玉嬌梨 — Page 1

由劉昭宇製作

Produced by Jau-Yu Liou

第一回 小才女代父題詩

Chapter 1: The Young Talented Girl Composes a Poem in Her Father's Place

詩曰：六經原本在人心，笑罵皆文仔細尋。

The poem says: The Six Classics are rooted in the human heart; look carefully and you will find literature even in laughter and scolding.

天地戲場觀莫矮，古今聚訟眼須深。

The world is a stage—do not look down on it; to judge the disputes of past and present, one needs a discerning eye.

詩存鄭衛非無意，亂著春秋豈是淫。

The poems of Zheng and Wei were preserved in the Classic of Poetry not without purpose; the disorder recorded in the Spring and Autumn Annals is by no means lascivious.

更有子雲千載後，生生死死謝知音。

And then there is Yang Xiong, who a thousand years later still lives and dies giving thanks to those who truly know him.

話說正統年間，有一科甲太常正卿姓白名玄，表字太玄，乃金陵人氏。

Our story is set during the Zhengtong reign period, when there lived an official who had passed the imperial examinations and held the post of Prefect of the Court of Imperial Sacrifice. His surname was Bai and his given name was Xuan, with the courtesy name Taixuan, and he was a native of Jinling.

因王振弄權，挂冠而歸。

Because the eunuch Wang Zhen had been wielding power corruptly, he hung up his official cap and returned home.

這白太常上無兄下無弟，只有一個妹子，又嫁與山東盧副使遠去，止得隻身獨立。

This Bai Taichang had neither older nor younger brothers; he had only one younger sister, who had married a Deputy Commissioner Lu in Shandong and gone far away, leaving him quite alone.

他為人沉靜寡欲，不貪名利，懶於逢迎，但以詩酒自娛。

He was by nature calm and of few desires; he did not covet fame or profit, was disinclined to flattery, and amused himself simply with poetry and wine.

因嫌城市中交接煩冗，遂卜居於鄉。

Finding the social obligations of city life too burdensome and complicated, he chose to settle in the countryside.

去城約六七十里，地名喚做錦石村。

About sixty or seventy li from the city was a place called Jinshi Village.

這村裡青山環繞四面，一帶清溪，直從西過東，曲曲回抱，兩堤上桃李芳菲，頗有山水之趣。

The village was surrounded on all sides by green hills, and a clear stream flowed from west to east in a winding embrace, with peach and plum blossoms blooming on both banks—a scene of considerable natural beauty.

這村中雖有千餘戶居民，若要數富貴人家，當推白太常為第一。

Although the village had more than a thousand households, if one were to name the wealthiest and most distinguished family, Bai Taichang would be ranked first.

這白太常官又高家又富，才學政望，又大有聲名，但只恨年過四十卻無子嗣。

Bai Taichang held high office and was wealthy; he was renowned for his learning and political reputation, yet he bitterly lamented that he had passed forty years of age without a male heir.

也曾蓄過幾個姬妾，甚是作怪，留在身邊三五年再沒一毫影響。

He had kept several concubines, which was strange indeed: after staying with him for three to five years, not one showed the slightest sign of pregnancy.

又移去嫁人，不上年餘便人人生子。

Yet once they were sent away and married to others, every single one gave birth within a year.

白公嘆息，以為有命，遂不復買妾。

Master Bai sighed and accepted it as fate, and thereafter stopped purchasing concubines.

夫人吳氏，各處求神拜佛，燒香許願，直到四十四上，方生得一個女兒。

Lady Wu, his wife, prayed to gods and Buddhas everywhere, burned incense, and made vows, until finally, at the age of forty-four, she gave birth to a daughter.

臨生這日，白公夢一神人賜美玉一塊，顏色紅赤如日，因取乳名叫做紅玉。

On the day of her birth, Master Bai dreamed that a divine being bestowed upon him a beautiful piece of jade, red as the sun, and so he gave the child the milk name Hongyu.

白公夫妻因晚年無子，雖然生個女兒，卻也十分歡喜。

Since Master Bai and his wife had no sons in their later years, the birth of a daughter, though not a son, still brought them great joy.

這紅玉生得姿色非常，真似眉如春柳，眼似秋波。

Hongyu was born extraordinarily beautiful, with eyebrows like spring willow fronds and eyes like the rippling waves of autumn.

更兼性情聰慧，到八九歲，便學得女工針黹，件件過人。

She was also clever and quick-witted by nature; by the age of eight or nine she had mastered all the feminine crafts of needlework and embroidery, surpassing others in every skill.

不幸十一歲上，母親吳氏先亡過了，就每日隨著白公讀書寫字。

Unhappily, when she was eleven years old, her mother Lady Wu passed away, and from then on she spent every day reading and practicing calligraphy alongside Master Bai.

