets of silver and four bolts of silk brocade for Mrs Zhen as a token of the sender’s gratitude. There was also a confidential letter for Feng Su commissioning him to ask Mrs Zhen for Lucky’s hand as Yu-cun’s second wife. Enraptured at the prospect of doing a good turn for a mandarin, Feng Su hastened to urge upon his daughter the importance of complying with this request, and that very night Lucky was bundled into a small covered chair and carried off to the yamen.

1. bolts: a metal bar on a door or window that slides across to lock it closed
2. brocade: heavy cloth with a raised design often of gold or silver threads
3. Enraptured: filled with great pleasure or extremely pleased by something
4. hastened: to make something happen sooner or more quickly
5. bundled: a number of things that have been fastened or are held together

Yu-cun’s delight goes without saying. Another hundred taels of silver were despatched to Feng Su, together with a number of good things for Mrs Zhen, to cheer and sustain her until such time as her daughter’s whereabouts could be discovered.

1. despatched: to send something, especially goods or a message, somewhere for a particular purpose

卻說嬌杏那丫頭便是當年回顧雨村的。因偶然一看，便弄出這段奇緣，也是意想不到之事。誰知他命運兩濟：不承望自到雨村身邊，只一年，便生一子；又半載，雨村嫡配忽染疾下世，雨村便將他扶作正室夫人。正是：「偶因一回顧，便為人上人。」

Lucky was, of course, the maid who had once turned back to look at Yu-cun when they were living at the house in Soochow. She could scarcely have foreseen at the time what singular good fortune that one glance would procure for her. But she was destined to be doubly fortunate. She had not been with Yu-cun more than a year when she gave birth to a son; and a mere six months later Yu-cun’s first wife died, whereupon Lucky was promoted to fill her place and became Her Lady ship. As the proverb says,

Sometimes by chance, A look or a glance May one’s fortune advance.

1. scarcely: almost not
2. procure: to get something

原來雨村因那年士隱贈銀之後，他於十六日便起身赴京，大比之期，十分得意，中了進士，選入外班，今已陞了本縣太爺。雖才幹優長，未免貪酷，且恃才侮上，那同寅皆側目而視。不上一年，便被上司參了一本，說他「貌似有才，性實狡猾」；又題了一兩件徇庇蠹役，交結鄉紳之事。龍顏大怒，即命革職。部文一到，本府各官無不喜悅。那雨村雖十分慚恨，面上卻全無一點怨色，仍是嘻笑自若。交代過了公事，將歷年所積的宦囊並家屬人等送至原籍安頓妥當了，卻自己擔風袖月，遊覽天下勝跡。那日偶又游至維揚地方，聞得今年鹽政點的是林如海。

蠹：dù 比喻從中破壞或侵耗財物的人

When Yu-cun received the gift of money from Zhen Shi-yin he had left for the capital on the day after the festival. He had done well in the Triennial examination, passing out as a Palace Graduate, and had been selected for external service. And now he had been promoted to the magistracy of this district. But although his intelligence and ability were outstanding, these qualities were unfortunately offset by a certain cupidity and harshness and a tendency to use his intelligence in order to outwit his superiors; all of which caused his fellow-officials to cast envious glances in his direction, with the result that in less than a year an unfavourable report was sent in by a senior official stating that his ‘seeming ability was no more than a mask for cunning and duplicity’ and citing one or two instances in which he had aided and abetted the peculations of his underlings or allied himself with powerful local interests in order to frustrate the course of justice. The imperial eye, lighting on this report, kindled with wrath.

1. cupidity: a strong feeling of wanting to have something, especially money or possessions
2. outwit: to get an advantage over someone by acting more cleverly and often by using a trick
3. cunning: Cunning people are good at planning something so that they get what they want, especially by tricking other people, or things that are cleverly made for a particular purpose
4. duplicity: dishonest talk or behavior, especially by saying different things to two people
5. abetted: to help or encourage someone to do something wrong or illegal
6. peculations
7. wrath: extreme anger

Yu-cun’s instant dismissal was commanded. The officials at the Prefecture, when notice that he was to be cashiered arrived from the Ministry, rejoiced to a man. But Yu-cun, in spite of all the shame and chagrin that he felt, allowed no glimmer of resentment to appear on his face. Indeed, he joked and smiled as before, and when the business of handing over was completed, he took his wife and family and the loot he had accumulated during his years of office and having settled them all safely in his native Hu-zhou, set off, free as the air, on an extended tour of some of the more celebrated places of scenic interest in our mighty empire. One day Yu-cun chanced to be staying in the Yangchow area when he heard that the Salt Commissioner for that year was a certain Lin Ru-hai.

1. chagrin: disappointment or anger, especially when caused by a failure or mistake
2. glimmer: to shine with a weak light or a light that is not continuous
3. loot: money and valuable objects that have been stolen, especially by an army from a defeated enemy or by thieves
4. empire: a group of countries ruled by a single person, government, or country

這林如海，姓林，名海，表字如海，乃是前科的探花，今已陞蘭台寺大夫。本貫姑蘇人氏，今欽點為巡鹽御史，到任未久。原來這林如海之祖也曾襲過列侯的，今到如海，業經五世。起初只襲三世，因當今隆恩盛德，額外加恩，至如海之父又襲了一代，到了如海便從科第出身。雖係世祿之家，卻是書香之族。只可惜這林家支庶不盛，人丁有限，雖有幾門，卻與如海俱是堂族，沒甚親支嫡派的。今如海年已五十，只有一個三歲之子，又於去歲亡了，雖有幾房姬妾，奈命中無子，亦無可奈何之事。只嫡妻賈氏生得一女，乳名黛玉，年方五歲，夫妻愛之如掌上明珠。見他生得聰明俊秀，也欲使他識幾個字，不過假充養子，聊解膝下荒涼之歎。

This Lin Ru-hai had passed out Florilege, or third in the whole list of successful candidates, in a previous Triennial, and had lately been promoted to the Censorate. He was a Soochow man and had not long taken up his duties in Yangchow following his nomination by the emperor as Visiting Inspector in that area. Lin Ru-hai came of an aristocratic family and was himself fifth in line since his ancestor’s ennoblement. The original patent had been inheritable only up to the third generation, and it was only through the magnanimity of the reigning sovereign that an exceptional act of grace had extended it for a further generation in the case of Lin Ru-hai’s father. Lin Ru-hai himself had therefore been obliged to make his way up through the examination system.

