Chapter 28 · A happy man enjoys a full measure of happiness, but still prays for happiness. A beloved girl is very much loved, but yet craves for more love.
moment least expected, flung her handkerchief at him, which just hit
him on the eyes, and frightened him out of his wits. "Who was it?" he
cried.
Lin Tai-yü nodded her head and smiled. "I would not venture to do such
a thing," she said, "it was a mere slip of my hand. As cousin Pao-ch'ai
wished to see the silly wild goose, I was pointing it out to her, when
the handkerchief inadvertently flew out of my grip."
Pao-yü kept on rubbing his eyes. The idea suggested itself to him to
make some remonstrance, but he could not again very well open his lips.
Presently, lady Feng arrived. She then alluded, in the course of
conversation, to the thanksgiving service, which was to be offered on
the first, in the Ch'ing Hsü temple, and invited Pao-ch'ai, Pao-yü,
Tai-yü and the other inmates with them to be present at the
theatricals.
"Never mind," smiled Pao-ch'ai, "it's too hot; besides, what plays
haven't I seen? I don't mean to come."
"It's cool enough over at their place," answered lady Feng. "There are
also two-storied buildings on either side; so we must all go! I'll send
servants a few days before to drive all that herd of Taoist priests
out, to sweep the upper stories, hang up curtains, and to keep out
every single loafer from the interior of the temple; so it will be all
right like that. I've already told our Madame Wang that if you people
don't go, I mean to go all alone, as I've been again in very low
spirits these last few days, and as when theatricals come off at home,
it's out of the question for me to look on with any peace and quiet."
When dowager lady Chia heard what she said, she smiled. "Well, in that
case," she remarked, "I'll go along with you."
Lady Feng, at these words, gave a smile. "Venerable ancestor," she
replied, "were you also to go, it would be ever so much better; yet I
won't feel quite at my ease!"
"To-morrow," dowager lady Chia continued, "I can stay in the
two-storied building, situated on the principal site, while you can go
to the one on the side. You can then likewise dispense with coming over
to where I shall be to stand on any ceremonies. Will this suit you or
not?"
"This is indeed," lady Feng smiled, "a proof of your regard for me, my
worthy senior."
Old lady Chia at this stage faced Pao-ch'ai. "You too should go," she
said, "so should your mother; for if you remain the whole day long at
home, you will again sleep your head off."
Pao-ch'ai felt constrained to signify her assent. Dowager lady Chia
then also despatched domestics to invite Mrs. Hsüeh; and, on their way,
they notified Madame Wang that she was to take the young ladies along
with her. But Madame Wang felt, in the first place, in a poor state of
health, and was, in the second, engaged in making preparations for the
reception of any arrivals from Yüan Ch'un, so that she, at an early
hour, sent word that it was impossible for her to leave the house. Yet
when she received old lady Chia's behest, she smiled and exclaimed:
"Are her spirits still so buoyant!" and transmitted the message into
the garden that any, who had any wish to avail themselves of the
opportunity, were at liberty to go on the first, with their venerable
senior as their chaperonne. As soon as these tidings were spread
abroad, every one else was indifferent as to whether they went or not;
but of those girls who, day after day, never put their foot outside the
doorstep, which of them was not keen upon going, the moment they heard
the permission conceded to them? Even if any of their respective
mistresses were too lazy to move, they employed every expedient to
induce them to go. Hence it was that Li Kung-ts'ai and the other
inmates signified their unanimous intention to be present. Dowager lady
Chia, at this, grew more exultant than ever, and she issued immediate
directions for servants to go and sweep and put things in proper order.
But to all these preparations, there is no necessity of making detailed
reference; sufficient to relate that on the first day of the moon,
carriages stood in a thick maze, and men and horses in close concourse,
at the entrance of the Jung Kuo mansion.
When the servants, the various managers and other domestics came to
learn that the Imperial Consort was to perform good deeds and that
dowager lady Chia was to go in person and offer incense, they arranged,
as it happened that the first of the moon, which was the principal day
of the ceremonies, was, in addition, the season of the dragon-boat
festival, all the necessary articles in perfect readiness and with
unusual splendour. Shortly, old lady Chia and the other inmates started
on their way. The old lady sat in an official chair, carried by eight
bearers: widow Li, lady Feng and Mrs. Hsüeh, each in a four-bearer
chair. Pao-ch'ai and Tai-yü mounted together a curricle with green
cover and pearl tassels, bearing the eight precious things. The three
sisters, Ying Ch'un, T'an Ch'un, and Hsi Ch'un got in a carriage with
red wheels and ornamented hood. Next in order, followed dowager lady
Chia's waiting-maids, Yüan Yang, Ying Wu, Hu Po, Chen Chu; Lin Tai-yü's
waiting-maids Tzu Chüan, Hsüeh Yen, and Ch'un Ch'ien; Pao-ch'ai's
waiting-maids Ying Erh and Wen Hsing; Ying Ch'un's servant-girls Ssu
Ch'i and Hsiu Chü; T'an Ch'un's waiting-maids Shih Shu and Ts'ui Mo;
Hsi Ch'un's servant-girls Ju Hua and Ts'ai P'ing; and Mrs. Hsüeh's
waiting-maids T'ung Hsi, and T'ung Kuei. Besides these, were joined to
their retinue: Hsiang Ling and Hsiang Ling's servant-girl Ch'in Erh;
Mrs. Li's waiting-maids Su Yün and Pi Yüeh; lady Feng's servant-girls
P'ing Erh, Feng Erh and Hsiao Hung, as well as Madame Wang's two
waiting-maids Chin Ch'uan and Ts'ai Yün. Along with lady Feng, came a
nurse carrying Ta Chieh Erh. She drove in a separate carriage, together
with a couple of servant-girls. Added also to the number of the suite
were matrons and nurses, attached to the various establishments, and
the wives of the servants of the household, who were in attendance out
of doors. Their carriages, forming one black solid mass, therefore,
crammed the whole extent of the street.
