The First Chapter Project: 林海音《城南舊事》

[Publius]

I've never read the book before. My memories of 《城南舊事》 mainly involve the theme song of the 1982 film My Memories of Old Beijing. The song has a memorable tune and lyrics.

 

《城南舊事》 is a collection of five short stories:《惠安館》、《我們看海去》、《蘭姨娘》、《驢打滾兒》、《爸爸的花兒落了》. The stories are semi-autobiographical and in chronological order. Read together, they can be considered a novel — a novel that follows a little girl 林英子 around the south side of the old city during the years 1923-1929 and sees through her eyes the sometimes incomprehensible adult world.

 

The book was first published in Taiwan in 1960. But I think it's fair to say the success of the mainland film adaptation brought renewed interest in the book, contributed to its popularity and helped cement its place as one of the 100 best Chinese novels of the 20th century. Today on the mainland, it's on the recommended reading list for primary school students; in Taiwan, 《爸爸的花兒落了》 is in high school textbook. (I tried to watch the film the other day but it was, ahem, cringy. It was 1982 after all. And some things are best left to imagination...)

 

林海音's style is simple and straightforward. No unnecessary long descriptive sentences. I think @Fred0 can agree (he has a related thread here), both the content and vocabulary are fairly accessible. The main hurdle seems to be dialectal and historical. I'll try to focus more on that respect.

 

The geography: Old Beijing was a walled city in a "凸" shape (the 2nd Ring Road runs where the old city walls stood). The north side was 內城, the south side 外城. Three gates connected the inner and outer city: 正陽門 (colloquially known as 前門) in the middle, 崇文門 (哈德門) in the east, and 宣武門 (順治門) in the west. The inner city was inhabited by lords and princes, high officials and business magnates, leaving the outer or southern city to ordinary people. Lin and her family mainly lived in the southwest part around 宣武門外.

 

About the editions: There are too many versions of the text. It took me a while to track down the source. For simplified edition, 人民文學出版社's is the best (ISBN 978-7-02-011259-3). For traditional edition, of course 爾雅出版社 as shown below. There's also an English edition Memories of Peking: South Side Stories translated by Nancy C. Ing 殷張蘭煕 and Chi Pang-yuan 齊邦媛. Here's a zip file that includes both simplified and traditional versions in txt format. I think some of Lin's essays and the foreword penned by the book's English translator are very good reading and very helpful in better understanding the book.

chengnanjiushi.zip

 

《城南舊事》，林海音，爾雅出版社有限公司，一九六〇年七月初版，二〇一七年十月十日新五十七印，ISBN 978-957-9159-22-7

Difficulty: easy; Total characters: 56,344; Unique characters: 1,935; Unique words: 4,122 (counting only the 5 short stories)

First chapter (4510 characters):

Spoiler

 