果然是山川秀氣所鍾，天地陰陽不爽，有十分姿色，又十分聰明。

She was truly the embodiment of the finest essence of mountains and rivers, and the harmonious balance of heaven and earth's yin and yang was perfectly expressed in her: she was as beautiful as she was brilliant.

到得十四五時，便知書能文，竟已成一個女學士。

By the age of fourteen or fifteen, she was well-versed in literature and able to compose essays with skill—she had become a veritable female scholar.

因白公寄情詩酒，日日吟詠，故紅玉小姐於詩詞一道，尤其所長。

Because Master Bai devoted himself to poetry and wine, composing verses every single day, Miss Hongyu excelled especially in the art of poetry.

家居無事，往往白公做了，叫紅玉和韻，紅玉做了，與白公推敲。

In their leisure at home, Master Bai would often compose a poem and ask Hongyu to respond in matching rhyme, and when Hongyu composed, she would discuss and refine the verses together with Master Bai.

白公因有了這等一個女兒，便也不思量生子，只要選擇一個有才有貌的佳婿配他。

Because Master Bai had such a daughter, he no longer thought about having a son, but only wished to find a talented and handsome husband worthy of her.

卻是一時沒有，因此耽擱到一十六歲尚未聯婚。

But no suitable match could be found for the time being, and so she remained unmarried even at the age of sixteen.

不期朝廷遭土木之難，正統北狩，景泰登極，王振伏辜，起復朝臣。

Unexpectedly, the dynasty suffered the disaster of Tumu, where the Zhengtong Emperor was captured in the north; the Jingtai Emperor ascended the throne, Wang Zhen met his deserved punishment, and deposed officials were reinstated.

白公名係舊臣，吏部會議仍推白公為太常正卿，不日命下，報到金陵。

As Master Bai was a former official in good standing, the Board of Personnel deliberated and again recommended him as Prefect of the Court of Imperial Sacrifice; shortly thereafter the imperial decree was issued and news reached Jinling.

白公本意不願做官，只因紅玉姻事未就，因想道：「吾欲選擇佳婿，料此一鄉一邑人才有限，怎如京師，乃天下文人聚處，豈無東床俊彥，何不借此一行？」

Master Bai had no desire to take office, but since Hongyu's marriage had not yet been arranged, he thought to himself: "I wish to find an outstanding son-in-law; the talents available in a single district must be limited—how can they compare with the capital, where the scholars of the entire realm gather? Surely there must be some extraordinary young man worthy to be a son-in-law there. Why not take this opportunity to make the journey?"

主意定了，遂不推辭，擇個吉日，挈帶紅玉小姐同上京赴任。

His mind made up, he accepted the appointment without declining and, choosing an auspicious day, set off for the capital with Miss Hongyu to take up his post.

到了京師，請訓朝廷，到了任，尋一個私宅住下。

Upon arriving in the capital, he paid his respects at court, took up his office, and found a private residence to live in.

這太常寺乃是一個清淡衙門，況白公雖然忠義，卻是個疏懶之人，不願攬事。

The Court of Imperial Sacrifice was a quiet and undistinguished office; moreover, though Master Bai was loyal and upright, he was a man of easy temperament who disliked taking on extra responsibilities.

就是國家有大事著九卿會議，也只是兩衙門與該部做主，太常卿不過備名色唯諾而已。

Even when matters of state required a deliberation of the Nine Ministers, only the relevant two offices and the ministry took the lead; the Prefect of the Court of Imperial Sacrifice did little more than lend his name and nod in agreement.

每日公事完了，便只是飲酒賦詩。

After finishing his daily official duties, he would do nothing more than drink wine and compose poetry.

過了數月，便有一班好詩酒的僚友，或花或柳，遞相往還。

After a few months, a group of colleagues who shared his love of poetry and wine had formed, and they would take turns visiting one another, going to places with flowers and willows.

時值九月中旬，白公因一門人送了十二盆菊花，擺在書房階下。

It was the middle of the ninth month, and a disciple had sent Master Bai twelve pots of chrysanthemums, which were arranged on the steps outside his study.

也有雞冠紫，也有醉楊妃，也有銀鶴翎，盆盆皆是細種。

Among them were the deep purple cockscomb variety, the rosy-cheeked Drunken Imperial Consort variety, and the silver Crane Feather variety—every pot was a choice cultivar.

深香疏態，散影滿簾，何減屏列金釵十二。

Their rich fragrance and graceful forms cast scattered shadows across the curtain—no less splendid than twelve golden hairpins displayed on a screen.

白公十分喜愛，每日把酒玩賞。

Master Bai was greatly delighted and every day held his wine cup while admiring them.

這一日正吟賞間，忽報吳翰林與蘇御史來拜。

One day, while he was in the middle of admiring and composing verses, word suddenly came that Academician Wu and Censor Su had come to pay a visit.

