第一回: Chunk 25
derek
August 14, 2008, 01:41 PM posted in General DiscussionNow the story begins by describing the person in the chapter title, 甄士隐, his family and the place he lives.
出则既明,且看石上是何故事.按那石上书云:
当日地陷东南, 这东南一隅有处曰姑苏,有城曰阊门者,最是红尘中一二等富贵风流之地. 这阊门外有个十里街,街内有个仁清巷,巷内有个古庙,因地方窄狭,人皆呼作葫芦庙.庙旁住著一家乡宦,姓甄,名费,字士隐.嫡妻封氏,情性贤淑,深明礼义. 家中虽不甚富贵,然本地便也推他为望族了.因这甄士隐禀性恬淡,不以功名为念,每日只以观花修竹, 酌酒吟诗为乐,倒是神仙一流人品.只是一件不足:如今年已半百, 膝下无儿,只有一女,乳名唤作英莲,年方三岁.
Now the origin [of this story] has been made clear, [we] will see what story is [written] on the stone. According to what the book on that stone says:
At that time in the lands of southeast China, in an outlying part of the southeast there is a place called Gu Su, in that place is a city called Chang Men, in the world it is one of the most wealthy and honourable, distinguished and admired of places. This Chang Men in addition, has a street [called] Shi Li Jie, within this street there is a Ren Qing Lane, within the lane is an ancient temple, because this place is very narrow, everybody calls it the Gourd Temple. Beside the temple lives a county official, with the family name Zhen and the given name Fei, and sometimes called Shi Yin. [His] wife's family name is Feng, [her] character is affectionate, virtuous and fair, profoundly intelligent, courteous and righteous.
[This] family, although not very wealthy, was in this locality often praised as distinguished. Because this Zhen Shi Yin's natural disposition was indifferent to fame or fortune, [he] did not study for scholarly honours or official rank, and every day only found pleasure in watching flowers and growing bamboo, drinking wine and reciting poetry, conversely [he has the] moral qualities of a celestial being. [He] only has one inadequacy: Now, already 50 years old, below [his] knees there is no son, only having one daughter, her infant name called Ying Lian, just 3 years of age.
Breakdown:
出则既明,且看石上是何故事.按那石上书云: ->
So the (出则) origin [of this story] is (既明) complete and clear, [we] will see what story is [written] on the stone. (按) According to what the book on that stone says:
(出则既明: may be a set phrase meaning to complete an introduction etc.)
当日地陷东南, 这东南一隅有处曰姑苏,有城曰阊门者,最是红尘中一二等富贵风流之地. ->
(当日) At that time in the (地陷) lands of (东南) southeast China, in an (一隅) outlying part of the southeast there is a place called (姑苏) Gu Su, in that place is a city called (阊门) Chang Men, in the world it is (一二等) one of the most (富贵) wealthy and honourable, (风流) distinguished and admired of places.
这阊门外有个十里街,街内有个仁清巷,巷内有个古庙,因地方窄狭,人皆呼作葫芦庙. ->
This Chang Men in addition, has a street [called] (十里街) Shi Li Jie, within this street there is a (仁清巷) Ren Qing Lane, within the lane is an (古庙) ancient temple, because this place is (窄狭) very narrow, (人皆) everybody calls it the (葫芦庙) Gourd Temple.
庙旁住著一家乡宦,姓甄,名费,字士隐.嫡妻封氏,情性贤淑,深明礼义. ->
Beside the temple lives a (乡宦) county official, with the family name (甄) Zhen and the given name (费) Fei, and sometimes called (士隐) Shi Yin. [His] wife's family name is (封) Feng, [her] (情性贤淑) character is affectionate, virtuous and fair, (深明礼义) profoundly intelligent, courteous and righteous.
(甄费 -> 字 -> 甄士隐.)
家中虽不甚富贵,然本地便也推他为望族了. ->
[This] family, although not very (富贵) wealthy, in this locality it is often praised as (望族) distinguished.
因这甄士隐禀性恬淡,不以功名为念,每日只以观花修竹, 酌酒吟诗为乐,倒是神仙一流人品. ->
Because this (甄士隐) Zhen Shi Yin's (禀性) natural disposition is (恬淡) indifferent to fame or fortune, [he] did not study for (功名) scholarly honours or official rank, and every day only found pleasure in (观花修竹) watching flowers and growing bamboo, (酌酒吟诗) drinking wine and reciting poetry, (倒是) conversely [he has the] (一流) first class (人品) moral qualities of a (神仙) celestial being.
(以....为....: grammar used twice in this sentence, can be a bit confusing if you mix them up; 观花修竹: looking after/arranging flowers and bamboo? 神仙一流人品: the qualities of a celestial being?)
只是一件不足:如今年已半百, 膝下无儿,只有一女,乳名唤作英莲,年方三岁. ->
[He] only has one inadequacy: Now, already 50 years old, below [his] knees there is no son, only having one daughter, her (乳名) infant name (唤作) called (英莲) Ying Lian, just 3 years of age.
derek
August 15, 2008, 03:54 AMHi Changye,
Haha, this paragraph seemed quite easy, but now that I have looked at it again I think there are some mistakes in the translation, I really should not drink beer and translate at the same time!
changye
August 15, 2008, 04:57 AMHi Derek,
I have a serious running nose today, and because of it I got up at half-past four this morning. I’m naturally very sleepy now!
出(= 出自, origin)则(= 即，就，是)既(already)明(clear)
当日(in the past, before, 往日)
地陷东南 is just a mystery, which literally means “landslide southeast”. I’ve finally found that the phrase is a part of the old poem “～ 天柱折，地维绝，天倾西北，地陷东南 ～” that suggests a natural disaster, or the 女娲 legend (?).
