襲人

(Hawkes, Story of the Stone 23)

Lady Wang stroked Bao-yu's neck affectionately: `Have you finished the pills I sent you the other day yet?'
王夫人摸挲著寶玉的脖項說道： 「前兒的丸藥都吃完了？」

`There's still one left.', said Bai-yu.
寶玉答道：「還有一丸。」

`You must come for some more tomorrow, I'll give you another ten. You must get Aroma to give you one every night before you go to sleep.'
王夫人道：「明兒再取十丸來，天天臨睡的時候，叫襲人伏侍你吃了再睡。」

`Yes. You told Aroma, Mother. She's been giving me one every night, as you said.'
寶玉道：「自從太太吩咐了，襲人天天晚上想著，打發我吃。」

`Who is this ``Aroma?''?' asked Jia Zheng sharply.
賈政問道：「襲人是何人？」

`A maid,' said Lady Wang.
王夫人道：「是個丫頭。」

`I suppose there are no limits to what a maid may be called,' said Jia Zheng, `but who would have picked an outlandish name like that to give her?'
賈政道：「丫頭不管叫個什麼也罷了，是誰這樣刁鑽，起這樣的名字？」

Lady Wang could see that he was displeased and did her best to cover up for Bao-yu: ‘I think it was Lady Jia who gave her the name.’
王夫人見賈政不自在了，便替寶玉掩飾道：「是老太太起的。」

‘Mother would never think of a name like that,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘It must have been Bao-yu.’
賈政道：「老太太如何知道這種話，一定是寶玉。」

Bao-yu saw that a frank avowal was now unavoidable and rose to his feet:
寶玉見瞞不過，只得起身回道：

‘This maid has a surname which means ``Flowers''. There is a line in an old poem I happened to remember ``The flowers’ aroma breathes of hotter days'' and so I named her after that.’
「因素日讀詩，曾記古人有一句詩云：`花氣襲人知晝暖'。 因這個丫頭姓花，便隨口起了這個名字。」

‘When you get back you must change the name at once,’ said Lady Wang hurriedly to Bao-yu.
王夫人忙又道：「寶玉，你回去改了罷。

‘Come, Sir Zheng’ – this to her husband – ‘you aren’t going to get angry about a little thing like that?’
老爺也不用為這小事動氣。」

‘It doesn’t really matter,’ said Jia Zheng, ‘and there is no need for him to change the name;
賈政道：「究竟也無礙，又何用改。

but it demonstrates what I have always said about the boy: he is fundamentally incapable of caring about serious matters and preoccupies himself with poetic frivolities and other such airy-fairy nonsense as a substitute for solid learning.
只是可見寶玉不務正， 專在這些濃詞艷賦上作工夫。」

Wretched fellow!’ he shouted at Bao-yu. ‘What are you waiting for?’
說畢，斷喝一聲：「作業的畜生，還不出去！」

‘Go now, go now!’ said Lady Wang in a flutter. ‘Grandma is probably waiting to begin her dinner.’
王夫人也忙道：「去罷，只怕老太太等你吃飯呢。」

Bao-yu murmured a reply and retired, rather more slowly than was necessary.
寶玉答應了，慢慢的退出去。

Emerging from the outer door, he grinned and stuck his tongue out at Golden, then shot off like a puff of smoke, the two old nannies hurrying after him.
(到了門外，)向金釧兒笑著伸伸舌頭，帶著兩個嬤嬤一溜煙去了。

Arriving at the entrance of the covered passage-way he came upon Aroma leaning in the doorway.
剛至穿堂門前，只見襲人倚門立在那裡。

Her face lit up when she saw him returning unscathed and she asked him what his father had wanted to see him about.
一見寶玉平安回來，堆下笑來問道：「叫你作什麼？」

‘Oh, nothing much,’ said Bao-yu. ‘He just wanted to say a few words about not getting up to mischief after we’ve moved into the garden.’
寶玉告訴他：「沒有什麼，不過怕我進園去淘氣，吩咐吩咐。」

Having answered Aroma, he went in to see his grandmother and told her about the interview.
一面說，一面回至賈母跟前，回明原委。