红楼梦 - 第一回: Chunk 5

A small one today (time budget too tight):

虽 今日之茅椽蓬牖, 瓦灶绳床,其晨夕风露,阶柳庭花,亦未有妨我之襟怀笔墨者
 

My try (digest with care):

Despite the recent poor conditions, (茅椽蓬牖, 其晨夕风露, 瓦灶绳床, 阶柳庭花) nothing could yet stop my will to write.

 
Breakdown:

Although (虽) the recent (今日) [now comes all stuff that describes the living conditions)

also (亦) have not yet 未有 hindered (妨) my bosoms 我之襟怀 "pen and ink" (writing / will to write)

Here the hard part - the four components of the "living condition":

茅椽蓬牖

茅 (máo)      thatch                               

椽 (chuán)    beam/rafters                        

蓬 (péng)      (grass), dishevelled              

牖Yǒu      enlighten, lattice window  

--> Poor housing with a thatched roof and lattice windows

 

瓦灶绳床

瓦     wǎ           tile                              

灶     zào          kitchen stove              

绳     shéng       rope                           

床     chuáng      bed                           

 --> poor living conditions with a simple stove and a bed made from ropes


其
晨夕风露

晨     chén           morning, dawn           

夕     xī, xì          evening, dusk             

风     fēng           wind                           

露     lù               dew 

--> the house is also not tight, wind and dew enter...

 

阶柳庭花

阶     jiē              rank, step          

柳     liǔ              willow              

庭     tíng            courtyard

花     huā             flower               

--> and on the stairs grows a willow and in the courtyard flowers
--> relatively wild and uncared for