選自林語堂譯本。

卷一 閨房記樂

Chapter One

Wedded Bliss

餘生乾隆癸未冬卜一月二十有二日，正值太平盛世，且在衣冠之家，後蘇州滄浪亭畔，天之厚我可謂至矣。東坡雲：「事如春夢了無痕」，苟不記之筆墨，未免有辜彼蒼之厚。

因思《關雎》冠三百篇之首，被列夫婦於首卷，餘以次遞及焉。所愧少年失學，稍識之無，不過記其實情實事而已，若必考訂其文法，是責明於垢鑒矣。

I was born in 1763, under the reign of Ch』ienlung, on the twenty-second day of the eleventh moon. The country was then in the heyday of peace and , moreover, I was born in a scholars』 family, living by the side of the Ts』anglang Pavilion in Soochow. So altogether I may say the gods have been unusually kind to me. Su Tungp』o said, 「 Life is like a spring dream which vanishes without a trace.」 I should be ungrateful to the gods if I did not try to put my life down on record.

Since the Book of Poems begin with a poem on wedded love, I thought I would begin this book by speaking of my marital relations and then let other matters follow. My only regret is that I was not properly educated in childhood; all I know is a simple language and I shall try only to record the real facts and real sentiments. I hope the reader will be kind enough not to scrutinize my grammar, which would be like looking for brilliance in a tarnished mirror.

餘幼聘金沙於氏，八齡而夭。娶陳氏。陳名芸，字淑珍，舅氏心餘先生女也，生而穎慧，學語時，口授《琵琶行》，即能成誦。四齡失怙，母金氏，弟克昌，家徒壁立。芸既長，嫻女紅，三口仰其十指供給，克昌從師，脩脯無缺。一日，於書簏中得《琵琶行》，挨字而認，始識字。刺繡之暇，漸通吟詠，有「秋侵人影瘦，霜染菊花肥」之句。

I was engaged in my childhood to on Miss Yu of Chinsha, who died in her eighth year, and eventually I married a girl of the Ch』en clan. Her name was Yun and her literary name Suchen. She was my cousin, being the daughter of my maternal uncle, Hsinyu. Even in her childhood, she was a very clever girl, for while she was learning to speak, she was taught Po Chuyi』s poem, The P』i P』a Player, and could at once repeat it. Her father died when she was four years old , and in the family there were only her mother(of the Chin clan) and her younger brother K』ehch』ang and herself, being then practically destitute. When Yun grew up and had learnt needlework, she was providing for the family of three, and contrived always to pay K』ehch』ang』s tuition fees punctually. One day, she picked up a copy of the poem The P』i P』a Player from a wastebasket, and from that, with the help of her memory of the lines, she gradually learnt to read word by word. Between her needlework, she gradually learnt to write poetry. One of her poems contained the two lines:

「 Touched by autumn, one』s figure grows slender,

Soaked in frost, the chrysanthemum blooms full.」

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