惠安館


一

　　太陽從大玻璃窗透進來，照到大白紙糊的牆上，照到三屜桌上，照到我的小牀上來了。我醒了，還躺在牀上，看那道太陽光裏飛舞着的許多小小的、小小的塵埃。宋媽過來撢窗臺，撢桌子，隨着鷄毛撢子的舞動，那道陽光裏的塵埃加多了，飛舞得更熱鬧了，我趕忙拉起被來蒙住臉，是怕塵埃把我嗆得咳嗽。
　　宋媽的鷄毛撢子輪到來撢我的小牀了，小牀上的稜稜角角她都撢到了，撢子把兒碰在牀欄上，格格的響，我想駡她，但她倒先說話了：
　　「還沒睡夠哪！」說着，她把我的被大掀開來，我穿着絨褲褂的身體整個露在被外，立刻就打了兩個噴嚏。她強迫我起來，給我穿衣服。印花斜紋布的棉襖棉褲，都是新做的；棉褲筒多可笑，可以直立放在那裏，就知道那棉花夠多厚了。
　　媽正坐在爐子邊梳頭，傾着身子，一大把頭髮從後脖子順過來，她就用篦子篦呀篦呀的，爐子上是一瓶玫瑰色的髮油，天氣冷，油凝住了，總要放在爐子上化一化才能搽。
　　窗外很明亮，乾秃的樹枝上落着幾隻不怕冷的小鳥。我在想，什麼時候那樹上才能長滿葉子呢？這是我們在北京過的第一個冬天。
　　媽媽還說不好北京話，她正在吿訴宋媽，今天買什麼菜。媽不會說「買一斤豬肉，不要太肥」。她說：「買一斤租漏，不要太囘。」
　　媽媽梳完了頭，用她的油手抹在我的頭髮上，也給我梳了兩條辮子。我看宋媽提着籃子要出去了，連忙喊住她：
　　「宋媽，我跟你去買菜。」
　　宋媽說：
　　「你不怕惠難館的瘋子？」
　　宋媽是順義縣人，她也說不好北京話，她說成「惠難館」，媽說成「灰娃館」，爸說成「飛安館」，我隨着胡同裏的孩子說「惠安館」，到底哪一個對，我不知道。
　　我爲什麼要怕惠安館的瘋子？她昨天還衝我笑呢！她那一笑眞有意思，要不是媽緊緊拉我的手，我就會走過去看她，跟她說話了。
　　惠安館在我們這條胡同的最前一家，三層石臺階上去，就是兩扇大黑門凹進去，門上橫着一塊匾，路過的時候爸敎我念過：「飛安會館」。爸說裏面住的都是從「飛安」那個地方來的學生，像叔叔一樣，在大學裏念書。
　　「也在北京大學？」我問爸爸。
　　「北京的大學多着呢，還有淸華大學呀！燕京大學呀！」
　　「可以不可以到飛安——不，惠安館裏找叔叔們玩一玩？」
　　「做唔得！做唔得！」我知道，我無論要求什麼事，爸終歸要拿這句客家話來拒絕我。我想總有一天我要邁上那三層臺階，走進那黑洞洞的大門裏去的。
　　惠安館的瘋子我看見好幾次了，每一次只要她站在門口，宋媽或者媽就趕快捏緊我的手，輕輕說：「瘋子！」我們就擦着牆邊走過去，我如果要囘頭再張望一下，她們就用力拉我的胳膊制止我。其實那瘋子還不就是一個梳着油鬆大辮子的大姑娘，像張家李家的大姑娘一樣！她總是倚着門牆站着，看來來往往過路的人。
　　是昨天，我跟着媽媽到騾馬市的佛照樓去買東西，媽是去買搽臉的鴨蛋粉，我呢，就是愛吃那裏的八珍梅。我們從騾馬市大街囘來，穿過魏染胡同，西草廠，到了椿樹胡同的井窩子，井窩子斜對面就是我們住的這條胡同。剛一進胡同，我就看見惠安館的瘋子了，她穿了一身絳紫色的棉襖，黑絨的毛窩，頭上留着一排劉海兒，辮子上紮的是大紅絨繩，她正把大辮子甩到前面來，兩手玩弄着辮梢，楞楞的看着對面人家院子裏的那棵老洋槐。乾樹枝子上有幾隻烏鴉，胡同裏沒什麼人。
　　媽正低頭嘴裏念叨着，準是在算她今天一共買了多少錢的東西，好跟無事不操心的爸爸報帳，所以媽沒留神已經走到了「灰娃館」。我跟在媽的後面，一直看瘋子，竟忘了走路。這時瘋子的眼光從洋槐上落下來，正好看到我，她眼珠不動的盯着我，好像要在我的臉上找什麼。她的臉白得發靑，鼻子尖有點紅，大概是冷風吹凍的，尖尖的下巴，兩片薄嘴唇緊緊的閉着。忽然她的嘴唇動了，眼睛也眨了兩下，帶着笑，好像要說話，弄着辮梢的手也向我伸出來，招我過去呢。不知怎麼，我混身大大的打了一個寒戰，跟着，我就隨着她的招手和笑意要向她走去。——可是媽囘過頭來了，突然把我一拉：
　　「怎麼啦，你？」
　　「嗯？」我有點迷糊。媽看了瘋子一眼，說：
　　「爲什麼打哆嗦？是不是怕——是不是要溺尿？快囘家！」我的手被媽使勁拖拉着。
　　囘到家來，我心裏還惦念着瘋子的那副模樣兒。她的笑不是很有意思嗎？如果我跟她說話——我說：「嘿！」她會怎麼樣呢？我楞楞的想着，懶得吃晚飯，實在也是八珍梅吃多了。但是晚飯後，媽對宋媽說：
　　「英子一定嚇着了。」然後給我沏了碗白糖水，叫我喝下去，並且命令我鑽被窩睡覺。……

