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Thread: The Deer and The Cauldron

  1. #61
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for the update foxs. No complaints here about your pace. I'm just happy to be able to read this novel.

    I really like the relationship between WXB & Xiao Xuanzi. They way they fight everyday is just amusing.

  2. #62
    Senior Member tweety365's Avatar
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    Gosh, the conversations between Wei Xiaobao and Hai Laogong are so entertaining. Gong gong knows WXB like the back of his hand. The adaptations all failed to capture these touching moments. I feel a bond growing between these two.

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    Quote Originally Posted by SkyWalker View Post
    Much thanks foxs.

    The story is finally picking up. Looking forward to reading the rest of it.
    Seeing this slow-moving translation, arouse me to comment here..
    coincidentally I have this complete book "the Deer and the Cauldron" adapted by John Minford and in MS Word version
    Before I post this version here, I would like the opinion in this forum, would it be copyright infringement, illegal or anything else that would make unpleasant situation for this forum.
    Last edited by Han Solo; 08-18-10 at 03:32 AM. Reason: Illegal links deleted

  4. #64
    Moderator Ren Wo Xing's Avatar
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    Please do not do that; that would definitely be copyright infringement.
    Read the latest chapters of Coiling Dragon at Wuxia World!

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    Samsung, please don't post it here.. if we google it out, we can find the online version, and anyone can read it.. I am not interested in reading it because john minford has translated ( with lot of omitting ) because he has english novel audience in mind, but what makes me read this is living in jin yong universe and with that wuxia spirit in mind the deer and the cauldron has to be read not in a different way, it kills the thrill we are going to get reading foxs translation..

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    I'd also rather read foxs's translation than the minford one. I tried reading the Minford translation and I couldn't get around the literal translation of names so I never made it past the first two chapters. I also hear that it doesn't retain the integrity of the original work in the later books so there's no point in posting it here. As the saying goes, all good things are worth waiting for. I'll wait for the translation this novel deserves from foxs.

  7. #67
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by samsung View Post
    Seeing this slow-moving translation, arouse me to comment here..
    coincidentally I have this complete book "the Deer and the Cauldron" adapted by John Minford and in MS Word version
    Before I post this version here, I would like the opinion in this forum, would it be copyright infringement, illegal or anything else that would make unpleasant situation for this forum.
    Thanks for the offer but I would rather wait to read foxs' translation. And as Ren Wo Xing said, it would definitely be copyright infringement.

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    Default howdy

    Quote Originally Posted by Ren Wo Xing View Post
    Please do not do that; that would definitely be copyright infringement.
    heh waht
    Ali Derhamy

  9. #69
    Senior Member foxs's Avatar
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    Default Chapter 4 - Part 6

    Thanks for your supports, guys. Really appreciate it. Although I cannot promise fast update, I can promise that I will try my best to keep the update as regular as possible.

    ---------------------------------------------------
    Hai Laogong mumbled, "Just as I thought, it's really Wudang Pai." And then he was lost in thought, seemingly pondering a hard-to-understand matter. After a long time he said, "Let us practice some tripping feet techniques."

    And so every day Wei Xiaobao learned new techniques from Hai Laogong, and had his daily martial art contest with Xiao Xuanzi. During training, whenever he encountered a rather difficult technique, Wei Xiaobao would do it perfunctorily with all kinds of obscure excuses. Surprisingly, Hai Laogong followed his whim; disregarding the fundamentals, he only taught him how to dodge, evade, and various kinds of defensive tricks, anything that would give Wei Xiaobao an immediate benefit. However, during his fight with Xiao Xuanzi, Wei Xiaobao's technique was advancing, Xiao Xuanzi's technique was advancing even more. Fighting here and there, out of ten rounds Wei Xiaobao would lose seven or eight times.

    Every morning Wei Xiaobao always went gambling with Lao Wu, Ping Wei, Wen Youdao, Wen Youfang and others eunuchs. For the first several days he always had plain white cloth covering his face, but afterwards the covering was getting less and less. Although everybody could see that his facial features were completely different from Xiao Guizi's, but first, they always met in the heat of the gambling, what Xiao Guizi actually looked like, they only remembered it vaguely; second, Wei Xiaobao was always giving others a loan, so everybody loved this generous friend; third, each day Wei Xiaobao took only a little bit of the wrapping, so the others were slowly getting accustomed to his look, unexpectedly, nobody ask him anything.

