楼有几重,情有几多,梦有几许——从“红楼梦”题名看《红楼梦》题旨

Theme of Dream of the Red Chamber Implied in Title

《红楼梦》原有"石头记"等几个题名,但最终却由"新制《红楼梦》十二支"这一歌曲意象取而代之,升格为通名。之所以如此,原因有二:一是"红楼梦"题名所从出的第五回为全书结构上之枢纽,二是"红楼梦"作为题名确有"石头记"等所不及的优点。从"红楼+梦"所包蕴的意义出发,小说展示了生命的消逝、繁华的褪尽和世事的萧条,即一切红楼事物的梦之宿命。这是小说的核心意涵,也是作者的情志所在,而皆能凝结于"红楼梦"这一题名中。

In spite of a few alternative titles such as The Story of the Stone,Twelve Pretty Women in Jinling,etc,the author at last entitled his novel Dream of the Red Chamber,which is also the name of a series of songs in its fifth chapter.This hints that the fifth chapter plays a key role in the novel and these songs can transmit more thoughts and meanings that the author wanted to express.The novel tells us that everything in the red chamber,i.e.,in the Daguanyuan Paradise,in the aristocrats′ families and in the human world,is illusory.Lives will die away,prosperity will disappear,and the affairs of human life will be depressed.Undoubtedly,Dream of the Red Chamber is the symbol of these thoughts and meanings.