Dowager lady Chia and other members of the party had already proceeded
a considerable distance in their chairs, and yet the inmates at the
gate had not finished mounting their vehicles. This one shouted: "I
won't sit with you." That one cried: "You've crushed our mistress'
bundle." In the carriages yonder, one screamed: "You've pulled my
flowers off." Another one nearer exclaimed: "You've broken my fan." And
they chatted and chatted, and talked and laughed with such incessant
volubility, that Chou Jui's wife had to go backward and forward calling
them to task. "Girls," she said, "this is the street. The on-lookers
will laugh at you!" But it was only after she had expostulated with
them several times that any sign of improvement became at last visible.
The van of the procession had long ago reached the entrance of the
Ch'ing Hsü Temple. Pao-yü rode on horseback. He preceded the chair
occupied by his grandmother Chia. The throngs that filled the streets
ranged themselves on either side.
On their arrival at the temple, the sound of bells and the rattle of
drums struck their ear. Forthwith appeared the head-bonze Chang, a
stick of incense in hand; his cloak thrown over his shoulders. He took
his stand by the wayside at the head of a company of Taoist priests to
present his greetings. The moment dowager lady Chia reached, in her
chair, the interior of the main gate, she descried the lares and
penates, the lord presiding over that particular district, and the clay
images of the various gods, and she at once gave orders to halt. Chia
Chen advanced to receive her acting as leader to the male members of
the family. Lady Feng was well aware that Yüan Yang and the other
attendants were at the back and could not overtake their old mistress,
so she herself alighted from her chair to volunteer her services. She
was about to hastily press forward and support her, when, by a strange
accident, a young Taoist neophyte, of twelve or thirteen years of age,
who held a case containing scissors, with which he had been snuffing
the candles burning in the various places, just seized the opportunity
to run out and hide himself, when he unawares rushed, head foremost,
into lady Feng's arms. Lady Feng speedily raised her hand and gave him
such a slap on the face that she made the young fellow reel over and
perform a somersault. "You boorish young bastard!" she shouted, "where
are you running to?"
The young Taoist did not even give a thought to picking up the
scissors, but crawling up on to his feet again, he tried to scamper
outside. But just at that very moment Pao-ch'ai and the rest of the
young ladies were dismounting from their vehicles, and the matrons and
women-servants were closing them in so thoroughly on all sides that not
a puff of wind or a drop of rain could penetrate, and when they
perceived a Taoist neophyte come rushing headlong out of the place,
they, with one voice, exclaimed: "Catch him, catch him! Beat him, beat
him!"
Old lady Chia overheard their cries. She asked with alacrity what the
fuss was all about. Chia Chen immediately stepped outside to make
inquiries. Lady Feng then advanced and, propping up her old senior, she
went on to explain to her that a young Taoist priest, whose duties were
to snuff the candles, had not previously retired out of the compound,
and that he was now endeavouring to recklessly force his way out."
"Be quick and bring the lad here," shouted dowager lady Chia, as soon
as she heard her explanation, "but, mind, don't frighten him. Children
of mean families invariably get into the way of being spoilt by
over-indulgence. How ever could he have set eyes before upon such
display as this! Were you to frighten him, he will really be much to be
pitied; and won't his father and mother be exceedingly cut up?"
As she spoke, she asked Chia Chen to go and do his best to bring him
round. Chia Chen felt under the necessity of going, and he managed to
drag the lad into her presence. With the scissors still clasped in his
hand, the lad fell on his knees, and trembled violently.
Dowager lady Chia bade Chia Chen raise him up. "There's nothing to
fear!" she said reassuringly. Then she asked him how old he was.
The boy, however, could on no account give vent to speech.
"Poor boy!" once more exclaimed the old lady. And continuing: "Brother
Chen," she added, addressing herself to Chia Chen, "take him away, and
give him a few cash to buy himself fruit with; and do impress upon
every one that they are not to bully him."
Chia Chen signified his assent and led him off.
During this time, old lady Chia, taking along with her the whole family
party, paid her devotions in storey after storey, and visited every
place.
The young pages, who stood outside, watched their old mistress and the
other inmates enter the second row of gates. But of a sudden they
espied Chia Chen wend his way outwards, leading a young Taoist priest,
and calling the servants to come, say; "Take him and give him several
hundreds of cash and abstain from ill-treating him." At these orders,
the domestics approached with hurried step and led him off.
Chia Chen then inquired from the terrace-steps where the majordomo was.
At this inquiry, the pages standing below, called out in chorus,
"Majordomo!"
Lin Chih-hsiao ran over at once, while adjusting his hat with one hand,
and appeared in the presence of Chia Chen.
"Albeit this is a spacious place," Chia Chen began, "we muster a good
concourse to-day, so you'd better bring into this court those servants,
who'll be of any use to you, and send over into that one those who
won't. And choose a few from among those young pages to remain on duty,
at the second gate and at the two side entrances, so as to ask for
things and deliver messages. Do you understand me, yes or no? The young
ladies and ladies have all come out of town to-day, and not a single
outsider must be permitted to put his foot in here."
"I understand," replied Lin Chih-hsiao hurriedly signifying his
obedience. Next he uttered several yes's.
"Now," proceeded Chia Chen; "you can go on your way. But how is it, I
don't see anything of Jung Erh?" he went on to ask.
This question was barely out of his lips, when he caught sight of Jung
Erh running out of the belfry. "Look at him," shouted Chia Chen. "Look
at him! I don't feel hot in here, and yet he must go in search of a
cool place. Spit at him!" he cried to the family servants.
The young pages were fully aware that Chia Chen's ordinary disposition
was such that he could not brook contradiction, and one of the lads
speedily came forward and sputtered in Chia Jung's face. But Chia Chen
still kept his gaze fixed on him, so the young page had to inquire of
Chia Jung: "Master doesn't feel hot here, and how is it that you, Sir,
have been the first to go and get cool?"
