Help translating the Lady in the Painting

[sniffles]

I thought I'd start a new thread for this.

I'm working on Chapter 6 right now. I'm stumped by a few sentences, and there are probably some I've misunderstood. Here's the first page of the chapter. I typed it in NJStar, since a screen capture from the cd-rom gets all the graphics, so I hope I didn't choose any wrong characters. I'm not sure what is meant by the three characters I underlined. I know what each character means individually, but I'm not quite getting the meaning of the sentence.

涨大明回到家里，要把那天的事情告诉美真，他还没说呢，美真已经知道了。美真就
说，“搞王太不对了，我们得想法子。现在我们没有工夫说话，我们得快一点儿做
船，船不太容易做。”

张大明不知道美真是怎么知道的。心里觉得奇怪，可是他也没问。他说，“做船得
用什么样儿的纸？”

美真说，“做船用不行。”

张大明不知道为什么用纸不行。 他想，美真用纸做的鸽子， 吹一口气就会飞，用
纸做的马，吹一口气就会跑，要是用纸做船，吹一口气，不是船也能自己在水里走
吗？他这样想，可是没问。他等美真叫他做什么，他就去做。

美真说，“你去找点儿木头来，我们快一点儿做船巴。”

张大明问明白美真要什么样儿的木头，就到外头去找，一会儿的工夫，他就找着了
好些，拿回家来了。

张大明没作过船，他一点儿都不知道应当怎么做。他们做的时候，所有的事情都得
美真告诉他。他学得很快，做得很快。

Zhang Daming arrived home and wanted to tell Mei Zhen about that day's matters, he hadn't yet said anything, Mei Zhen already knew. Mei Zhen said, "The king was too bad, we must think of a plan. Now we don't have time to talk, we must quickly make a boat, a boat is not too easy to make."

Zhang Daming didn't know how Mei Zhen knew. In his heart he felt strange, but he also didn't ask. He said, "Does the boat have to be made of paper?"

Mei Zhen said, "To make the boat of paper isn't good.

Zhang Daming didn't know why using paper wasn't good. He thought, Mei Zhen made paper pigeons, blew a breath of air on them and they flew, made a paper horse, blew a breath of air on it and it ran, if she made a paper boat and blew on it, couldn't it also go on the water? He thought of this, but didn't ask. He waited for Mei Zhen to tell him what to do and he went to work.

Mei Zhen said, "You go look for some wood. We must quickly make a boat."

Zhang Daming (wondered??) why Mei Zhen wanted some wood, went outside to look and in a little while, he found a few good ones and took them back home.

Zhang Daming couldn't make a boat, he didn't know anything about how he
should do this. This time when they made a boat, about this he must do
as Mei Zhen told him. He must learn fast and also work very fast.

[Ren Wo Xing]

Hi sniffles:

"张大明问明白美真要什么样儿的木头"

The character '问' means 'asked', '明白' means 'to understand'. When put together, '问明白' has the meaning akin to 'asked questions and received responses that satisfactorily clarify [the situation in question]'.

As an additional FYI, '什么样儿的木头' literally means, 'what type of wood'.

So this entire sentence should be translated,

"Zhang Daming had Mei Zhen clarify exactly what type of wood he wanted [...]

[sniffles]

Hi sniffles:

"张大明问明白美真要什么样儿的木头"

The character '问' means 'asked', '明白' means 'to understand'. When put together, '问明白' has the meaning akin to 'asked questions and received responses that satisfactorily clarify [the situation in question]'.

As an additional FYI, '什么样儿的木头' literally means, 'what type of wood'.

So this entire sentence should be translated,

"Zhang Daming had Mei Zhen clarify exactly what type of wood he wanted [...]

Ah! That certainly makes more sense than what I was coming up with. Thanks!

[junny]

^ Correction, it wasn't what Zhang wanted, it was what Meizhen wanted (the type of wood). The passage was about Meizhen wanting to build a boat and Zhang trying to help her despite not knowing how to build one.