    When the gambling adjourned, Wei Xiaobao would have his martial art competition with Xiao Xuanzi, and have martial art lesson after lunch. The qin na technique he learned was getting increasingly difficult. Wei Xiaobao was disinclined to memorize it, he was even more disinclined to practice; fortunately, Hai Laogong did not force him or insist on supervising him strictly, he simply let nature take its course.

    Day in day out, without realizing it Wei Xiaobao had been in the imperial palace for two months. Every day he had money to gamble. Although it could not be said that his life was free and unrestrained, he was actually quite happy. His only regret was that he must not speak any obscenities, wantonly hurling abusive words to others; he also did not dare to imitate dog and steal chicken[6], or to make a scene and raise havoc in the palace. It was a rather minor defect in an otherwise perfect world. Sometimes he did think about escaping from the palace, but he did not know anybody within Beijing's city limit; the more he thought about it, the more trepidation grew in his heart, and thus he kept lingering in the palace for 'yet another day'.

    Wei Xiaobao and Xiao Xuanzi had been fighting with each other for two months, they met every day, the friendship between them grew. Wei Xiaobao was getting used to losing, but putting things back in perspective, 'a hero is not measured by victory or defeat'; his win in the gambling arena offset his lost in the martial art arena, and thus he did not give it further thought. Both he and Xiao Xuanzi felt that if they miss a day of martial art contest, their whole body would be uncomfortable. Wei Xiaobao made a slow progress in martial art skill, but Xiao Xuanzi's progress was also so-so. Although Wei Xiaobao lost more than he won, he was not entirely in losing streak without any victory.

    During these past two months, the Wen brothers lost so much money in gambling that they owed Wei Xiaobao more than two hundred taels. This particular day, before the game was even finished, the two brothers signaled each other with their eyes. Wen Youdao said to Wei Xiaobao, "Gui Xiongdi, we have something we'd like to discuss with you. Let's step aside and talk."

    "Alright," Wei Xiaobao replied, "Do you need some money? No problem."

    "Thank you very much," Wen Youfang said. The two brothers went out the door, with Wei Xiaobao following behind them. The three of them went to a side room next door.

    “Gui Xiongdi,” Wen Youdao said, “You are very young, but you are naturally magnanimous, it is indeed rare.”

    Hearing such flattery, Wei Xiaobao’s heart was in full bloom, “There, there! We are brothers here, you lend me, I lend you, why so uptight about it? There are borrowing and there are paying, we are all honest people here.”

    In these past two months, he had managed to learn some Beijing accent; although occasionally he would still blurt some Yangzhou slangs, it did not sound too harsh in other people’s ears.

    Wen Youdao said, “Our luck these past two months is just not good, we have lost quite a lot of money. Although you, brother, do not mind, in our hearts we are very worried.”

    Wen Youfang added, “Our lost is getting heavier and heavier, while your luck is getting better and better, and we owe you more and more money. If this situation continued, we don’t know how many tears it will take us to pay you back. If we continue on living burdened with debt like this, our lives would be tasteless.”

    Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “Going into debt and not able to pay back is indeed inevitable and all right, the two of you must not bring it up anymore.”

    Wen Youfang sighed and said, “Xiao Xiongdi’s character, we need not mention again. Frankly speaking, if we owe only you, Xiao Xiongdi, even if we owe you for a hundred years, we should not be uptight, should we?”

    “Exactly, exactly,” Wei Xiaobao laughed and said, “But what about two hundred years, three hundred years?”

    “Two hundred, three hundred years?” Wen Youfang said, “Everybody will be dead by then.” Speaking to this point, he turned toward his elder brother. Wen Youdao nodded. Wen Youfang continued, “However, we, two brothers, know, that Xiao Xiongdi’s master is very difficult to deal with.”

    “You mean Hai Laogong?” Wei Xiaobao asked.

    “Isn’t he?” Wen Youfang said, “You, Xiao Xiongdi, may not pursue this matter, but there will come a day Hai Laogong will not let us, two brothers, off. If he, Senior, extends one finger to us, the Wen family’s Lao Da and Lao Er[7]won’t be able neither to eat nor escape at all. Consequently, we must think of a way to pay the money back.”

    Wei Xiaobao mused, “Here it comes, here it comes, that old turtle Hai Laogong truly able to prophecy with supernatural accuracy. These days I only remember to practice boxing, to have martial art contest against Xiao Xuanzi, but I completely forgot about going to the Upper Study Room to steal the book. I’d better not mentioning it, I want to see what they are going to say.” Thereupon he simply mumbled, “Um,” noncommittally.