　　這時，我的辮子梳好了，追了宋媽去買菜，她在前面走，我在後面跟着。她的那條噁心的大黑棉褲，那麼厚，那麼肥，褲腳綁着。別人吿訴媽說，北京的老媽子很會偸東西，她們偸了米就一把一把順着褲腰裝進褲兜子，剛好落到綁着的褲腳管裏，不會漏出來。我在想，宋媽的肥褲腳裏，不知道有沒有我家的白米？
　　經過惠安館，我向裏面看了一下，黑門大開着，門道裏有一個煤球爐子，那瘋子的媽媽和爸爸正在爐邊煮什麼，大家都管瘋子的爸爸叫「長班老王」，長班就是給會館看門的，他們住在最臨街的一間屋子。宋媽雖然不許我看瘋子，但是我知道她自己也很愛看瘋子，打聽瘋子的事，只是不許我聽我看就是了。宋媽這時也向惠安館裏看，正好瘋子的媽媽擡起頭來，她和宋媽兩人同時說「吃了嗎？您！」爸爸說北京人一天到晚閒着沒有事，不管什麼時候見面都要問吃了沒有。
　　出了胡同口往南走幾步，就是井窩子，這裏滿地是水，有的地方結成薄薄的冰，獨輪水車來一輛去一輛，他們扭着屁股推車，車子吱吱吜吜的響，好刺耳，我要堵起耳朶啦！井窩子有兩個人正向深井裏打水，水打上來倒在一個好大的水槽裏，推水的人就在大水槽裏接了水再送到各家去。井窩子旁住着一個我的朋友——和我一般高的妞兒。我這時停在井窩子旁邊不走了，對宋媽說：
　　「宋媽，你去買菜，我等妞兒。」
　　妞兒，我第一次是在油鹽店裏看見她的。那天她兩隻手端了兩個碗，拿了一大枚，又買醬，又買醋，又買葱，夥計還逗着說：「妞兒，唱一段才許你走！」妞兒眼裏含着淚，手搖晃着，醋都要灑了，我有說不出的氣惱，一下竄到妞兒身旁，揷着腰問他們：
　　「憑什麼？」
　　就這樣，我認識了妞兒。
　　妞兒只有一條辮子，又黃又短，像媽在土地廟給我買的小狗的尾巴。第二次看見妞兒，是我在井窩子旁邊看打水。她過來了，一聲不響的站在我身邊，我們倆相對着笑了笑，不知道說什麼好。等一會兒，我就忍不住去摸她那條小黃辮子了，她又向我笑了笑，指着後面，低低的聲音說：
　　「你就住在那條胡同裏？」
　　「嗯。」我說。
　　「第幾個門？」
　　我伸出手指頭來算了算：
　　「一，二，三，四，第四個門。到我們家來玩兒。」
　　她搖搖頭說：「你們胡同裏有瘋子，媽不叫我去。」
　　「怕什麼？她又不吃人。」
　　她仍然是笑笑的搖搖頭。
　　妞兒一笑，眼底下鼻子兩邊的肉就會有兩個小漩渦，很好看，可是宋媽竟跟油鹽店的掌櫃說：
　　「這孩子長得俊倒是俊，就是有點薄，眼睛太透亮了，老像水汪着，你看，眼底下有兩個淚坑兒。」
　　我心裏可是有說不出的喜歡她，喜歡她那麼溫和，不像我一急宋媽就駡我的：「又跳？又跳？小暴雷。」那天她跟我在井窩子邊站了一會兒，就小聲的說：「我要囘去了，我爹等着我吊嗓子。趕明兒見！」
　　我在井窩子旁跟妞兒見過幾次面了，只要看見紅棉襖褲從那邊閃過來，我就滿心的高興，可是今天，等了好久都不見她出來，很失望，我的絨褂子口袋裏還藏着一小包八珍梅，要給妞兒吃的。我摸摸，發熱了，包的紙都破爛了，黏乎乎的，宋媽洗衣服時，我還得挨她一頓駡。
