Chapter 33 · Tai-yü loves Pao-yü with extreme affection; but, on account of this affection, her female cousin gets indignant. Hsüeh P'an commits a grave mistake; but Pao-ch'ai makes this mistake a pretext to tender advice to her brother.
of the family take their leave, our narrative says, she entered the
room. and, taking a seat next to Pao-yü, she asked him, while she did
all she could to hide her tears: "How was it that he beat you to such
extremes?"
Pao-yü heaved a sigh. "It was simply," he replied, "about those
trifles. But what's the use of your asking me about them? The lower
part of my body is so very sore! Do look and see where I'm bruised!"
At these words, Hsi Jen put out her hand, and inserting it gently under
his clothes, she began to pull down the middle garments. She had but
slightly moved them, however, when Pao-yü ground his teeth and groaned
"ai-ya." Hsi Jen at once stayed her hand. It was after three or four
similar attempts that she, at length, succeeded in drawing them down.
Then looking closely, Hsi Jen discovered that the upper part of his
legs was all green and purple, one mass of scars four fingers wide, and
covered with huge blisters.
Hsi Jen gnashed her teeth. "My mother!" she ejaculated, "how is it that
he struck you with such a ruthless hand! Had you minded the least bit
of my advice to you, things wouldn't have come to such a pass! Luckily,
no harm was done to any tendon or bone; for had you been crippled by
the thrashing you got, what could we do?"
In the middle of these remarks, she saw the servant-girls come, and
they told her that Miss Pao-ch'ai had arrived. Hearing this, Hsi Jen
saw well enough that she had no time to put him on his middle garments,
so forthwith snatching a double gauze coverlet, she threw it over
Pao-yü. This done, she perceived Pao-ch'ai walk in, her hands laden
with pills and medicines.
"At night," she said to Hsi Jen, "take these medicines and dissolve
them in wine and then apply them on him, and, when the fiery virus from
that stagnant blood has been dispelled, he'll be all right again."
After these directions, she handed the medicines to Hsi Jen. "Is he
feeling any better now?" she proceeded to inquired.
"Thanks!" rejoined Pao-yü. "I'm feeling better," he at the same time
went on to say; after which, he pressed her to take a seat.
Pao-ch'ai noticed that he could open his eyes wide, that he could speak
and that he was not as bad as he had been, and she felt considerable
inward relief. But nodding her head, she sighed. "If you had long ago
listened to the least bit of the advice tendered to you by people
things would not have reached this climax to-day," she said. "Not to
speak of the pain experienced by our dear ancestor and aunt Wang, the
sight of you in this state makes even us feel at heart…."
Just as she had uttered half of the remark she meant to pass, she
quickly suppressed the rest; and smitten by remorse for having spoken
too hastily, she could not help getting red in the face and lowering
her head.
Pao-yü was realising how affectionate, how friendly and how replete
with deep meaning were the sentiments that dropped from her month,
when, of a sudden, he saw her seal her lips and, flashing crimson,
droop her head, and simply fumble with her girdle. Yet so fascinating
was she in those timid blushes, which completely baffle description,
that his feelings were roused within him to such a degree, that all
sense of pain flew at once beyond the empyrean. "I've only had to bear
a few blows," he reflected, "and yet every one of them puts on those
pitiful looks sufficient to evoke love and regard; so were, after all,
any mishap or untimely end to unexpectedly befall me, who can tell how
much more afflicted they won't be! And as they go on in this way, I
shall have them, were I even to die in a moment, to feel so much for
me; so there will indeed be no reason for regret, albeit the concerns
of a whole lifetime will be thus flung entirely to the winds!"
While indulging in these meditations, ha overheard Pao-ch'ai ask Hsi
Jen: "How is it that he got angry, without rhyme or reason, and started
beating him?" and Hsi Jen tell her, in reply, the version given to her
by Pei Ming.
Pao-yü had, in fact, no idea as yet of what had been said by Chia Huan,
and, when he heard Hsi Jen's disclosures, he eventually got to know
what it was; but as it also criminated Hsüeh P'an, he feared lest
Pao-ch'ai might feel unhappy, so he lost no time in interrupting Hsi
Jen.