    Wen Youfang said, “We have thought about it over; there is only one way, we ask for Xiao Xiongdi’s magnanimity, to write off our debt completely, do not mention it to Hai Laogong. Later, when we brothers win, naturally we will return everything with our thanks, not lacking even a wen.”

    “Your granny,” Wei Xiaobao cursed in his heart, “You, a pair of stinky turtles, consider me, Wei Xiaobao, as a ‘cattle’? Based on your bastards’ skill, when will you ever win anything back from laozi?” Thereupon with an awkward expression he said, “But I have already told Hai Laogong. The Senior says that this money must be paid back, several days delay is all right.”

    The Wen brothers looked at each other, with very awkward expression on their faces; obviously these two brothers dreaded Hai Laogong very much. Wen Youdao said, "In that case, we are wondering if Xiao Xiongdi would be willing to help us? As you win money later, give it to Hai Laogong, just tell him ... tell him that we are paying you back."

    Wei Xiaobao cursed again in his heart, "Your words are getting more and more preposterous, do you think I am a three-year old kid?" But he said, "It's not that I don't want to do it, but I ... my loss will be too great."

    From the tone of his voice, the Wen brothers could hear that he was willing to cut them some slack, instantly their faces showed delight as they cupped their hands and said, "Thank you for your kindness, we owe you a big favor."

    Wen Youfang said, "Xiao Xiongdi's kindness, the two of us brothers will never dare to forget as long as we live."

    Wei Xiaobao said, "If we do it this way, I want the two Dage to do me a favor, I wonder if you would be willing to?"

    "Of course, of course," the two of them incessantly replied, "Whatever it is, the answer is yes."

    Wei Xiaobao said, "I have lived in the palace for many days, but even His Imperial Majesty's face I have never seen. The two of you are serving His Majesty at the Upper Study Room, I wish to ask the two brothers to take me to see His Majesty."

    Immediately the two Wen brothers looked at each other in dismay, with a very distressed expression on their faces. Wen Youdao repeatedly scratched his head. Wen Youfang said, "Ay, this ... this ... this ..." He muttered the word 'this' seven, eight times.

    Wei Xiaobao said, "I do not wish to present a memorial to His Majesty, I only want to linger at the Upper Study Room for a while, to see His Majesty's golden face; to slaves like us, that will be our good fortune. If I do not have the good fortune of seeing him, I will not blame the two of you."

    Wen Youdao hastily said, "It can be arranged. Today at the ninth hour[8], I will come to your place and take you to the Upper Study Room. At that time, His Majesty is always in the study room writing poetry and do calligraphy; most likely you will be able to see him. At other times His Majesty is working at the Palace Hall, it won't be easy to see him." While saying that, he tilted his head toward Wen Youfang and gave him a wink.

    Wei Xiaobao saw this, and the curse 'stinky turtles, thief bastards' was raging in his heart; he pondered over it, "As soon as these two turtles hear I wanted to see the Emperor, their expressions turned very ugly. They said on the ninth hour the Emperor will be at the Upper Study Room, but he most definitely won't be there. They do not dare to let me see the Emperor, so now I want to see him. His granny, if the Emperor speaks to laozi, how am I supposed to answer? If I said something that will give me away, won't he order me to be executed along with my whole family to the third generation? Perhaps even laozi’s Ma will be dragged away from Yangzhou and be beheaded here. The old turtle Hai teaches me martial art, but I don't know if he taught me correctly? How come after so many fights I still cannot overcome Xiao Xuanzi? I'd better steal that book - was it thirty-two-chapter sutra or forty-two-chapter sutra? - from the study room and give it to the old turtle. If his heart is happy, perhaps he would teach me real martial art." Thereupon he cupped his hands to Wen brothers to express his gratitude, saying, "If we as slaves cannot even see the Lord of Ten-thousand-year's golden face, when we die, Yan Wang will certainly rain curses on us as turtle bastards."

    After his martial art contest with Xiao Xuanzi, he returned to his residence, and told Hai Laogong only the martial art contest's situation; he did not mention even a word about how the Wen brothers had agreed to take him to the Upper Study Room. He thought he would steal the book first, so that the old turtle will be enormously pleasantly surprised.

    Just before the appointed time, the Wen brothers really came. Wen Youfang let out a soft whistle. Wei Xiaobao slipped out quietly. The Wen brothers signaled with their hands, but did not say anything. They walked to the west, with Wei Xiaobao following on their heels. Based on previous experience, he now keep his eyes open to commit into his memory the shapes of the corridors, gardens and buildings along the way, so that he could retrace his path without getting lost.