Chia Jung however dropped his arms, and did not venture to utter a
single sound. Chia Yün, Chia P'ing, Chia Ch'in and the other young
people overheard what was going on and not only were they scared out of
their wits, but even Chia Lien, Chia Pin, Chia Ch'ung and their
companions were stricken with intense fright and one by one they
quietly slipped down along the foot of the wall.
"What are you standing there for?" Chia Chen shouted to Chia Jung.
"Don't you yet get on your horse and gallop home and tell your mother
that our venerable senior is here with all the young ladies, and bid
them come at once and wait upon them?"
As soon as Chia Jung heard these words, he ran out with hurried stride
and called out repeatedly for his horse. Now he felt resentment,
arguing within himself: "Who knows what he has been up to the whole
morning, that he now finds fault with me!" Now he went on to abuse the
young servants, crying: "Are your hands made fast, that you can't lead
the horse round?" And he felt inclined to bid a servant-boy go on the
errand, but fearing again lest he should subsequently be found out, and
be at a loss how to account for his conduct he felt compelled to
proceed in person; so mounting his steed, he started on his way.
But to return to Chia Chen. Just as he was about to be take himself
inside, he noticed the Taoist Chang, who stood next to him, force a
smile. "I'm not properly speaking," he remarked, "on the same footing
as the others and should be in attendance inside, but as on account of
the intense heat, the young ladies have come out of doors, I couldn't
presume to take upon myself to intrude and ask what your orders, Sir,
are. But the dowager lady may possibly inquire about me, or may like to
visit any part of the temple, so I shall wait in here."
Chia Chen was fully cognisant that this Taoist priest, Chang, had, it
is true, in past days, stood as a substitute for the Duke of the Jung
Kuo mansion, but that the former Emperor had, with his own lips,
conferred upon him the appellation of the 'Immortal being of the Great
Unreal,' that he held at present the seal of 'Taoist Superior,' that
the reigning Emperor had raised him to the rank of the 'Pure man,' that
the princes, now-a-days, dukes, and high officials styled him the
"Supernatural being," and he did not therefore venture to treat him
with any disrespect. In the second place, (he knew that) he had paid
frequent visits to the mansions, and that he had made the acquaintance
of the ladies and young ladies, so when he heard his present remark he
smilingly rejoined. "Do you again make use of such language amongst
ourselves? One word more, and I'll take that beard of yours, and
outroot it! Don't you yet come along with me inside?"
"Hah, hah," laughed the Taoist Chang aloud, as he followed Chia Chen
in. Chia Chen approached dowager lady Chia. Bending his body he
strained a laugh. "Grandfather Chang," he said, "has come in to pay his
respects."
"Raise him up!" old lady Chia vehemently called out.
Chia Chen lost no time in pulling him to his feet and bringing him
over.
The Taoist Chang first indulged in loud laughter. "Oh Buddha of
unlimited years!" he then observed. "Have you kept all right and in
good health, throughout, venerable Senior? Have all the ladies and
young ladies continued well? I haven't been for some time to your
mansion to pay my obeisance, but you, my dowager lady, have improved
more and more."
"Venerable Immortal Being!" smiled old lady Chia, "how are you; quite
well?"
"Thanks to the ten thousand blessings he has enjoyed from your hands,"
rejoined Chang the Taoist, "your servant too continues pretty strong
and hale. In every other respect, I've, after all, been all right; but
I have felt much concern about Mr. Pao-yü. Has he been all right all
the time? The other day, on the 26th of the fourth moon, I celebrated
the birthday of the 'Heaven-Pervading-Mighty-King;' few people came and
everything went off right and proper. I told them to invite Mr. Pao to
come for a stroll; but how was it they said that he wasn't at home?"
"It was indeed true that he was away from home," remarked dowager lady
Chia. As she spoke, she turned her head round and called Pao-yü.
Pao-yü had, as it happened, just returned from outside where he had
been to make himself comfortable, and with speedy step, he came
forward. "My respects to you, grandfather Chang," he said.
The Taoist Chang eagerly clasped him in his arms and inquired how he
was getting on. Turning towards old lady Chia, "Mr. Pao," he observed,
"has grown fatter than ever."
"Outwardly, his looks," replied dowager lady Chia, "may be all right,
but, inwardly, he is weak. In addition to this, his father presses him
so much to study that he has again and again managed, all through this
bullying, to make his child fall sick."
"The other day," continued Chang the Taoist, "I went to several places
on a visit, and saw characters written by Mr. Pao and verses composed
by him, all of which were exceedingly good; so how is it that his
worthy father still feels displeased with him, and maintains that Mr.
Pao is not very fond of his books? According to my humble idea, he
knows quite enough. As I consider Mr. Pao's face, his bearing, his
speech and his deportment," he proceeded, heaving a sigh, "what a
striking resemblance I find in him to the former duke of the Jung
mansion!" As he uttered these words, tears rolled down his cheeks.
At these words, old lady Chia herself found it hard to control her
feelings. Her face became covered with the traces of tears. "Quite so,"
she assented, "I've had ever so many sons and grandsons, and not one of
them betrayed the slightest resemblance to his grandfather; and this
Pao-yü turns out to be the very image of him!"
"What the former duke of Jung Kuo was like in appearance," Chang, the
Taoist went on to remark, addressing himself to Chia Chen, "you
gentlemen, and your generation, were, of course, needless to say, not
in time to see for yourselves; but I fancy that even our Senior master
and our Master Secundus have but a faint recollection of it."
This said, he burst into another loud fit of laughter. "The other day,"
he resumed, "I was at some one's house and there I met a young girl,
who is this year in her fifteenth year, and verily gifted with a
beautiful face, and I bethought myself that Mr. Pao must also have a
wife found for him. As far as looks, intelligence and mental talents,
extraction and family standing go, this maiden is a suitable match for
him. But as I didn't know what your venerable ladyship would have to
say about it, your servant did not presume to act recklessly, but
waited until I could ascertain your wishes before I took upon myself to
open my mouth with the parties concerned."