"Cousin Hsüeh," he interposed, "has never been like that; you people
mustn't therefore give way to idle surmises!"
These words were enough to make Pao-ch'ai see that Pao-yü had thought
it expedient to say something to stop Hsi Jen's mouth, apprehending
that her suspicions might get roused; and she consequently secretly
mused within herself: "He has been beaten to such a pitch, and yet,
heedless of his own pains and aches, he's still so careful not to hurt
people's feelings. But since you can be so considerate, why don't you
take a little more care in greater concerns outside, so that your
father should feel a little happier, and that you also should not have
to suffer such bitter ordeals! But notwithstanding that the dread of my
feeling hurt has prompted you to interrupt Hsi Jen in what she had to
tell me, is it likely that I am blind to the fact that my brother has
ever followed his fancies, allowed his passions to run riot, and never
done a thing to exercise any check over himself? His temperament is
such that he some time back created, all on account of that fellow
Ch'in Chung, a rumpus that turned heaven and earth topsy-turvy; and, as
a matter of course, he's now far worse than he was ever before!"
"You people," she then observed aloud, at the close of these
cogitations, "shouldn't bear this one or that one a grudge. I can't
help thinking that it's, after all, because of your usual readiness,
cousin Pao-yü, to hobnob with that set that your father recently lost
control over his temper. But assuming that my brother did speak in a
careless manner and did casually allude to you cousin Pao-yü, it was
with no design to instigate any one! In the first place, the remarks he
made were really founded on actual facts; and secondly, he's not one to
ever trouble himself about such petty trifles as trying to guard
against animosities. Ever since your youth up, Miss Hsi, you've simply
had before your eyes a person so punctilious as cousin Pao-yü, but have
you ever had any experience of one like that brother of mine, who
neither fears the powers in heaven or in earth, and who readily blurts
out all he thinks?"
Hsi Jen, seeing Pao-yü interrupt her, at the bare mention of Hsüeh
P'an, understood at once that she must have spoken recklessly and gave
way to misgivings lest Pao-ch'ai might not have been placed in a false
position, but when she heard the language used by Pao-ch'ai, she was
filled with a keener sense of shame and could not utter a word. Pao-yü
too, after listening to the sentiments, which Pao-ch'ai expressed,
felt, partly because they were so magnanimous and noble, and partly
because they banished all misconception from his mind, his heart and
soul throb with greater emotion then ever before. When, however, about
to put in his word, he noticed Pao-ch'ai rise to her feet.
"I'll come again to see you to-morrow," she said, "but take good care
of yourself! I gave the medicines I brought just now to Hsi Jen; let
her rub you with them at night and I feel sure you'll get all right."
With these recommendations, she walked out of the door.
Hsi Jen hastened to catch her up and escorted her beyond the court.
"Miss," she remarked, "we've really put you to the trouble of coming.
Some other day, when Mr. Secundus is well, I shall come in person to
thank you."
"What's there to thank me for?" replied Pao-ch'ai, turning her head
round and smiling. "But mind, you advise him to carefully tend his
health, and not to give way to idle thoughts and reckless ideas, and
he'll recover. If there's anything he fancies to eat or to amuse
himself with, come quietly over to me and fetch it for him. There will
be no use to disturb either our old lady, or Madame Wang, or any of the
others; for in the event of its reaching Mr. Chia Cheng's ear, nothing
may, at the time, come of it; but if by and bye he finds it to be true,
we'll, doubtless, suffer for it!"
While tendering this advice, she went on her way.
Hsi Jen retraced her steps and returned into the room, fostering
genuine feelings of gratitude for Pao-ch'ai. But on entering, she
espied Pao-yü silently lost in deep thought, and looking as if he were
asleep, and yet not quite asleep, so she withdrew into the outer
quarters to comb her hair and wash.
Pao-yü meanwhile lay motionless in bed. His buttocks tingled with pain,
as if they were pricked with needles, or dug with knives; giving him to
boot a fiery sensation just as if fire were eating into them. He tried
to change his position a bit, but unable to bear the anguish, he burst
into groans. The shades of evening were by this time falling.
Perceiving that though Hsi Jen had left his side there remained still
two or three waiting-maids in attendance, he said to them, as he could
find nothing for them to do just then, "You might as well go and comb
your hair and perform your ablutions; come in, when I call you."