　　我覺得很沒意思，往囘家走，我本來想今天見着妞兒的話，就吿訴她一個好主意，從橫胡同穿過到我家，就用不着經過惠安館，不用怕看見瘋子了。
　　我低頭這麼想着，走到惠安館門口了。
　　「嘿！」
　　嚇了我一跳！正是瘋子。咬着下嘴唇，笑着看我。她的眼睛裏透亮，一笑眼底下——就像宋媽說的，怎麼也有兩個淚坑兒呀！我想看淸楚她，我是多麼久以前就想看淸楚她的。我不由得對着她的眼神走上了臺階。太陽照在她的臉上，常常是蒼白的顏色，今天透着亮光了。揣在短棉襖裏的手伸出來拉住我的手，那麼暖，那麼軟。我這時看看胡同裏，沒有一個人走過。眞奇怪，我現在怕的不是瘋子，倒是怕人家看見我跟瘋子拉手了。
　　「幾歲了？」她問我。
　　「嗯——六歲。」
　　「六歲！」她很驚奇的叫了一聲，低下頭來，忽然撩起我的辮子看我的脖子，在找什麼。「不是。」她喃喃的自己說話，接着又問我：
　　「看見我們小桂子沒有？」
　　「小桂子？」我不懂她在說什麼。
　　這時大門裏瘋子的媽媽出來了，皺着眉頭怪着急的說：
　　「秀貞，可別把人家小姑娘嚇着呀！」又轉過臉來對我說：
　　「別聽她的，胡說呢！囘去吧！等囘頭你媽不放心。嗯——聽見沒有？」她說着，用手揚了揚，叫我囘去。
　　我擡頭看着瘋子，知道她的名字叫秀貞了。她拉着我的手，輕搖着，並不放開我。她的笑，增加了我的勇氣，我對老的說：
　　「不！」
　　「小南蠻子兒！」秀貞的媽媽也笑了，輕輕的指點着我的腦門兒，這準是一句駡我的話，就像爸爸常用看不起的口氣對媽說「他們這些北仔鬼」是一樣的吧！
　　「在這兒玩不要緊，你家來了人找，可別賴是我們姑娘招的你。」
　　「我不說的啦！」何必這麼囑咐我？什麼該說，什麼不該說，我都知道。媽媽打了一隻金鐲子，藏在她的小首飾箱裏，我從來不會吿訴爸爸。
　　「來！」秀貞拉着我往裏走，我以爲要到裏面那一層一層很深的院子裏去找上大學的叔叔們玩呢，原來她把我帶進了她們住的門房。
　　屋裏可不像我家裏那麼亮，玻璃窗小得很，臨窗一個大炕，中間擺了一張矮炕桌，上面堆着活計和針線盒子。秀貞從桌上拿起了一件沒做完的衣服，朝我身上左比右比，然後高興的對走進來的她的媽媽說：
　　「媽，您瞧，我怎麼說的，剛合適！那麼就開領子吧。」說着，她又找了一根繩子，繞着我的脖子量，我由她擺布，只管看牆上的那張畫，畫兒是一個白胖大娃娃，沒有穿衣服，手裏捧着大元寶，騎在一條大大的紅魚上。
　　秀貞轉到我的面前來，看我仰着頭，她也隨着我的眼光看那張畫，滿是那麼囘事的說：
　　「要看炕上看去，看我們小桂子多胖，那陣兒才八個月，騎着大金魚，滿屋裏轉，玩的飯都不吃，就這麼淘……」
　　「行啦行啦！不——害——臊！」秀貞正說得高興，我也聽得糊裏糊塗，長班老王進來了，不耐煩的瞪了秀貞一眼說她。秀貞不理會她爸爸，推着我脫鞋上炕，湊近在畫下面，還是只管說：