1. nomination: to officially suggest someone for an election, job, position, or honor
2. aristocratic: belonging to a class of people who hold high social rank
3. magnanimity: kindness and generosity, especially toward an enemy or someone you have defeated
4. reigning: being the most recent winner of a competition

It was fortunate for him that, though the family had up to his time enjoyed hereditary emoluments, it had nevertheless enjoined a high standard of education on all of its members. Lin Ru-hai was less fortunate, however, in belonging to a family whose numbers were dwindling. He could still point to several related households, but they were all on the distaff side. There was not a single relation in the direct line who bore his name. Already he was fifty, and his only son had died the year before at the age of three. And although he kept several concubines, he seemed fated to have no son, and had all but resigned himself to this melancholy fact.

1. hereditary: (of characteristics or diseases) passed from the genes of a parent to a child, or (of titles and positions in society) passed from parent to a child as a right
2. emoluments: payment for work in the form of money or something else of value
3. dwindling: gradually becoming smaller in size or amount, or fewer in number
4. concubines: a woman who, in some societies, lives and has sex with a man she is not married to, and has a lower social rank than his wife or wives
5. melancholy: sad

His chief wife, who had been a Miss Jia, had given him a daughter called Dai-yu. Both parents doted on her, and because she showed exceptional intelligence, conceived the idea of giving her a rudimentary education as a substitute for bringing up a son, hoping in this way somewhat to alleviate the sense of desolation left by the death of their only heir.

1. doted: (dote on someone) is to love someone completely and believe they are perfect
2. rudimentary: basic
3. desolation: the state of a place that is empty or where everything has been destroyed

且說雨村在旅店偶感風寒，愈後又因盤費不繼，正欲得一居停之所，以為息肩之地。偶遇兩個舊友，認得新鹽政，知他正要請一西席教訓女兒，遂將雨村薦進衙門去。這女學生年紀幼小，身體又弱，功課不限多寡，其餘不過兩個伴讀丫鬟，故雨村十分省力，正好養病。

Now Jia Yu-cun had had the misfortune to catch a severe chill while staying in his lodgings at Yangchow, and after his recovery, found himself somewhat short of cash. He was therefore already looking around for some more permanent haven where he could rest and recuperate, when he chanced to run into two old friends who were acquainted with the new Salt Commissioner and who, knowing that the latter was looking for a suitable tutor for his daughter, took Yu-cun along to the yamen and introduced him, with the result that he was given the job. Since Yu-cun’s pupil was both very young and rather delicate, there were no regular hours of instruction; and as she had only a couple of little maids studying with her for company who stayed away when she did, Yu-cun’s employment was far from arduous and left ample time for convalescence.

1. recuperate: to become well again after an illness; to get back your strength, health, etc.
2. latter: near or toward the end of something
3. pupil: a person, especially a child at school, who is being taught
4. arduous: difficult, needing a lot of effort and energy
5. convalescence: a period to rest in order to get better after an illness

看看又是一載有餘，不料女學生之母賈氏夫人一病而亡。女學生奉侍湯藥，守喪盡禮，過於哀痛，素本怯弱，因此舊病復發，有好些時不曾上學。雨村閒居無聊，每當風日晴和，飯後便出來閒步。這一日，偶至郊外，意欲賞鑒那村野風光。信步至一山環水漩茂林修竹之處，隱隱有座廟宇，門巷傾頹，牆垣剝落，有額題曰「智通寺」。門旁又有一副舊破的對聯云：「身後有餘忘縮手，眼前無路想回頭。」雨村看了，因想到：「這兩句，文雖甚淺，其意則深。也曾遊過些名山大剎，倒不曾見過這話頭。其中想必有個翻過筋斗來的也未可知，何不進去一訪？」走入看時，只有一個龍鍾老僧在那裡煮粥。雨村見了，卻不在意，及至問他兩句話，那老僧既聾且昏，又齒落舌鈍，所答非所問。

A year or more passed uneventfully and then, quite un-expectedly, Lin Ru-hai’s wife took ill and died. Yu-cun’s little pupil helped with the nursing throughout her mother’s last illness and mourned for her bitterly after her death. The extra strain this placed on her always delicate constitution brought on a severe attack of a recurrent sickness, and for a long time she was unable to pursue her lessons. Bored by his enforced idleness, Yu-cun took to going for walks as soon as lunch was over whenever the weather was warm and sunny. One day a desire to savour country sights and sounds led him outside the city walls, and as he walked along with no fixed destination in mind, he presently found himself in a place ringed with hills and full of murmuring brooks and tall stands of bamboo where a temple stood half-hidden among the trees.

1. mourned: to feel or express great sadness, especially because of someone’s death
2. strain: a force or influence that stretches, pulls, or puts pressure on something, sometimes causing damage
3. savour: to enjoy food or an experience slowly, in order to enjoy it as much as possible
4. murmuring: to speak or say something very quietly
5. brooks: a small stream

The walled approach to the gateway had fallen in and parts of the surrounding wall were in ruins. A board above the gate announced the temple’s name: THE TEMPLE OF PERFECT KNOWLEDGE, while two cracked and worn uprights at the sides of the gate were inscribed with the following couplet:

(on the right-hand side)As long as there is a sufficiency behind you, you press greedily forward.

 (on the left-hand side)It is only when there is no road in front of you that you think of turning back.

‘The wording is commonplace to a degree,’ Yu-cun reflected, ‘yet the sentiment is quite profound. In all the famous temples and monasteries I have visited, I cannot recollect having ever seen anything quite like it. I shouldn’t be surprised to find that some story of spectacular downfall and dramatic conversion lay behind this inscription. It might be worth going in and inquiring.’ But when he went inside and looked around, he saw only an ancient, wizened monk cooking some gruel who paid no attention whatsoever to his greetings and who proved, when Yu-cun went up to him and asked him a few questions, to be both deaf and partially blind. His toothless replies were all but unintelligible, and in any case bore no relation to the questions.

