My amateur translation, original video from the good people at operabeijing.com. Feel free to leave any translation corrections/suggestions in the comments.
The story of Qin Xianglian and her unscrupulous husband is quite well-known in China; this is a slightly abridged production of the Beijing opera adaptation of the tale. For some interesting insights into the story's background, please see: http://watersleeves.blogspot.com/2009...
Random notes:
-Lord Mengchang: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Men...
-Zhuangyuan: The top scoring candidate in a given round of the imperial examinations; an incredibly difficult achievement, which is why it has its own title. In addition to this term, there are several other words of imperial-exam-lingo throughout this play that I've tried to render as understandable as possible.
-Manor: Anytime this appears, the word is 府 (fu). There may be a standard translation for 府, but I don't know it. It's not really a country estate, but rather the official mansion/office of a minister.
-Nanke dream: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gove...
-Ink Pool Palace: A term sometimes used for the home of a great scholar
-"We," "Us," etc.: Shimei refers to himself using 本宫 (bengong), a term reserved for royalty. I've tried approximating it with the royal "we."
-"You've found a bride but forgotten your wife": Here and elsewhere, I tried to keep the wordplay between 新人 and 旧人. 新人 means "bride", but can literally be broken down into "new person." 旧人, by contrast, doesn't typically refer to anything in particular, but literally means "old person."
-Chaff: The word is actually 糟糠 (zaokang), the distillers grains left over after making alcohol. In Chinese, the word has been extended to mean "discard something as worthless."
-Birthday: Chinese has a number of words for "birthday" (including "thousand-autumns"), of varying formality and literariness, which have no English equivalents
-ten-li pavilion: at one point, pavilions were erected every ten li (a traditional unit of length) along major roads, to provide resting spots for travelers
-Baili Xi: http://www.tasteoflifemag.com/recomme...
-Chancellor Wang: Chancellor Wang uses a large number of 成语 (chengyu), Chinese idioms that are difficult to translate. 成语 are usually 4 or 8 word phrases that allude to various historical or legendary stories to express messages that would normally take a paragraph to explain. So, I don't have space to explain each one...
-"hot-and-cold, unfaithful husband": Wang uses two chengyu that use heat and cold to describe inconstancy and how people will abandon those they can no longer use to their own advantage.
-"Great men have short memories": This chengyu usually refers specifically to how successful people forget all those who helped them along the way, but Wang is hiding his intentions behind its literal meaning
-"Yapei!": This along, with "du," "zou," etc. are somewhat untranslatable exclamations. My dictionary suggests "Fie!" but I prefer "Yapei!"
-"A wolf in a tiger's skin...": Two chengyu referring to people that borrow authority to make threats
-Soldier Han Qi: Han Qi is actually a 家将 (jiajiang), a warrior in the private employment of a wealthy bureaucrat in olden times.
-"Purity will remain in this world": A line from Ming poet Yu Qian's poem "石灰吟" (Song of Lime), which uses limestone, which leaves behind a pure white powder after being subjected to mining and burning, as a metaphor for how one should live
-"Bright Mirror On High": A phrase often associated with the legendary Bao, who would expose evil like said mirror. This and several lines in Bao's self-introduction refer to famous episodes from his life
-"I eat on an imperial salary": Literally, "I eat an imperial salary." This was a not unknown way for ministers to express their loyalty to the emperor, though, so I modified it to avoid making Bao's speech seem affected
-Wang Chao's entrance: This production omits a scene (probably for the sake of time) in which Wang Chao goes to the prince consort's manor to investigate Han Qi's murder, so this part is extremely confusing
-Thirty six stratagems: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirty-S...
-"Today, you are human in appearance only": A colorful phrase in Chinese. Literally, "you perversely wrap yourself in human skin" (枉披人皮)
-"I'll behead this treacherous man, then inform the emperor": A reference to how Bao was said to be so trusted that he was allowed to act without first consulting the emperor
-"Look not at the monk's face...": i.e. overlook the situation at hand and act on behalf of a third-party
-"reunite a broken mirror": couples that have separated are sometimes called "broken mirrors"
-"Oh, murderous heavens": Although Xianglian has faced murder, this is also a more general oath or curse.
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