Section One Birth Is the Starting Point of One’s Life
任何人从母体来到人世的第一声啼哭就是向世人宣布他或她的人生已经开始了。但每个人的人生经历不同，并因此使每个人的人生变得独特而精彩。
The first cry of anyone who comes out of his or her mother’s body into the world is announcing to allpeople on earth that he or she has already begun his or her life. But everyone has different experiences inone’s life and thus one’s life becomes very unique and wonderful.
咱们读一读曹雪芹的《红楼梦》并研究一下作者和其中主要人物的出生、死亡和人生，就可欣赏到他们不同的经历和精彩人生，也能学到很多人生的经验教训。
Let’s read Cao Xueqin’s A Dream of Red Mansions and study the birth， death and life of the writer andthe main characters’ in the novel. We can enjoy their different experiences and wonderful lives and learnmuch from their experiences and lessons in life.
1.1 内容介绍
1.1 Introduction小说《红楼梦》是曹雪芹于18世纪中叶清代（1644—1911）乾隆统治时期（1736—1795）根据自己的身世经历和对现实的深切感受，饱含着血泪写成的。清代的康熙、乾隆两朝号称盛世，但恰恰是在这样的盛世中却潜伏着危机，制造着悲剧，反映到文学创作上，就产生了《红楼梦》这样伟大的悲剧作品。
Based on the writer’s life experience and his deep sense of the realities， the novel A Dream of RedMansions was written by Cao Xueqin with all his devotion in the mid-eighteenth century during the reign(1736—1795) of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644—1911). The two reigns of Emperors Kangxiand Qianlong in the Qing dynasty are known as the Golden Ages， but it is in these Ages that crises arebrewing and tragedy is in the making. Their reflections in the literary writing lead to the birth of a great tragicwork of literature—A Dream of Red Mansions.
《红楼梦》通过对贾宝玉和林黛玉爱情悲剧的描写，展示了以贾府为主的贾、史、王、薛四大家族的兴亡史，描写出封建末世的衰败景象和众多的人生悲剧，从客观上显示出封建社会走向没落的历史趋势。全书笼罩着一层感伤与幻灭的色彩，其中的《好了歌》与《红楼梦曲》可以看做是《红楼梦》的主题歌。小说的第四回不仅总结了全书的主要内容，而且也总结了全书的艺术结构。作者根据主题的需要建构了故事情节。四大家族的兴衰，特别是贾家的兴衰，构成了全书的主线。围绕主线展开他们相互紧密联系的三种矛盾：统治者与被统治者间的矛盾、正统者与叛逆者间的矛盾和统治者内部之间的矛盾。贯穿全书故事的这些矛盾间的复杂发展使得贾家的最终结果是完全破产。小说在展示贾府这个封建贵族大家庭从“鲜花着锦，烈火烹油”的繁盛，走向“忽喇喇似大厦倾，昏惨惨似灯将尽”的衰亡悲剧命运的同时，也描写了其他封建大家庭不可避免的厄运。
By depicting the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu， A Dream of Red Mansions exhibiteda history of the prosperity and decline of the four big families as the predominant Jias， the Shis， the Wangsand the Xues， and portrayed scenes of decline and numerous tragedies in life in the last period of the feudalsociety， thus objectively revealing a historical trend of the ever-declining feudal society. The novel is investedwith sentiment and illusion， of which All Good Things Must End and Songs of A Dream of Red Mansionscan be regarded as its theme song. Chapter Four of the novel not only sums up the main content but also theartistic composition. The author has constructed the plot according to the requirements of the theme. Theprosperity and decline of the four big families， especially the Jias， form the main thread running through thewhole novel. Around this thread unfolds three sets of closely interconnected contradictions： those betweenthe feudal rulers and the ruled， those between feudal orthodoxy and the rebels， and those within the rulersthemselves. The complex development of these three sets of contradictions throughout the story results finallyin the utter bankruptcy of the Jia family. The novel also depicts the inevitable doom of the other big feudalfamilies while presenting the tragic destiny of the Jia mansions， a big aristocratic family of the feudal society，from its prosperity of“gilding the lily and spraying oil over the blazing flames”to its decline of“thetottering building will collapse and the flickering candle will peter out”.