　　「飯不吃，衣服也不穿，就往外跑，老是急着找她爹去，我說了多少囘都不聽，我說等我給多做幾件衣服穿上再去呀！今年的襯褂倒是先做好了，背心就差縫鈕子了。這件棉襖開了領子馬上就好。可急的是什麼呀！眞叫人納悶兒，到底是怎麼檔子事兒……」她說着說着不說了，低着頭在想那納悶兒的事，一直發楞。我想，她是在和我玩「過家家兒」吧？她媽不是說她胡說嗎？要是過家家兒，我倒是有一套玩意兒，小手錶，小算盤，小鈴鐺，都可以拿來一起玩。所以我就說：
　　「沒有關係，我把手錶送給小桂子，她有了錶就有一定時候囘家了。」可是，——這時我倒想起媽會派宋媽來找我，就又說：「我也要囘家了。」
　　秀貞聽我說要走，她也不發楞了，一面隨着我下了炕，一面說：「那敢情好，先謝謝你啦！看見小桂子叫她囘來，外頭冷，就說我不駡她，不用怕。」
　　我點了點頭，答應她，眞像有那麼一個小桂子，我認識的。
　　我一邊走着一邊想，跟秀貞這樣玩兒，眞有意思；假裝有一個小桂子，還給小桂子做衣服。爲什麼人家都不許他們的小孩子跟秀貞玩兒呢？還管她叫瘋子？我想着就囘頭去看，原來秀貞還倚着牆看我呢！我一高興就連跑帶跳的囘家來。
　　宋媽正在跟一個老婆子換洋火，房簷底下堆着字紙簍，舊皮鞋，空瓶子。
　　我進了屋子就到小牀前的櫃裏找出手錶來。小小圓圓的金錶，鑲着幾粒亮亮的鑽石，上面的針已經不能走動了，媽媽說要修理，可一直放着，我很喜歡這手錶，常拿來戴在手上玩，就歸了我了。我正站在三屜桌前玩弄着，忽然聽見窗外宋媽正和老婆子在說什麼，我仔細聽，宋媽說：
　　「後來呢？」
　　「後來呀，」換洋火的老婆子說：「那學生一去到如今晚兒就沒囘來！臨走的時候許下的，囘到他老家賣田賣地，過一個月就囘來明媒正娶她。好嘛！這一等就是六年啦！多俊的姑娘，我眼瞧着她瘋的。……」
　　「說是怎麼着？還生了個孩子？」
　　「是呀！那學生走的時候，姑娘她媽還不知道姑娘有了，等到現形了，這才趕着送囘海甸義地去生的。」
　　「義地？」
　　「就是他們惠安義地，惠安人在北京死了就埋在他們惠安義地裏。原來王家是給義地看墳的，打姑娘的爺爺就看起，後來才又讓姑娘她爹來這兒當長班，誰知道出了這麼檔子事兒。」
　　「他們這家子倒是跟惠難有緣，惠難離咱們這兒多遠哪？怎麼就一去不囘頭了呢？」
　　「可遠嘍！」
　　「那麼生下來的孩子呢？」
　　「孩子呀，一落地就裹包裹包，趁着天沒亮，送到齊化門城根底下啦！反正不是讓野狗吃了，就是讓人撿去了！」
　　「姑娘打這兒就瘋啦？」
　　「可不，打這兒就瘋了！可憐她爹媽，這輩子就生下這麼個姑娘。唉！」
　　兩個人說到這兒都不言語了，我這時已經站到屋門口傾聽。宋媽正數着幾包丹鳳牌的紅頭洋火，老婆子把破爛紙往她的大筐裏塞呀塞呀！鼻子裏吸溜着淸鼻涕。宋媽又說：
　　「下囘給帶點刨花來。那——你跟瘋子她們是一地兒的人呀？」
　　「老親嘍！我大媽娘家二舅屋裏的三姐算是瘋子她二媽，現在還在看墳，他們說的還有錯兒嗎？」
　　宋媽一眼看見了我，說：
　　「又聽事兒，你。」
　　「我知道你們說誰。」我說。
　　「說誰？」
　　「小桂子她媽。」
　　「小桂子她媽？」宋媽哈哈大笑：「你也瘋啦？那兒來的小桂子她媽呀？」
　　我也哈哈笑了，我知道誰是小桂子她媽呀！
 