    Compare to the building where they gambled, the Upper Study Room was farther away from where he lived; they walked for almost the time needed to prepare tea. With a quiet voice Wen Youdao said, "We have arrived at the Upper Study Room, must be more careful now!"

    "I understand," Wei Xiaobao replied.

    The two brothers led him circling to the rear courtyard, and entered via a small side door. Passing through two small gardens, they finally entered an enormous room. He saw the room was full with row after row of bookshelves, and each shelf was full of books; he did not know how many thousands or tens of thousands of book were there. Wei Xiaobao sucked a mouthful of cold air and groaned inwardly, "Hot piece mama did not blossom, once blossoms give birth to a little baby! His granny! The Emperor's room has this many books, all day long he sees books; he sees books in the morning, he sees books in the evening, how will he find time to gamble? Hai Laogong only wants several books, how am I going to find them?"

    ---------------------------------------------------
    [6] An idiom, it means 'to dally with women' or 'to have affairs'. [Although I don't understand how he was going to do it, given the fact that he was only about 12, 13 years old.]

    [7] Lit. Ol’ First and Ol’ Second, respectively, common terms to denote children ranks in the family.

    [8] Between 3 - 5 pm.

  10. #70
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for another update foxs.

  11. #71
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    Quote Originally Posted by foxs View Post
    [6] An idiom, it means 'to dally with women' or 'to have affairs'. [Although I don't understand how he was going to do it, given the fact that he was only about 12, 13 years old.]
    Human sexuality can start early for some and late for others. There are cases of 13 year old girls giving birth. Hence, it is not too surprising that WXB is chasing after women already.

    Thanks for all your hard work.

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    Hee thks foxs, can't wait for your next update!

  13. #73
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    Default Chapter 4 - Part 7

    Tweety, I guess you are right, considering he grew up in a brothel, hence he saw that kind of activities every day. Sky and owlHoot, you are welcome.

    ----------------------------------------------------
    He grew up in marketplace, he had never seen a study room in all is life, he only knew that if there were seven or eight books in a room, then that room must be a study room. From these seven or eight books, supposedly to find one with the characters ‘thirty-two’ or ‘forty-two’ written on it would not be difficult. At this moment, suddenly seeing thousands or tens of thousands books, he was dazzled and at a loss of what to do. He thought of turning around and running away.

    In low voice Wen Youdao said, “Shortly, His Majesty will come into the study room and sit on this desk reading or writing.”

    Wei Xiaobao looked at the enormous red sandalwood desk, the tabletop was inlaid with gold and jade. He thought, “The tabletop is inlaid with yellow gold and white jade, certainly it is not a fake. If this thing is scooped out and brought to the jewelry store, it will be sold for quite a bit of money.” He saw a book was spread out on the desk, the ink stone and brush pot to the left were also exquisitely carved. The chair was draped in brocade cloth, embroidered with a golden dragon.

    Seeing this kind of imposing style, Wei Xiaobao could not stop his heart from thumping hard. “His granny,” he mused, “This turtle emperor truly lives a happy and prosperous life!”

    On the right hand side of the table there was an ancient bronze three-legged pot, where sandalwood incense was being burned. The lid of the pot was shaped like a beast’s head, a wisp of green smoke gracefully curling out from its mouth.

    Wen Youdao said, “You may hide behind the bookshelf, looking quietly at His Majesty and that’s it. When His Majesty is reading or writing, no one is allowed to make any noise; you must neither cough nor sneeze. Otherwise His Majesty might get angry and call the Imperial Bodyguard to drag you out and chop off your head.”

    “Of course I know I must not cough or sneeze, I must not fart even more,” Wei Xiaobao said.

    Wen Youdao’s countenance sank. “Xiao Xiongdi, the Upper Study Room is unlike any other places,” he said, “You must not speak anything disrespectful or irreverent.” Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue; he did not dare to say anything. He saw the two brothers picked up a duster and a cleaning rag, and started dusting and wiping everywhere. The study room was exceptionally clean, untainted by even a speck of dust, but the two brothers were still doing their job attentively.

    After the Wen brothers finished dusting, they fetched a piece of snow white plain cloth from the cabinet and started wiping everywhere, and then they looked at the white cloth to see if there is any sign of dark spot. They were even more careful than wiping a mirror. They wiped for more than half a day before they quit.

    Xiao Xiongdi,” Wen Youdao said, “If His Majesty is still not here in a little while, chances are he is not coming to the Upper Study Room at all today. Soon an Imperial Bodyguard officer will come over to do an inspection, if he sees you in this place, he will investigate and then everybody will eat the blame.”