"Some time ago," responded dowager lady Chia, "a bonze explained that
it was ordained by destiny that this child shouldn't be married at an
early age, and that we should put things off until he grew somewhat in
years before anything was settled. But mark my words now. Pay no regard
as to whether she be of wealthy and honourable stock or not, the
essential thing is to find one whose looks make her a fit match for him
and then come at once and tell me. For even admitting that the girl is
poor, all I shall have to do will be to bestow on her a few ounces of
silver; but fine looks and a sweet temperament are not easy things to
come across."
When she had done speaking, lady Feng was heard to smilingly interpose:
"Grandfather Chang, aren't you going to change the talisman of
'Recorded Name' of our daughter? The other day, lucky enough for you,
you had again the great cheek to send some one to ask me for some satin
of gosling-yellow colour. I gave it to you, for had I not, I was afraid
lest your old face should have been made to feel uneasy."
"Hah, hah," roared the Taoist Chang, "just see how my eyes must have
grown dim! I didn't notice that you, my lady, were in here; nor did I
express one word of thanks to you! The talisman of 'Recorded Name' is
ready long ago. I meant to have sent it over the day before yesterday,
but the unforeseen visit of the Empress to perform meritorious deeds
upset my equilibrium, and made me quite forget it. But it's still
placed before the gods, and if you will wait I'll go and fetch it."
Saying this, he rushed into the main hall. Presently, he returned with
a tea-tray in hand, on which was spread a deep red satin cover,
brocaded with dragons. In this, he presented the charm. Ta Chieh-erh's
nurse took it from him.
But just as the Taoist was on the point of taking Ta Chieh-erh in his
embrace, lady Feng remarked with a smile: "It would have been
sufficient if you'd carried it in your hand! And why use a tray to lay
it on?"
"My hands aren't clean," replied the Taoist Chang, "so how could I very
well have taken hold of it? A tray therefore made things much cleaner!"
"When you produced that tray just now," laughed lady Feng, "you gave me
quite a start; I didn't imagine that it was for the purpose of bringing
the charm in. It really looked as if you were disposed to beg donations
of us."
This observation sent the whole company into a violent fit of laughter.
Even Chia Chen could not suppress a smile.
"What a monkey!" dowager lady Chia exclaimed, turning her head round.
"What a monkey you are! Aren't you afraid of going down to that Hell,
where tongues are cut off?"
"I've got nothing to do with any men whatever," rejoined lady Feng
laughing, "and why does he time and again tell me that it's my bounden
duty to lay up a store of meritorious deeds; and that if I'm remiss, my
life will be short?"
Chang, the Taoist, indulged in further laughter. "I brought out," he
explained, "the tray so as to kill two birds with one stone. It wasn't,
however, to beg for donations. On the contrary, it was in order to put
in it the jade, which I meant to ask Mr. Pao to take off, so as to
carry it outside and let all those Taoist friends of mine, who come
from far away, as well as my neophytes and the young apprentices, see
what it's like."
"Well, since that be the case," added old lady Chia, "why do you, at
your age, try your strength by running about the whole day long? Take
him at once along and let them see it! But were you to have called him
in there, wouldn't it have saved a lot of trouble?"
"Your venerable ladyship," resumed Chang, the Taoist, "isn't aware that
though I be, to look at, a man of eighty, I, after all, continue,
thanks to your protection, my dowager lady, quite hale and strong. In
the second place, there are crowds of people in the outer rooms; and
the smells are not agreeable. Besides it's a very hot day and Mr. Pao
couldn't stand the heat as he is not accustomed to it. So were he to
catch any disease from the filthy odours, it would be a grave thing!"
After these forebodings old lady Chia accordingly desired Pao-yü to
unclasp the jade of Spiritual Perception, and to deposit it in the
tray. The Taoist, Chang, carefully ensconced it in the folds of the
wrapper, embroidered with dragons, and left the room, supporting the
tray with both his hands.
During this while, dowager lady Chia and the other inmates devoted more
of their time in visiting the various places. But just as they were on
the point of going up the two-storied building, they heard Chia Chen
shout: "Grandfather Chang has brought back the jade."
As he spoke, the Taoist Chang was seen advancing up to them, the tray
in hand. "The whole company," he smiled, "were much obliged to me. They
think Mr. Pao's jade really lovely! None of them have, however, any
suitable gifts to bestow. These are religious articles, used by each of
them in propagating the doctrines of Reason, but they're all only too
ready to give them as congratulatory presents. If, Mr. Pao, you don't
fancy them for anything else, just keep them to play with or to give
away to others."
Dowager lady Chia, at these words, looked into the tray. She discovered
that its contents consisted of gold signets, and jade rings, or
sceptres, implying: "may you have your wishes accomplished in
everything," or "may you enjoy peace and health from year to year;"
that the various articles were strung with pearls or inlaid with
precious stones, worked in jade or mounted in gold; and that they were
in all from thirty to fifty.
"What nonsense you're talking!" she then exclaimed. "Those people are
all divines, and where could they have rummaged up these things? But
what need is there for any such presents? He may, on no account, accept
them."
"These are intended as a small token of their esteem," responded Chang,
the Taoist, smiling, "your servant cannot therefore venture to
interfere with them. If your venerable ladyship will not keep them,
won't you make it patent to them that I'm treated contemptuously, and
unlike what one should be, who has joined the order through your
household?"
Only when old lady Chia heard these arguments did she direct a servant
to receive the presents.
"Venerable senior," Pao-yü smilingly chimed in. "After the reasons
advanced by grandfather Chang, we cannot possibly refuse them. But
albeit I feel disposed to keep these things, they are of no avail to
me; so would it not be well were a servant told to carry the tray and
to follow me out of doors, that I may distribute them to the poor?