 

Characters:

英子 Yīngzi – Narrator, 6-year-old girl who has just moved to Beijing from the South with her parents

宋媽 Sòng Mā – Nanny/housemaid

秀貞 Xiùzhēn – The Madwoman 瘋子

妞兒 Niūer – Yingzi's friend of the same age

小桂子 Xiǎo Guìzi – Xiuzhen's missing daughter

老王 Lǎo Wáng – Xiuzhen's father, janitor at the Hui'an Huiguan

 

Other names:

惠安 Huì-ān – A county in Quanzhou 泉州, Fujian; the 館 in the title means 同鄉會館 or huiguan, essentially a hostel for fellow countrymen from the same county or province

順義 Shùnyì – A county 30 km northeast of Beijing; during the Beiyang government era (1914–1928), Shunyi was under the jurisdiction of 京兆地方 (Capital Area); when Beijing was demoted from national capital to a provincial city and renamed Beiping, the surrounding rural counties, including Sunyi, were redrawn into Hebei, hence the historically inaccurate mentioning of 河北省順義縣 in the foreword by Chi Pang-yuan; in the eyes of Yingzi's family, Song Ma is a "北京的老媽子/北京人", although even today people outside the urban/suburban area still say 上北京 when referring to the city proper

燕京大學 Yānjīng Dàxué – Yenching University, a Christian university founded in 1919; its first president was John Leighton Stuart, who later became the U.S. ambassador to China and whose Chinese name is well known to every Chinese person growing up in the People's Republic reading Mao Zedong's 《別了，司徒雷登》at school; Yenching University was dissolved in 1952, its departments absorbed by several universities, its scenic campus 燕園 taken over by Peking University (previously located in downtown Beijing at 沙灘, near 美術館 the National Art Museum)

騾馬市 Luómǎshì – A street in the southern part of present-day Xicheng 西城 District (formerly Xuanwu 宣武 District) between 虎坊橋 and 菜市口 (I used to ride through there every evening on my way back from work, stopping to buy kebab occasionally); the street got its name from the "mule & horse market" formed in the Ming dynasty and existed for centuries

佛照樓 Fuózhaòlóu – A Cantonese hotel, from what I can gather from the internet

魏染胡同 Wèirǎn Hútòng – A north-south running hutong between 騾馬市 in the south and 南柳巷 in the north; named after a dyehouse run by a Wei family

西草廠 Xīcǎochǎng – A street parallel to Luomashi; so named because it was where fodder was stockpiled for the Qing cavalry, and before that in the Yuan dynasty where reeds were grown and harvested to reinforce the mud city wall during rainy seasons

椿樹胡同 Chūnshù Hútòng – Where Yingzi lives; some celebrities in the literary and theatrical circles used to live there

海甸 Hǎidiàn – Old name of 海澱, administrative seat of the Haidian District; it was a swampland before the Yuan dynasty; 澱 means shallow water, e.g. 白洋澱 Baiyangdian in Hebei province

齊化門 Qíhuàmén – Old name of 朝陽門 Chaoyangmen; it used to be the southeast gate of the Yuan capital and got its name from 《周易》「齊乎巽，巽東南也」; the official name changed during the Ming dynasty but it was still known by its old name among the people in the early 20th century

 

Variant characters:

牀／床

裏／裡
撢／撣
鷄／雞
響／響
駡／罵

秃／禿
吿／告
囘／回

爲／為

眞／真
敎／教

淸／清

楞／愣
靑／青

混身／渾身

偸／偷

擡／抬

吜／扭
朶／朵
葱／蔥

揷／插

簷／檐

 

Vocabulary and notes:

三屜桌 sāntìzhuō – three-drawer desk

雞毛撢子 jīmáo dǎnzi – feather duster made of chicken feathers attached to a bamboo stick (also 撣子)

絨褲褂 róng kùguà – sweat pants and sweat shirt (絨 = cloth with soft nap/pile, such as corduroy, flannel or velvet; 褲 = 褲子, 褂 = 褂子, but people no longer say 褲褂)