Hearing this, they likewise retired. During this while, Pao-yü fell
into a drowsy state. Chiang Yü-han then rose before his vision and told
him all about his capture by men from the Chung Shun mansion.
Presently, Chin Ch'uan-erh too appeared in his room bathed in tears,
and explained to him the circumstances which drove her to leap into the
well. But Pao-yü, who was half dreaming and half awake, was not able to
give his mind to anything that was told him. Unawares, he became
conscious of some one having given him a push; and faintly fell on his
ear the plaintive tones of some person in distress. Pao-yü was startled
out of his dreams. On opening his eyes, he found it to be no other than
Lin Tai-yü. But still fearing that it was only a dream, he promptly
raised himself, and drawing near her face he passed her features under
a minute scrutiny. Seeing her two eyes so swollen, as to look as big as
peaches, and her face glistening all over with tears: "If it is not
Tai-yü," (he thought), "who else can it be?"
Pao-yü meant to continue his scrutiny, but the lower part of his person
gave him such unbearable sharp twitches that finding it a hard task to
keep up, he, with a shout of "Ai-yo," lay himself down again, as he
heaved a sigh. "What do you once more come here for?" he asked. "The
sun, it is true, has set; but the heat remaining on the ground hasn't
yet gone, so you may, by coming over, get another sunstroke. Of course,
I've had a thrashing but I don't feel any pains or aches. If I behave
in this fashion, it's all put on to work upon their credulity, so that
they may go and spread the reports outside in such a way as to reach my
father's ear. Really it's all sham; so you mustn't treat it as a fact!"
Though Lin Tai-yü was not giving way at the time to any wails or loud
sobs, yet the more she indulged in those suppressed plaints of hers,
the worse she felt her breath get choked and her throat obstructed; so
that when Pao-yü's assurances fell on her ear, she could not express a
single sentiment, though she treasured thousands in her mind. It was
only after a long pause that she at last could observe, with agitated
voice: "You must after this turn over a new leaf."
At these words, Pao-yü heaved a deep sigh. "Compose your mind," he
urged. "Don't speak to me like this; for I am quite prepared to even
lay down my life for all those persons!"
But scarcely had he concluded this remark than some one outside the
court was heard to say: "Our lady Secunda has arrived."
Lin Tai-yü readily concluded that it was lady Feng coming, so springing
to her feet at once, "I'm off," she said; "out by the back-court. I'll
look you up again by and bye."
"This is indeed strange!" exclaimed Pao-yü as he laid hold of her and
tried to detain her. "How is it that you've deliberately started living
in fear and trembling of her!"
Lin Tai-yü grew impatient and stamped her feet. "Look at my eyes!" she
added in an undertone. "Must those people amuse themselves again by
poking fun at me?"
After this response, Pao-yü speedily let her go.
Lin Tai-yü with hurried step withdrew behind the bed; and no sooner had
she issued into the back-court, than lady Feng made her appearance in
the room by the front entrance.
"Are you better?" she asked Pao-yü. "If you fancy anything to eat, mind
you send some one over to my place to fetch it for you."
Thereupon Mrs. Hsüeh also came to pay him a visit. Shortly after, a
messenger likewise arrived from old lady Chia (to inquire after him).
When the time came to prepare the lights, Pao-yü had a couple of
mouthfuls of soup to eat, but he felt so drowsy and heavy that he fell
asleep.
Presently, Chou Jui's wife, Wu Hsin-teng's wife and Cheng Hao-shih's
wife, all of whom were old dames who frequently went to and fro, heard
that Pao-yü had been flogged and they too hurried into his quarters.
Hsi Jen promptly went out to greet them. "Aunts," she whispered,
smiling, "you've come a little too late; Master Secundus is sleeping."
Saying this, she led them into the room on the opposite side, and,
pressing then to sit down, she poured them some tea.
After sitting perfectly still for a time, "When Master Secundus awakes"
the dames observed, "do send us word!"
Hsi Jen assured them that she would, and escorted them out. Just,
however, as she was about to retrace her footsteps, she met an old
matron, sent over by Madame Wang, who said to her: "Our mistress wants
one of Master Secundus attendants to go and see her."