Anyway, this phrase might perhaps be a Chinese version of “long, long ago in a certain place” or something like that. By the way, there is the same phrase in Japanese that says “昔々ある所に (long, long ago in a certain place)”. Interestingly, in Korean they say “long, long ago, when tigers were smoking cigarettes….”, although I don’t know why.
最是 (the best place is, ～ is the most ～)
庙旁住(live)著(register…?)一家乡宦
Just for the record, 宦 mainly has two meanings, an ordinal official and eunuch official (castrated official, 宦官 (tai4 jian4), 太监, 公公, 阉人 yan1ren2). In this case, the 宦 naturally indicates the former because 甄士隐 has a daughter! Furthermore, castrated officials commonly work at the imperial palace, so 乡宦 can’t be a 太监.
姓甄,名费,字士隐.
There are several kinds of name in Chinese. 姓 (family name)，名 (given name)，乳名，小名，幼名 (infant name)，号，雅号，雅名 (pen name, elegant name)，字 (alias, 字 is usually used by people other than family members). For example, 诸葛/亮 (family name + given name)，诸葛/孔明 (family name + 字 alias)，卧龙 (号, elegant name, pen name). It’s well known that 孙中山 had a lot of names. If interested, please look into the Chinesepod lesson “孙中山”.
嫡妻(the first wife)封氏
The antonym of 嫡妻 is 庶妻 (shu4 qi1, the second, third …..wife).
changye
August 15, 2008, 05:00 AMHi Derek,
I have a serious running nose today, and because of it I got up at half-past four this morning. I’m naturally very sleepy now!
出(= 出自, origin)则(= 即，就，是)既(already)明(clear)
当日(in the past, before, 往日)
地陷东南 is just a mystery, which literally means “landslide southeast”. I’ve finally found that the phrase is a part of the old poem “～ 天柱折，地维绝，天倾西北，地陷东南 ～” that suggests a natural disaster, or the 女娲 legend (?).
Anyway, this phrase might perhaps be a Chinese version of “long, long ago in a certain place” or something like that. By the way, there is the same phrase in Japanese that says “昔々ある所に (long, long ago in a certain place)”. Interestingly, in Korean they say “long, long ago, when tigers were smoking cigarettes….”, although I don’t know why.
最是 (the best place is, ～ is the most ～)
庙旁住(live)著(register…?)一家乡宦
Just for the record, 宦 mainly has two meanings, an ordinal official and eunuch official (castrated official, 宦官 (tai4 jian4), 太监, 公公, 阉人 yan1ren2). In this case, the 宦 naturally indicates the former because 甄士隐 has a daughter! Furthermore, castrated officials commonly work at the imperial palace, so 乡宦 (local officials) can’t be a 太监.
姓甄,名费,字士隐.
There are several kinds of name in Chinese. 姓 (family name)，名 (given name)，乳名，小名，幼名 (infant name)，号，雅号，雅名 (pen name, elegant name)，字 (alias, 字 is usually used by people other than family members). For example, 诸葛/亮 (family name + given name)，诸葛/孔明 (family name + 字 alias)，卧龙 (号, elegant name, pen name). It’s well known that 孙中山 had a lot of names. If interested, please look into the Chinesepod lesson “孙中山”.
嫡妻(the first wife)封氏
The antonym of 嫡妻 is 庶妻 (shu4 qi1, the second, third …..wife).
changye
August 15, 2008, 05:32 AMP/S Sorry, my running nose made me post two same comments. As for 庙旁住著一家乡宦, I've just remembered one important (and simple) thing. 著 (zhe) and 着 (zhe) are interchageably used characters, and so 住著 is equal to 住着 (be living). 该死的流鼻涕！
derek
August 15, 2008, 06:27 AMThanks Changye,
these names/alias' can be quite confusing, I guess they often had specific reasons for having an alias or nickname, for example, attaining an official position, reaching a certain age, getting married etc?
"when tigers were smoking cigarettes...", that is hilarious, must be an interesting story behind that saying.
Hope you recover quickly from your running nose, I had one a couple of weeks ago, 真不舒服!
changye
August 15, 2008, 09:40 AMHi derek,
谢谢你的关怀。多亏上午买来的鼻炎药很管事，现在已经没问题了。不过两只鼻孔有点疼，而且头脑不太清醒。我看喝两瓶啤酒可以解决这些问题…哈哈！
Your real given name was called “讳 (hui4)” in Chinese, and it was usually only used by a very limited number of people, e.g. your parents or superiors, when they call you. It was considered very rude if your friends or colleagues call you by your real given name (讳), which is why an alias (字) was necessary. I also hear that you were supposed not to freely tell other people your real names because it was believed that 讳 was abused when someone puts a curse on you.
The same goes for the names of Chinese emperors. For example, 乾隆帝(Qianlong Emperor)’s real name (讳) was 弘历, and of course people were not allowed to call him by the name. Furthermore the two characters 弘 and 历 were prohibited to use in books during the reign of 乾隆帝. This custom is very helpful when modern scholars determine when classical literatures were published. If you can’t find the two characters in a book, it is highly likely that it was edited in the era of 乾隆帝. “乾隆” is his posthumous title.
changye
August 14, 2008, 02:13 PMHi derek,
I didn't expect to see your next posting today. I shouldn't have drunk much beer tonight, but it's too late. 已经晚了！ See you tomorrow, good night! As the Chinese proverb goes, 好饭不怕晚！