1. commonplace: happening often or often seen or experienced and so not considered to be special
2. monasteries: a building in which monks live and worship
3. wizened: small and having dry skin with lines in it, especially because of old age
4. gruel: a cheap simple food made, especially in the past, by boiling oats with water or milk

雨村不耐煩，仍退出來，意欲到那村肆中沽飲三杯，以助野趣，於是移步行來。剛入肆門，只見座上吃酒之客，有一人起身大笑，接了出來，口內說：「奇遇，奇遇！」雨村忙看時，此人是都中古董行中貿易，姓冷號子興的，舊日在都相識。雨村最讚這冷子興是個有作為大本領的人，這子興又借雨村斯文之名，故二人最相投契。雨村忙亦笑問：「老兄何日到此？弟竟不知。今日偶遇，真奇緣也！」子興道：「去歲年底到家。今因還要入都，從此順路找個敝友說一句話，承他的情，留我多住兩日。我也無甚緊事，且盤桓兩日，待月半時也就起身了。今日敝友有事，我因閒走到此，不期這樣巧遇！」一面說，一面讓雨村同席坐了，另整上酒肴來，二人閒談慢飲，敘些別後之事。

Yu-cun walked out again in disgust. He now thought that in order to give the full rural flavour to his outing he would treat himself to a few cups of wine in a little country inn and accordingly directed his steps towards the near-by village. He had scarcely set foot inside the door of the village inn when one of the men drinking at separate tables inside rose up and advanced to meet him with a broad smile. ‘Fancy meeting you!’ It was an antique dealer called Leng Zi-xing whom Yu-cun had got to know some years previously when he was staying in the capital. Yu-cun had a great admiration for Zi-xing as a practical man of business, whilst Zi-xing for his part was tickled to claim acquaintanceship with a man of Yu-cun’s great learning and culture.

1. tickled: to touch someone lightly with your fingers, making them slightly uncomfortable and often making them laugh

On the basis of this mutual admiration the two of them had got on wonderfully well, and Yu-cun now returned the other’s greeting with a pleased smile. ‘My dear fellow! How long have you been here? I really had no idea you were in these parts. It was quite an accident that I came here today at all. What an extraordinary coincidence!’ ‘I went home at the end of last year to spend New Year with the family,’ said Zi-xing. ‘On my way back to the capital I thought I would stop off and have a few words with a friend of mine who lives hereabouts, and he very kindly invited me to spend a few days with him. I hadn’t got any urgent business waiting for me, so I thought I might as well stay on a bit and leave at the middle of the month. I came out here on my own because my friend has an engagement today. I certainly didn’t expect to run into you here.’ Zi-xing conducted Yu-cun to his table as he spoke and ordered more wine and some fresh dishes to be brought. The two men then proceeded, between leisurely sips of wine, to relate what each had been doing in the years that had elapsed since their last meeting.

1. sips: to drink, taking only a very small amount at a time
2. elapsed: If time elapses, it goes past.

雨村因問：「近日都中可有新聞沒有？」子興道：「倒沒有什麼新聞，倒是老先生的貴同宗家出了一件小小的異事。」雨村笑道：「弟族中無人在都，何談及此？」子興笑道：「你們同姓，豈非一族？」雨村問：「是誰家？」子興笑道：「榮國賈府中，可也不玷辱老先生的門楣了！」雨村道：「原來是他家。若論起來，寒族人丁卻自不少，東漢賈復以來，支派繁盛，各省皆有，誰能逐細考查？若論榮國一支，卻是同譜。但他那等榮耀，我們不便去認他，故越發生疏了。」子興歎道：「老先生，休這樣說！如今的這榮寧二府也都蕭索了，不比先時的光景。」雨村道：「當日榮寧兩宅，人口也極多，如何便蕭索了呢？」子興道：「正是，說來也話長。」雨村道：「去歲我到金陵時，因欲游覽六朝遺跡，那日進了石頭城，從他宅門前經過，街東是寧國府，街西是榮國府，二宅相連，竟將大半條街占了。大門外雖冷落無人，隔著圍牆一望，裡面廳殿樓閣，也還都崢嶸軒峻；就是後邊一帶花園裡，樹木山石，也都還有蔥蔚洇潤之氣：那裡像個衰敗之家？」子興笑道：「虧你是進士出身！原來不通！古人有言，『百足之蟲，死而不僵』，如今雖說不似先年那樣興盛，較之平常仕宦人家，到底氣象不同。如今人口日多，事務日盛，主僕上下都是安富尊榮，運籌謀畫的竟無一個。那日用排場，又不能將就省儉。如今外面的架子雖未甚倒，內囊卻也盡上來了。－－這也是小事，更有一件大事：誰知這樣鐘鳴鼎食的人家兒，如今養的兒孫竟一代不如一代了！」雨村聽說，也道：「這樣詩禮之家，豈有不善教育之理？別門不知，只說這寧榮兩宅，是最教子有方的，何至如此？」

Presently Yu-cun asked Zi-xing if anything of interest had happened recently in the capital. ‘I can’t think of anything particularly deserving of mention,’ said Zi-xing. ‘Except, perhaps, for a very small but very unusual event that took place in your own clan there.’ ‘What makes you say that?’ said Yu-cun, ‘I have no family connections in the capital.’ ‘Well, it’s the same name,’ said Zi-xing. ‘They must be the same clan.’ Yu-cun asked him what family he could be referring to. ‘I fancy you wouldn’t disown the Jias of the Rong-guo mansion as unworthy of you.’ ‘Oh, you mean them,’ said Yu-cun.

1. Clan: a group of families who originally came from the same family and have the same name
2. Disown: to make it known that you no longer have any connection with someone that you were closely connected with

‘There are so many members of my clan, it’s hard to keep up with them all. Since the time of Jia Fu of the Eastern Han dynasty there have been branches of the Jia clan in every province of the empire. The Rong-guo branch is, as a matter of fact, on the same clan register as my own; but since they are exalted so far above us socially, we don’t normally claim the connection, and nowadays we are completely out of touch with them.’ Zi-xing sighed. ‘You shouldn’t speak about them in that way, you know. Nowadays both the Rong and Ning mansions are in a greatly reduced state compared with what they used to be.’ ‘When I was last that way the Rong and Ning mansions both seemed to be fairly humming with life.

1. Humming: (hun) to make a continuous low sound

Surely nothing could have happened to reduce their prosperity in so short a time?’ ‘Ah, you may well ask. But it’s a long story.’ ‘Last time I was in Jinling,’ went on Yu-cun, ‘I passed by their two houses one day on my way to Shi-tou-cheng to visit the ruins. The Ning-guo mansion along the eastern half of the road and the Rong-guo mansion along the western half must between them have occupied the greater part of the north side frontage of that street. It’s true that there wasn’t much activity outside the main entrances, but looking up over the outer walls I had a glimpse of the most magnificent and imposing halls and pavilions, and even the rocks and trees of the gardens beyond seemed to have a sleekness and luxuriance that were certainly not suggestive of a family whose fortunes were in a state of decline.’ ‘Well! For a Palace Graduate Second Class, you ought to know better than that!

