《红楼梦》：大观园里的世界

Dream of the Red Chamber: A World Inside Grand View Garden

Page 1

先认识贾府，再看那块神奇的玉

First Meet the Jia Family—and Then the Magical Jade

贾宝玉出生时，嘴里含着一块玉。小说说，这块玉原来是女娲补天剩下的石头。
Jia Baoyu is born with a piece of jade in his mouth. The novel says it began as a stone left over when Nuwa repaired the sky.

写的是一个很有钱、很有权势的大家族——贾家。作者生活在十八世纪的。小说故意没有说故事发生在哪一个朝代，不过贾府的生活很像当时的贵族之家。

贾家的祖先为朝廷立过功，后代住在皇帝赐建的大宅里。宅子大得像一个小社区：里面有祖母、父母、叔伯、姑母、兄弟姐妹、表兄妹，还有许多管家、老师、厨师、丫鬟和其他仆人。大门挂着金字匾额，仓库里收着银子、丝绸和古董，逢年过节，来送礼的客人一批接一批。

小说还给这个家族故事加了一层神话。是中国古代神话中的女神。传说天空破了一个洞，她炼出石头把天补好，却剩下一块没有用上。那块石头有了生命，很想去人间看一看。

后来，贾家生下一个男孩，嘴里竟含着一块玉。他就是。“宝玉”就是“珍贵的玉”，他的名字正是从这块神奇的玉来的。于是，石头的旅行和贾府的故事连在了一起。

follows the Jia family, a rich and powerful household. Its author, , lived during the eighteenth-century . The novel does not name the exact dynasty of its story, but the Jia household looks much like a great family of Cao's own time.

The Jia ancestors earned honor by serving the emperor, and later generations live in enormous homes built with the emperor's approval. The family compound is almost a little town. Grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, and cousins live there, along with managers, teachers, cooks, maids, and many other servants. Gold-lettered signs hang above the gates. Storerooms hold silver, silk, and treasured objects. During a festival, lines of visitors arrive with gifts.

The novel adds a myth to this family story. is a goddess from an ancient Chinese myth. When the sky breaks, she makes stones to repair it, but one stone is left over. The stone comes alive and longs to visit the human world.

Then a boy is born into the Jia family with a piece of jade in his mouth. His name is . Baoyu means “precious jade,” so his name comes from the magical object he was born with. The stone's journey and the Jia family's story have now become one.

Page 2

宝玉、黛玉和宝钗到底是什么关系？

How Are Baoyu, Daiyu, and Baochai Related?

宝玉从小和姐妹、表姐妹以及照顾他们的丫鬟一起长大，所以贾府里的女孩子是故事的重要人物。
Baoyu grows up with his sisters, cousins, and the maids who care for them, so the girls of the Jia household stand at the center of the story.

按照当时大家庭的规矩，男孩子和女孩子长大一些以后，通常住在不同的院子。宝玉却是个例外。贾母特别疼爱他，让他和姐妹、表姐妹以及照顾他们的丫鬟一起长大。宝玉也更喜欢和她们聊诗、花和心事，不喜欢跟那些总催他读书、考试、做官的大人待在一起。

林黛玉是宝玉的表妹。她的母亲去世以后，父亲把她送到外祖母贾母家生活。黛玉从小常常生病，又失去了母亲，所以她总担心自己只是住在别人家里，哪一天可能会被送走。可是她很会留意小事，说话机灵，还能写出动人的诗。

黛玉先觉得宝玉非常眼熟；宝玉看见她，竟直接说：“这个妹妹我曾见过的。”他们不像两个刚认识的孩子，反而像两个走散很久的朋友终于重逢。

小说开头的神话解释了这种感觉。黛玉出生以前，曾是一株叫“绛珠仙草”的神奇小草。一位年轻的仙人每天用露水浇灌它，让它活了下来。后来，仙人来到人间成为宝玉，仙草也跟来成为黛玉，想用一生的眼泪报答他的照顾。

薛宝钗也是宝玉的表姐。她跟母亲和哥哥来到城里以后，住进亲戚贾家。宝钗身体较好，遇事冷静，也知道大人们希望年轻人怎样说话、怎样做事。她和黛玉住得很近，一起作诗，有时被人比较，后来也渐渐了解彼此。

三个人的名字也悄悄连在一起。“黛玉”和“宝玉”都有一个“玉”字；“宝钗”和“宝玉”都有一个“宝”字，“钗”是女子插在头发上的饰物。宝钗还戴着一把金锁，上面的字正好能和宝玉的玉配成一对。长辈因此说他们是“金玉良缘”，认为宝钗才是更合适的新娘。这个想法后来改变了三个人的生活。

In a household like this, older boys and girls would usually live in different parts of the family compound. Baoyu is an exception. His grandmother adores him and lets him grow up with his sisters, cousins, and their maids. Baoyu would rather talk with them about poems, flowers, and feelings than sit with adults who keep pushing him toward exams and an important career.