    Wei Xiaobao said, “You can leave first, I want to wait a while before leaving.”

    “That won’t do!” the Wen brothers said together. Wen Youdao said, “According to the palace rules, which you are also aware of, wherever His Majesty goes, the ones serving in that area must not have the slightest carelessness. There are several thousands court eunuchs and palace maids, supposing whenever one of them wanted to see His Majesty would simply walk in to His Majesty’s presence, what will become of the propriety?”

    “Good brother,” Wen Youfang said, “It’s not that we brothers do not want to help, but we can be in this Upper Study Room for only an hour a day. Finish cleaning and wiping, we must get out immediately. We are not concealing anything from you, forget about you cannot linger too long in the Upper Study Room, even if we, the two brothers, do not leave when it's time for us to leave, when the Imperial Bodyguard officers investigate and find out, at the most our house will be searched and our possessions confiscated, we will be beheaded, at the least we will be imprisoned with stock over our head."

    Wei Xiaobao stuck out his tongue. "That fierce, huh?" he said.

    Stomping his foot, Wen Youfang said, "The matter of His Majesty's safety, do you think we would joke about it? Good brother, if you want to see His Majesty, let's come back tomorrow at the same time to try our luck."

    "Alright," Wei Xiaobao said, "Let us go then."

    The Wen brothers felt as if a heavy burden was relieved from their shoulders. With one pulling Wei Xiaobao's left arm, the other pulling his right, for fear that he would not leave, they walked him out.

    Suddenly Wei Xiaobao said, "Actually, the two of you have never seen His Majesty, have you?"

    Wen Youfang was startled, "How ... how did you ..." he stammered. It was obvious that he was going to say, 'How did you know?'. Wen Youdao hastily said, "Why haven't we seen him? His Majesty reads and writes at the Upper Study Room, of course we often see him."

    Wei Xiaobao thought, "Every day around this time the two of you are in the Upper Study Room wiping and dusting, naturally His Majesty cannot be here. Could it be that when you two bastards are wiping the dust and chasing the dust's grandchildren to the east and to the west, His Majesty would love to watch?"

    Wen Youdao added, "Xiao Xiongdi agrees to pay Hai Laogong back on our behalf, we brothers will certainly repay your kindness in the future. About seeing His Majesty, that is one's good fortune in life, one's karmic reward cultivated in the previous incarnation, by building the bridge and paving the way, by accumulating innumerable secret virtue. If one is not destined to have this good fortune, one will not achieve it even by forcing it."

    While speaking, the three of them exited the side door. Wei Xiaobao said, "In that case, you can take me here again in a few days to try our luck!"

    "Excellent, excellent!" the two brothers repeatedly said. And thus the three of them split up.

    Wei Xiaobao quickly turned around; passing through two long corridors, he hid behind a sliding door. After a while, he presumed the two brothers already went far away; he came out from the back door and retraced their route back to the study room. When he pushed the side door, to his surprise, the door was bolted from inside. He was startled, thinking, "It was only a short while, the door is already bolted from inside? It seems that the Wen brothers are telling the truth, the Imperial Bodyguard did come to patrol this place. I wonder if they have already left?"

    Pressing his ear to the door he tried to listen, but did not hear anything. Then he put his eye to a crack on the door and peeked inside, there was nobody in the courtyard. He thought for a while, and then fished out a very thin dagger from his boots. It was the same dagger he used to assassinate Xiao Guizi the other day. He was hiding in the Imperial Palace, he knew danger was lurking from all directions, since that day, this dagger had never left his body. Presently he inserted the dagger into the crack on the door and gently pushed several times, the door bolt was lifted up. He shoved the door open two cun, and put out his hand through the opening to hold the door bolt, so that it would not fall down and make noise. Then he pushed the door wider and slipped in, lastly, he turned around and reattached the door bolt. After listening attentively and did not hear any noise, he proceeded step by step and poked his head into the study room, luckily there was nobody inside. After waiting for a moment, he went in.

    Walking toward the desk, he saw the chair draped in dragon embroidered brocade and had a hard-to-resist sudden impulse. “Damn it, this is the dragon chair the Emperor sit, must laozi sit on it?” Taking a diagonal step forward, he suddenly found himself sitting on the chair. At first his heart was thumping fast, but after a while he mused, “This chair is not so comfortable anyway, being the Emperor is nothing extraordinary.”