Just a little adjustment to these paragraphs:

他说，“做船得用什么样儿的纸？”

The use of 得 here implies a "must" or "should". So it reads: "What type of paper should we use for making a boat?"

美真说，“做船用不行。”

Meizhen says: "We can't use paper to make a boat."


张大明问明白美真要什么样儿的木头，就到外头去找，一会儿的工夫，他就找着了好些，拿回家来了 。

好些 means a good number/amount, not that the wood is good. So he found a lot of wood, not a few good ones.


张大明没作过船，他一点儿都不知道应当怎么做。他们做的时候，所有的事情都得美真告诉他。他学得很快，做得 很快。

I think you got the gist of the paragraph, but that it was translated in the wrong tense. It better reads: "Zhang Daming had never build a boat before, he didn't know in the slightest what he should do. Meizhen had to instruct him every step of the way while they were making it. He learnt fast and worked fast."

I know I tweaked the sentence structure a bit, but I feel it flows better that way.

[Ren Wo Xing]

Oh, Meizhen is a woman? Just change the ''wood he wanted" to the "wood she wanted". The 'he' was originally supposed to refer to Meizhen anyhow, but obviously, if Meizhen isn't a dude...

[sniffles]

^ Correction, it wasn't what Zhang wanted, it was what Meizhen wanted (the type of wood). The passage was about Meizhen wanting to build a boat and Zhang trying to help her despite not knowing how to build one.

Just a little adjustment to these paragraphs:

他说，“做船得用什么样儿的纸？”

The use of 得 here implies a "must" or "should". So it reads: "What type of paper should we use for making a boat?"

美真说，“做船用不行。”

Meizhen says: "We can't use paper to make a boat."


张大明问明白美真要什么样儿的木头，就到外头去找，一会儿的工夫，他就找着了好些，拿回家来了 。

好些 means a good number/amount, not that the wood is good. So he found a lot of wood, not a few good ones.


张大明没作过船，他一点儿都不知道应当怎么做。他们做的时候，所有的事情都得美真告诉他。他学得很快，做得 很快。

I think you got the gist of the paragraph, but that it was translated in the wrong tense. It better reads: "Zhang Daming had never build a boat before, he didn't know in the slightest what he should do. Meizhen had to instruct him every step of the way while they were making it. He learnt fast and worked fast."

I know I tweaked the sentence structure a bit, but I feel it flows better that way.

Yes, for some reason I did revert to the present tense partly for that last paragraph. I guess I was so concentrated on comprehending the sentence structure that I forgot about the tense. Thanks for the help with the sentence about the wood; I suspected I didn't have it quite right.

And Mei Zhen is the titular Lady in the Painting, RWX.

[sniffles]

Back to the story.

美真说，“这个船的后头，得做得又坚又硬。”
Mei Zhen said, "The back of this boat must be sharp and also hard."

张大明不懂为甚么，可是他知道美真的话一定对。所以他也没问。他就把船的后头做得又坚又硬。
Zhang Daming didn't understand why, but he knew that what Mei Zhen said must certainly be right. So he also didn't ask about this. He made the back of the boat sharp and also hard.

张大明跟美真，两个人都一夜没睡觉，把船做完了。做得很好。他们请朋友帮他们，把船拿到河边儿上去，方在河 里。
Zhang Daming and Mei Zhen both went all night without sleep, until the boat was finished. They made it very well. They invited their friends to help and their friends took the boat to the river bank and put it in the river.

张大明一夜睡觉，也没吃东西，一点儿精神也没有。美真明白他为什么没精神。也没跟他说什么。就对着他吹一口气，张大明的精神立刻就来了。
Zhang Daming hadn't slept all night and also hadn't eaten anything, he didn't have much energy. Mei Zhen understood why he didn't have any energy. She didn't say anything to him. She blew a breath of air on him and his energy returned.

他们看见搞王跟他手下的人都来了。美真不愿意见他，就先回家了。
They saw the king and his subordinates coming. Mei Zhen didn't want to meet him, she went in the house (not sure about this; what does 先回 mean?).

