Chapter Text
Ch1
At his side, Wei Huihua was silent but had a look of confusion as she tried to quietly repeat the words to herself. “Pardon? Surrender?”
Pardon 赦免 shè miǎn
Surrender (in this context) 投誠 tóu chéng ; to offer up honesty while surrendering
“What is ‘eradicate’?” Wei Huihua asked.
Eradicate 剷除 chǎn chú
"剷除"是甚麼(意思)? Chan3chu2 shi4 shen2me (yi4si) ?
Wei Wuxian stood up, twirling Chenqing in his hand. “It means ‘kill everyone’. Young and old, male and female,
老弱婦孺 lǎo ruò fù rú - Old, weak, women, children
Nie Mingjue grunted and shook his head. “If we don’t choke the weed, it will grow.
剪草除根 jiǎn cǎo chú gēn - literally “to get rid of roots after cutting the grass” ; "destroy evil, leaving no chance of its revival"
Ch2
"Wei Wuxian, you go too far!" Nie Mingjue shouted
得寸進尺 dé cùn jìn chǐ - “lit. win an inch, want a foot (idiom); fig. not satisfied with small gains, give him an inch, and he'll want a mile”
In this context, NMJ would likely say, “WWX, do not [ask for a foot after getting an inch]!”
Ch3
“I don’t know when you’ll be able to return, but we will do what we can. (Wen Qing)
盡力而為 jìn lì ér wéi - to do one’s best
“Surely there will not be any plans to support this school- if Wei Wuxian is allowed to run rampant,
為所欲為 wéi suǒ yù wéi - "do as one pleases;act wilfully;do whatever one likes;have one's own way"
Here the speaker may say “we cannot allow him to [do as he pleases]”
Ch4
“She has every right to wield her father’s sword,
Here I can picture him saying the idiom “it is rightful as nature”
天經地義 tiān jīng dì yì - something that is matter of fact, expected, natural, “unalterable principle”
This is often used to describe things that may happen between two individuals of a unique relationship.
Ex. A son being filial to a father is “rightful as nature”.
So, by extension, WWX might just say something that is almost unorthodox, by saying that a daughter wielding her father’s sword is rightful as nature.
"A daughter wielding her father’s sword is rightful as nature”
Alternatively, 理所當然 lǐ suǒ dāng rán - "[justifiably; a matter of course; as it ought to be; be both natural and right; it goes without saying; it is what propriety requires]"
"Wen Ning-" the Yiling Patriarch commanded, "don't go easy on her. She has to learn to bloom in adversity."
Here we have quite a few different idioms to choose from.
臨危不亂 lín wéi bù luàn - not being thrown into disarray even in the face of adversity/danger
知難而不退 zhī nán ér bú tuì - the opposite of 知難而退 zhī nán ér tuì which means to retreat in the face of difficulty; so, not retreating even in the face of difficulty
面臨強敵 miàn lín qiáng dí - not a traditional idiom but is used in modern times as a 4-chara idiom; when faced with a strong adversary
So WWX might use a combination of these and end up with something like:
“She has to learn that [even when faced with a strong adversary], [one must not retreat from difficulty]. She will be a flower that blooms in adversity.”
But WWX also isn’t as preachy (although he IS very talkative) so it can go either way, he could use these idioms or he could just not use any and be casual in his speech here.
Ch5
Jin Guangyao … “I see. A’Hua is very clever, and a very good singer.”
聰明伶俐 cōng míng líng lì - clever and quick-witted, very good with speech
冰雪聰明 bīng xuě cōng míng - “exceptionally intelligent”
能歌善舞 néng gē shàn wǔ - to be good at singing and dancing
餘音繞梁 yú yīn rào liáng - used to describe music, esp. singing; literally, “the lingering tones (of your music) reverberate around the rafters (of the house)” used to describe beautiful music that leaves a very strong lasting impression
So here, JGY might say something like:
“A Hua is indeed [exceptionally clever], not only [can (she) sing and dance], her beautiful voice can only be described as [lingering and reverberating around the house].”
It sounds like a mouthful, but formal praise like this was very common (up until somewhat recently actually) and someone like JGY who is so good with words would definitely go the extra mile to deliver some extra af compliments.
Wei Huihua, fearful under that glare, immediately kneeled and hung her head. "Father, please ease your anger!
父親息怒! fù qīn/qin (father) xī nù (calm [your] anger)
He fell to the ground, clutching his cousin's robes. "Please, save me! I'm running out of time … (Jin Zixun)
時日無多 shí rì wú duō - (the) days are limited; to be running out of time
“Please, save me! I am already [limited in days/time]!”
Ch6
"We're running low," Wei Huihua said
所剩無幾 suǒ shèng wú jǐ - to not have much left of something; literally “there is not much remaining”
So at this point I’m fairly confident that WHH would have picked up on simple idioms like this, so she might use it in her usual speech.
"Our herbs already [have not much remaining].”
(Sounds lame in English.)
我們 的 草藥 已經 所剩無幾 wo3men2 de cao3yao4 yi3jing1 suo3sheng4wu2ji3
... No one has been hurt, and so...no harm has been done. Nothing that can't be forgiven." (Jin Zixuan)
Some related terms that may be used here and in other similar contexts (to make the dialogue flow more Chinese-like)
轉機 zhuǎn jī - a turn for the better
鑄成大錯 zhù chéng dà cuò - to make a serious mistake
挽救 wǎn jiù - to remedy (a situation)
Ex. No one has been hurt, so he has not yet [made a grave mistake]. We can still possibly have [a turn for the better].
Although to be fair that doesn’t sound as nice in English (:
A picture of Wei Huihua singing to baby Jin Ling from Chapter 5!