红楼梦·中英翻译学习-第一回19

本人喜欢英文，更喜欢红楼梦，希望在简书，中英文的红楼梦能给你带来别样的阅读体验~

Shi-yin and his wife knew that something must be wrong when their little girl failed to return home all night. Then a search was made; but all those sent out were obliged in the end to report that no trace of her could be found.
那士隐夫妇，见女儿一夜不归，便知有些不妥，再使几人去寻找，回来皆云连音响皆无。

The shock of so sudden a loss to a middle-aged couple who had only ever had the one daughter can be imagined. In tears every day and most of the night, they almost lost the will to go on living, and after about a month like this first Shi-yin and then his wife fell ill, so that doctors and diviners were in daily attendance on them.

那士隐夫妇，见女儿一夜不归，便知有些不妥，再使几人去寻找，回来皆云连音响皆无。夫妻二人，半世只生此女，一旦失落，岂不思想，因此昼夜啼哭，几乎不曾寻死。看看的一月，士隐先就得了一病；当时封氏孺人也因思女构疾，日日请医疗治。

Then, on the fifteenth of the third month, while frying cakes for an offering, the monk of Bottle-gourd Temple carelessly allowed the oil to catch alight, which set fire to the paper window. And, since the houses in this area all had wooden walls and bamboo fences - though also, doubtless, because they were doomed to destruction anyway- the fire leaped from house to house until the whole street was blazing alway like a regular Fiery Mountain; and though the firemen came to put it out, by the time they arrived the fire was well under way and long past controlling, and roared away all night long until it had burnt itself out, rendering heaven knows how many families homeless in the process.Poor Zhens! Though they and their handful of domestics escaped unhurt, their house, which was only next door to the temple, was soon reduced to a heap of rubble, while Shi-yin stood by helpless, groaning and stamping in despair. After some discussion with his wife, Shi-yin decides that they should move to their farm in the country; but a series of crop failures due to flooding and drought had led to widespread brigandage in those parts, and government troops were out everywhere hunting down the mutinous peasants and making arrests. In such conditions it was impossible to settle on the farm, so Shi-yin sold the land and, taking only two of the maids with them, went with his wife to seek refuge with his father-in-law, Feng su.

不想这日三月十五，葫芦庙中炸供，那些和尚不加小心，致使油锅火逸，便烧着窗纸。此方人家多用竹篱木壁者，大抵也因劫数，于是接二连三，牵五挂四，将一条街烧得如火焰山一般。彼时虽有军民来救，那火已成了势，如何救得下？直烧了一夜，方渐渐的熄去，也不知烧了几家。只可怜甄家在隔壁，早已烧成一片瓦砾场了。只有他夫妇并几个家人的性命不曾伤了。急得士隐惟跌足长叹而已。只得与妻子商议，且到田庄上去安身。偏值近年水旱不收，鼠盗蜂起，无非抢田夺地，鼠窃狗偷，民不安生，因此官兵剿捕，难以安身。士隐只得将田庄都折变了，便携了妻子与两个丫环投他岳丈家去。

2022-10-23