原來這吳翰林就是白公妻舅，叫做吳珪，號瑞庵，與白公同里，為人最重義氣。

This Academician Wu was in fact Master Bai's wife's elder brother, named Wu Gui, with the sobriquet Rui'an; he was from the same hometown as Master Bai and was a man who placed great value on loyalty and righteousness.

這蘇御史名喚蘇淵，字方回，雖是河南籍中的進士，原籍卻也是金陵。

This Censor Su was named Su Yuan, with the courtesy name Fanghui; though he had passed the imperial examinations under the Henan jurisdiction, his ancestral home was also Jinling.

又與白公是同年，又因詩酒往來，所以三人極相契厚。

He was also Master Bai's fellow graduate of the same year's examination, and their shared love of poetry and wine meant that the three men were on extremely intimate terms.

每每於政事之暇，不是你尋我，就是我訪你。

In their leisure from official duties, they were forever seeking one another out—if one did not visit another, that other would come calling.

白公聽見二人來拜，慌忙出來迎接。

Upon hearing that the two had come to call, Master Bai hurried out to receive them.

三人因平日往來慣了，情意浹洽，全無一點客套。

The three of them, so accustomed to one another's company, were on such warm and easy terms that there was not the slightest formality between them.

一見了，白公便笑說道：「這兩日菊花開得十分爛熳，二兄何不來一賞？」

The moment they met, Master Bai laughed and said: "The chrysanthemums these past two days have been blooming in magnificent abundance—why haven't you two brothers come to admire them?"

吳翰林道：「前日因李念臺點了南直隸學院，與他餞行，不得工夫。」

Academician Wu replied: "The other day, since Li Niantai had been appointed as the Education Commissioner of the Southern Metropolitan Region, we gave him a farewell banquet and had no time to come."

昨晚正要來賞，不期剛出門，遇見老楊厭物拿一篇壽文，立等要做了，與石都督夫人上壽，又誤了一日工夫。

"Last evening I was just about to come and enjoy the flowers when, the moment I stepped out the door, that tiresome fellow old Yang accosted me with a birthday essay that he needed written right then and there—it was a tribute for the wife of Commander-in-Chief Shi—and so another day was wasted."

今早見風和日麗，恐怕錯過花期，所以約了蘇老仙不速而至。

"This morning, seeing the fine and gentle weather, I feared missing the blooming season, so I invited Elder Su to come along uninvited."

蘇御史道：「小弟連日也要來，只因衙門中多事，未免辜負芳辰。」

Censor Su said: "I too have been wanting to come these past several days, but affairs at the office have been numerous and I could not help but miss this fine occasion."

三人說著話，走到堂上相見，更了衣，待了茶，遂邀入書房中看菊。

The three of them chatted as they walked to the main hall to greet each other properly, changed into informal clothes, were served tea, and were then invited into the study to view the chrysanthemums.

果然黃深紫淺，擺好兩隅，不異兩行紅粉。

Indeed, with deep yellows and pale purples arranged beautifully in two corners, they looked no different from two rows of beautifully made-up ladies.

吳翰林與蘇御史俱誇獎好花不絕。

Both Academician Wu and Censor Su praised the lovely flowers without ceasing.

三人賞玩了一會，白公即令家人擺上酒來同飲。

After the three had enjoyed and admired the flowers for a time, Master Bai ordered the servants to bring out wine for them all to drink together.

飲了數杯，吳翰林因說道：「此花秀而不艷，美而不妖，雖紅黃紫白，顏色種種鮮妍，卻終帶幾分疏野瀟灑氣味，使人愛而敬之。」

After several cups had been drunk, Academician Wu remarked: "These flowers are elegant without being gaudy, beautiful without being cloying; though their colors of red, yellow, purple, and white are all vivid and lovely, they retain a certain rustic and carefree character that makes one both love and respect them."

就如二兄與小弟一般，雖然在此做官，而日日陶情詩酒，與林下無異。

"They are just like the two of you and myself—though we serve as officials here, our daily delight in poetry and wine makes us no different from recluses dwelling in the forest."

終不似老楊這班俗吏，每日趨迎權貴，只指望進身做官，未免為花所笑。

"We are utterly unlike that fellow old Yang and his ilk of vulgar officials, who spend every day fawning on the powerful and influential, hoping only to advance their careers—they would surely be laughed at by these flowers."

白公笑道：「雖然如此說，只怕他們又笑你我不會做官，終日只好在此冷曹，與草木為伍。」

Master Bai laughed and said: "Though you say as much, I fear they in turn laugh at us for not knowing how to be officials—spending all day in this quiet backwater, keeping company with plants and trees."

蘇御史道：「他們笑我們，殊覺有理；我們笑他便笑錯了。」

Censor Su said: "Their laughing at us is quite reasonable; but our laughing at them would be misplaced."

吳翰林道：「怎麼我們到笑差了？」

Academician Wu said: "How could we be wrong to laugh at them?"