第一回: Chunk 37
henning
October 13, 2008, 09:35 AM posted in General Discussion
那士隐夫妇,见女儿一夜不归,便知有些不妥,再使几人去寻 找,回来皆云连音响皆无.夫妻二人,半世只生此女,一旦失落,岂不思想,因此昼夜啼 哭, 几乎不曾寻死.看看的一月,士隐先就得了一病,当时封氏孺人也因思女构疾,日 日请医疗治.
My try:
When 士隐 and his wife saw that the daughter did not return home after one night, they knew there were was a problem. Again several people were sent to search – only to come back reporting that not even the slightest information could be gathered. The couple who had only that one daughter born in an eternity, fully understandable mourned day and night, almost wanting to die. In that a month first 士隐first fell ill, then, thinking of that girl 封氏孺 also got sick. Day after day visited the doctor for remedy.
Breakdown:
那士隐夫妇,见女儿一夜不归
When 士隐 and his wife saw that the daughter did not return home after one night
便知有些不妥,
Therefore knew there were „a few not appropriate“ -> therefore knew that there was a problem
再使几人去寻 找
Again then send(let) a few people go to search
回来皆云连音响皆无.
Returned all said not even a (音响) sound was not heard
连…皆 - equivalent to 连。。。都?
夫妻二人,
The couple
半世只生此女
Half a century only born that woman ->
[that] for an eternity only had that daughter born
一旦失落,
in case of loss
岂不思想
Won’t it mean the thought
-> I understood that as: it obvious/clear that
因此昼夜啼 哭
therefore day and night (啼 哭) mourned
几乎不曾寻死.
Almost (不曾) never search for death -> amost wanting to die
看看的一月
In that month (lit: "Look at one month")
士隐先就得了一病
士隐first got sick
当时封氏孺人也因思女构疾,
That time 封氏孺 also because of the thought of that girl got sick
日 日请医疗治.
Day after day visited the doctor for (疗治) remedy
henning
October 14, 2008, 08:53 AMHi changye,
sure it is "January" and not "one month"? Isn't the moon festival in August (Chinese calender)? My collegue says 的 here has the meaning of "to become" / "change"...
changye
October 14, 2008, 03:07 PMHi henning,
There is the phrase “倏忽又是元霄佳节矣” in chunk 36. You translated “元宵佳节” as “the moon festival”, but it was wrong. I’m sorry that I overlooked it, probably due to a few bottles of beer. “元宵节” is the festival celebrated on the fifteenth of January in the Chinese lunar calendar. You can see a beautiful full moon on the day. The moon festival is called “中秋节” in modern Chinese.
Actually I’m not so sure whether “一月” means “January” or “a month” in this context, but if it had been “a month”, the author would probably have made it “一个月” since a measure word “个” was already commonly used in old Chinese. As for “看看的”, I guess this usage probably made your native friend think of the “的” in “慢慢的(地)” or “渐渐的(地)”. Anyway, it’s a tricky usage.
changye
October 13, 2008, 02:56 PM见 (= 听到，听见) 女儿一夜不归
半世（= one’s past life）只生此女
看看的一月 ：“看” also means “转眼间” in old Chinese. Anyway, this phrase is a bit confusing. 看看的一月 = January went by so quickly (?)
封氏孺人 ：孺人 usually means “太太”, so 封氏孺人 should be translated as “Mrs. Feng”, but this does not make sense in this context. We have no choice but to translate it as “Mr. Feng’s child (孺子)”. By the way, “封氏” implies “疯士(隐)”？
日日请医(= 请医生) 疗治 A doctor comes for remedy every day.