那?河的河边儿上，站着很多人看。张大明的朋友都很看急。因为他们想他许张大明的船比搞王的快，可是谁知道以后 搞王又要跟张大明算什么那？
(Now I come to a difficulty: there's a character here 那?河的河边儿上, the second character in the sentence, that I can't identify. That's why there's a question mark. I've hunted through my character book numerous times and I still don't have any idea what character this is.)
...at the river bank, many people were standing watching. Zhang Daming's friends all were very anxious. Because they thought that his boat would be faster than the king's, but who knew what kind of thing the king would want to compete with him in afterwards?

搞王到了以后，他们说好了最后到什么地方。他们就上船了。
After the king arrived, they said this was a good place to begin (not sure about this phrase 好了最后到什么地方). They got into their boats.

那个时候，张大明什么都不想，什么都不怕，就划他的船。他的船很快，所以他的船一直地在前头。他的朋友都很 高兴。
At that time, Zhang Daming wasn't thinking about anything and he wasn't at all afraid. He was rowing his boat. His boat was very fast, so he soon got ahead (not sure about this 所以他的船一直地在前头). His friends were all very happy.

可是搞王的船也不慢，在张大明的船后头，离得很近。
But the king's boat was also not slow, it was very near the back of Zhang Daming's boat.

不大的工夫，搞王的船走得快极了。那个时候，看的人都觉得很奇怪。他们想要是在走得那么快，等到快到的时候 ，他一定就没有气力了。
In a while, the king's boat was going very fast. At that time, the people watching thought this was strange. They thought if the boat was going that fast, (don't understand this phrase at all 等到快到的时候), he certainly wouldn't have any strength left.

张大明没这样向，张大明知道搞王的船离他很近了。他就划得更快了。那个时候两?船走得都很快。
Zhang Daming didn't think like that, Zhang Daming knew the king's boat was very near. He rowed even faster. At that time the two boats were both going very fast (this sentence contains that same character I can't identify, where the question mark appears 那个时候两?船走得都很快) .

I know I've got the wrong first character for guo2wang2 (king). I kept typing gao instead of guo last night, and I can't correct it right now because I'm at work and I can't install NJStar here. I can't turn on Chinese characters in XP, either; that function is disabled on my work PC.

[junny]

Back to the story.
张大明跟美真,两个人都一夜没睡觉,把船做完了。做得很好。他们请朋友帮他们,把船拿到河边儿上去,方在河 里。
Zhang Daming and Mei Zhen both went all night without sleep, until the boat was finished. They made it very well. They invited their friends to help and their friends took the boat to the river bank and put it in the river.

他们请朋友帮他们,把船拿到河边儿上去,方在河里。

It's not only their friends who put the boat in the river. (Zhang Daming and Meizhen) They invited their friends to help them put the boat in the river, so it was a joint effort. And the correct character for "put" is 放.

他们看见搞王跟他手下的人都来了。美真不愿意见他,就先回家了。
They saw the king and his subordinates coming. Mei Zhen didn't want to meet him, she went in the house (not sure about this; what does 先回 mean?).

先 has the meaning of "first". So 先回家 means she went home first.

那?河的河边儿上,站着很多人看。张大明的朋友都很看急。因为他们想他许张大明的船比搞王的快,可是谁知道 以后搞王又要跟张大明算什么那?
Now I come to a difficulty: there's a character here 那?河的河边儿上, the second character in the sentence, that I can't identify. That's why there's a question mark. I've hunted through my character book numerous times and I still don't have any idea what character this is.)
...at the river bank, many people were standing watching. Zhang Daming's friends all were very anxious. Because they thought that his boat would be faster than the king's, but who knew what kind of thing the king would want to compete with him in afterwards?

I suspect the character you had was 条 (tiao2), in which case it is a 量词 (liang4 ci2, measure word). If not, perhaps print screen the page and we'll help figure it out.

搞王到了以后,他们说好了最后到什么地方。他们就上船了。
After the king arrived, they said this was a good place to begin (not sure about this phrase 好了最后到什么地方). They got into their boats.