1. Ruins: the process or state of being spoiled or destroyed 遺跡
2. Imposing: having an appearance that looks important or causes admiration
3. Sleekness: the quality of being smooth, shiny, and lying close to the body, and therefore looking well cared for; the quality of not being messy and having no parts sticking out

Haven’t you ever heard the old saying, “The beast with a hundred legs is a long time dying”? Although I say they are not as prosperous as they used to be in years past, of course I don’t mean to say that there is not still a world of difference between their circumstances and those you would expect to find in the household of your average government official. At the moment the numbers of their establishment and the activities they engage in are, if anything, on the increase. Both masters and servants all lead lives of luxury and magnificence. And they still have plenty of plans and projects under way.

But they can’t bring themselves to economize or make any adjustment in their accustomed style of living. Consequently, though outwardly they still manage to keep up appearances, inwardly they are beginning to feel the pinch. But that’s a small matter. There’s something much more seriously wrong with them than that. They are not able to turn out good sons, those stately houses, for all their pomp and show. The males in the family get more degenerate from one generation to the next.’ Surely,’ said Yu-cun with surprise, ‘it is inconceivable that such highly cultured households should not give their children the best education possible? I say nothing of other families, but the Jias of the Ning and Rong households used to be famous for the way in which they brought up their sons. How could they come to be as you describe?’

1. Pinch: to press something, especially someone’s skin, strongly between two hard things such as a finger and a thumb, usually causing pain
2. Stately: formal, slow, and having a style and appearance that causes admiration

子興歎道：「正說的是這兩門呢！待我告訴你：當日寧國公與榮國公是一母同胞弟兄兩個。寧公居長，生了兩個兒子。寧公死後，長子賈代化襲了官，也養了兩個兒子。長子名賈敷，八九歲上死了。只剩了一個次子賈敬，襲了官，如今一味好道，只愛燒丹煉汞，別事一概不管。幸而早年留下一個兒子，名喚賈珍，因他父親一心想作神仙，把官倒讓他襲了。他父親又不肯住在家裡，只在都中城外和那些道士們胡羼。這位珍爺也生了一個兒子，今年纔十六歲，名叫賈蓉。如今敬老爺不管事了。這珍爺那裡幹正事？只一味高樂不了，把那寧國府竟翻過來了，也沒有敢來管他的人。再說榮府你聽：方纔所說異事就出在這裡。自榮公死後，長子賈代善襲了官，娶的是金陵世勳史侯家的小姐為妻，生了兩個兒子：長名賈赦，次名賈政。如今代善早已去世，太夫人尚在。長子賈赦襲了官，為人卻也中平，也不管理家事。惟有次子賈政，自幼酷喜讀書，為人端方正直，祖父鍾愛，原要他從科甲出身；不料代善臨終，遺本一上，皇上憐念先臣，即叫長子襲了官，又問還有幾個兒子，立刻引見，又將這政老爺賜了個額外主事職銜，叫他入部習學，如今現已陞了員外郎。這政老爺的夫人王氏，頭胎生的公子名叫賈珠，十四歲進學，後來娶了妻，生了子，不到二十歲，一病就死了。第二胎生了一位小姐，生在大年初一，就奇了。不想隔了十幾年又生了一位公子，說來更奇：一落胞胎，嘴裡便啣下一塊五彩晶瑩的玉來，還有許多字跡。你道是新聞不是？」

‘I assure you, it is precisely those families I am speaking of. Let me tell you something of their history. The Duke of Ning-guo and the Duke of Rong-guo were two brothers by the same mother. Ning-guo was the elder of the two. When he died, his eldest son, Jia Dai-hua, inherited his post. Daihua had two sons. The elder, Jia Fu, died at the age of eight or nine, leaving only the second son, Jia Jing, to inherit. Nowadays Jia Jing’s only interest in life is Taoism. He spends all his time over retorts and crucibles concocting elixirs, and refuses to be bothered with anything else.

1. Duke: a man of very high rank in a country, or the ruler of a small independent country
2. Retorts: a quick answer that is angry or funny
3. Crucibles: a container in which metals or other substances can be heated to very high temperatures 指煉丹
4. Concocting: to make something, usually food, by adding several different parts together, often in a way that is original or not planned
5. Elixirs: a substance, usually a liquid, with a magical power to cure, improve, or preserve something

‘Fortunately he had already provided himself with a son, Jia Zhen, long before he took up this hobby. So, having set his mind on turning himself into an immortal, he has given up his post in favour of this son. And what’s more he refuses outright to live at home and spends his time fooling around with a pack of Taoists somewhere outside the city walls. ‘This Jia Zhen has got a son of his own, a lad called Jia Rong, just turned sixteen. With old Jia Jing out of the way and refusing to exercise any authority, Jia Zhen has thrown his responsibilities to the winds and given himself up to a life of pleasure. He has turned that Ning-guo mansion upside down, but there is no one around who dares gainsay him. ‘Now I come to the Rong household—it was there that this strange event occurred that I was telling you about. When the old Duke of Rong-guo died, his eldest son, Jia Dai-shan, inherited his emoluments. He married a girl from a very old Nanking family, the daughter of Marquis Shi, who bore him two sons, Jia She and Jia Zheng.

1. gainsay: to refuse to accept something as the truth
2. emoluments: payment for work in the form of money or something else of value
3. Marquis: a man of high social rank 

‘Dai-shan has been dead this many a year, but the old lady is still alive. The elder son, Jia She, inherited; but he’s only a very middling sort of person and doesn’t play much part in running the family. The second son, though, Jia Zheng, has been mad keen on study ever since he was a lad. He is a very upright sort of person, straight as a die. He was his grand-father’s favourite. He would have sat for the examinations, but when the emperor saw Dai-shan’s testamentary memorial that he wrote on his death bed, he was so moved, thinking what a faithful servant the old man had been, that he not only ordered the elder son to inherit his father’s position, but also gave instructions that any other sons of his were to be presented to him at once, and on seeing Jia Zheng he gave him the post of Supernumerary Executive Officer, brevet rank, with instructions to continue his studies while on the Ministry’s payroll.

1. Middling: medium or average; neither very good nor very bad
2. Lad: a boy or young man
3. Testamentary: 遺囑
4. Payroll: a list of the people employed by a company showing how much each one earns 俸祿

From there he Jias now risen to the post of Under Secretary. ‘Sir Zheng’s lady was formerly a Miss Wang. Her first child was a boy called Jia Zhu. He was already a Licensed Scholar at the age of fourteen. Then he married and had a son. But he died of an illness before he was twenty. The second child she bore him was a little girl, rather remarkable because she was born on New Year’s day. Then after an interval of twelve years or more she suddenly had another son. He was even more remarkable, because at the moment of his birth he had a piece of beautiful, clear, coloured jade in his mouth with a lot of writing on it.