    But in the end he still did not dare to sit too long; he stood up and went to the bookshelves to look for the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’. But the bookshelves were full of books stacked up on top of other books. Among the hundreds of titles, he recognized only one or two characters. He did his utmost to find the ‘four’ character, and found several books that started with the character ‘four’; however, none of the next characters were ‘ten’ or ‘two’[9]. Actually, what he found were the ‘Four Books’[10], the ‘Four-Book Annotation Collection’, the ‘Four-Book Commentary’, and so on. Looking a bit more, he found the ‘Analysis on Thirteen Classics[11] Collection’. He knew the two characters ‘Thirteen’ [shi san], and was delighted for a moment, but then realized that eventually it was not the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra’.

    While he was still confused, without a clue of what to do, suddenly he heard the sound of boots outside the door on the other side of the study room, followed by the creaking noise of the double-door being opened. Turned out behind the large screen on that side there was another door, from which this person was walking in.

    Wei Xiaobao was shocked. “Today laozi will be executed to the third generation.” He was thinking of slipping out from the bolted door from which he came, but in any case he was too late, hastily he flattened his body against the wall, shrinking behind a row of bookshelf. He heard two men enter the study room, dusting, brushing and wiping all around.

    Not too long afterwards, another man come in, the first two men then withdrew from the study room. This other man was pacing back and forth slowly in the study room. Wei Xiaobao cried out inwardly, “It’s terrible; must be the Imperial Bodyguard on inspection of this room. Could it be that they found a trace of me entering via the back door?” He could not help cold sweat from soaking his back.

    The man was pacing back and forth for a good while, suddenly there was a loud and clear voice from outside the door, “Reporting to Your Majesty: Oboi has an urgent matter to kowtow in front of Your Majesty, he is waiting outside.” The man in the study room grunted.

    Wei Xiaobao was startled and delighted at the same time. “Turns out this man is the Emperor. That Oboi is the man Mao Dage wanted to have a martial art contest with. This man is considered the Manchurians’ number one warrior, I wonder what mighty appearance he looks like, I must steal a look. Next time I see Mao Dage, I will have something to tell him.”

    He heard heavy footsteps from outside the door, a man entered the study room and said, “Servant Oboi kowtows to Your Majesty!” while kneeling down and pressing his forehead to the ground.

    Wei Xiaobao quickly poked his head out to steal a look, he saw a tall and sturdy man crawling on the floor, kowtowing. He did not dare to look too long, for fear that as soon as Oboi raised his head he might see him; hastily he pulled his head back, but he shifted his body slightly to be diagonally opposite to Oboi. He mused, “You are kowtowing to the Emperor, also kowtowing to laozi. What First Warrior of Manchuria, or Second Warrior? Nothing special about him, didn’t he kowtow to me, Wei Xiaobao?”

    He heard the Emperor say, “Enough!” Oboi rose up and said, “Reporting to Your Majesty: Suksaha is harboring disloyalty, his memorial to the throne is filled with treason and heresy, he must receive supreme penalty.”

    “Hmm,” the Emperor grunted noncommittally.

    Oboi continued, “Your Majesty has just personally guided the government into a new era, this male servant Suksaha presented a memorial to the throne, saying something like ‘Now personally encountering the great government, humbly begs the wise reflection to let your servant, state official, to go guarding the late Emperor’s mausoleum, in order to survive the remaining breath, which is like a string of thread’. Isn’t it obvious? Your Majesty has just taken over the government, and he already desires to die. It is the same as saying Your Majesty is treating his servants with cruelty.”

    “Hmm,” the Emperor was still grunting.

    Oboi continued, “Your servant has had a conference with the princes and dukes, and various ministers; we are all agree that altogether Suksaha is guilty of twenty-four major crimes, he is cherishing treachery, harboring disloyalty, taking unfair advantage of the young master, unwilling to return to government service, indeed he is reeking with treason and heresy. According to our dynasty’s ‘Great Rebellion Law’, he and his eldest son, Internal Minister Chakdan, should be put to death with a thousand cuts, his six foster sons, one grandson, and two brothers should be beheaded. His clansmen, the commander of the vanguard regimen Barhe, and imperial bodyguard Otu, should also be beheaded.”

    “For that kind of crime, isn’t the punishment too heavy?” the Emperor said.

    Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, “This emperor’s voice sounds like a boy, in fact it is very similar to Xiao Xuanzi’s voice. That’s funny.”

    ----------------------------------------------------
    [9] In Chinese, ‘forty-two’ consists of three characters: ‘si’ – four, ‘shi’ – ten, and ‘er’ – two.