Upon hearing this message, Hsi Jen communed with her own thoughts. Then
turning round, she whispered to Ch'ing Wen, She Yüeh, Ch'iu Wen, and
the other maids: "Our lady wishes to see one of us, so be careful and
remain in the room while I go. I'll be back soon."
At the close of her injunctions, she and the matron made their exit out
of the garden by a short cut, and repaired into the drawing-room.
Madame Wang was seated on the cool couch, waving a banana-leaf fan.
When she became conscious of her arrival: "It didn't matter whom you
sent," she remarked, "any one would have done. But have you left him
again? Who's there to wait on him?"
At this question, Hsi Jen lost no time in forcing a smile. "Master
Secundus," she replied, "just now fell into a sound sleep. Those four
or five girls are all right now, they are well able to attend to their
master, so please, Madame, dispel all anxious thoughts! I was afraid
that your ladyship might have some orders to give, and that if I sent
any of them, they might probably not hear distinctly, and thus occasion
delay in what there was to be done."
"There's nothing much to tell you," added Madame Wang. "I only wish to
ask how his pains and aches are getting on now?"
"I applied on Mr. Secundus," answered Hsi Jen, "the medicine, which
Miss Pao-ch'ai brought over; and he's better than he was. He was so
sore at one time that he couldn't lie comfortably; but the deep sleep,
in which he is plunged now, is a clear sign of his having improved."
"Has he had anything to eat?" further inquired Madame Wang.
"Our dowager mistress sent him a bowl of soup," Hsi Jen continued, "and
of this he has had a few mouthfuls. He shouted and shouted that his
mouth was parched and fancied a decoction of sour plums, but
remembering that sour plums are astringent things, that he had been
thrashed only a short time before, and that not having been allowed to
groan, he must, of course, have been so hard pressed that fiery virus
and heated blood must unavoidably have accumulated in the heart, and
that were he to put anything of the kind within his lips, it might be
driven into the cardiac regions and give rise to some serious illness;
and what then would we do? I therefore reasoned with him for ever so
long and at last succeeded in deterring him from touching any. So
simply taking that syrup of roses, prepared with sugar, I mixed some
with water and he had half a small cup of it. But he drank it with
distaste; for, being surfeited with it, he found it neither scented nor
sweet."
"Ai-yah!" ejaculated Madame Wang. "Why didn't you come earlier and tell
me? Some one sent me the other day several bottles of scented water. I
meant at one time to have given him some, but as I feared that it would
be mere waste, I didn't let him have any. But since he is so sick and
tired of that preparation of roses, that he turns up his nose at it,
take those two bottles with you. If you just mix a teaspoonful of it in
a cup of water, it will impart to it a very strong perfume."
So saying, she hastened to tell Ts'ai Yün to fetch the bottles of
scented water, which she had received as a present a few days before.
"Let her only bring a couple of them, they'll be enough!" Hsi Jen
chimed in. "If you give us more, it will be a useless waste! If it
isn't enough, I can come and fetch a fresh supply. It will come to the
same thing!"
Having listened to all they had to say, Ts'ai Yün left the room. After
some considerable time, she, in point of fact, returned with only a
couple of bottles, which she delivered to Hsi Jen.
On examination, Hsi Jen saw two small glass bottles, no more than three
inches in size, with screwing silver stoppers at the top. On the
gosling-yellow labels was written, on one: "Pure extract of _olea
fragrans_," on the other, "Pure extract of roses."
"What fine things these are!" Hsi Jen smiled. "How many small bottles
the like of this can there be?"
"They are of the kind sent to the palace," rejoined Madame Wang.
"Didn't you notice that gosling-yellow slip? But mind, take good care
of them for him; don't fritter them away!"
Hsi Jen assented. She was about to depart when Madame Wang called her
back. "I've thought of something," she said, "that I want to ask you."
Hsi Jen hastily came back.
Madame Wang made sure that there was no one in the room. "I've heard a
faint rumour," she then inquired, "to the effect that Pao-yü got a
thrashing on this occasion on account of something or other which
Huan-Erh told my husband. Have you perchance heard what it was that he
said? If you happen to learn anything about it, do confide in me, and I
won't make any fuss and let people know that it was you who told me."
