Plotty chapter with kinda dorky humour. Makes me think that more people should go around reciting poetry. Even if it's terrible poetry.
Thanks Emma P for proofreading!
Notes
1. 峨眉 (E'mei)、崆峒 (Kongtong)、苍山 (Cangshan).
2. Variation on 知我者鲍子也 from The Record of The Grand Historian. In the passage describing Guan Zhong’s life, the famous politician is quoted as saying “My parents may have given me birth, but Bao knows me best”. “Bao” is Bao Shuya, Guan Zhong’s great friend. WXK cites in literary Chinese, hence translation in old(ish) English.
3. 知己 (zhiji) strikes again. Note that although the term is often automatically translated to "soulmate", it just doesn't make sense to do so here. WKX obviously means it literally as "the one who can understand him".
4. Variation on 摸鱼儿·雁丘词 (The Fisher Boy's Lyrics on Wild Gooses) by Yuan Haowen.
5. From the arguably platonic poem by Li Bai's 赠汪伦 (Ode to Wang Lun). The missing verse is "It compares not to Wang Lun's friendship."
6. Du Fu, the celebrated Tang dynasty poet. None of the quoted verses are from him. It's difficult to convey how awkward Cao Weining is being. A)Although both poems are about "love", they are about different kinds of love. B)None of the verses are "difficult to understand". C)The verses aren't even from the same authors.
7. 莫怀空 lit. "The one who's empty-hearted." Daoist sounding name with notion of emptiness (a Daoist ideal).
8. Small inconsistency here, as per the following chapter, this should be "by noon".
9. 叶白衣 lit. "leaf white clothes".
10. 天人五衰 refers to the "five declines" Buddhist masters are said to undergo before death. Variably listed as dirt on clothes, loss of air, sweat at the armpits, noxious bodily odour, and inability to seat steadily.
11. 长江后浪推前浪 idiom lit. "the rear waves of the Yangtze rivers pushed the front ones". Refers to changing times and improvements upon previous generations.
A quick note with the archaic English, for regular verbs you only use the -th ending for 3rd person singular (all others have no ending, except 2nd person sing is -est/-st). Love your translation of this novel.
Ye Baiyi is another hilarious one. I love him already with the bs filters in his ears 😂
Oh no, that poem reciting scene was so awkward. I think you did a good job translating that 😂
“I’m rather afraid that other than I, there is not a single person who can understand him on this earth." And Zhou Zishu knows it, he seems to be avoiding forming connections with people and I don't blame him. He was trapped in Skylight for so many years. I'd want to be just by myself for awhile too.
Thanks for the translation!