    [10] Namely, The Great Learning, The Doctrine of the Mean, The Analects of Confucius, and The Analects of Mencius.

    [11] Thirteen Confucian Classics: Book of Songs, Book of History, Rites of Zhou, Rites and Ceremonies, Classic of Rites, Book of Changes, Mr. Zuo’s Annals, Mr. Gongyang’s Annals, Mr. Gu Liang’s Annals, The Analects, Erya, Classic of Filial Piety, and Mencius.
    Last edited by foxs; 08-22-10 at 09:39 AM.

  14. #74
    Senior Member littleli's Avatar
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    foxs, thanks for the translation

  15. #75
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thank you foxs!

    Quote Originally Posted by foxs
    Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, “This emperor’s voice sounds like a boy, in fact it is very similar to Xiao Xuanzi’s voice. That’s funny.”
    WXB is in for a surprise. Wonder how he'll react once he finds out the truth about XXZ.

  16. #76
    Senior Member Han Solo's Avatar
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    Thanks for translation.

    Quick edit: "Actually, what he found were the ‘Four Books’[10], the ‘Four-Book Annotation Collection’, the ‘Four-Book Commentary’, and so on. Looking a bit more, he found the ‘Analysis on Thirteen Classics[11] Collection’. He knew the two characters ‘Thirteen’ [shi san], and was delighted for a moment, but ten realized that eventually it was not the ‘Forty-two-chapter Sutra"

    It is, ".....,but then realized that eventually......"

    Han Solo
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    Quote Originally Posted by bliss
    I think they're probably at the same level as or one level below Ah Qing, which is about the level of a 2nd or 3rd generation Quan Zhen disciple.
    Troll Control

  17. #77
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    Thanks, Han, it is fixed. Xiao Li and Sky, you are welcome, thanks for stopping by. Here is a shorter update, marking the end of Chapter 4.

    -----------------------------------------------------------
    Oboi said, “Reporting to His Majesty: Your Majesty is still young, perhaps you are still not fully clear about the important matter of the imperial court government. This Suksaha accepted orders from the late Emperor, together with your servant and others to be regents, to assist Your Majesty in guiding the government into the new era; we should be delighted to offer our talents. Yet he submitted this memorial to the throne, slandering Your Majesty, obviously he is harboring evil intentions. I request Your Majesty to allow your subject to deal with this matter, with power to make more serious punishment. Your Majesty has just taken over the government, you should establish power, to make your subjects’ hearts trembled with fear. If you are being lenient to Suksaha, this rebel who harbor treason, someday the other subjects will take advantage of Your Majesty’s young age, will speak disrespects, will behave rudely, then Your Majesty’s business will not be managed properly.”

    Listening to the way he speak, Wei Xiaobao thought he was very arrogant, he said in his heart, “You, the old turtle, are the one who speak disrespect and behave rudely. You said the Emperor is young, could it be that the Emperor is a small boy? This is very interesting, no wonder his voice somewhat sounds like Xiao Xuanzi.”

    He heard the Emperor saying, “Although Suksaha is wrong, he is an Executive Minister, the same as you, whom the late Emperor held in very high regards. If at the beginning of my taking over the government I … I[12] kill an important minister whom the late Emperor held in high regards, I am afraid the spirit of the late Emperor in Heaven will not be happy.”

    Oboi laughed a loud and said, “Very true, but your words are childish talk. The late Emperor appointed Suksaha as an Executive Minister, to serve Your Majesty well, to handle affairs attentively. If he considered the late Emperor’s benevolence, he should spare no effort to do his utmost, to go through water and tread on fire, to toil just like a dog or a horse; that is the principle of a servant. Yet this Suksaha bears grievance, publicly slanders Your Majesty, asking for rest, begging for life, regarding his own life more important, and set aside the imperial court’s affairs as unimportant. This male servant is offending the late Emperor, and not Your Majesty offending this male servant. Ha ha, ha ha!”

    The Emperor said, “Oboi, what’s so funny?”

    Oboi was startled, and busily said, “Yes, yes, no, nothing.” Wei Xiaobao guessed that right this moment Oboi’s expression must be very awkward.

    The Emperor was silent for a long time before saying, “Even if I am not offending Suksaha, but if I kill him like this, I would offend the late Emperor’s spirit. Either the people under the heavens would say that I kill the wrong person, or they would say that the late Emperor was an incapable ignorant. If the imperial court publishes Suksaha’s twenty-four big crimes to the world, the people would think that Suksaha is so guilty of the most heinous crime, is such a scoundrel, yet the late Emperor unexpectedly appointed him as an Executive Minister, to stand alongside you, Oboi. This … this … isn’t this too much without knowledge and experience?”