"I haven't heard anything of the kind," answered Hsi Jen. "It was
because Mr. Secundus forcibly detained an actor, and that people came
and asked master to restore him to them that he got flogged."
"It was also for this," continued Madame Wang as she nodded her head,
"but there's another reason besides."
"As for the other reason, I honestly haven't the least idea about it,"
explained Hsi Jen. "But I'll make bold to-day, and say something in
your presence, Madame, about which I don't know whether I am right or
wrong in speaking. According to what's proper…."
She had only spoken half a sentence, when hastily she closed her mouth
again.
"You are at liberty to proceed," urged Madame Wang.
"If your ladyship will not get angry, I'll speak out," remarked Hsi
Jen.
"Why should I get angry?" observed Madame Wang. "Proceed!"
"According to what's proper," resumed Hsi Jen, "our Mr. Secundus should
receive our master's admonition, for if master doesn't hold him in
check, there's no saying what he mightn't do in the future."
As soon as Madame Wang heard this, she clasped her hands and uttered
the invocation, "O-mi-to-fu!" Unable to resist the impulse, she drew
near Hsi Jen. "My dear child," she added, "you have also luckily
understood the real state of things. What you told me is in perfect
harmony with my own views! Is it likely that I don't know how to look
after a son? In former days, when your elder master, Chu, was alive,
how did I succeed in keeping him in order? And can it be that I don't,
after all, now understand how to manage a son? But there's a why and a
wherefore in it. The thought is ever present in my mind now, that I'm
already a woman past fifty, that of my children there only remains this
single one, that he too is developing a delicate physique, and that,
what's more, our dear senior prizes him as much as she would a jewel,
that were he kept under strict control, and anything perchance to
happen to him, she might, an old lady as she is, sustain some harm from
resentment, and that as the high as well as the low will then have no
peace or quiet, won't things get in a bad way? So I feel prompted to
spoil him by over-indulgence. Time and again I reason with him.
Sometimes, I talk to him; sometimes, I advise him; sometimes, I cry
with him. But though, for the time being, he's all right, he doesn't,
later on, worry his mind in any way about what I say, until he
positively gets into some other mess, when he settles down again. But
should any harm befall him, through these floggings, upon whom will I
depend by and bye?"
As she spoke, she could not help melting into tears.
At the sight of Madame Wang in this disconsolate mood, Hsi Jen herself
unconsciously grew wounded at heart, and as she wept along with her,
"Mr. Secundus," she ventured, "is your ladyship's own child, so how
could you not love him? Even we, who are mere servants, think it a
piece of good fortune when we can wait on him for a time, and all
parties can enjoy peace and quiet. But if he begins to behave in this
manner, even peace and quiet will be completely out of the question for
us. On what day, and at what hour, don't I advise Mr. Secundus; yet I
can't manage to stir him up by any advice! But it happens that all that
crew are ever ready to court his friendship, so it isn't to be wondered
that he is what he is! The truth is that he thinks the advice we give
him is not right and proper! As you have to-day, Madame, alluded to
this subject, I've got something to tell you which has weighed heavy on
my mind. I've been anxious to come and confide it to your ladyship and
to solicit your guidance, but I've been in fear and dread lest you
should give way to suspicion. For not only would then all my
disclosures have been in vain, but I would have deprived myself of even
a piece of ground wherein my remains could be laid."
Madame Wang perceived that her remarks were prompted by some purpose.
"My dear child," she eagerly urged; "go on, speak out! When I recently
heard one and all praise you secretly behind your back, I simply
fancied that it was because you were careful in your attendance on
Pao-yü; or possibly because you got on well with every one; all on
account of minor considerations like these; (but I never thought it was
on account of your good qualities). As it happens, what you told me
just now concerns, in all its bearings, a great principle, and is in
perfect accord with my ideas, so speak out freely, if you have aught to
say! Only let no one else know anything about it, that is all that is
needed."
"I've got nothing more to say," proceeded Hsi Jen. "My sole idea was to
solicit your advice, Madame, as to how to devise a plan to induce Mr.
Secundus to move his quarters out of the garden by and bye, as things
will get all right then."
