曹雪芹 著

 

第三十四回 情中情因情感妹妹 错里错以错劝哥哥

 

这里宝玉昏昏默默，只见蒋玉菡走了进来，诉说忠顺府拿他之事；又见金钏儿进来哭说为他投井之情。宝玉半梦半醒，都不在意。忽又觉有人推他，恍恍忽忽听得有人悲戚之声。宝玉从梦中惊醒。睁眼一看，不是别人，却是林黛玉。宝玉犹恐是梦，忙又将身子欠起来，向脸上细细一认，只见两个眼睛肿的桃儿一般，满面泪光，不是黛玉，即是那个？宝玉还欲看时，怎奈下半截疼痛难忍，支持不住，便“嗳哟”一声，仍就倒下，叹了一声，说道：“你又做了什么跑来！虽说太阳落下去，那地上的余热未散，走两趟又要受了暑。我虽然捱了打，并不觉疼痛。我这个样儿，只装出来哄他们，好在外头布散于老爷听，其实是假的。你不可认真。”此时林黛玉虽不是嚎啕大哭，然越是这等无声之泣，气噎喉堵，更觉得利害。听了宝玉这番话，心中虽然有万句言词，只是不能说得，半日，方抽抽噎噎的说道：“你从此可都改了罢！”宝玉听说，便长叹一声，道：“你放心，别说这样话。就便为这些人死了，也是情愿的！”一句话未了，只见院外人说：“二奶奶来了。”林黛玉便知是凤姐来了，连忙立起身说道：“我从后院子去罢，回来再来。”宝玉一把拉住道：“这可奇了，好好的怎么怕起他来。”林黛玉急得跺脚，悄悄地说道：“你瞧瞧我的眼睛，又该他取笑开心呢。宝玉听说赶忙的放手。黛玉三步两步转过床后，出后院而去。

 

 

 

 杨宪益、戴乃迭译文：

 

A Dream of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin

 

Moved by Affection, Baoyu Moves His Cousin

 

A Wrong Report Makes Baochai Wrong Her Brother

 

Dozing off, he dreamed that Qiguan had come to tell of his capture by Prince Zhongshun’s steward; after which Jinchuan appeared, in tears, to explain why she had thrown herself into the well. Half sleeping and half waking, he paid only scant attention. But then he felt himself shaken and caught the faint sound of sobbing. He opened his eyes with a start to see Daiyu. Suspecting at first that this was another dream, he propped himself up to look at her more closely. Her eyes were swollen, her face was bathed in tears: it was Daiyu beyond a doubt. He would have gazed at her longer, but the pain in his legs was so unbearable that he fell back with a groan.

 

 

 

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said. “Though the sun’s set, the ground is still hot. Walking here and back may make you unwell again. I’m not in any pain after my beating, just putting on an act to fool them so that word of it will get out to my father. I’m shamming actually. Don’t you worry about me.”

 

 

 

Daiyu was not crying aloud. She swallowed her tears in silence till she felt as if she would choke. She had a thousand replies to make to Baoyu, but not one word could she utter. At long last she sobbed:

 

 

 

“Never do such things again.”

 

 

 

“Don’t you worry, ”replied Baoyu with a long sigh. “Please don’t talk this way. I would die happily for people like them, and I’m still alive.”

 

 

 

At this point some maids in the courtyard announced Xifeng’s arrival, Daiyu at once stood up.

 

 

 

“I’ll go out the back way and drop in again later,” she said.

 

 

 

Baoyu caught her hand protesting, “That’s a strange thing to do. Why should you be afraid of her?

 

 

 

Daiyu stamped one foot in desperation.

 

 

 

“Look at my eyes, ” she whispered. “She’d make fun of me if she saw.”

 

 

 

At once he released her and she slipped past his bed and out through the back court.(335 words)

 

 

 

 大卫·霍克斯译文：

 

The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin

 

A wordless message meets with silent understanding

 

And a groundless imputation leads to undeserved rebukes

 

 

 

He had dozed off. The shadowy form of Jiang Yuhan had come in to tell him of his capture by the Prince of Zhongshun’s men, followed, shortly after, by Golden, who gave him a tearful account of how she had drowned herself. In his half-dreaming, half-awake state he was having the greatest difficulty in attending to what they were saying, when suddenly he felt someone pushing him and became dimly aware of a sound of weeping in his ear. He gave a start. Fully awake now, he opened his eyes. It was Lin Daiyu. Suspecting this, too, to be a dream, he raised his head to look. A pair of eyes swollen like peaches met his own, and a face that was glistening with tears. It was Daiyu all right, no doubt about that. He would have looked longer, but the strain of raising himself was causing such excruciating pain in his nether parts, that he fell back again with a groan. The groan was followed by a sigh.

 

 

 

“Now what have you come for ?” he said. “The sun’s not long set and the ground must still be very hot underfoot. You could still get a heat-stroke at this time of day, and that would be a fine how-do-you-do. Actually, in spite of the beating, I don’t feel very much pain. This fuss I make is put on to fool the others. I’m hoping they’ll spread the word around outside how badly I’ve been hurt, so that Father gets to hear of it. It’s all shamming, really. You mustn’t be taken in by it.”

 

 

 

Daiyu’s sobbing had by this time ceased to be audible; but somehow her strangled, silent weeping was infinitely more pathetic than the most clamorous grief. At that moment volumes would have been inadequate to contain the things she wanted to say to him; yet all she could get out, after struggling for some time with her choking sobs, was:

 

“I suppose you’ll change now.”

 

Baoyu gave a long sigh.

 

“Don’t worry, I shan’t change. People like that are worth dying for. I wouldn’t change if he killed me.”

 

The words were scarcely out of his mouth when hey heard someone outside in the courtyard saying:

 

“Mrs Lian has come.”

 

Daiyu had no wish to see Xifeng, and rose to her feet hurriedly.

 

Baoyu seized hold of her hand.

 

“Now that’t funny. Why should you start being afraid of her all of a sudden?”

 

She stamped with impatience.

 

“Look at the state my eyes are in!”she said.“I don’t want them all making fun of me again.”

 

At that Baoyu released her hand and she bounded round to the back of the bed, slipping into the rear courtyard.(368 words)