雨村笑道：「果然奇異！只怕這人的來歷不小。」子興冷笑道：「萬人都這樣說，因而他祖母愛如珍寶。那週歲時，政老爺試他將來的志向，便將世上所有的東西擺了無數叫他抓，誰知他一概不取，伸手只把些脂粉釵環抓來玩弄。那政老爺便不喜歡，說將來不過酒色之徒，因此便不甚愛惜。獨那太君還是命根子一般。說來又奇：如今長了十來歲，雖然淘氣異常，但聰明乖覺，百個不及他一個。說起孩子話來也奇。他說：『女兒是水做的骨肉，男子是泥做的骨肉。我見了女兒便清爽，見了男子便覺濁臭逼人！』你道好笑不好笑？將來色鬼無疑了！」雨村罕然厲色道：「非也。可惜你們不知道這人的來歷。大約政老前輩也錯以淫魔色鬼看待了。若非多讀書識事，加以致知格物之功，悟道參玄之力者，不能知也。」

They gave him the name “Bao-yu” as a consequence. Now tell me if you don’t think that is an extraordinary thing.’ ‘It certainly is,’ Yu-cun agreed. ‘I should not be at all surprised to find that there was something very unusual in the heredity of that child.’ ‘Humph,’ said Zi-xing. ‘A great many people have said that. That is the reason why his old grandmother thinks him such a treasure. But when they celebrated the First Twelve month and Sir Zheng tested his disposition by putting a lot of objects in front of him and seeing which he would take hold of, he stretched out his little hand and started playing with some women’s things –combs, bracelets, pots of rouge and powder and the like—completely ignoring all the other objects. Sir Zheng was very displeased. He said he would grow up to be a rake, and ever since then he hasn’t felt much affection for the child. But to the old lady he’s the very apple of her eye.

1. disposition: the particular type of character that a person naturally has
2. rake: a man, especially one who is rich or with a high social position, who lives in an immoral way, especially having sex with a lot of women

‘But there’s more that’s unusual about him than that. He’s now rising ten and unusually mischievous, yet his mind is as sharp as a needle. You wouldn’t find one in a hundred to match him. Some of the childish things he says are most extraordinary. He’ll say, “Girls are made of water and boys are made of mud. When I am with girls I feel fresh and clean’ but when I am with boys I feel stupid and nasty.”

1. mischievous: behaving in a way, or describing behavior, that is slightly bad but is not intended to cause serious harm or damage
2. nasty: bad or very unpleasant

Now isn’t that priceless! He’ll be a lady-killer when he grows up, no question of that.’ Yu-cun’s face assumed an expression of unwonted severity. ‘Not so. By no means. It is a pity that none of you seem to understand this child’s heredity. Most likely even my esteemed kinsman Sir Jia Zheng is mistaken in treating the boy as a future libertine. This is something that no one but a widely read person, and one moreover well-versed in moral philosophy and in the subtle arcana of metaphysical science could possibly understand.’

1. severity: seriousness
2. kinsman: a man who belongs to the same family as someone else
3. esteemed: highly respected
4. libertine: a person, usually a man, who has few moral principles and has sexual relationships with many people
5. subtle: not loud, bright, noticeable, or obvious in any way
6. arcana: 奧秘

子興見他說得這樣重大，忙請教其故。雨村道：「天地生人，除大仁大惡，餘者皆無大異。若大仁者，則應運而生；大惡者，則應劫而生。運生世治，劫生世危。堯、舜、禹、湯、文、武、周、召、孔、孟、董、韓、周、程、朱、張，皆應運而生者；蚩尤、共工、桀、紂、始皇、王莽、曹操、桓溫、安祿山、秦檜等，皆應劫而生者。大仁者修治天下，大惡者擾亂天下。清明靈秀，天地之正氣，仁者之所秉也；殘忍乖僻，天地之邪氣，惡者之所秉也。今當運隆祚永之朝，太平無為之世，清明靈秀之氣所秉者，上自朝廷，下至草野，比比皆是。所餘之秀氣，漫無所歸，遂為甘露，為和風，洽然溉及四海。彼殘忍乖僻之邪氣，不能蕩溢於光天化日之下，遂凝結充塞於深溝大壑之中，偶因風蕩，或被雲摧，略有搖動感發之意，一絲半縷，誤而逸出者，值靈秀之氣適過，正不容邪，邪復妒正，兩不相下，如風水雷電，地中相遇，既不能消，又不能讓，必至搏擊掀發後始盡。既然發洩，此氣亦必賦之於人。假使或男或女，偶秉此氣而生者，上則不能為仁人為君子，下亦不能為大凶大惡，置之千萬人之中，其聰俊靈秀之氣，則在千萬人之上；其乖僻邪謬不近人情之態，又在千萬人之下。若生於公侯富貴之家，則為情癡情種；若生於詩書清貧之族，則為逸士高人；縱然生於薄祚寒門，甚至為奇優，為名娼，亦斷不至為走卒健僕，甘遭庸夫驅制。如前之許由、陶潛、阮籍、嵇康、劉伶、王謝二族、顧虎頭、陳後主、唐明皇、宋徽宗、劉庭芝、溫飛卿、米南宮、石曼卿、柳耆卿、秦少游，近日倪雲林、唐伯虎、祝枝山，再如李龜年、黃繙綽、敬新磨、卓文君、紅拂、薛濤、崔鶯、朝雲之流，此皆易地則同之人也。」

Observing the weighty tone in which these words were uttered, Zi-xing hurriedly asked to be instructed, and Yu-cun proceeded as follows: ‘The generative processes operating in the universe provide the great majority of mankind with natures in which good and evil are commingled in more or less equal proportions. Instances of exceptional goodness and exceptional badness are produced by the operation of beneficent or noxious ethereal influences, of which the former are symptomatized by the equilibrium of society and the latter by its disequilibrium.

1. weighty: heavy
2. uttered: to say something or to make a sound with your voice
3. commingled: to mix an amount of money belonging to one person, business, or account with that of another when the money should have been kept separate
4. noxious: Something, especially a gas or other substance, that is noxious is poisonous or very harmful.
5. ethereal: light and delicate, especially in an unnatural way
6. symptomatized: (symptomatic) If something bad is symptomatic of something else, it is caused by the other thing and is proof that it exists.
7. equilibrium: a state of balance or a calm mental state

‘Thus, Yao, Shun, Yu, Tang, King Wen, King Wu, the Duke of Zhou, the Duke of Shao, Confucius, Mencius, Dong Zhong-shu, Han Yu, Zhou Dun-yi, the Cheng brothers, Zhu Xi and Zhang Zai — all instances of exceptional goodness—were born under the influence of benign forces, and all sought to promote the well-being of the societies in which they lived; whilst Chi You, Gong Gong, Jie, Zhou, the First Qin Emperor, Wang Mang, Cao Cao, Huan Wen,An Lu-shan and Qin Kuai —all instances of exceptional badness—were born under the influence of harmful forces, and all sought to disrupt the societies in which they lived.

