话说薛宝钗道：“到底分个次序，让我写出来。”
‘I THINK We ought to have a fixed order,' said Bao-chai. ‘Just let me write the names down
说着，便令众人拈阄为序。
She made them draw lots.
起首恰是李氏，然后按次各各开出。
When she had written down their names and torn up the paper, the slips were drawn and she copied them down in the order in which they came out.
Li Wan, by coincidence, retained the first place.
凤姐道:"既是这样说，我也说一句在上头。”
“If that's how it is, I'll give you the first line,” volunteered Xifeng.
众人都笑起来了，说：“这么更妙了。”
‘Yes, yes,' said the others. ‘Please do!”
宝钗将“稻香老农”之上补了一个“凤”字，李纨又将题目讲给他听。
Bao-chai added the name ‘ Feng' to the list, above that of ‘Farmer Sweet-rice', while Li Wan explained what the subject was and what sort of line it had to be.
凤姐儿想了半天，笑道：“你们别笑话我，我只有了一句粗话，可是五个字的。
Xi-feng listened attentively and thought for some moments before speaking. ‘You mustn't laugh if this sounds a bit unpolished,' she said at last, ‘but at least I think it's the right length.
众人都笑道:"越是粗话越好，你说了就只管干正经事去罢。”
“The cruder the better,” they replied. “Let's hear it, and then you can go off and attend to your own business.”
众人都笑道：“越是粗话越好。
‘Never mind how unpolished it is,' they said.
你说了，就只管干正事去罢。”
‘just tell us what it is; then you can leave, if you want to, and get on with your own work.”
凤姐儿笑道：“想下雪必刮北风，昨夜听见一夜的北风，我有一句，这一句就是‘一夜北风紧’。
‘Well, when it snows, there's always a north wind,' said Xi-feng, ‘and last night I could hear the north wind blowing all night long; so I've made a line up about that: Last night the north wind blew the whole night through.
使得使不得，我就不管了。”
There you are―take it or leave it!”
众人听说，都相视笑道：“这句虽粗，不见底下的，这正是会作诗的起法。
The others ‘looked at each other in pleased surprise. ‘Even if the language of this line is a bit unpolished and you can't see what's going to follow it, it's exactly the kind of line that a skilled poet would begin with.
不但好，而且留了写不尽的多少地步与后人。
Not only is the line good in itself, but it leaves so many possibilities open to the person who follows.
就是这句为首，稻香老农快写上，续下去。”
Put that down for our first line then, Sweet-rice, and you can finish the couplet.”
凤姐儿和李婶娘、平儿又吃了两杯酒，自去了。
Before they proceeded any further, however, Xi-feng, Mrs Li and Patience drank two cups of wine with them, after which they left.
这里李纨就写了：§一夜北风紧，
As soon as they had gone, Li Wan wrote out the line that Xi-feng had given them, adding a line of her own to make it into a couplet and a third line after that to make the beginning of a second couplet.
Thereafter, as each of them in turn completed the couplet started by the previous person and then added the first line of another couplet, she continued to write down the lines at their dictation: XI-FENG: Last night the north wind blew the whole night through―
自己联道：§开门雪尚飘。
LI WAN: Today outside my door the snow still flies.
李纹道：§阳回斗转杓。寒山巳失翠，
Li Wen:The Dipper turns and longer the nights grow.
Cold hills have lost their vivid green…
香菱道：§匝地惜琼瑶。
CALTROP: And powdered jade the whole earth beautifies.
有意荣枯草，
Flakes on the dead plants weave a winter dress―
宝琴道：§绮袖笼金貂。光夺窗前镜，
Baoqin:Rich sables hide the silken sleeves below.
Brightness the mirror by the window catches…
价高村酿熟，
Now will the farmer's brew a good puce fetch―
宝玉道：§清梦转聊聊。何处梅花笛？
Baoyu:While the clear dream lingers slow.
Whence comes the sound of the plum-blossom flute? …