Baoyu Daiyu Fateful Quarrel Translated | Generated by AI

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Question: What is the English translation of the full “Baoyu and Daiyu quarrel” scene (宝黛吵架) from Dream of the Red Chamber (红楼梦) by Cao Xueqin, as commonly studied in university Chinese literature courses?

Answer:

The famous “Baoyu and Daiyu quarrel” (宝黛吵架) scene most commonly selected and studied in university Chinese literature textbooks in China is from Chapter 29 of Dream of the Red Chamber (also known as The Story of the Stone). This episode features an intense argument triggered by jealousy, misunderstandings over the “gold and jade” predestined match rumor, and Baoyu’s reaction to Zhang the Taoist priest suggesting a marriage for him. It culminates in Baoyu attempting to smash his jade, Daiyu’s emotional outburst, vomiting from distress, and eventual reconciliation assisted by maids, with the famous line from Grandmother Jia: “不是冤家不聚头” (“It is only because they are destined adversaries that they meet”).

Here is a full English translation of the core quarrel passage (adapted and synthesized primarily from David Hawkes’ respected Penguin Classics translation, with minor clarifications for completeness and flow based on the original Chinese text):

After returning from the Qingxu Temple, Baoyu, upset by the marriage proposal suggestion from Zhang the Taoist and feeling Daiyu was mocking him, visited her while she was ill. Daiyu, fearing for his health in the heat, told him to go watch the plays instead of staying home. This remark stung Baoyu deeply, as he interpreted it as her taunting him about his “good match.”

Baoyu’s face darkened at once. “I have been mistaken in you. Very well then, very well!”

Daiyu gave two icy laughs. “Mistaken in me? In what way have you been mistaken in me?”

Baoyu stepped forward until he was right up against her. “Would you really wish a curse on me that would consign me to heaven and earth destruction?”

Daiyu was momentarily at a loss for words.

Baoyu continued: “Yesterday you swore several times that if I died you would die too. Today you turn around and curse me with ‘heaven and earth destruction.’ What good would it do you if I were destroyed?”

Only then did Daiyu remember her words from the previous day. Realizing she had spoken wrongly today, she felt both anxious and ashamed. Trembling, she said: “If I really wished destruction on you, may heaven and earth destroy me too! Why do you say such things? I know — yesterday that Taoist priest spoke of a match for you, and you were afraid it might spoil your ‘excellent marriage,’ so you came to take it out on me.”

Baoyu had from childhood suffered from a peculiar infirmity. Having grown up in close intimacy with Daiyu — ears brushing temples, minds attuned — and now at an age when he was beginning to understand things a little better and had also read some unorthodox books and strange legends, he had observed that among all the girls of good family he had met, none could compare with Daiyu. So he had long nursed a secret passion for her, though he had never dared speak it out. Hence he was constantly trying her out in all sorts of devious ways, sometimes pleased, sometimes angry, in order to test her feelings. Daiyu, being similarly afflicted, would also employ devious tactics to test him. Each concealed their true feelings and used false ones instead, so that when two falsenesses met, they would eventually produce one truth. In the course of all this petty bickering and mutual probing, quarrels were inevitable.

At this moment Baoyu was thinking: “Other people may not understand my heart, but that’s excusable. But surely you must know that in my heart and in my eyes there is only you? Instead of being upset on my behalf, you mock and provoke me. This shows that though you are always in my heart every moment, I am evidently not in yours at all.”

But he could not put these thoughts into words.

Daiyu, meanwhile, was thinking: “You naturally have me in your heart. Though there is talk of ‘a match of gold and jade,’ surely you don’t value that evil notion more than me? If I keep mentioning ‘gold and jade,’ and you remain completely unperturbed, that would prove you truly care for me and have no such thought. But the moment I mention it you get agitated. That shows ‘gold and jade’ is always in your mind. You are afraid I might suspect, so you deliberately get upset to deceive me.”

Externally, what showed was this: Hearing Daiyu say the words “excellent marriage,” Baoyu felt even more offended. His throat choked; he could not speak. In fury he tore the jade from his neck and bit his teeth, then hurled it violently to the ground: “What rubbish is this thing? I’ll smash you and be done with it!”

The jade was extraordinarily hard and did not suffer the slightest damage from the fall. Seeing it unharmed, Baoyu turned to look for something else to smash it with.

Daiyu, already in tears at the sight, cried: “Why vent your anger on a dumb object? If you must smash something, better smash me!”

As they quarreled, Zijuan, Xueyan, and the other maids rushed in to pacify them. Seeing Baoyu trying desperately to smash the jade, they hurried forward to snatch it away but could not wrest it from his grasp. Fearing the quarrel had escalated beyond previous ones, they fetched Xiren.

Xiren rushed in, managed to seize the jade, and said with a smile while holding Baoyu’s hand: “You are quarreling with your cousin; there is no need to smash this. If you damaged it, how could she ever forgive herself?”

Daiyu, weeping, heard these words strike her heart. It showed that even Xiren mattered more to Baoyu than she did. Her grief intensified, and she cried even harder. In her agitation, the summer-relief decoction she had just taken could no longer stay down; with a retching sound she vomited it all out. Zijuan hastily caught it in her handkerchief; the silk was instantly soaked through. Xueyan hurried over to pat her back.

Zijuan said: “Even if you are angry, miss, you should still take care of yourself. You had only just taken your medicine and were feeling a little better; now because of this quarrel with Master Bao you have brought it all up again. If you fall ill, how will Master Bao feel?”

These words struck Baoyu to the heart. It showed that even Zijuan cared more for Daiyu’s health than he did. Seeing Daiyu’s flushed face, swollen head, tears and sweat mingling, looking so frail and pitiable, he regretted having argued with her. Now she was in such a state, and he could not take her place. Thinking this, tears rolled down his own cheeks.

Xiren, seeing them both crying, could not help feeling moved herself. She touched Baoyu’s hand and found it icy cold. She wanted to tell him to stop crying, yet feared he had some grievance pent up inside; she also feared slighting Daiyu. So she thought the best thing was for everyone to have a good cry and then let it go. She too shed tears.

Zijuan, while tidying up the vomited medicine, gently fanned Daiyu with a fan. Seeing the four of them weeping silently, each for their own reasons, she too could not help feeling sad and wiped her eyes with a handkerchief.

All four remained silent, each weeping in their own corner.

Later, after more emotional exchanges, the maids help them calm down. Grandmother Jia (贾母), upon hearing of the incident, famously remarks: “It is only because they are destined adversaries (冤家) that they meet (不聚头).”

This scene highlights the mutual deep (yet hidden) love, jealousy, insecurity, and “testing” typical of Baoyu and Daiyu’s relationship, often expressed through quarrels rather than direct affection.

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