1. benign: pleasant and kind
2. sought: (seek) to try to find or get something, especially something that is not a physical object

 ‘Now, the good cosmic fluid with which the natures of the exceptionally good are compounded is a pure, quintessential humour; whilst the evil fluid which infuses the natures of the exceptionally bad is a cruel, perverse humour.  ‘Therefore, our age being one in which beneficent ethereal influences are in the ascendant, in which the reigning dynasty’ is well-established and society both peaceful and prosperous, innumerable instances are to be found, from the palace down to the humblest cottage, of individuals endowed with the pure, quintessential humour.

1. compounded: a chemical that combines two or more elements
2. infuses: to fill someone or something with an emotion or quality
3. cruel:extremely unkind and unpleasant and causing pain to people or animals intentionally
4. perverse: strange and not what most people would expect or enjoy
5. ethereal: light and delicate, especially in an unnatural way
6. ascendant: increasingly successful or powerful
7. reigning: being the most recent winner of a competition
8. cottage: a small house, usually in the countryside
9. endowed: to give a large amount of money to pay for creating a college, hospital, etc. or to provide an income for it

‘Moreover,  an unused surplus of this pure, quintessential humour, unable to find corporeal lodgment, circulates freely abroad until it manifests itself in the form of sweet dews and balmy winds, asperged and effused for the enrichment and refreshment of all terrestrial life.

1. manifests: to show something clearly, through signs or actions (顯現)
2. asperged: (asperge)to sprinkle especially with holy water
3. dews: drops of water that form on the ground and other surfaces outside during the night (露水)
4. terrestrial: relating to the earth

‘Consequently,  the cruel and perverse humours, unable to circulate freely in the air and sunlight, subside, by a process of incrassation and coagulation, into the bottoms of ditches and ravines. Now,  should these incrassate humours chance to be stirred or provoked by wind or weather into a somewhat more volatile and active condition, it sometimes happens that a stray wisp or errant flocculus may escape from the fissure or concavity in which they are contained; and if some of the pure, quintessential humour should chance to be passing overhead at that same moment, the two will become locked in irreconcilable conflict, the good refusing to yield to the evil, the evil persisting in its hatred of the good.

1. cruel:extremely unkind and unpleasant and causing pain to people or animals intentionally
2. perverse: strange and not what most people would expect or enjoy
3. incrassation: (incrassate) of a plant or animal structure 
4. coagulation: the process of becoming viscous or thickened into a coherent mass
5. provoked: to cause a reaction, especially a negative one
6. wisp: a small, thin line of cloud/smoke/steam
7. errant: behaving wrongly in some way, especially by leaving home
8. flocculus: a small loosely aggregated mass
9. fissure: a deep, narrow crack in rock or the earth
10. concavity: a concave line, surface, or space
11. irreconcilable: impossible to find agreement between or with, or impossible to deal with
12. hatred: an extremely strong feeling of dislike

And just as wind, water, thunder and lightning meeting together over the earth can neither dissipate nor yield one to another but produce an explosive shock resulting in the downward emission of rain, so does this clash of humours result in the forcible downward expulsion of the evil humour, which, being thus forced down-wards, will find its way into some human creature.

1. dissipate: to (cause to) gradually disappear or waste
2. clash: to fight or argue

‘Such human recipients, whether they be male or female, since they are already amply endowed with the benign humour before the evil humour is injected, are incapable of becoming either greatly good or greatly bad; but place them in the company of ten thousand others and you will find that they are superior to all the rest in sharpness and intelligence and inferior to all the rest in perversity, wrongheadedness and eccentricity.

1. recipients: a person who receives something
2. amply: more than enough
3. endowed: to furnish with an income
4. perversity: the quality of being strange and not what most people would do or expect
5. wrongheadedness: stubborn in adherence to wrong opinion or principles
6. eccentricity: the state of being strange or unusual, sometimes in a humorous way

Born into a rich or noble household they are likely to become great lovers or the occasion of great love in others; in a poor but well-educated household they will become literary rebels or eccentric aesthetes; even if they are born in the lowest stratum of society they are likely to become great actors or famous hetaerae. Under no circumstances will you find them in servile or menial positions, content to be at the beck and call of mediocrities. ‘For examples I might cite:

1. rebels: a person who is opposed to the political system in their country and tries to change it using force
2. aesthetes: a person who understands and enjoys beauty
3. stratum: one of the parts or layers into which something is separated
4. hetaera: highly cultivated courtesan （藝妓/戲女等）
5. servile: too eager to serve and please someone else in a way that shows you do not have much respect for yourself
6. menial: menial work is boring, makes you feel tired, and is given a low social value
7. beck: a small river
8. mediocrities: the quality of being not very good

Xu You, Tao Yuan-ming, Ruan Ji, Ji Kang, Liu Ling, the Wang and Xie clans of the Jin period, Gu Kai-zhi, the last ruler of Chen, the emperor Ming-huang of the Tang dynasty, the emperor Hui-zong of the Song dynasty, Liu Ting-zhi, Wen Ting-yun, Mi Fei, Shi Yan-nian, Liu Yong and Qin Guan; or, from more recent centuries: Ni Zan, Tang Yin and Zhu Yun-ming; or again, for examples of the last type: Li Gui-nian, Huang Fan-chuo, Jing Xin-mo, Zhuo Wen-jun, Little Red Duster, Xue Tao, Cui Ying-ying and Morning Cloud. All of these, though their circumstances differed, were essentially the same.’

子興道：「依你說，成則公侯，敗則賊了？」雨村道：「正是這意。你還不知，我自革職以來，這兩年遍游各省，也曾遇見兩個異樣孩子，所以方纔你一說這寶玉，我就猜著了八九也是這一派人物。不用遠說，只這金陵城內欽差金陵省體仁院總裁甄家，你可知道？」子興道：「誰人不知！這甄府就是賈府老親。他們兩家來往極親熱的。就是我也和他家往來非止一日了。」

‘You mean’ Zi-xing interposed, ‘Zhang victorious is a hero, Zhang beaten is a lousy knave?’ ‘Precisely so,’ said Yu-cun. ‘I should have told you that during the two years after I was cashiered I travelled extensively in every province of the empire and saw quite a few remarkable children in the course of my travels; so that just now when you mentioned this Bao-yu I felt pretty certain what type of boy he must be. But one doesn’t need to go very far afield for another example. There is one in the Zhen family in Nanking—I am referring to the family of the Zhen who is Imperial Deputy Director-General of the Nanking Secretariat. Perhaps you know who I mean?’ ‘Who doesn’t?’ said Zi-xing. ‘There is an old family connection between the Zhen family and the Jias of whom we have just been speaking, and they are still on very close terms with each other. I’ve done business with them myself for longer than I’d care to mention.’