"You are perfectly right in what you say!" smiled dowager lady Chia.
The Taoist Chang, however, went on speedily to use various arguments to
dissuade him. "Mr. Pao," he observed, "your intention is, it is true,
to perform charitable acts; but though you may aver that these things
are of little value, you'll nevertheless find among them several
articles you might turn to some account. Were you to let the beggars
have them, why they will, first of all, be none the better for them;
and, next, it will contrariwise be tantamount to throwing them away! If
you want to distribute anything among the poor, why don't you dole out
cash to them?"
"Put them by!" promptly shouted Pao-yü, after this rejoinder, "and when
evening comes, take a few cash and distribute them."
These directions given, Chang, the Taoist, retired out of the place.
Dowager lady Chia and her companions thereupon walked upstairs and sat
in the main part of the building. Lady Feng and her friends adjourned
into the eastern part, while the waiting-maids and servants remained in
the western portion, and took their turns in waiting on their
mistresses.
Before long, Chia Chen came back. "The plays," he announced, "have been
chosen by means of slips picked out before the god. The first one on
the list is the 'Record of the White Snake.'"
"Of what kind of old story does 'the record of the white snake,'
treat?" old lady Chia inquired.
"The story about Han Kao-tsu," replied Chia Chen, "killing a snake and
then ascending the throne. The second play is, 'the Bed covered with
ivory tablets.'"
"Has this been assigned the second place?" asked dowager lady Chia.
"Yet never mind; for as the gods will it thus, there is no help than
not to demur. But what about the third play?" she went on to inquire.
"The Nan Ko dream is the third," Chia Chen answered.
This response elicited no comment from dowager lady Chia. Chia Chen
therefore withdrew downstairs, and betook himself outside to make
arrangements for the offerings to the gods, for the paper money and
eatables that had to be burnt, and for the theatricals about to begin.
So we will leave him without any further allusion, and take up our
narrative with Pao-yü.
Seating himself upstairs next to old lady Chia, he called to a
servant-girl to fetch the tray of presents given to him a short while
back, and putting on his own trinket of jade, he fumbled about with the
things for a bit, and picking up one by one, he handed them to his
grandmother to admire. But old lady Chia espied among them a unicorn,
made of purplish gold, with kingfisher feathers inserted, and eagerly
extending her arm, she took it up. "This object," she smiled, "seems to
me to resemble very much one I've seen worn also by the young lady of
some household or other of ours."
"Senior cousin, Shih Hsiang-yün," chimed in Pao-ch'ai, a smile playing
on her lips, "has one, but it's a trifle smaller than this."
"Is it indeed Yün-erh who has it?" exclaimed old lady Chia.
"Now that she lives in our house," remarked Pao-yü, "how is it that
even
I haven't seen anything of it?"
"Cousin Pao-ch'ai," rejoined T'an Ch'un laughingly, "has the power of
observation; no matter what she sees, she remembers."
Lin Tai-yü gave a sardonic smile. "As far as other matters are
concerned," she insinuated, "her observation isn't worth speaking of;
where she's extra-observant is in articles people may wear about their
persons."
Pao-chai, upon catching this sneering remark, at once turned her head
round, and pretended she had not heard. But as soon as Pao-yü learnt
that Shih Hsiang-yün possessed a similar trinket, he speedily picked up
the unicorn, and hid it in his breast, indulging, at the same time, in
further reflection. Yet, fearing lest people might have noticed that he
kept back that particular thing the moment he discovered that Shih
Hsiang-yün had one identical with it, he fixed his eyes intently upon
all around while clutching it. He found however that not one of them
was paying any heed to his movements except Lin Tai-yü, who, while
gazing at him was, nodding her head, as if with the idea of expressing
her admiration. Pao-yü, therefore, at once felt inwardly ill at ease,
and pulling out his hand, he observed, addressing himself to Tai-yü
with an assumed smile, "This is really a fine thing to play with; I'll
keep it for you, and when we get back home, I'll pass a ribbon through
it for you to wear." "I don't care about it," said Lin Tai-yü, giving
her head a sudden twist.
"Well," continued Pao-yü laughingly, "if you don't like it, I can't do
otherwise than keep it myself."
Saying this, he once again thrust it away. But just as he was about to
open his lips to make some other observation, he saw Mrs. Yu, the
spouse of Chia Chen, arrive along with the second wife recently married
by Chia Jung, that is, his mother and her daughter-in-law, to pay their
obeisance to dowager lady Chia.
"What do you people rush over here for again?" old lady Chia inquired.
"I came here for a turn, simply because I had nothing to do."
But no sooner was this inquiry concluded than they heard a messenger
announce: "that some one had come from the house of general Feng."
The family of Feng Tzu-ying had, it must be explained, come to learn
the news that the inmates of the Chia mansion were offering a
thanksgiving service in the temple, and, without loss of time, they got
together presents of pigs, sheep, candles, tea and eatables and sent
them over. The moment lady Feng heard about it she hastily crossed to
the main part of the two-storied building. "Ai-ya;" she ejaculated,
clapping her hands and laughing. "I never expected anything of the
sort; we merely said that we ladies were coming for a leisurely stroll
and people imagined that we were spreading a sumptuous altar with
lenten viands and came to bring us offerings! But it's all our old
lady's fault for bruiting it about! Why, we haven't even got any slips
of paper with tips ready."
She had just finished speaking, when she perceived two matrons, who
acted as house-keepers in the Feng family, walk upstairs. But before
the Feng servants could take their leave, presents likewise arrived, in
quick succession, from Chao, the Vice-President of the Board. In due
course, one lot of visitors followed another. For as every one got wind
of the fact that the Chia family was having thanksgiving services, and
that the ladies were in the temple, distant and close relatives,
friends, old friends and acquaintances all came to present their
contributions. So much so, that dowager lady Chia began at this
juncture to feel sorry that she had ever let the cat out of the bag.
