忙问时，原来是外间窗屉不曾扣好，塌了屈戌了吊下来。
Upon inquiry they found that one of the shutters of the outer room, not being properly secured, had clattered to the ground.
赵姨娘骂了丫头两句，自己带领丫鬟上好，方进来打发贾政安歇了。
Concubine Zhao reprimanded the maids and got them to fix it in place, then helped Jia Zheng to bed.
却说怡红院中宝玉才睡下，丫鬟们正欲各散安歇，忽听有人击院门。
Meanwhile, in Happy Red Court, Baoyu had just gone to bed and his maids were thinking of turning in themselves when someone knocked at the gate.
只见宝玉才睡下，晴雯等犹在床边坐着，大家玩笑，见他来了，都问："什么事，这时候又跑了来作什么？”
to find Baoyu already in bed, with Qingwen and some other maids sitting chatting beside him.“What's happened?” they asked. “What brings you here at this hour?”
说着回身就走，袭人命留他吃茶，因怕关门，遂一直去了。
This said, she turned to leave.Xiren urged her to stay for some tea, but for fear that the Garden gate would be closed she went off.
这里宝玉听了，便如孙大圣听见了紧箍咒儿一般，登时四肢五内，一齐皆不自在起来。
Baoyu instantly felt as distraught as Monkey King on hearing the incantation to tighten the magic band around his head.
想来想去，别无他策，只理熟了书预备明儿盘考。
Staggered, he racked his brains but could think of no way out except to cram in readiness for a test the following day.
只书内不舛错，便有他事，也可搪塞一半。
He fancied that if he could give correct answers from his books, other lapses would be overlooked and he might muddle through.
心中又自后悔，这些日子只说不提了，偏又丢生，早知该天天好歹温习些。
thinking remorsefully, “I was sure he wouldn't test me these first few days, so I let things slide and got rusty.If I'd known, I'd have done some revising every day.”
如今打算打算，肚子内现可背诵的，不过只有"学""庸""二论"是带注背得出的。
Now, the only ones of the Four Book he knew by heart together with the commentaries were the Great Learning, the Doctrine of the Mean and the Analects.
至上本《孟子》，就有一半是夹生的，若凭空提一句，断不能接背的；至下《孟子》，就有一大半忘了。
His knowledge of the first half of Mencius was so sketchy that if suddenly give one sentence from it he would be unable to recite what followed, and the whole of the second half had slipped his mind.
至于古文，还是那几年所读过的几篇《左传》、《国策》、《公羊》、《谷梁》、汉、唐等文，这几年未曾读得，不过一时之兴，随看随忘，未曾下过苦功，如何记得？
When it came to Old Style Prose, the case was rather different.
Over the past few years he had read extracts from the Zuo, Gong-yang and Gu-liang commentaries on the Spring and Autumn Annals and various Han and Tang pieces, but he had only dipped into them as the fancy took him; he had not done any serious work on them.
There was certainly no question of his being able to remember them.
别的虽不记得，素日贾政也未曾吩咐过读的，纵不知，也还不妨。
It did not matter that he had forgotten the rest, as his father had never told him to study them.
更有时文八股一道，因平素深恶，说这原非圣贤之制撰，焉能阐发圣贤之奥，不过是后人饵名钓禄之阶。
There was even less likelihood of his being able to pass muster on the Examination Essay.He had always detested this style of writing in any case.
The Sage himself didn't write that way, he argued, so how could one hope to expound the inner meaning of his teachings through such a medium?” It was no more than a device used by vulgar fortune-seekers for starting themselves off on the golden road to success.
虽贾政当日起身，选了百十篇命他读的，不过是后人的时文，偶见其中一二股内，或承起之中，有作的精致，或流荡、或游戏、或悲感稍能动性者，偶尔一读，不过供一时之兴趣，究竟何曾成篇潜心玩索？
Before he left, Jia Zheng had selected a hundred of these essays for him to read; but Bao-yu had only glanced at them occasionally, reading a paragraph here and a paragraph there as some particularly felicitous expression or the extravagance, humour or melancholy of the writer happened to catch his attention.
He had never settled down to the serious analytical examination of even a single essay.
如今若温习这个，又恐明日盘究那个；若温习那个，又恐盘驳这个：一夜之工，亦不能全然温习。
He began to revise; but the trouble was that whatever he revised now, he was sure to be asked about something else next day, and the whole night would not be long enough to revise everything.
更有时文八股一道，因平素深恶此道，原非圣贤之制撰，焉能阐发圣贤之微奥，不过是后人饵名钓禄之阶。
Then there were the fashionable eight-section essays which he had always loathed, taking the view that as these were not written by sages or worthies they could not expound the wisdom of sages or worthies and were simply ladders by which later examination candidates climbed up to bureaucratic advancement.
虽贾政当日起身时，选了百十篇命他读的，不过偶因见其中或一二股内，或承题之中，有做的或精致、或流荡、或游戏、或悲感，稍能动心悦意者，偶一读之，不过供一时之兴趣，究竟何曾成篇潜心玩索。
Jia Zheng before his departure had set him over a hundred essays of this kind to study.Baoyu had skipped through these, noting here and there a well-written paragraph or argument or certain digressions, amusing anecdotes or poignant sentiments.
But this again was only when the mood took him.
He had never given his mind to studying whole essays.
袭人等在旁剪烛斟茶，那些小的都困倦起来，前仰后合。
Aroma and the other senior maids could at least occupy themselves by trimming his lamp, pouring him cups of tea and so forth; but the younger ones could neither go to bed nor find any employment to keep themselves awake, and sat about the place, drooping and nodding in various attitudes of fatigue.
况一夜之功，亦不能全然温习。
and it was out of the question to revise the whole lot in one night.
因此越添了焦躁。
These reflections made him more and more frantic.
自己读书不致紧要，却带累着一房丫鬟们皆不能睡。
While Baoyu was dilly-dallying over his studies, none of the girls in his place could go to bed either.
话犹未了，只听外间咕咚一声，急忙看时，原来是个小丫头坐着打腕，一头撞到壁上，从梦中惊醒。
As she said this, there was a loud bang from the outer room.
It turned out to have been caused by a little maid who had dozed off while sitting on the kang and in doing so had bumped her head against the partition.
却正是晴雯说这话之时，他怔怔的只当是晴雯打了他一下子，遂哭着央说：“好姐姐，我再不敢了！”
Waking with a start just as Skybright was uttering this threat, she assumed that the bump on the head she had just received must have been dealt her by Skybright.
To the great amusement of the other girls she began tearfully begging her for mercy. ‘Oh no!
Please, Skybright!
I promise I won't do it again!”