"The Unicorn Purse" (锁麟囊) 1/2 [English Subtitles]

Re-uploaded with some slight revisions
My amateur translation, thanks to operabeijing for the original video: operabeijing.co...
Please feel free to leave any translation corrections/suggestions in the comments.
"The Unicorn Purse" (锁麟囊/Suo Lin Nang) was written in 1940 by Weng Ouhong (翁偶虹) at the request of Cheng Yanqiu (程砚秋), one of the "Four Great Dan" of the twentieth century and the teacher of the teacher of Zhang Huoding. This video presents a version of that play with a few cuts and a new ending.
"Suo Lin Nang" literally means "locked 'lin' purse", a "lin" being the female variant of a mythical Chinese animal that is often translated as a "unicorn," even though it really isn't one. See: en.wikipedia.or...
Random notes:
-"I want the ducks in... five colors": Traditionally, blue, yellow, red, white and black.
-"The jewel that is the fulfillment... (如意珠)": This could be a reference to the "Cintamani" of Buddhism, though I doubt it. 如意, meaning, roughly, "as you will", is a fairly common term and I think it would be odd for Xiangling to have this sudden diversion into theology.
-"Plain white handkerchief": In Chinese culture, white is the color mourning and therefore inappropriate for a wedding.
-"It's neither a pig nor a dog!": I'm not sure what this means... In general, the servants in this play use a lot of Chinese humor that I don't know how to translate.
-"when the stars align": Jixiang literally just says that the 18th is a "good day". But in Chinese, "good day" is understood to mean a day that is auspicious or fortuitous for numerological or astrological reasons.
-"magpie bridge": en.wikipedia.or...
-"mermaid-pearls": A poetic term for tears, though Chinese mermaids are actually frightening monsters.
-"different key": as in a musical key. Sort of like "she marches to the beat of a different drum"
-"dried-out, tough, crabby, and rude": This play has a lot of touches of northern Chinese culture; "dried-out, tough, crabby, and rude" is used to refer to a certain type of personality among natives of Beijing. I think.
-"a mat for her kang": A kang is a heated platform that you can sit on, eat on, sleep on, etc. that was commonly used in the old days before central heating. This is another instance of Chinese humor that I don't know how to translate.
-Luan bird: A mythical bird.
-"if you mimic other people...": The first line of a nonsensical children's chant.
-"flower of my youth": This line could also mean something like "we are both unfulfilled", but several internet sources say that it refers specifically to "unfulfilled years".
-"the laundress fed Hanxin": It's said that, before becoming one of the founders of the Han Dynasty, Han Xin was a poor man who depended on what he could catch with his fishing rod to survive. He was not a very good fisherman but, fortunately, whenever one of the laundresses who used the same river he did saw that he had not caught anything, she would share her meals with him. Later, when Han Xin became a powerful general, he sought out that laundress and tried to reward her. She refused to accept anything and said something to the effect that she had fed him for his sake, not hers.
-"look at this person's style": Another joke I don't understand.
-"Scoundrel!": Luhan actually calls the gong player a "thing". In Chinese, this is something like saying "You are less than human", though not quite that severe.
-"The first bow is to heaven and earth": These are all lines spoken during a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony.
-"Day to return to her parental home": After marriage, a woman would move in with her husband's family; on certain days, she would be expected to go back home to visit her parents as an act of filial piety.
-"three generations his junior": This is a joke I actually get! Jixiang is essentially saying to Tingxun, "The death of your wife is equivalent to the death of my grandmother, and the death of your son is equivalent to the death of my father." In other words, "The death of someone who is of the same generation as you is equivalent to the death of someone who is two generations older than I am, and the death of someone one generation younger than you is equivalent to the death of someone one generation older than I am." Deference to one's elders is central to traditional Chinese culture; Jixiang is is flattering Tingxun by saying his wealth demands a two generation-gap's worth of respect.

[@montywoodside]

Literally THE most underrated KZbin Channel. Less than 1000 subs, and yet he/she must have put in TONS of hours to translate each opera to the best of his/her ability. In the description in each video, you’ll find bonus content that attempts to describe Chinese idioms that are difficult to translate; plus more. So much work has clearly been put into these subtitles. Wish there were more translators on this platform, so we can watch even more Chinese operas!