1. lousy: very bad
2. knave: a dishonest man
3. cashiered: to officially dismiss (= remove from a job) a person from a military organization, especially making them lose their honour at the same time

雨村笑道：「去歲我在金陵，也曾有人薦我到甄府處館。我進去看其光景，誰知他家那等榮貴，卻是個富而好禮之家，倒是個難得之館。但是這個學生雖是啟蒙，卻比一個舉業的還勞神。說起來更可笑。他說：『必得兩個女兒陪著我讀書，我方能認得字，心上也明白；不然，我心裡自己糊塗。』又常對著跟他的小廝們說：『這『女兒』兩個字，極尊貴極清淨的，比那瑞獸珍禽、奇花異草更覺稀罕尊貴呢。你們這種濁口臭舌，萬萬不可唐突了這兩個字。要緊，要緊！但凡要說的時節，必用淨水香茶嗽了口方可；設若失錯，便要鑿牙穿眼的。』其暴虐頑劣，種種異常。只放了學進去，見了那些女兒們，其溫厚和平、聰敏文雅，竟變了一個樣子。因此，他令尊也曾下死笞楚過幾次，竟不能改。每打的吃疼不過時，他便『姐姐』『妹妹』的亂叫起來。後來聽得裡面女兒們拿他取笑：『因何打急了只管叫「姐妹」作什麼？莫不叫姐妹們去討情，討饒？你豈不愧些？』他回答的最妙。他說：『急疼之時，只叫「姐姐」「妹妹」字樣，或可解疼，也未可知，因叫了一聲，果覺疼得好些，遂得了秘法，每疼痛之極，便連叫「姐妹」起來了。』你說可笑不可笑？為他祖母溺愛不明，每因孫辱師責子，所以我就辭了館出來。這等子弟必不能守祖父基業，從師友規勸的。只可惜他家幾個好姊妹都是少有的！」

‘Last year when I was in Nanking,’ said Yu-cun, smiling at the recollection, ‘I was recommended for the post of tutor in their household. I could tell at a glance, as soon as I got inside the place, that for all the ducal splendour this was a family “though rich yet given to courtesy”, in the words of the Sage, and that it was a rare piece of luck to have got a place in it. But when I came to teach my pupil, though he was only at the first year primary stage, he gave me more trouble than an examination candidate.

1. recollection: a memory of something
2. ducal: of or connected with a duke
3. splendour: great beauty that attracts admiration and attention
4. Sage: wise, especially as a result of great experience

‘He was indeed a comedy. He once said, “I must have two girls to do my lessons with me if I am to remember the words and understand the sense. Otherwise my mind will simply not work.” And he would often tell the little pages who waited on him, “The word ‘girl’ is very precious and very pure. It is much more rare and precious than all the rarest beasts and birds and plants in the world. So it is most extremely important that you should never, never violate it with your coarse mouths and stinking breath. Whenever you need to say it, you should first rinse your mouths out with clean water and scented tea. And if ever I catch you slipping up, I shall have holes drilled through your teeth and lace them up together.”

1. pages: 伴讀
2. coarse: rough and not smooth or soft, or not in very small pieces
3. stinking: having a very unpleasant smell
4. slipping up: making a mistake

‘There was simply no end to his violence and unruliness. Yet as soon as his lessons were over and he went inside to visit the girls of the family, he became a completely different person—all gentleness and calm, and as intelligent and well-bred as you please. ‘His father gave him several severe beatings but it made no difference. Whenever the pain became too much for him he would start yelling “Girls! girls!” Afterwards, when the girls in the family got to hear about it, they made fun of him. “Why do you always call to us when you are hurt? I suppose you think we shall come and plead for you to be let off. You ought to be ashamed of yourself!” But you should have heard his answer.

He said, “Once when the pain was very bad, I thought that perhaps if I shouted the word ‘girls’ it might help to ease it. Well,” he said, “I just called out once, and the pain really was quite a bit better. So now that I have found this secret remedy, I just keep on shouting ‘Girls! girls! girls!’ whenever the pain is at its worst.” I could not help laughing. ‘But because his grandmother doted on him so much, she was always taking the child’s part against me and his father. In the end I had to hand in my notice. A boy like that will never be able to keep up the family traditions or listen to the advice of his teachers and friends. The pity of it is, though, that the girls in that family are all exceptionally good.’

1. doted: to love someone completely and believe they are perfect

子興道：「便是賈府中現在三個也不錯。政老爺的長女名元春，因賢孝才德選入宮作女史去了。二小姐乃是赦老爺姨娘所出，名迎春；三小姐，政老爺庶出，名探春；四小姐乃寧府珍爺的胞妹，名惜春。因史老夫人極愛孫女，都跟在祖母這邊一處讀書，聽得個個不錯。」雨村道：「更妙在甄家風俗：女兒之名亦皆從男子之名，不似別人家另外用這些『春』『紅』『香』『玉』等豔字。何得賈府亦落此俗套？」子興道：「不然。只因現今大小姐是正月初一所生，故名元春，餘者都從了『春』字。上一輩的卻也是從弟兄而來的。現有對證：目今你貴東家林公的夫人即榮府中赦政二公的胞妹，在家時名喚賈敏。不信時，你回去細訪可知。」雨村拍手笑道：「是極！我這女學生名叫黛玉。他讀書，凡『敏』字，他皆念作『密』字；寫字，遇著『敏』字亦減一二筆。我心中每每疑惑。今聽你說，是為此無疑矣。怪道我這女學生言語舉止另是一樣，不與凡女子相同！度其母不凡，故生此女；今知為榮府之外孫，又不足罕矣。可惜上月其母竟亡故了！」子興歎道：「老姊妹三個，這是極小的，又沒了。長一輩的姊妹一個也沒了，只看這小一輩的將來的東床何如呢。」雨村道：「正是。方纔說政公已有了一個啣玉之子，又有長子所遺弱孫，這赦老竟無一個不成？」子興道：「政公既有玉兒之後，其妾又生了一個，倒不知其好歹。只眼前現有二子一孫，卻不知將來何如。若問那赦老爺，也有一子，名叫賈璉，今已二十多歲了，親上做親，娶的是政老爺夫人王氏內姪女，今已娶了四五年。這位璉爺身上現捐了個同知，也是不喜正務的。於世路上好機變，言談去得，所以目今在乃叔政老爺家住，幫著料理家務。誰知自娶了這位少奶奶之後，倒上下無一人不稱頌他的夫人，璉爺倒退了一射之地。模樣又極標致，言談又極爽利，心機又極深細，竟是個男人萬不及一的！」

