Faraway Wanderers - Chapter 57

Wherein there is gambling.

1. Yes, I saw that TYK got locked on jjwc. Yup, it's def a case of the river crabs. But priest is still writing, so that should be reassuring.

2. Sorry again for the long break. Multiple things happened at the same time, and what started out as a small pause in this translation lasted longer than I anticipated. To people who've been worried, I'm fine! Thank you for your concern! <3

3. A big thanks to people who tipped me on Kofi! It's def a motivation to finish this because just knowing that there are people who care enough is moving! I'm looking for a hosting solution right now, but it may take some time.

Finally, and as always, thanks to Emma P for still being here, on proofreading duties! <3<3<3

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Notes

1. He is described as having a "gallbladder nose" (吊胆鼻) in the text. I don't believe there is a direct equivalent in English. Cf. Jackie Chan's nose.

2. The Scorpions' boss literally call his underlings his "children", which is creepy. Note that it was changed in the web-series: in WoH, it's Long Xiao (the guy in the wheelchair) who calls his creatures his "children". Overall, "Scorpion King" is weirder/creepier in the novel.

3. This is a 十字令 (lit. "ten lines rhyme"). They are composed by using idioms that comprise the numbers 1 to 10, in order. The two remaining lines to the rhyme WWK cites are "九陷泥潭，十成灾难". ( Which I would translate as, "nine-foot deep into quagmire he sinks; tenfold is the hardship that on the self he brings".)

4.那啥唱那啥随 humorous variation on 夫倡妇随 or lit. "the wife follows when the husband sings".

5. The monsters are called 药人, translated literally. As far as I can tell, they are a creative variation on modern horror lore.

6. WWK fishes out a 汗巾, which is, in context, a length of fabric that serves as a belt. The implication here is that WWK took off the belt from his underpants to blindfold ZZS with it.

7. Both men and women kept long hair in ancient China because cutting them would be considered equivalent to butchering the body. The topknot, or bun, men wore is associated with hairpieces/hair ornaments made of jade dating back to the Hongshan culture (3500 BC).

8. The expression he actually uses is 烟花之地 or lit. "place of smoke and flowers" (prostitution).

Misc. note about humour in wuxia and Chinese lit. at large.

This chapter is very wuxia in the sense that it shows the protagonists applying their extraordinary talents to trivial matters for comedic effect. Which reminds me that humour in the narrative resonates differently in Chinese literature than it does in the western literary tradition where, centuries after the invention of the modern novel, the notion rooted in classical theatre that tragedies are nobler than comedies, that gravitas is more "high-brow" than levity, still endure as an unconscious norm.

What I mean is, Tolkien would never write about Legolas winning at darts in a pub, while every Jin Yong character has at least a sense of humour.

To draw a more serious parallel, wuxia as a genre derives influences from Chinese opera: wuxi or "martial plays" (武戏) is a type of theatre/opera that has integrated acrobatic traditions to a degree that remains unequalled in western scenic arts. The physical prowess found in these plays centred on actions were oftentimes successfully combined with situation-based comedy because such plays were openly targetted at a wider audience that included the illiterate and kids, while still receiving enthusiastic upper-class patronage. This particular blend of comedic and acrobatic spectacles culminated in the role of the wuchou (武丑) or lit. the "martial clown". (The wuchou is also the archetype behind Jackie Chan or Stephen Chow's cinema, for example.)

Literati who chose Sophocles over Aristophanes are many in the West. But, in the East, only a fictional snob (and angsty teenager) like Jia Baoyu would dare resent martial clowns for being too garish. And even then, Cao Xueqin did not forget to tenderly depict Grandmother Jia's candid enjoyment of the Monkey King's stage stunts.

Because, fundamentally, the dichotomy of what we might call art/literature vs the rest is otherwise resolved in Confucian China: any work that is not part of the Classics is pulpy garbage, anyway.

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