Lin Daiyu is Baoyu's cousin. After her mother dies, her father sends her to live with her grandmother, the head of the Jia family. Daiyu has often been ill since she was little. Without her mother beside her, she worries that she is only a guest in someone else's home and might one day be sent away. Yet she notices small things, makes clever jokes, and writes beautiful poems.

Daiyu first thinks Baoyu looks strangely familiar. Then Baoyu says, “I have seen this sister before.” They feel less like strangers meeting and more like two old friends finding each other again.

The myth at the beginning explains why. Before Daiyu was born, she was a magical plant called the Crimson Pearl Plant. A young immortal watered the plant with dew and kept it alive. When he came to the human world as Baoyu, she followed as Daiyu, hoping to repay his kindness with all her tears.

Xue Baochai is another cousin. She comes to the city with her mother and brother, and they stay with their Jia relatives. Baochai is healthy, calm, and good at understanding what adults expect. She and Daiyu live close together, write poems, are often compared, and slowly come to understand each other.

Their names quietly connect them too. Daiyu and Baoyu both have yu, “jade,” in their names. Baochai and Baoyu both have bao, “precious.” Chai means a hair ornament. Baochai also wears a gold locket with words that match the words on Baoyu's jade. The adults call the two objects a “gold-and-jade match” and decide that Baochai would be the better wife. That idea will change all three lives.

Page 3

大观园原来是为了迎接一位贵妃

Grand View Garden Was Built for One Royal Visit

元春离开以后，宝玉、黛玉、宝钗和姐妹们搬进大观园。他们作诗、赏花，也在那里慢慢长大。
After Yuanchun leaves, Baoyu, Daiyu, Baochai, and the other young people move into Grand View Garden. They write poems, enjoy flowers, and slowly grow up there.

宝玉的姐姐贾元春被选进皇宫，后来成了贵妃。贵妃是皇帝正式册封的妃子，住在皇宫里，地位很高。宫里的妃子通常不能想回家就回家。小说里，皇帝特别下了一道新命令：如果妃子的家里有一处与其他住宅分开的大院，能让皇家车驾停留，也能安排护卫，她就可以请求回家探亲。

这样的机会非常少见。贾府为了迎接元春，立刻花了很多钱修建一座新园林，这就是大观园。

园里有小河、石桥、竹林、花圃、楼阁和戏台。元春回来的那一夜，到处挂着灯，戏班在演戏，桌上摆满宴席。可她只停留了几个小时，天亮前就必须回宫。贾府为一次短短的探亲，造出了一整个园子。

元春走后，不想让园子一直锁着。她让宝玉、黛玉、宝钗和姐妹们搬进去。宝玉住进怡红院，黛玉住在竹子围绕的潇湘馆，宝钗住进安静的蘅芜苑。

他们成立诗社，给园里的花写诗，也一起吃螃蟹、放风筝、猜谜和拌嘴。现在我们看见了贾府最风光的样子：这个家有钱到能为一晚的客人造一座园子。我们也看见了一个危险的地方——这么大的开销，不可能永远继续下去。

Baoyu's older sister, Jia Yuanchun, is chosen to live in the imperial palace and later becomes an imperial consort. An imperial consort was one of the emperor's officially ranked wives. She lived inside the palace and could not simply go home whenever she missed her parents.

In the novel, the emperor issues a special new order: a consort may ask to visit her family if they have a large separate residence where the royal party can stay and guards can protect it. Such a visit is rare. The Jia family quickly spends a great deal of money building a new garden to welcome Yuanchun. This is Grand View Garden.

The garden has streams, stone bridges, bamboo, flower beds, pavilions, and a stage. On the night Yuanchun returns, lanterns shine everywhere, actors perform plays, and tables are covered with food. Yet she can remain for only a few hours. Before morning, she must return to the palace. The family has built an entire garden for one short visit.

After Yuanchun leaves, she does not want the garden to stay locked and empty. She asks Baoyu, Daiyu, Baochai, and the other girls to live there. Baoyu moves into Happy Red Court. Daiyu chooses a home surrounded by bamboo. Baochai lives in a quiet courtyard filled with sweet-smelling plants.

They form a poetry club, write poems about the flowers in the garden, eat crabs, fly kites, guess riddles, and tease one another. This is the Jia family at its brightest: rich enough to build a garden for one night. It also shows a danger. Spending on this grand scale cannot continue forever.

Page 4

黛玉葬花时，其实也在担心自己

When Daiyu Buries Flowers, She Is Also Afraid for Herself

黛玉不愿落花被踩进泥里，便把花瓣装进袋子，埋在园中。花也让她想起自己留不住的家和未来。
Daiyu does not want fallen petals trampled into mud, so she gathers and buries them. The flowers remind her of the home and future she cannot be sure of keeping.