[@Vinncheng]

Just say they -_-

[@hassandabo6288]

@@Vinncheng his/her

[@Vinncheng]

@@hassandabo6288 just say theyyyyy~~~

[@hassandabo6288]

@@Vinncheng nevah!

[@Vinncheng]

@@hassandabo6288 whyyyyy

[@crazycatlady1292]

I remember this one channel that used to be on cable when I was real young (I was probably around 7-8 years old at the time and the channel has long been gone) and it would okay different shows from China and many of these opera. I’m not even into opera but these performances just drawed an interest in me. I used to watch that channel almost every night I came home from school. From what I remember, nothing inappropriate played on the channel. I come home one day, pull out my blanket and turned the TV on. My mom blocked the channel and I could no longer watch it. I still don’t know why she done it. It’s so nice to see these videos on KZbin, especially with the English translation-very helpful! May this channel and these videos live on for many years to come!

[@khanhlinhnguyen6117]

OMG thank you so much for the translation! This art is so beautiful that I feel overwhelmed by its richness and depth.

[@malleusmaleficarum2992]

I know this was uploaded seven years ago, but thank you so much, I love it!

[@EVZYL]

Thanks for the translation! I tried to learn Mandarin but gave up after a year. Too difficult! Xie xie!

[@hashslingingslasher4214]

You have to love it. I’m a year in and can’t wait to get home and study more lol I’m almost at HSK3 in a year🤷🏾‍♀️ but French kicks my ass, I can’t make the sounds 😆

[@hiimryan2388]

As someone that speaks Chinese the words are still hard to understand lol

[@Weeping-Angel]

Don’t worry. Even Chinese people can’t really understand so it’s okay😂

[@hiimryan2388]

​@@Weeping-Angelyeah it's kinda like shakespearian writing but the person narrating is a Irishman. You understand it kinda but not really

[@nikolasscheeks]

⁠​⁠@@hashslingingslasher4214 Le français, ce n’est pas trop difficile, surtout si vous êtes un locuteur natif d’anglais. Je pense que l’apprentissage du chinois est beaucoup plus difficile que le français. Si vous parlez l’un, vous pouvez parler l’autre. Bonne chance! L’apprentissage d’une langue peut être difficile, mais il est très enrichissant.

[@oliversolivess]

The amount of effort you put into translating all of this is astounding :D thank you so much!!

[@anniebale4343]

She lives by the Marie Kondo principle. If it doesn't spark joy, get rid of it.

[@jonsmith568]

thank u for the captions so beautiful

[@alcyonecrucis]

Excellent. Got me into Chinese opera for real!

[@alcyonecrucis]

The best version forever, love Zhang Huoding

[@andreas_kyburz]

Thank you very much for the translation.

[@TickleMonster333]

In any language or culture there are always bridezillas!

[@wigwagstudios2474]

43:28 Man, the audience REALLY loves this actor. Wonder why?

[@Cremenium]

She’s the star of the show, that’s why😂😂

[@auhrian]

45:36

[@rhysellis9598]

i will need to save this to watch with my family very buitiful and a must watch lots of love Ryhs 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@weixuanwang3205]

和胡婆分别看哭了……想起了再也见不到的家里人

[@shonfeliciano8012]

Love this, Thank you for sharing this. !!!

[@bigapplechinglish]

thx much for upload/share...really an enjoyable opera.

[@hewett8943]

Brasileiros estão em todos os lugares, podem acreditar/巴西人無處不在，相信我

[@paxtoncargill4661]

你会说中文吗？

[@jheanrodrigues6803]

Com certeza não, amigo

[@user-kg4uy7ep1s]

37:25

[@boonhengleo]

Thanks for the translation, duoxie ni

[@yao6251]

thank you so much for translation ! 🙏

[@lennytjoe4835]

Thank you , for share 👍

[@backyD]

感謝

[@iamnothassmartlemow7585]

せされを

[@irus1877]

23:20 1

[@dunwich123]

Are they actually speaking or is it a voice over from someone backstage?

[@luxill0s]

They are actually speaking, minimal mouth movement and the carefully practiced voices they speak in are part of the art of Peking Opera :)

[@dunwich123]

@@luxill0s That's amazing!

[@projectreset1384]

56:36

[@StrawberryFFFFF0]

37:04