‘The three at present in the Jia household are also very fine girls,’ said Zi-xing. ‘Sir Jia Zheng’s eldest girl, Yuanchun, was chosen for her exceptional virtue and cleverness to be a Lady Secretary in the Imperial Palace. The next in age after her and eldest of the three still at home is called Yingchun. She is the daughter of Sir Jia She by one of his secondary wives. After her comes another daughter of Sir Zheng’s, also a concubine’s child, called Tan-chun. The youngest, Xi-chun, is sister-german to Mr Jia Zhen of the Ning-guo mansion. Old Lady Jia is very fond of her granddaughters and keeps them all in her own apartments on the Rong-guo side. They all study together, and I have been told that they are doing very well.’

1. concubine: a woman who, in some societies, lives and has sex with a man she is not married to, and has a lower social rank than his wife or wives (庶)
2. sister-german: 胞妹

‘ One of the things I liked about the Zhen family,’ said Yu-cun, ‘was their custom of giving the girls the same sort of names as the boys, unlike the majority of families who invariably use fancy words like “chun”, “hong”, “xiang”,“yu”,  and so forth. How comes it that the Jias should have followed the vulgar practice in this respect?’ ‘They didn’t,’ said Zi-xing. ‘The eldest girl was called “Yuan-chun” because she was in fact born on the first day of spring. The others were given names with “chun”  in them to match hers. But if you go back a generation, you will find that among the Jias too the girls had names exactly like the boys’. ‘I can give you proof. Your present employer’s good lady is sister-german to Sir She and Sir Zheng of the Rong house-hold. Her name, before she married, was Jia Min. If you don’t believe me, you make a few inquiries when you get home and you’ll find it is so.’

1. vulgar: not suitable, simple, dignified or beautiful; not in the style preferred by the upper classes of society

Yu-cun clapped his hands with a laugh. ‘Of course! I have often wondered why it is that my pupil Dai-yu always pronounces “min” as “mi” when she is reading and, if she has to write it, always makes the character with one or two strokes missing. Now I understand. No wonder her speech and behaviour are so unlike those of ordinary children! I always supposed that there must have been something remarkable about the mother for her to have produced so remarkable a daughter. Now I know that she was related to the Jias of the Rong household, I am not surprised. ‘By the way, I am sorry to say that last month the mother passed away.’ Zi-xing sighed. ‘Fancy her dying so soon! She was the youngest of the three. And the generation before them are all gone, every one. We shall have to see what sort of husbands they manage to find for the younger generation!’ ‘Yes, indeed,’ said Yu-cun. ‘Just now you mentioned that Sir Zheng had this boy with the jade in his mouth and you also mentioned a little grandson left behind by his elder son. What about old Sir She? Surely he must have a son?’ ‘Since Sir Zheng had the boy with the jade, he has had another son by a concubine,’ said Zi-xing, ‘but I couldn’t tell you what he’s like. So at present he has two sons and one grandson. Of course, we don’t know what the future may bring.

‘But you were asking about Sir She. Yes, he has a son too, called Jia Lian. He’s already a young man in his early twenties. He married his own kin, the niece of his Uncle Zheng’s wife, Lady Wang. He’s been married now for four or five years. Holds the rank of a Sub-perfect by purchase. He’s another member of the family who doesn’t find responsibilities congenial. He knows his way around, though, and has a great gift of the gab, so at present he stays at home with his Uncle Zheng and helps him manage the family’s affairs. However, ever since he married this young lady I mentioned, everyone high and low has joined in praising her, and he has been put into the shade rather. She is not only a very handsome young woman, she also has a very ready tongue and a very good head – more than a match for most men, I can tell you.’

1. congenial: friendly and pleasant
2. gab: to talk continuously and eagerly, especially about things that are not important

雨村聽了，笑道：「可知我言不謬了。你我方纔所說的這幾個人，只怕都是那『正』『邪』兩賦而來，一路之人，未可知也。」子興道：「正也罷，邪也罷，只顧算別人家的賬，你也吃一杯酒纔好。」雨村道：「只顧說話，就多吃了幾杯。」子興笑道：「說著別人家的閒話，正好下酒，即多吃幾杯何妨？」雨村向窗外看道：「天也晚了，仔細關了城。我們慢慢進城再談，未為不可。」於是二人起身，算還酒錢。方欲走時，忽聽得後面有人叫道：「雨村兄，恭喜了！特來報個喜信的。」雨村忙回頭看時，－－

‘You see, I was not mistaken,’ said Yu-cun. ‘All these people you and I have been talking about are probably examples of that mixture of good and evil humours I was describing to you.’ ‘Well, I don’t know about that,’ said Zi-xing. ‘Instead of sitting here setting other people’s accounts to rights, let’s have another drink!’ ‘I am afraid I have drunk quite a lot while we were busy talking,’ said Yu-cun. Zi-xing laughed. ‘There’s nothing like a good gossip about other people’s affairs for making the wine go down! I’m sure an extra cup or two won’t do us any harm.’ Yu-cun glanced out of the window. ‘It’s getting late. We must be careful we don’t get shut out of the city. Why not continue the conversation on our way back? Then we can take our time.’ The two men accordingly rose from their seats, settled the bill for the wine, and were just about to start on their way, when a voice from behind called out, ‘Yu-cun, congratulations! I’ve got some good news for you.’ Yu-cun turned to look.

要知是誰，且聽下回分解。

But if you wish to know who it was, you will have to read the next chapter.

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💛EXCERPT💛 ↓↓↓

所餘之秀氣，漫無所歸，遂為甘露，為和風，洽然溉及四海。
An unused surplus of this pure, quintessential humour, unable to find corporeal lodgment, circulates freely abroad until it manifests itself in the form of sweet dews and balmy winds, asperged and effused for the enrichment and refreshment of all terrestrial life.

• Humour作為名詞有兩個含義：①the ability to find things funny, the way in which people see that some things are funny, or the quality of being funny（幽默，滑稽）②the state of your feelings（心情，情緒，精神狀態）。這裡應該取其第二種意思，理解為天地間的“元”和“氣”；生物的“精氣神”。