《红楼梦》翻译 （八十七）

Xiangyun could never bear to take second place. And being more quick-witted than the others, arching her eyebrows now she straightened up and declaimed:

Xiangyun:

Cotton-padded clothes to conscripts in the ***.

Hard the going through gullies and hills....

‘Well done!’ cried Baochai, and continued:

Baochai:

They must not shake the branches hanging low.

Soft and gleaming swirls the ***....

Daiyu cut in:

Daiyu:

In swaying dance, now swift, now slow.

Fresh taros are steamed for a treat....

She nudged Baoyu, but he was too intent on watching Baoqin, Baochai and Daiyu compete against Xiangyun to be bothered to join in himself. Prompted by Daiyu, however, he improvised:

Baoyu:

To ‘scattered salt’ the song compares the ***.

The boatman is fishing still in his coir cape....

‘You’re no good!’ cried Xiangyun with a laugh. ‘Keep out of this. You’re only holding us up.’

Baoqin took over.

Baoqin:

Silent the woodman’s axe, unheard each blow.

Hill after hill like crouching elephants....

Xiangyun struck in:

Xiangyun:

A single snake-like path winds to and fro.

Congealed by cold these flowers of ice....

As Baochai and the others exclaimed in admiration, Tanchun went on:

Tanchun:

Beauty no frost can blight or overthrow.

In the deep courtyard chilly sparrows take fright....

As Xiangyun was thirstily gulping down some tea, Xiuyan took this chance to join in.

Xiuyan:

In lonely hills an old owl hoots its woe.

Snow dances up and down the courtyard steps....

Xiangyun hastily put down her cup to interject:

Xiangyun:

Drifts at will on the lake below.

Glittering bright in dawn’s clear light....

Daiyu:

Setting the whole night aglow.

Truly the cold of three feet of *** is forgotten....

Xiangyun hastily continued:

Xiangyun:

Its promise clears the sovereign’s gloomy brow.

Who cares for the one lying frozen....

Baoqin cut in gleefully:

Baoqin:

While merry-makers, feasting, toast the ***.

A white silk belt from the heavenly loom is broken....

Xiangyun:

Whiter than mermaid’s silk from sea-market below,

Before she could start a new couplet, Daiyu put in:

Daiyu:

Deserted pools are locked in loneliness....

Xiangyun swiftly rounded this off.

Xiangyun:

Back to his humble lodge the poor scholar would go. Again Baoqin cut in:

Baoqin:

The ice to make our tea is slow to boil

Xiangyun who was having great fun, laughed and went on:

Xiangyun:

The leaves to warm the wine will hardly glow.

With a giggle Daiyu continued:

Daiyu:

Snow covers the broom of the monk up on the hill.... Baoqin gaily capped this:

Baoqin:

It hides the boy’s lyre below.

Xiangyun, doubled up with mirth, now babbled something so quickly that the others had to ask her to repeat it. She gasped.

Xiangyun:

On the stone tower sleeps an idle crane....

Hugging herself to stop her sides from splitting, Daiyu fairly shouted:

Daiyu:

And silken quilts are warm, the fond cats know....

They rattled off the next lines between fits of laughter.

Baoqin:

From the moon cave roll silver waves....

Xiangyun:

Cloud ramparts hide the crimson glow....

Daiyu:

One can almost taste the scent of wet plum-blossom.... ‘A fine line!’ exclaimed Baochai, and capped it:

Baochai:

And from the dripping bamboos sweet melodies flow.

Baoqin:

Snow-flakes wet the belt with a design of love-birds....

Xiangyun:

Or congeal on emerald hairpins in a row....

Daiyu:

They hang in the air although there is no wind....

Baoqin:

And though there is no rain still hiss down slow....

Xiangyun had collapsed by now in a fit of laughter. The rest of the party had long since opted out to enjoy watching these three rivals com pete. Daiyu urged Xiangyun to go on.

‘So even you can run out of ideas,’ she teased. ‘Let me hear if you can’t rattle on a bit longer.’

Xiangyun, lying in Baochai’s lap, was shaking with laughter.

Baochai made her sit up, declaring, ‘If you can use all the rhymes in this category, then I’ll admit you’ve won.’

‘Call this versifying?’ she spluttered, getting up. ‘I’m fighting for my life!’

‘Whose fault is that?’ they retorted laughingly.

Tanchun, having decided earlier on that she could not compete, had been writing down their lines. She told them now, ‘This still requires an ending.’

Li Wen took over and added:

Li Wen:

These lines record this happy day....

Li Qi added the concluding line:

Li Qi:

And praise on this sagacious reign bestow.

‘That’s enough,’ said Li Wan. ‘Even if we haven’t used up all the rhymes, to do that would sound forced and awkward.’

After a careful reckoning they found that Xiangyun had made up the most lines.

‘The credit should go to that venison!’ they quipped.

‘It hangs together quite well when you read it through,’ observed Li Wan. ‘Only Baoyu flunked again.’

‘I’m no good at collective poems,’ he rejoined. ‘You’ll just have to make allowances for me.’

Rhyming ‘red’

Green sepals, rouged, blend into brilliant torches,

Tipsy ***-sprites over shattered rainbows have sped;

We can see this is no ordinary beauty

That in the *** and ice blooms pink and red.

Xing Xiuyan

Rhyming ‘‘plum’

What loveliness assails my drunken eyes?

This not the white I sing, but the red plum.

Its frozen cheeks are stained with tears of blood,

Its heart though free from misery is numb.

Transformed by an elixir wrongly swallowed,

Down it slips, its old guise east off, from Elysium.

Magnificent the spring north and south of the Yangtze;

Bees and butterflies who doubt this do not come!

Li Wen

Rhyming ‘flower’

Like rich girls in spring finery competing,

Stark boughs burst into flower.

Still courts, winding balustrades, with no white plum;

Stream and lonely hills glow with sunset at this hour.

Like fairy bark on red stream floating free,

Fluting drifts chill in the dreaming maiden’s bower.

It must have sprung from seeds in paradise;

Past doubting this, though changed in form the flower.

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Xue Baoqin