黛玉以前已经和宝玉一起埋过落下的桃花。后来一个春夜，她去找宝玉，院门却在她面前关上了。她又看见宝钗从里面出来，心里更加难过。她不知道门只是误关了，还以为宝玉不愿意见她。

第二天，春天快要结束，园里的花落了一地。别人正在为花神送行，黛玉却想到花瓣很快会被人踩进泥里。她拿着小花锄和装花的袋子，把花瓣一片片收起来，送到自己的花冢里埋好。

她一边葬花，一边写下《葬花吟》。诗里，她想到花会凋谢，人也会长大、衰老和离开。她还问：今天我来埋花，将来如果我死了，又有谁会记得我？

所以，黛玉葬的并不只是花。她没有父母陪在身边，身体又常常生病，也不知道自己能不能永远留在贾府，更不知道能不能和宝玉在一起。落花像她自己，也像大观园里的女孩子们：现在被人珍爱，未来却可能由别人替她们决定。

Daiyu has already buried fallen peach blossoms with Baoyu once before. Then, one spring evening, she goes to see him, but the courtyard gate closes in front of her. When she sees Baochai come out later, she feels even worse. Daiyu does not know that the gate was closed by mistake. She thinks Baoyu does not want to see her.

The next day, spring is almost over and flowers cover the ground. Other people are saying goodbye to the flower spirits, but Daiyu imagines the petals being trampled into mud. Carrying a tiny hoe and a cloth bag, she gathers the petals one by one and buries them in her flower mound.

As she works, she sings her Song of Burying Flowers. Flowers fade, she thinks, and people also grow older and leave. Her song asks a frightening question: I am burying the flowers today, but when I die, who will remember me?

Daiyu is not grieving only for flowers. Her parents cannot care for her, she is often ill, and she does not know whether the Jia family will always let her stay. She also does not know whether she and Baoyu can have a future together. The flowers seem like Daiyu herself—and like the girls in the garden, whose futures may be decided by other people.

Page 5

园子空了，婚礼也没有让任何人快乐

The Garden Empties, and the Wedding Makes No One Happy

贾府的富贵并不是一天突然消失的。家里一直花很多钱，有些管事的人偷拿银子，有些男人仗着家族有权势惹出官司。元春去世以后，贾家也失去了宫中最重要的保护。后来，官员带人来搜查贾府，封住箱子，搬走财物。大观园里的年轻人一个个出嫁、离开或去世，园门渐渐冷清下来。

就在这个时候，长辈决定让宝玉娶宝钗。他们觉得宝钗身体健康、做事稳当，更能帮助一个正在出问题的家庭。黛玉没有父母替她安排，又一直生病，因此没有被选中。

宝玉当时病得糊里糊涂。婚礼时，新娘脸前盖着一块红布，宝玉看不见她是谁。家人让他以为红盖头下面是黛玉；婚礼结束以后，他才发现新娘其实是宝钗。黛玉听到婚事，病得更重，在婚礼那天去世。

宝钗也没有选择这场婚事。长辈替她决定，而她知道自己要嫁的人心里一直想着黛玉。这场婚礼让黛玉失去希望，欺骗了宝玉，也把宝钗留在一段孤单的婚姻里。

后来，宝玉参加考试以后离开了家。一个下雪天，他的父亲在船边看见他：宝玉光着头、披着红斗篷，向父亲拜了几拜，然后跟着一位和尚和一位道人走进白茫茫的雪地，再也没有回家。

The Jia fortune does not disappear in a single day. The family keeps spending huge amounts of money. Some managers steal silver, and some of the powerful Jia men cause legal trouble. After Yuanchun dies, the family also loses its strongest protector inside the palace. At last, government officers search the homes, seal the boxes, and carry property away. One by one, the young people marry, leave, or die. Grand View Garden empties.

During this trouble, the older family members decide that Baoyu should marry Baochai. They see her as healthy, calm, and able to help a family in trouble. Daiyu has no parents there to arrange the marriage for her, and she has always been ill. The family does not choose her.

Baoyu is very sick and confused. At the wedding, a red cloth covers the bride's face, so he cannot see who she is. His family lets him believe that Daiyu is beneath it. Only after the ceremony does he discover that the bride is really Baochai. When Daiyu hears about the marriage, she becomes even sicker and dies on the wedding day.

Baochai did not choose this marriage either. The adults chose for her, and she knew she was marrying someone who loved Daiyu. The wedding destroys Daiyu's hope, deceives Baoyu, and leaves Baochai in a lonely marriage.

Later, Baoyu takes the and then leaves home. On a snowy day, his father sees him beside a boat. Baoyu has a shaved head and a red cloak. He bows to his father, then follows a monk and a Daoist into the white snow. He never returns home.

那块石头看见了什么？

What Did the Stone See?

故事开始时，那块石头只想去人间看一看。它后来见到了亮满灯火的大观园，也见到了落花、婚礼、空掉的房间和雪地里的告别。

《红楼梦》没有只说“富贵会消失”。它让我们跟着宝玉、黛玉和宝钗住进那个家，先知道他们喜欢什么、害怕什么，再看见每个人怎样被贾府的变化带向不同的结局。

At the beginning, the stone simply wants to visit the human world. It goes on to see Grand View Garden filled with lanterns. It also sees fallen flowers, a joyless wedding, empty rooms, and a farewell in the snow.

Dream of the Red Chamber does not merely say that wealth can disappear. It lets us live inside the Jia home with Baoyu, Daiyu, and Baochai. First we learn what they love and fear. Then we see how the family's fall carries each of them toward a different ending.