Let's break up 他们说好了最后到什么地方

说好 - agree (upon)

最后 - last, final

地方 - place

So it means they agreed on their destination.

那个时候,张大明什么都不想,什么都不怕,就划他的船。他的船很快,所以他的船一直地在前头。他的朋友都很 高兴。
At that time, Zhang Daming wasn't thinking about anything and he wasn't at all afraid. He was rowing his boat. His boat was very fast, so he soon got ahead (not sure about this 所以他的船一直地在前头). His friends were all very happy.

所以他的船一直地在前头 means his boat was always ahead (in front). 一直 means always.

不大的工夫,搞王的船走得快极了。那个时候,看的人都觉得很奇怪。他们想要是在走得那么快,等到快到的时候 ,他一定就没有气力了。
In a while, the king's boat was going very fast. At that time, the people watching thought this was strange. They thought if the boat was going that fast, (don't understand this phrase at all 等到快到的时候), he certainly wouldn't have any strength left.

等到快到的时候 - when (they/he) almost reached

快 here has the meaning of "almost" or "nearly".

So the sentence properly means: "they thought if the boat was going that fast, he would run out of steam when he was nearly there."

张大明没这样向,张大明知道搞王的船离他很近了。他就划得更快了。那个时候两船走得都很快。
Zhang Daming didn't think like that, Zhang Daming knew the king's boat was very near. He rowed even faster. At that time the two boats were both going very fast (this sentence contains that same character I can't identify, where the question mark appears 那个时候两?船走得都很快) .

Again, I think the ? is 条, which is also applicable to boats.

I know I've got the wrong first character for guo2wang2 (king). I kept typing gao instead of guo last night, and I can't correct it right now because I'm at work and I can't install NJStar here. I can't turn on Chinese characters in XP, either; that function is disabled on my work PC.

And guo2 wang2 would be 国王.

Hope that helped.

[sniffles]

Thanks, junny. When I got home from work my brain started functioning again and I realized I could listen to the cd-rom that came with the book to figure out my missing character. It is indeed 条. D'oh!!

等到快到的时候 - when (they/he) almost reached

快 here has the meaning of "almost" or "nearly".

So the sentence properly means: "they thought if the boat was going that fast, he would run out of steam when he was nearly there."

I was really confused by that phrase. I'm familiar with 等 as "wait" and 快 as "quick" or "fast", so I couldn't figure out how to interpret that.

[junny]

Thanks, junny. When I got home from work my brain started functioning again and I realized I could listen to the cd-rom that came with the book to figure out my missing character. It is indeed 条. D'oh!!


I was really confused by that phrase. I'm familiar with 等 as "wait" and 快 as "quick" or "fast", so I couldn't figure out how to interpret that.

等 is indeed "wait". Used like this, it has a "wait and see" meaning, so in less proper English, you can understand it as: "wait until he's almost reaching/there..."

[Han Solo]

Irrelevant posts deleted.

Han Solo

[sniffles]

Irrelevant posts deleted.

Han Solo

Thank you!

[sniffles]

Next page:

国王的心里， 想了一个特别的法子。他想的别人想的都不一样。他把船划得那么快，
不是要到张大明的前头去，是要碰在张大明的船上，把他的船碰怀了。张大明就一
定掉何里了。那么美真就可以是他的了。

In his heart, the king had a special plan. He wanted other people to think
both were not the same (I think I've got this wrong). He had to row his boat fast, not wanting Zhang Daming to get ahead, and bump into the back of Zhang Daming's boat and ruin his boat. Zhang Daming would certainly fall in the river. Then Mei Zhen could be his.

可是他没想到， 张大明的船，后头又尖有殃。 他的船头在张大明的船上时候，张大
明的船没怀，可是把他自己的船头鹏怀了。张大明没掉在何里，他自己掉何里了。

But he didn't expect that the back of Zhang Daming's boat was both sharp and hard. When the front of his boat bumped into the back of Zhang Daming's boat, Zhang Daming's boat wasn't ruined, but the front of his own boat was ruined. Zhang Daming didn't fall in the river, he himself fell in the river.