《红楼梦》描写的是一个由社会、家庭和个人三层组成的悲剧世界。就个人层面而言，贾宝玉是众多悲剧人物中的一个代表。小说描写了贾宝玉的人生悲剧。贾宝玉是作者理想化的人物。他生活在温柔富贵乡里，却天生有一种感伤的气质和一种痴情，他不愿走封建家长为他安排的读书做官的道路，却走向了一条背叛封建礼教的叛逆道路。他重情轻礼，喜欢美丽的少女，厌恶男人，他认为女儿是水做的骨肉，清洁无比，而男人是泥做的， 浊臭逼人。
他反对男权社会的礼法道德，而欣赏、赞美、体贴女性，甘愿做女性的护卫者。他忠于对林黛玉的真挚爱情，反对封建家长的包办婚姻。当他心爱的林黛玉死去，而他所珍视的美丽的女性在封建社会的摧残下死的死散的散时，他认识到现实的黑暗丑恶，也感到人生的痛苦和幻灭，最后他绝望了，抛弃了家庭和社会，出家当和尚去了。
A Dream of Red Mansions depicts a tragic world， which consists of the three dimensions—the society，family and individual. As far as individual dimemison is concerned， Jia Baoyu is a representative of themany tragic characters. The novel portrays the life tragedy of Jia Baoyu， who is an idealized character of theauthor’s. Jia Baoyu lives in the home of pleasure and luxury， but is endowed with sentiment and passionatedevotion. He does not choose to travel the arranged path to do his studies and take his official career by thefeudal patriarchy， but resets himself onto the way to revolt against feudal ethical codes. He thinks more offeelings than of feudal ethical codes， and he prefers beautiful young women to men， thinking that youngwomen are made of water， pure as ever and men of clay， stinking and stifling. He objects to rules of etiquettesand ethics in the male chauvinist society， but appreciates， eulogizes and cares for the female and volunteersto protect them. He upholds his true love for Lin Daiyu and opposes the arranged marriage by the feudalpatriarchy. As his beloved Lin Daiyu and other beautiful young women were tortured to death or scatteredhere and there in the feudal society， he came to recognize the darkness and evils of the realities， feel a pain ofsuffering and illusion in life and eventually renounce his family and the society in utter despair to be tonsuredto become a monk.
一般说来，恋爱、结婚、组建家庭是人生重要的三步。小说描写了贾宝玉和林黛玉、薛宝钗之间的爱情婚姻悲剧。贾宝玉与林黛玉的爱情是“木石前盟”，是建立在两情相悦、两心相知的基础之上的自由纯洁的爱情，不讲门第，不计利害，重情不重礼，生死与共，与封建礼教背道而驰，是一种叛逆的爱情。因为这种爱情不合封建礼教，不符合封建家族的利益，不遵从封建家长的意志，所以最终被扼杀，造成了林黛玉的死亡和贾宝玉的出家，上演了一出令人心碎的爱情悲剧。贾宝玉与薛宝钗的婚姻是“金玉良缘”，薛宝钗是一个遵礼守教的封建淑女，她重礼不重情，自觉地压抑自己的个性和情感，时时处处按封建礼教的要求行动，安分守拙，城府很深。虽然贾宝玉被迫与薛宝钗结婚，但由于他和薛宝钗志不同，道不合，最后抛弃了薛宝钗而出家，造成了他们之间没有爱情的婚姻悲剧。由于贾宝玉与林黛玉之间的爱情悲剧和贾宝玉与薛宝钗之间的婚姻悲剧，“核心家庭”在贾府这个封建贵族大家庭内部一建立就被毁灭了。没有年青一代的小“家”，大“家”怎能长久？
Generally speaking， love， marriage and family are the important three steps in one’s life. Thenovel portrays the tragic love and marriage between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu on the one hand andbetween Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai on the other. The love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu， whichis“predestined”and based on their mutual love and understanding， is a free and pure love without anyconcern for family status and interests； and it is also a constant and rebellious love， which emphasizes feelingrather than feudal ethical codes， and thus runs counter to feudal ethical codes. This kind of love conforms toneither the feudal ethical codes nor the interests of the feudal families nor the will of the feudal patriarchy， soit is strangled to death and ends in a heart-breaking tragedy， including the death of Lin Daiyu and Jia Baoyu’sdecision to be tonsured to become a monk. The marriage between Jia Baoyu and Xue Baochai is“well-matched”. As a beautiful and virtuous lady， Xue Baochai adjusts herself to feudal ethical codes. She thinksmore of feudal ethical codes than of feelings； She involuntarily restrains her temperament and feelings andalways behaves herself according to the needs of the feudal ethical codes. She knows her place， but she isvery astute. Although Jia Baoyu gets married to Xue Baochai by force， he has little in common with her andfinally decides to forsake her and tonsure himself to become a monk. Thus their marriage without love endsup tragically. Because of the tragic love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu and the tragic marriage between JiaBaoyu and Xue Baochai， the“nuclear family”is destroyed as soon as it is built up within the Jia mansions，a big aristocratic family of the feudal society. Without the younger generation’s“nuclear family”， how can abig family last long？