"This is no regular fasting," she said, "we simply have come for a
little change; and we should not have put any one to any
inconvenience!" Although therefore she was to have remained present all
day at the theatrical performance, she promptly returned home soon
after noon, and the next day she felt very loth to go out of doors
again.
"By striking the wall, we've also stirred up dust," lady Feng argued.
"Why we've already put those people to the trouble so we should only be
too glad to-day to have another outing."
But as when dowager lady Chia interviewed the Taoist Chang, the
previous day, he made allusion to Pao-yü and canvassed his engagement,
Pao-yü experienced, little as one would have thought it, much secret
displeasure during the whole of that day, and on his return home he
flew into a rage and abused Chang, the rationalistic priest, for
harbouring designs to try and settle a match for him. At every breath
and at every word he resolved that henceforward he would not set eyes
again upon the Taoist Chang. But no one but himself had any idea of the
reason that actuated him to absent himself. In the next place, Lin
Tai-yü began also, on her return the day before, to ail from a touch of
the sun, so their grandmother was induced by these two considerations
to remain firm in her decision not to go. When lady Feng, however,
found that she would not join them, she herself took charge of the
family party and set out on the excursion.
But without descending to particulars, let us advert to Pao-yü. Seeing
that Lin Tai-yü had fallen ill, he was so full of solicitude on her
account that he even had little thought for any of his meals, and not
long elapsed before he came to inquire how she was.
Tai-yü, on her part, gave way to fear lest anything should happen to
him, (and she tried to re-assure him). "Just go and look at the plays,"
she therefore replied, "what's the use of boxing yourself up at home?"
Pao-yü was, however, not in a very happy frame of mind on account of
the reference to his marriage made by Chang, the Taoist, the day
before, so when he heard Lin Tai-yü's utterances: "If others don't
understand me;" he mused, "it's anyhow excusable; but has she too begun
to make fun of me?" His heart smarted in consequence under the sting of
a mortification a hundred times keener than he had experienced up to
that occasion. Had he been with any one else, it would have been
utterly impossible for her to have brought into play feelings of such
resentment, but as it was no other than Tai-yü who spoke the words, the
impression produced upon him was indeed different from that left in
days gone by, when others employed similar language. Unable to curb his
feelings, he instantaneously lowered his face. "My friendship with you
has been of no avail" he rejoined. "But, never mind, patience!"
This insinuation induced Lin Tai-yü to smile a couple of sarcastic
smiles. "Yes, your friendship with me has been of no avail," she
repeated; "for how can I compare with those whose manifold qualities
make them fit matches for you?"
As soon as this sneer fell on Pao-yü's ear he drew near to her. "Are
you by telling me this," he asked straight to her face, "deliberately
bent upon invoking imprecations upon me that I should be annihilated by
heaven and extinguished by earth?"
Lin Tai-yü could not for a time fathom the import of his remarks. "It
was," Pao-yü then resumed, "on account of this very conversation that I
yesterday swore several oaths, and now would you really make me repeat
another one? But were the heavens to annihilate me and the earth to
extinguish me, what benefit would you derive?"
This rejoinder reminded Tai-yü of the drift of their conversation on
the previous day. And as indeed she had on this occasion framed in
words those sentiments, which should not have dropped from her lips,
she experienced both annoyance and shame, and she tremulously observed:
"If I entertain any deliberate intention to bring any harm upon you,
may I too be destroyed by heaven and exterminated by earth! But what's
the use of all this! I know very well that the allusion to marriage
made yesterday by Chang, the Taoist, fills you with dread lest he might
interfere with your choice. You are inwardly so irate that you come and
treat me as your malignant influence."
Pao-yü, the fact is, had ever since his youth developed a peculiar kind
of mean and silly propensity. Having moreover from tender infancy grown
up side by side with Tai-Yü, their hearts and their feelings were in
perfect harmony. More, he had recently come to know to a great extent
what was what, and had also filled his head with the contents of a
number of corrupt books and licentious stories. Of all the eminent and
beautiful girls that he had met too in the families of either distant
or close relatives or of friends, not one could reach the standard of
Lin Tai-yü. Hence it was that he commenced, from an early period of his
life, to foster sentiments of love for her; but as he could not very
well give utterance to them, he felt time and again sometimes elated,
sometimes vexed, and wont to exhaust every means to secretly subject
her heart to a test.
Lin Tai-yü happened, on the other hand, to possess in like manner a
somewhat silly disposition; and she too frequently had recourse to
feigned sentiments to feel her way. And as she began to conceal her
true feelings and inclinations and to simply dissimulate, and he to
conceal his true sentiments and wishes and to dissemble, the two
unrealities thus blending together constituted eventually one reality.
But it was hardly to be expected that trifles would not be the cause of
tiffs between them. Thus it was that in Pao-yü's mind at this time
prevailed the reflection: "that were others unable to read my feelings,
it would anyhow be excusable; but is it likely that you cannot realise
that in my heart and in my eyes there is no one else besides yourself.
But as you were not able to do anything to dispel my annoyance, but
made use, instead, of the language you did to laugh at me, and to gag
my mouth, it's evident that though you hold, at every second and at
every moment, a place in my heart, I don't, in fact, occupy a place in
yours." Such was the construction attached to her conduct by Pao-yü,
yet he did not have the courage to tax her with it.
"If, really, I hold a place in your heart," Lin Tai-yü again reflected,
"why do you, albeit what's said about gold and jade being a fit match,
attach more importance to this perverse report and think nothing of
what I say? Did you, when I so often broach the subject of this gold
and jade, behave as if you, verily, had never heard anything about it,
I would then have seen that you treat me with preference and that you
don't harbour the least particle of a secret design. But how is it that
the moment I allude to the topic of gold and jade, you at once lose all
patience? This is proof enough that you are continuously pondering over
that gold and jade, and that as soon as you hear me speak to you about
them, you apprehend that I shall once more give way to conjectures, and
intentionally pretend to be quite out of temper, with the deliberate
idea of cajoling me!"