国王在水里上来下去，喝了不少的水。有时候，头在水外头，就大叫。有时候，一
个字还没叫出来那，头又到水里头去了。头在水里就得喝水。喝水喝得太多了，也
不知道是应当往东还是应当汪西。看人也看不见，找人也找不着。

The king went up and down in the water and swallowed a lot of water. At
that time, when his head was out of the water, he gave a big cry. Then,
(don't understand this phrase), he went back under the water again. (Don't understand this sentence). He swallowed a lot of water and also didn't know if he should go to the east or to the west (didn't know which way to go?). To the people watching he disappeared, they couldn't find him.

Chapters 6 and 7 are a lot more difficult!

[jiang bao]

Next page:

国王的心里， 想了一个特别的法子。他想的别人想的都不一样。他把船划得那么快，
不是要到张大明的前头去，是要碰在张大明的船上，把他的船碰怀了。张大明就一
定掉何里了。那么美真就可以是他的了。

In his heart, the king had a special plan. He wanted other people to think
both were not the same (I think I've got this wrong). He had to row his boat fast, not wanting Zhang Daming to get ahead, and bump into the back of Zhang Daming's boat and ruin his boat. Zhang Daming would certainly fall in the river. Then Mei Zhen could be his.

可是他没想到， 张大明的船，后头又尖有殃。 他的船头在张大明的船上时候，张大
明的船没怀，可是把他自己的船头鹏怀了。张大明没掉在何里，他自己掉何里了。

But he didn't expect that the back of Zhang Daming's boat was both sharp and hard. When the front of his boat bumped into the back of Zhang Daming's boat, Zhang Daming's boat wasn't ruined, but the front of his own boat was ruined. Zhang Daming didn't fall in the river, he himself fell in the river.

国王在水里上来下去，喝了不少的水。有时候，头在水外头，就大叫。有时候，一
个字还没叫出来那，头又到水里头去了。头在水里就得喝水。喝水喝得太多了，也
不知道是应当往东还是应当汪西。看人也看不见，找人也找不着。

The king went up and down in the water and swallowed a lot of water. At
that time, when his head was out of the water, he gave a big cry. Then,
(don't understand this phrase), he went back under the water again. (Don't understand this sentence). He swallowed a lot of water and also didn't know if he should go to the east or to the west (didn't know which way to go?). To the people watching he disappeared, they couldn't find him.

Chapters 6 and 7 are a lot more difficult!

国王的心里， 想了一个特别的法子。他想的别人想的都不一样。他把船划得那么快，
不是要到张大明的前头去，是要碰在张大明的船上，把他的船碰怀了。张大明就一
定掉何里了。那么美真就可以是他的了。

In the king's mind, he thought of an unusual solution. He thinks differently than other people. He is rowing the boat so quickly not because he wants to pass Zhang, but because he wants to bump Zhang's boat from behind and damage it. Zhang will thus definitely fall into the river. Then Mei Zhen is going to be his.

可是他没想到， 张大明的船，后头又尖有殃。 他的船头在张大明的船上时候，张大
明的船没怀，可是把他自己的船头鹏怀了。张大明没掉在何里，他自己掉何里了。

You got this part right.

国王在水里上来下去，喝了不少的水。有时候，头在水外头，就大叫。有时候，一
个字还没叫出来那，头又到水里头去了。头在水里就得喝水。喝水喝得太多了，也
不知道是应当往东还是应当汪西。看人也看不见，找人也找不着。

The king bobbed up and down in the water, and drank a lot of water. Sometimes, when his head is above water, he cried out. Sometimes, before he could utter a single word, his word would go under water again. When his head is under water, he can't help but swallow water. Having swallowed too much water, he lost all sense of direction. (More literally: He doesn't know whether he should go east or go west. Btw, the next to last word in the sentence is wrong) He can't see anyone, he can't find anyone. (Sort of redundant sentence)

In some spots, I used discretion to use different English words to translate the same Chinese word.

--------

Quiz! Can try and see if you can get the gist of what this is about?