打噴嚏 dǎ pēntì pēnti – to sneeze (less commonly, 嚏噴 tìpen)

棉襖 miánǎo – cotton-padded jacket

篦子 bìzi – fine-toothed double-edged comb (one of the main functions was to remove lice from the hair, because of the poor hygiene conditions of the past) (as an aside, 篦 is bis in Korean, a piece of evidence supporting the theory that the departing tone 去聲 arose from the loss of Old Chinese -s suffix)

搽 chá or cā (also written as 擦) – to put (powder, ointment, etc.) on the skin, to apply

惠難館、灰娃館、飛安館 – I don't know Hokkien or Hakka, but the Shunyi accent is spot-on. In 北京官話懷承片, i.e. 密雲、順義、河北承德 including 灤平縣 where the local dialect is billed as "the most standard Putonghua", an n- initial is often present where Standard Mandarin uses zero initial, for example, 愛 -> 耐.

匾 biǎn – horizontal rectangular inscribed tablet hung over a door or on a wall (I like this definition, lol, what a mouthful)

做唔得 – 唔 (pronounced m or ng) is the 客家話 Hakka equivalent of 不. 做唔得 = 不可以

油鬆 yóusōng – sleek and lush (not to be confused with 油松 Chinese red pine, Pinus tabuliformis)

鴨蛋粉 yādànfěn – cosmetic face powder in oval shape (not made of duck eggs!)

八珍梅 bāzhēnméi – a kind of red bayberry preserves (made of 楊梅 yángméi, Myrica rubra)

井窩子 jǐngwōzi – 舊日北平賣水的人，於水井旁建屋聚居，人皆稱其處為「井窩子」。也稱為「水窩子」。

毛窩 máowō – cotton-padded shoes (=棉鞋)

劉海兒 liúhǎir – bangs/fringe (named after 劉海蟾, a Taoist immortal who wears his hair in bangs)

洋槐 yánghuái – black locust, Robinia pseudoacacia

烏鴉 wūyā – crow; raven (in Classical Chinese, 烏 = 鴉, 鴉 = 烏; the character 烏 is a pictograph – a bird with no eye, because it's black on black! and by extension it means the color black)

念叨 niàndao – to keep talking to oneself

打寒戰 dǎ hánzhàn hánzhan – to shiver (also 寒顫 hánzhan, 寒噤 hánjin)

溺尿 niào niào – to pee (note 溺 when pronounced nì means 'to drown')

被窩兒 bèiwōr – quilt folded to form a sleeping bag (the non-erhua but neutralized 被窩 bèiwo means 'bedding, bedclothes' – erhua and neutral tone in the north often serve a distinctive function differentiating, for example, 門道 méndao 'way of doing something, knack' from 門道 méndào 'doorway, gateway')

老媽子 lǎomāzi – older female servant

長班 chángbān – 隨身侍候官吏的僕人。《二刻拍案驚奇》卷一七：「杜子中見說聞俊卿來到，不勝之喜，忙差長班來接到下處。」《儒林外史》第七回：「長班傳進帖，周司業心裡疑惑，並沒有這個親戚。」也作「長隨」。

吱吱吜吜 – In all the dictionaries 吜 is pronounced chǒu, but I'm pretty sure what the author intended is zhīzhī-niūniū, which is usually written 吱吱扭扭.

一大枚 – a copper (即一個銅板、一個銅子兒)

淚坑兒 – Here Song Ma is channeling her inner physiognomist. She says Niuer, though pretty (俊 zùn), has a 薄命之相. Her eyes are too limpid, as if always brimming with water. She has two "tear puddles" under her eyes, referring to the dimples which Yingzi finds very attractive. 淚坑兒 will appear again and again in the story, foreshadowing the fate of the character.

吊嗓子 diào sǎngzi – 戲曲或歌唱表演者藉由清唱或在樂器伴奏下鍛鍊嗓音、唱腔。如：「她每天一早起來便到陽臺吊嗓子，勤練歌藝。」 (I guess the verb 吊 is used because you need to "lift" 拔高 your voice to a higher pitch?)