These two cousins had, to all appearances, once been of one and the
same mind, but the many issues, which had sprung up between them,
brought about a contrary result and made them of two distinct minds.
"I don't care what you do, everything is well," Pao-yü further argued,
"so long as you act up to your feelings; and if you do, I shall be ever
only too willing to even suffer immediate death for your sake. Whether
you know this or not, doesn't matter; it's all the same. Yet were you
to just do as my heart would have you, you'll afford me a clear proof
that you and I are united by close ties and that you are no stranger to
me!"
"Just you mind your own business," Lin Tai-yü on her side cogitated.
"If you will treat me well, I'll treat you well. And what need is there
to put an end to yourself for my sake? Are you not aware that if you
kill yourself, I'll also kill myself? But this demonstrates that you
don't wish me to be near to you, and that you really want that I should
be distant to you."
It will thus be seen that the desire, by which they were both actuated,
to strive and draw each other close and ever closer became contrariwise
transformed into a wish to become more distant. But as it is no easy
task to frame into words the manifold secret thoughts entertained by
either, we will now confine ourselves to a consideration of their
external manner.
The three words "a fine match," which Pao-yü heard again Lin Tai-yü
pronounce proved so revolting to him that his heart got full of disgust
and he was unable to give utterance to a single syllable. Losing all
control over his temper, he snatched from his neck the jade of
Spiritual Perception and, clenching his teeth, he spitefully dashed it
down on the floor. "What rubbishy trash!" he cried. "I'll smash you to
atoms and put an end to the whole question!"
The jade, however, happened to be of extraordinary hardness, and did
not, after all, sustain the slightest injury from this single fall.
When Pao-yü realised that it had not broken, he forthwith turned
himself round to get the trinket with the idea of carrying out his
design of smashing it, but Tai-yü divined his intention, and soon
started crying. "What's the use of all this!" she demurred, "and why,
pray, do you batter that dumb thing about? Instead of smashing it,
wouldn't it be better for you to come and smash me!"
But in the middle of their dispute, Tzu Chüan, Hsüeh Yen and the other
maids promptly interfered and quieted them. Subsequently, however, they
saw how deliberately bent Pao-yü was upon breaking the jade, and they
vehemently rushed up to him to snatch it from his hands. But they
failed in their endeavours, and perceiving that he was getting more
troublesome than he had ever been before, they had no alternative but
to go and call Hsi Jen. Hsi Jen lost no time in running over and
succeeded, at length, in getting hold of the trinket.
"I'm smashing what belongs to me," remarked Pao-yü with a cynical
smile, "and what has that to do with you people?"
Hsi Jen noticed that his face had grown quite sallow from anger, that
his eyes had assumed a totally unusual expression, and that he had
never hitherto had such a fit of ill-temper and she hastened to take
his hand in hers and to smilingly expostulate with him. "If you've had
a tiff with your cousin," she said, "it isn't worth while flinging this
down! Had you broken it, how would her heart and face have been able to
bear the mortification?"
Lin Tai-yü shed tears and listened the while to her remonstrances. Yet
these words, which so corresponded with her own feelings, made it clear
to her that Pao-yü could not even compare with Hsi Jen and wounded her
heart so much more to the quick that she began to weep aloud. But the
moment she got so vexed she found it hard to keep down the potion of
boletus and the decoction, for counter-acting the effects of the sun,
she had taken only a few minutes back, and with a retch she brought
everything up. Tzu Chüan immediately pressed to her side and used her
handkerchief to stop her mouth with. But mouthful succeeded mouthful,
and in no time the handkerchief was soaked through and through.
Hsüeh Yen then approached in a hurry and tapped her on the back.
"You may, of course, give way to displeasure," Tzu Chüan argued; "but
you should, after all, take good care of yourself Miss. You had just
taken the medicines and felt the better for them; and here you now
begin vomitting again; and all because you've had a few words with our
master Secundus. But should your complaint break out afresh how will
Mr. Pao bear the blow?"
The moment Pao-yü caught this advice, which accorded so thoroughly with
his own ideas, he found how little Tai-yü could hold her own with Tzu
Chüan. And perceiving how flushed Tai-yü's face was, how her temples
were swollen, how, while sobbing, she panted; and how, while crying,
she was suffused with perspiration, and betrayed signs of extreme
weakness, he began, at the sight of her condition, to reproach himself.
"I shouldn't," he reflected, "have bandied words with her; for now that
she's got into this frame of mind, I mayn't even suffer in her stead!"
The self-reproaches, however, which gnawed his heart made it impossible
for him to refrain from tears, much as he fought against them. Hsi Jen
saw them both crying, and while attending to Pao-yü, she too
unavoidably experienced much soreness of heart. She nevertheless went
on rubbing Pao-yü's hands, which were icy cold. She felt inclined to
advise Pao-yü not to weep, but fearing again lest, in the first place,
Pao-yü might be inwardly aggrieved, and nervous, in the next, lest she
should not be dealing rightly by Tai-yü, she thought it advisable that
they should all have a good cry, as they might then be able to leave
off. She herself therefore also melted into tears. As for Tzu-Chüan, at
one time, she cleaned the expectorated medicine; at another, she took
up a fan and gently fanned Tai-yü. But at the sight of the trio plunged
in perfect silence, and of one and all sobbing for reasons of their
own, grief, much though she did to struggle against it, mastered her
feelings too, and producing a handkerchief, she dried the tears that
came to her eyes. So there stood four inmates, face to face, uttering
not a word and indulging in weeping.
Shortly, Hsi Jen made a supreme effort, and smilingly said to Pao-yü:
"If you don't care for anything else, you should at least have shown
some regard for those tassels, strung on the jade, and not have
wrangled with Miss Lin."