It's from the Jin Yong Teahouse, but it's in traditional characters, so I pulled an excerpt and converted it to simplified with NJStar.

http://jinyong.ylib.com.tw/snowtalk/...other&no=24459

戚芳四处张望，却不见她要等的人。她正等到心烦意乱，忽听到背后一人说：“戚师
妹，你做什么？船要沉了，你快跟我们走吧！我卜师弟得到一只救生船，我们现在
去跟他会合。”“万师兄，是你？ 噢，吴师兄、沈师兄、孙师兄你们也在。急死我
了。我在等我狄师哥，但不知那傻瓜去哪了。”沈城冷笑一声，道：“他，他不会
来的。这大船下沉就是他做的好事。”万圭忙道：“沈师弟！别提往事了。况且我
想狄师弟都只是一时想不开的。”戚芳本来已心乱如麻，此时听他们这样说不禁感
到一片惊慌，问：“狄师哥， 他。。。他怎么啦？”吴坎怒道：“哼，那臭小子平
时装傻充楞，原来竟是条色狼！”戚芳大惊：“你说什。。。什么？他。。。他。。。
不是的。”万圭叹气，正经道：“说来惭愧。我们想此事说出来也没人信，所以就
拍了这些。”说着从怀中拿出两张Polaroid照片。戚芳一看，即时站立不稳，几乎
昏倒。只见第一张照片里狄云面色苍白，双目紧闭，面目青肿，衣衫血迹斑斑，似
乎站立不起，需要后面一个男人以左臂拦腰扶着。背后此人似乎不想被拍摄到，把
脸转开但依稀看得出是吴坎。狄云的右臂被吴坎的右手抓住，摆在一个躺在床上彷
佛正在张口喊救命的少妇的胸脯上。第二张照片里狄云的神色跟第一张一模一样，
吴坎也同样站在后面一手抱着狄云一手抓住他右腕，但这次少妇已不知去向，狄云
手里也多了一个小锤子。万圭解释道：“大概半小时前，我兄弟们走过一间房间门
外时，听到里面女人高声求救。救人如救火，我们只能闯入人家闺房。一进去我们
看见狄师弟他正在企图强奸这位女子。我们劝他不得，他反而动手来打我们，我们
只能自护，一时错手将师弟打伤了。狄师弟恼怒，无处出气，就抢了个锤子，跳入
海，游到船底，打穿了个大洞。”万圭边说边观察戚芳的脸色， 只见她满面困惑，
双目泪光闪烁，却似乎没起疑心。戚芳心里一片渺茫，想：“依照他的本性，这种
事情他应是做不出的，但人证物证皆在，我又岂可不信。。。师哥你。。。难道你
真是个人面兽心的。。。的。。。唉~ 我真命苦。”万圭望到她楚楚可怜的面容在
月光下更显得艳丽，未免连裤裆里都有反应。他怕时间越长越易露出马脚，即向沈
城打个眼色。沈城会意，急道：“哎呀 ~ 我看到后面海水滔滔涌入，肯定又冲破了
一个洞了！我们再不走就死定了！”说着一马当先向前狂奔。万圭趁机拉着戚芳紧
随于后。这时戚芳已全无主意，只得任由他拖带。后面吴坎向孙均抿一抿嘴，低声
道：“哈哈，三哥真有他的。我还以为那些臭照片连六岁小孩都看得出破绽，他却
料得到那小妞肯定中计。”万圭转头向他狠狠瞪眼一视，吴坎知道自己失言，忙住
口。幸好戚芳似乎没听见。。。。

