The Oil Peddler and the Courtesan: A Translation of a Traditional Chinese Story

Abstract

"Mai-yu-lang tu-chan Hua-k'uei" ( The Oil Peddler and the Courtesan) is the third story in the traditional Chinese short story collection Rsing-shih ttung-yen edited by Feng Menglung in the late Ming Dynasty. Rising-shih ttung-yen is itself one of the three collections compiled and edited by Feng Meng-lung, collectively known as the San-yen. San-yen is important in the history of Chinese literature in that the stories included exemplifies the hua-pen genre. It includes stories of Sung, Yuan, Ming origin as well as Meng's own creations. There are four available translations of Mai-yu-lang tu-chan Huak'uei, namely two in English, one in French and one in German: Yang, Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. "The Oil Vendor and the Courtesan. The Courtesan's Jewel Box. Foreign Language Press, Peking, 1957. Wang, Chi-chen. The Oil Peddler and the Queen of Flowers. Traditional Chinese trales. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968. Schlegel, G.. "Le Vendeur d'huile qui seul possede la reine-de-beaute ou Splendeurs et miseres des courtisanes chinoises. Paris, 1877. Grisebach, E.. German translation of above. Chinesische Novellen. Unfortunately, neither of the English translations aimed to achieve completeness, often with large segments left out at the translators' discretion. Therefore it is the hope of this translator to provide a rendition as complete and faithful as possible without sacrificing good English and good taste.