    Wei Xiaobao thought, “This child Emperor’s word makes a lot of sense.”

    Oboi said, “Your Majesty only knows one, does not know two. Whatever the people under the heavens like to think, let them indulge in flights of fancy, but they will not dare to speak as they please. Whoever dares to utter a single sentence that the late Emperor is to be blamed, I want to see how many heads they have.”

    The Emperor said, “The ancient book said it well: ‘Guarding against the mouth of the people is more than guarding against the river’; blindly chopping people’s heads, not letting the common people speak out their hearts, in the end it will not bring good.”

    Oboi said, “The words of the Han scholars are the worst to listen to, if these Han scholars’ words were true, how come Han people’s rivers and mountains fall into our hands, the Manchus? Therefore, let your servant offers a bit of advice to Your Majesty: those many books of Han people, the less you read the better, the more you read, the more your mind will be muddled.”

    The Emperor did not reply at all. Oboi continued, “Your servant has followed Taizong Huangdi[13] and the late Emperor in battles on all sides, from outside the Pass to inside the Pass, establishing countless meritorious service against the Han cavalry. I did not know a single Han character, yet I killed not a few southern barbarians. We defeat the world, we protect the world, all using our Manchurian way.”

    The Emperor said, “Without a doubt Oboi’s contribution is enormous, otherwise the late Emperor would not entrust you with such heavy responsibility.”

    Oboi said, “Your servant only knows how to serve with body and soul, to handle Your Majesty’s affairs. Ever since Taizong Huangdi, to Emperor Shunzi, it’s all the same. The way we Manchus handle affairs is by paying particular attention to bestow rewards and impose punishments, we reward those who are loyal, and punish those who are treacherous. This Suksaha is a major treacherous court official, he must be punished severely.”

    Wei Xiaobao said in his heart, “Hot piece mama, I only have to listen to your voice and I know that you are the major treacherous court official.”

    The Emperor said, “You are determined to have Suksaha killed, in the end, what is your own reason?”

    “What reason do I have?” Oboi said, “Could it be that Your Majesty believes your servant has a personal motive?” His voice grew louder, his tone was also growing more stern. After a short pause he said menacingly, “Your servant only has our Manchurian’s realm in my heart. Taizu Huangdi[14], Taizong Huangdi have painstakingly laid out the foundation, we must not let their descendants make mistake. Your Majesty asks your servant this way, your servant really does not understand Your Majesty’s meaning!”

    Hearing he speak with such ferocity, Wei Xiaobao was shocked; he could not bear not to stick out his head to look, and saw a fierce-looking big man, his eyebrows were raised straight up, like a monster he stepped forward, his hands were tightly clenched into a pair of fists.

    “Ah!” a young man cried out in alarm and jumped up from the chair. The young man turned his head sideways, and Wei Xiaobao could not refrain from letting out an ‘Ah!’ cry of his own. This young Emperor was not a stranger, he was precisely the boy who had martial art contest with him every day, Xiao Xuanzi.

    -----------------------------------------------------------
    [12] The character he used here is ‘zhen’, the way an Emperor addresses himself.

    [13] Posthumous name given to second emperor of a dynasty, in this case, Nurhachi’s son, Emperor Hung Taiji.

    [14] Founding Emperor, in this case, Nurhachi.

    -----------------------------------------------------------
    I'd like to point out something:

    In the narrative, as well as when Oboi was mentioned by Wei Xiaobao and Mao Shiba, the original Chinese was (aobai); however, the Emperor, as well as Shi Song (from chapter 2), referred to him as 鳌少保, literally, Young/junior protector/defender/guardian Ao. Unless anybody could suggest a better translation, I will keep using Oboi for both.

  18. #78
    Senior Member SkyWalker's Avatar
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    Thanks for another update foxs.

    XXZ is truly a capable ruler. Even as a kid, he can almost stand up to Oboi. Almost!

  19. #79
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    All great responses from the young king. Thanks for the update, foxs.

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    Thanks for taking this on, foxs. I was really hoping someone would finish the DGSD translation here, but this DOMD/Dear and Cauldron story is turning out to be an interesting departure from the usual JY style. I've watched DOMD 1984 probably a good dozen times, but I'm really enjoying all the dialogue and interaction in the written account.

    Keep up the great work!

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