茫茫大海上，一只轻舟随着浪潮漂流。戚芳坐在小船中央，垂头哭泣。万圭坐在其
右，低声安慰。两旁其余七师兄弟互相打眼色，暗自偷笑。鲁坤、卜垣等虽然刚才
不在场，但人人心知肚明发生何事，同时亦羡慕万圭又有艳福享。吴坎却越想越不
忿，这事明明是他出力最大，但换来只得个两手空空。平时瞧在师傅份上这口气只
能吞咽，但如今师傅不在，各人飘泊大海上，吉凶未卜，此时不争气何时争？想到
这里吴坎立下决心，一步走到戚芳左旁坐下，抚其脸，柔声道：“戚师妹，有你吴
师兄在，不用怕噢。以后我会好好照顾你的。”戚芳虽然为狄云之丑事而伤心，但
一直有万圭这白马王子在旁安慰，她亦未免稍有自我陶醉之觉，此时粉面忽然被个
满面疮痕的丑男人抚摸，她不禁“啊”一声向后避开。万圭厉声道： “吴师弟你干
什么！”戚芳的皮肤感觉润滑，其女儿香扑鼻迷人，吴坎正摸到兴高，却突然听到
戚芳的惊呼，自己的手也空了。他抬头看到戚芳恶心的表情未免又羞又怒。再听到
万圭的质问吴坎便立时将怒气完全迁怒于他，高声道：“你！你平时仗势欺人，但
现在你老爹不在，你休想吴坎我再拍你马屁！刚才杀那小子的是我， 收买那淫妇的
又是我，连抱住死人拍照的都是我。你？你出了什么力？！就出个臭主意你就想独
吞这肥羊？！”万圭看吴坎张牙舞爪，似乎已把一切豁了出去，未免心慌，只能忙
道：“吴师弟，你先冷静些，凡事好商量。。。”“不！你别给我来这套。我很冷
静！平时我忍得要爆了。今天我要跟你拼了！”说着飞身向万圭发掌 ，万圭只能还
手。其余那六师兄弟本该插手劝阻，但平时他八人互相猜忌，这时见到万吴两人打
起来他们竟幸灾乐祸就手旁观。可惜他们九个人中没有一个想起他们乘着的小船在
当时波浪汹涌的海上岂能受得住这种骚动。只听见众人“哎呀！”一声，小船翻倒。
波浪一瞬间已把小船远远带走，剩下他们九人各自挣扎。。。。

适才吴坎之所言在戚芳脑海里不断徘徊，她总是觉得有什么不妥，但始终无法想得
通“杀那小子的是我、”“收买那淫妇的又是我”等说话究竟是何解。在下沉昏迷
前的最后一刻她想着的还是那自怜的一句“师哥你真狠心。唉~我真命苦，我真命苦，
我真。。。”咕咚咕咚。

[sniffles]

国王的心里， 想了一个特别的法子。他想的别人想的都不一样。他把船划得那么快，
不是要到张大明的前头去，是要碰在张大明的船上，把他的船碰怀了。张大明就一
定掉何里了。那么美真就可以是他的了。

In the king's mind, he thought of an unusual solution. He thinks differently than other people. He is rowing the boat so quickly not because he wants to pass Zhang, but because he wants to bump Zhang's boat from behind and damage it. Zhang will thus definitely fall into the river. Then Mei Zhen is going to be his.

You know, when I first read "他想的别人想的都不一样。" I thought it meant "He thought differently than other people", but then I decided I must be wrong and changed it.

国王在水里上来下去，喝了不少的水。有时候，头在水外头，就大叫。有时候，一
个字还没叫出来那，头又到水里头去了。头在水里就得喝水。喝水喝得太多了，也
不知道是应当往东还是应当汪西。看人也看不见，找人也找不着。

The king bobbed up and down in the water, and drank a lot of water. Sometimes, when his head is above water, he cried out. Sometimes, before he could utter a single word, his word would go under water again. When his head is under water, he can't help but swallow water. Having swallowed too much water, he lost all sense of direction. (More literally: He doesn't know whether he should go east or go west. Btw, the next to last word in the sentence is wrong) He can't see anyone, he can't find anyone. (Sort of redundant sentence)

I completely missed that the last sentence was referring to the king not being able to see anyone. Darn Chinese and its limited use of pronouns!

That selection from the JY Teahouse is full of characters I don't know! My copy of The Lady in the Painting is actually in traditional characters, but I've been using simplified for here because more people seem to be familiar with simplified characters.