趕明兒 gǎnmíngr – literally 'until tomorrow' but usually means 'another day' or 'one of these days' depending on context

橫胡同 – I have no idea what it means. It seems from later description to be not a real hutong but an east-west running alleyway with no house opening into it.

揣手 chuāi//shǒu – to tuck each hand in the opposite sleeve

囘頭 huítóu – later ⇒ ⑤〔連〕不然；否則（用在祈使句後的句子開頭申述理由）：小點兒聲兒，～把孩子吵醒了｜快走吧，～要遲到了。

南蠻子 nánmánzi – barbarian from the south (Chinese is full of these kind of insults based on locality. The term 四夷, namely 东夷、南蛮、西戎、北狄, existed in the Zhou dynasty. Xiuzhen's mother uses it more affectionately with the diminutive 小 and 兒, but Yingzi is right, it's 罵人的話.)

腦門兒 nǎoménr – forehead

炕 kàng – heatable brick bed in northern China (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kang_bed-stove ) (when I was very little, I used to sit on 炕頭 the warmer end watching grandma baking pancakes)

活計 huóji – needlework

害臊 hài//sào – to feel ashamed (不害臊！ = You've got no shame!)

納悶兒 nà//mènr – to feel puzzled, to be perplexed

檔子 dàngzi – measure word for affairs or matters (=件, but only combines with 事)

過家家兒 guò jiājiār – to play house (children's game)

敢情 gǎnqing – of course; indeed; really (那敢情好 = That'll be really wonderful!)

換洋火 huàn yánghuǒ – 洋火 is the old name for 火柴 matches. In old Beijing dialect, it's called 取燈兒. 換洋火兒的/ 換取燈兒的 were usually old women. People traded in their old newspapers, old clothes, etc. in exchange for matches.

如今晚兒 rújīnwǎnr – same as 如今 'now; nowadays' but with a more glib tone (you can hear it in a late Qing tune: https://3g.163.com/v/video/VF32CK9AQ.html)

明媒正娶 míngméi-zhèngqǔ – 舊時指有媒人說合，按傳統結婚儀式迎娶的婚姻。 (In those days, a formal marriage proposal must be made through a matchmaker, even if the two families knew each other for generations. It's the 規矩.)

有了 yǒule – euphemism for being pregnant

義地 yìdì – 舊時埋葬窮人的公共墓地，也指由私人或團體購置，專爲埋葬一般同鄉、團體成員及其家屬的墓地。

裹包裹包 – I always thought it was 裹吧裹吧, similar to 揉吧揉吧、團吧團吧, conveying a sense of casual indifference, but 裹包裹包 makes sense. In some mainland versions it's been changed to 包裹包裹, obviously by editors who do not speak the dialect.

城根兒底下 – at the foot of the city wall (The original meaning of 城 is city wall, or more specifically, the inner wall. 城 meaning city is a metonymic use. A city without walls cannot be called 城. Therefore “城鐵” is a misnomer.)

刨花 bàohuā – wood shavings (But why?) ☞ ② 以往民間特指從榆木鉋下的薄片，泡水有黏性，用這種水洗刷頭髮，可以光潔不亂。 So, a poor man's styling mousse.

老親嘍！我大媽娘家二舅屋裏的三姐算是瘋子她二媽 – We're very close! My father's eldest brother's wife's second brother's third daughter is Fengzi's father's second brother's wife! (Close indeed!)

 

[Bibu]

For the movie, I had two impressions.

 

In my teenage , it was such a boring and slow movie only by a glimpse.

 

Happenedly watched it several years ago, with 20+ years living in a modern and changing Beijing, I had to say I really enjoyed the movie,  the film is with   true love of beijing , reflected something only in Beijing, even it shows in a pretty aged face that I never saw.

[corian]

For those who (like me) might be working through these slowly, there is an English translation of the early part of the book of available for download from Renditions:

http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/rct/toc/toc_b2728.html (direct link: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/rct/pdf/e_outputs/b2728/v27&28p019.pdf )

 

This first portion comprises pages 20-25 in the PDF.