CETc4 译文比较：黛玉见熙凤曹雪芹 [贾母]一语未了，只听得后院中有人笑声说：“我来迟了，不曾迎接远客。”黛玉纳罕道：“这些人个个皆敛声屏气，恭肃严整如此，这来者系谁？这样放诞无礼！”心下想时，只见一群媳妇丫鬟围拥着一个人从后房门进来。这个人打扮与众姐妹不同，彩绣辉煌，恍如神妃仙子[......]。 黛玉连忙起身接见。贾母笑道：“你不认得他，他是我们这里有名的一个泼皮破落户儿，南省俗谓作‘辣子’，你只叫他‘凤辣子’就是了。”黛玉正不知以何称呼，只见众姊妹都忙告诉他道：“这是琏二嫂子。”黛玉虽不识，亦曾听见母亲说过：大舅贾赦之子贾琏，娶的就是二舅母王氏之内侄女；自幼假充男儿教养的，学名叫王熙凤。黛玉忙陪笑见礼，以“嫂”呼之。 这熙凤携着黛玉的手，上下细细的打谅了一回，便仍送至贾母身边坐下，因笑道：“天下真有这样标致的人物！我今儿才算见了！况且这通身的气派竟不象老祖宗的外孙女儿，竟是个嫡亲的孙女，怨不得老祖宗天天口头心头一时不忘。只可怜我这妹妹这样命苦，怎么姑妈偏就去世了！”说着便用帕拭泪。贾母笑道：“我才好了，你到来招我。你妹妹远路才来，身子又弱，也才劝住了，快再休提前话。”这熙凤听了，忙转悲为喜道：“正是呢！我一见了妹妹，一心都在他身上了，又是欢喜，又是伤心，竟忘记了老祖宗，该打，该打！”又忙携黛玉之手问：“妹妹几岁了？可也上过学？现吃什么药？在这里不要想家，想要什么吃的、什么玩的，只管告诉我；丫头、老婆们不好了，也只管告诉我。”黛玉一一答应。 （选自曹雪芹《脂砚斋甲戌抄阅再评石头记》，上海古籍出版社，1 |
Version A: Daiyu Meeting Xifeng for the First Time 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. ... ‘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 remembered 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. 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
distingue! 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 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!’ In obedience to the
command Xi-feng at once exchanged 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 homesick 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.’ (From |
Version B: Tai-yu Meeting Hsi-feng for the First Time Just then they heard peals of laughter from the back courtyard and a voice
cried: “I’m late in greeting
our guest from afar!” Tai-yu thought with
surprise, “The people here are so respectful and solemn, they all seem to be
holding their breath. Who can this be, so boisterous and pert? “While she was still
wondering, through the back door trooped some matrons and maids surrounding a
young woman. Unlike the girls, she was richly dressed and resplendent as a
fairy. ... Tai-yu rose quickly to
greet her. “You don’t know her
yet.” The Lady Dowager chuckled. “She’s the terror of this house. In the
south they’d call her Hot Pepper. Just call her Fiery Phoenix.” Tai-yu was at a loss
how to address her when her cousins came to her rescue. “This is Cousin
Lien’s wife,” they told her. Though Tai-yu had never
met her, she knew from her mother that Chia Lien, the son of her first uncle
Chia Sheh, had married the niece of Lady Wang, her second uncle’s wife. She
had been educated like a boy and given the school-room name Hsi-feng. Tai-yu
lost no time in greeting her with a smile as “cousin.” Hsi-feng took her hand
and carefully inspected her from head to foot, then led her back to her seat
by the Lady Dowager. “Well,” she cried with
a laugh, “this is the first time I’ve set eyes on such a ravishing beauty.
Her whole air is so distinguished! She doesn’t take after her father,
son-in-law of our Old Ancestress, but looks more like a Chia. No wonder our
Old Ancestress couldn’t put you out of her mind and was for ever talking or
thinking about you. But poor ill-fated little cousin, losing your mother so
young!” With that she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. “I’ve only just dried
my tears. Do you want to start me off again?” said the old lady playfully.
“Your young cousin’s had a long journey and she’s delicate. We’ve just got
her to stop crying. So don’t reopen that subject.” Hsi-feng switched at
once from grief to merriment. “Of course,” she cried.
“I was so carried away by joy and sorrow at sight of my little cousin, I
forgot our Old Ancestress. I deserve to be caned.” Taking Tai-yu’s land
again, she asked, “How old are you, cousin? Have you started your schooling
yet? What medicine are you taking? You mustn’t be homesick here. If you fancy
anything special to eat or play with, don’t hesitate to tell me. If the maids
or old nurses aren’t good to you, just let me know.” (From Tsao Hsueh-chin and Kao Ngo, A Dream of Red Mansions, tr. by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1978) |