[jiang bao]

But can you understand the gist of the situation. It's a similar scenario to the excerpts you posted - ship/boat, going into the water. Also i chose the excerpt from the teahouse because I wrote it, some 6+ yrs ago. (Plugging my limited creative writing skills Represent!)

Now, if you were to ever read classical Chinese, that would drive you nuts. Talk about minimalism and unclear pronouns. I know it drives me nuts.

[Guo Xiang]

Back to the story.

美真说,“这个船的后头,得做得又坚又硬。”
Mei Zhen said, "The back of this boat must be sharp and also hard."

This is overdue, but I still have to clarify this.

坚 - This word does not translate to 'sharp', but 'strong'. So it should be 'strong and hard'.

[sniffles]

This is overdue, but I still have to clarify this.

坚 - This word does not translate to 'sharp', but 'strong'. So it should be 'strong and hard'.

Oops! That's because I chose the wrong character. It should be 尖.

[sniffles]

Next section:

张大明看见国王掉在河里，他立刻把船划过去，想把国王垃上来。可是那个时候国王
手下的人也都到河里去拉他去了。他们七八个人都要把国王拉上来。他们一块儿去
拉，有的拉他的手，有的拉他的依裳，有的往东遍儿拉，有的往西遍儿拉。拉了半
天，他们还是都在河里头。那些拉他的人也都一样地在河里喝水。一样地头大叫。

Zhang Daming saw the king fall in the water, he rowed his boat over and
wanted to pull the king out. But at that time all of the king's subordinates
also went in to pull the king out. Seven or eight of them wanted to pull
the king out. Together they pulled, they pulled his hands, they pulled
his clothes, they pulled to the east, they pulled to the west. They pulled
for a long time, they still didn't come out of the river. These people
pulling also swallowed a lot of water. (Not certain of the last sentence).

这个时候，张大明看见那些人都没用，他在船上跟那些人说，“你们去巴，我来拉
他。” 他说这就下去，在水里用手拉国王后头的依常，把他拉到河边儿上去了。
That time, Zhang Daming saw these people doing nothing, he went to the front of the boat and said to these people, "You go on, I'll pull him out." He said this (something), reached into the water and grabbed (the king's) clothes and pulled him out of the river.

国王那个时候，喝水喝得太多了。差不多什么都不知道了。
By this time the king had swallowed a lot of water. He didn't know about
anything anymore.

[jiang bao]

Next section:

张大明看见国王掉在河里，他立刻把船划过去，想把国王垃上来。可是那个时候国王
手下的人也都到河里去拉他去了。他们七八个人都要把国王拉上来。他们一块儿去
拉，有的拉他的手，有的拉他的依裳，有的往东遍儿拉，有的往西遍儿拉。拉了半
天，他们还是都在河里头。那些拉他的人也都一样地在河里喝水。一样地头大叫。

Together they pulled, they pulled his hands, they pulled
his clothes, they pulled to the east, they pulled to the west. They pulled
for a long time, they still didn't come out of the river. These people
pulling also swallowed a lot of water. (Not certain of the last sentence).

--> Together they pulled, SOME pulled his hands, SOME pulled...

--> Next to last sentence, it doesn't say "a lot" of water, though you could infer that.

--> Final sentence, "they also screamed."


这个时候，张大明看见那些人都没用，他在船上跟那些人说，“你们去巴，我来拉
他。” 他说这就下去，在水里用手拉国王后头的依常，把他拉到河边儿上去了。
That time, Zhang Daming saw these people doing nothing, he went to the front of the boat and said to these people, "You go on, I'll pull him out." He said this (something), reached into the water and grabbed (the king's) clothes and pulled him out of the river.

-->"doing nothing" is actually "these people are incompetent (or useless).

--> 他说这就下去，在水里用手拉国王后头的依常，把他拉到河边儿上去了。

He descended after he said this, grabbing the king's collar, he pulled him onto the river bank.

差不多什么都不知道了。
By this time the king had swallowed a lot of water. He didn't know about
anything anymore.

--> He was almost passed out. (i.e. he didn't know what was going on around him anymore)

See inside quotes for the minor adjustments.