Tai-yü heard these words, and, mindless of her indisposition, she
rushed over, and snatching the trinket, she picked up a pair of
scissors, lying close at hand, bent upon cutting the tassels. Hsi Jen
and Tzu Chüan were on the point of wresting it from her, but she had
already managed to mangle them into several pieces.
"I have," sobbed Tai-yü, "wasted my energies on them for nothing; for
he doesn't prize them. He's certain to find others to string some more
fine tassels for him."
Hsi Jen promptly took the jade. "Is it worth while going on in this
way!" she cried. "But this is all my fault for having blabbered just
now what should have been left unsaid."
"Cut it, if you like!" chimed in Pao-yü, addressing himself to Tai-yü.
"I will on no account wear it, so it doesn't matter a rap."
But while all they minded inside was to create this commotion, they
little dreamt that the old matrons had descried Tai-yü weep bitterly
and vomit copiously, and Pao-yü again dash his jade on the ground, and
that not knowing how far the excitement might not go, and whether they
themselves might not become involved, they had repaired in a body to
the front, and reported the occurrence to dowager lady Chia and Madame
Wang, their object being to try and avoid being themselves implicated
in the matter. Their old mistress and Madame Wang, seeing them make so
much of the occurrence as to rush with precipitate haste to bring it to
their notice, could not in the least imagine what great disaster might
not have befallen them, and without loss of time they betook themselves
together into the garden and came to see what the two cousins were up
to.
Hsi Jen felt irritated and harboured resentment against Tzu Chüan,
unable to conceive what business she had to go and disturb their old
mistress and Madame Wang. But Tzu Chüan, on the other hand, presumed
that it was Hsi Jen, who had gone and reported the matter to them, and
she too cherished angry feelings towards Hsi Jen.
Dowager lady Chia and Madame Wang walked into the apartment. They found
Pao-yü on one side saying not a word. Lin Tai-yü on the other uttering
not a sound. "What's up again?" they asked. But throwing the whole
blame upon the shoulders of Hsi Jen and Tzu Chüan, "why is it," they
inquired, "that you were not diligent in your attendance on them. They
now start a quarrel, and don't you exert yourselves in the least to
restrain them?"
Therefore with obloquy and hard words they rated the two girls for a
time in such a way that neither of them could put in a word by way of
reply, but felt compelled to listen patiently. And it was only after
dowager lady Chia had taken Pao-yü away with her that things quieted
down again.
One day passed. Then came the third of the moon. This was Hsüeh Pan's
birthday, so in their house a banquet was spread and preparations made
for a performance; and to these the various inmates of the Chia mansion
went. But as Pao-yü had so hurt Tai-yü's feelings, the two cousins saw
nothing whatever of each other, and conscience-stricken, despondent and
unhappy, as he was at this time could he have had any inclination to be
present at the plays? Hence it was that he refused to go on the pretext
of indisposition.
Lin Tai-yü had got, a couple of days back, but a slight touch of the
sun and naturally there was nothing much the matter with her. When the
news however reached her that he did not intend to join the party, "If
with his weakness for wine and for theatricals," she pondered within
herself, "he now chooses to stay away, instead of going, why, that
quarrel with me yesterday must be at the bottom of it all. If this
isn't the reason, well then it must be that he has no wish to attend,
as he sees that I'm not going either. But I should on no account have
cut the tassels from that jade, for I feel sure he won't wear it again.
I shall therefore have to string some more on to it, before he puts it
on."
On this account the keenest remorse gnawed her heart.
Dowager lady Chia saw well enough that they were both under the
influence of temper. "We should avail ourselves of this occasion," she
said to herself, "to go over and look at the plays, and as soon as the
two young people come face to face, everything will be squared."
Contrary to her expectations neither of them would volunteer to go.
This so exasperated their old grandmother that she felt vexed with
them. "In what part of my previous existence could an old sufferer like
myself," she exclaimed, "have incurred such retribution that my destiny
is to come across these two troublesome new-fledged foes! Why, not a
single day goes by without their being instrumental in worrying my
mind! The proverb is indeed correct which says: 'that people who are
not enemies are not brought together!' But shortly my eyes shall be
closed, this breath of mine shall be snapped, and those two enemies
will be free to cause trouble even up to the very skies; for as my eyes
will then loose their power of vision, and my heart will be void of
concern, it will really be nothing to me. But I couldn't very well
stifle this breath of life of mine!"
While inwardly a prey to resentment, she also melted into tears.
These words were brought to the ears of Pao-yü and Tai-yü. Neither of
them had hitherto heard the adage: "people who are not enemies are not
brought together," so when they suddenly got to know the line, it
seemed as if they had apprehended abstraction. Both lowered their heads
and meditated on the subtle sense of the saying. But unconsciously a
stream of tears rolled down their cheeks. They could not, it is true,
get a glimpse of each other; yet as the one was in the Hsiao Hsiang
lodge, standing in the breeze, bedewed with tears, and the other in the
I Hung court, facing the moon and heaving deep sighs, was it not, in
fact, a case of two persons living in two distinct places, yet with
feelings emanating from one and the same heart?
Hsi Jen consequently tendered advice to Pao-yü. "You're a million times
to blame," she said, "it's you who are entirely at fault! For when some
time ago the pages in the establishment, wrangled with their sisters,
or when husband and wife fell out, and you came to hear anything about
it, you blew up the lads, and called them fools for not having the
heart to show some regard to girls; and now here you go and follow
their lead. But to-morrow is the fifth day of the moon, a great
festival, and will you two still continue like this, as if you were
very enemies? If so, our venerable mistress will be the more angry, and
she certainly will be driven sick! I advise you therefore to do what's
right by suppressing your spite and confessing your fault, so that we
should all be on the same terms as hitherto. You here will then be all
right, and so will she over there."
Pao-yü listened to what she had to say; but whether he fell in with her
views or not is not yet ascertained; yet if you, reader, choose to
know, we will explain in the next chapter.