社会是由人们——男女——生活在一起而聚合成的有一定秩序的群体。《红楼梦》描写了女人的悲剧。小说虚构了一个女性的乐园——大观园，在那儿生活着一群美丽活泼的青春少女，其中有林黛玉、薛宝钗、史湘云、贾探春等这样的贵族小姐，也有晴雯、紫鹃、袭人等丫鬟，还有藕官、芳官、蕊官等女伶，她们一个个美貌聪明，是美的化身，但她们的命运结局都是悲惨的，都没有逃脱封建势力的摧残和迫害。曹雪芹赞美她们的聪明才智，同情她们的不幸命运，同时也对摧残美的社会提出了强烈的控诉。除了女人的悲剧，男人就没悲剧吗？大观园外以男人为中心的统治者世界与大观园内以女人为中心的被统治者世界之间的鲜明对照不仅揭露了中国封建社会末期上层建筑的腐败和反动的本质，也宣判了中国封建社会不可避免地要灭亡。
Society is the aggregate of people—men and women living together in a more or less ordered community.
A Dream of Red Mansions depicts the tragedy for the female. It visualizes an Eden for the female—A GrandView Garden， where there live a bevy of beautiful， vivacious and youthful girls， including the aristocratic ladieslike Lin Daiyu， Xue Baochai， Shi Xiangyun and Jia Tanchun， the maidservants like Qingwen， Zijuan and Xirenand the actresses like Ouguan， Fangguan and Ruiguan. All of them are beautiful and intelligent， and eventhe personifications of beauty， but they have ended in tragedy， none of whom stay free from the tortures andpersecutions of the feudal influences. Cao Xueqin extolled their ingenuity， sympathized with their unfortunatefates and bitterly condemned the society of wrecking the beauty. Besides the tragedy for the female， is there notragedy for the male？ The striking contrast between the rulers’ world centered by men outside the Grand ViewGarden and the ruled world centered by women inside the Grand View Garden not only exposes the corruptand reactionary nature of the superstructure in the last period of Chinese feudal society but also pronounces theinevitable doom of Chinese feudal society.
在描写上述三层悲剧的同时，《红楼梦》还展示了“四大家族”是如何上与朝廷、下与地方官员组成以封建专制国家政权为中心的统治网来残酷地压迫和无情地剥削全国广大的劳苦民众的。“四大家族”的封建统治集中体现了整个封建社会的黑暗统治，正如他们的衰亡反映了整个封建制度不可避免地灭亡一样。
While presenting the above three dimensions of the tragedy， the novel also demonstrates how the fourbig families were linked with the court and the local officials to form a network of control with the feudalautocratic state power as its center to savagely oppress and ruthlessly exploit the broad labouring masses allover the country. The feudal rule of the four big families epitomizes the dark rule of feudal society as a whole，just as their decline reflects the inevitable doom of the entire feudal system.
曹雪芹生前没有完成他的不朽着作，现在仅存有他写的前八十回并有脂砚斋评语的抄本。他写了不只这些，但不幸的是后面章回的手稿已遗失。现今小说的后四十回是高鹗续作的。高鹗（1758—1815），字兰墅，乾隆年间的进士，做过翰林院侍读。高鹗的文学才华和思想境界都比不上曹雪芹，所以他续的后四十回无论在艺术上还是思想上都无法与曹雪芹的前八十回相比，但他把《红楼梦》补全，使《红楼梦》成为一部首尾完整浑然一体的小说，他的功劳还是值得称赞的。
Cao Xueqin did not finish his monumental work before he died. Only eighty chapters written by him areextant in manu form with comments by Zhi Yanzhai. He wrote more than these but unfortunately themanus of the later chapters were lost. The last forty chapters in the present novel were the work of Gao E.
Gao E (1758—1815)， courtesy name Lanshu， passed the imperial examination for Jinshi during the reign ofEmperor Qianlong and became a tutor to the Imperial Academy. His literary talent and thought rank next toCao’s and his chapters， therefore， fall behind Cao’s in artistry and thought. However， his merits deserve praisefor he has written the sequel to A Dream of Red Mansions and made a complete whole of it.