This allusion much alarmed Madame Wang. Speedily taking Hsi Jen's hand
in hers: "Is it likely," she inquired, "that Pao-yü has been up to any
mischief with any one?"
"Don't be too suspicious!" precipitately replied Hsi Jen. "It wasn't at
anything of the kind that I was hinting. I merely expressed my humble
opinion. Mr. Secundus is a young man now, and the young ladies inside
are no more children. More than that, Miss Lin and Miss Pao may be two
female maternal first cousins of his, but albeit his cousins, there is
nevertheless the distinction of male and female between them; and day
and night, as they are together, it isn't always convenient, when they
have to rise and when they have to sit; so this cannot help making one
give way to misgivings. Were, in fact, any outsider to see what's going
on, it would not look like the propriety, which should exist in great
families. The proverb appositely says that: 'when there's no trouble,
one should make provision for the time of trouble.' How many concerns
there are in the world, of which there's no making head or tail, mostly
because what persons do without any design is construed by such
designing people, as chance to have their notice attracted to it, as
having been designedly accomplished, and go on talking and talking
till, instead of mending matters, they make them worse! But if
precautions be not taken beforehand, something improper will surely
happen, for your ladyship is well aware of the temperament Mr. Secundus
has shown all along! Besides, his great weakness is to fuss in our
midst, so if no caution be exercised, and the slightest mistake be
sooner or later committed, there'll be then no question of true or
false: for when people are many one says one thing and another, and
what is there that the mouths of that mean lot will shun with any sign
of respect? Why, if their hearts be well disposed, they will maintain
that he is far superior to Buddha himself. But if their hearts be badly
disposed, they will at once knit a tissue of lies to show that he
cannot even reach the standard of a beast! Now, if people by and bye
speak well of Mr. Secundus, we'll all go on smoothly with our lives.
But should he perchance give reason to any one to breathe the slightest
disparaging remark, won't his body, needless for us to say, be smashed
to pieces, his bones ground to powder, and the blame, which he might
incur, be made ten thousand times more serious than it is? These things
are all commonplace trifles; but won't Mr. Secundus' name and
reputation be subsequently done for for life? Secondly, it's no easy
thing for your ladyship to see anything of our master. A proverb also
says: 'The perfect man makes provision beforehand;' so wouldn't it be
better that we should, this very minute, adopt such steps as will
enable us to guard against such things? Your ladyship has much to
attend to, and you couldn't, of course, think of these things in a
moment. And as for us, it would have been well and good, had they never
suggested themselves to our minds; but since they have, we should be
the more to blame did we not tell you anything about them, Madame. Of
late, I have racked my mind, both day and night on this score; and
though I couldn't very well confide to any one, my lamp alone knows
everything!"
After listening to these words, Madame Wang felt as if she had been
blasted by thunder and struck by lightning; and, as they fitted so
appositely with the incident connected with Chin Ch'uan-erh, her heart
was more than ever fired with boundless affection for Hsi Jen. "My dear
girl," she promptly smiled, "it's you, who are gifted with enough
foresight to be able to think of these things so thoroughly. Yet, did I
not also think of them? But so busy have I been these several times
that they slipped from my memory. What you've told me to-day, however,
has brought me to my senses! It's, thanks to you, that the reputation
of me, his mother, and of him, my son, is preserved intact! I really
never had the faintest idea that you were so excellent! But you had
better go now; I know of a way. Yet, just another word. After your
remarks to me, I'll hand him over to your charge; please be careful of
him. If you preserve him from harm, it will be tantamount to preserving
me from harm, and I shall certainly not be ungrateful to you for it."
Hsi Jen said several consecutive yes's, and went on her way. She got
back just in time to see Pao-yü awake. Hsi Jen explained all about the
scented water; and, so intensely delighted was Pao-yü, that he at once
asked that some should be mixed and brought to him to taste. In very
deed, he found it unusually fragrant and good. But as his heart was a
prey to anxiety on Tai-yü's behalf, he was full of longings to despatch
some one to look her up. He was, however, afraid of Hsi Jen. Readily
therefore he devised a plan to first get Hsi Jen out of the way, by
despatching her to Pao-ch'ai's, to borrow a book. After Hsi Jen's
departure, he forthwith called Ch'ing Wen. "Go," he said, "over to Miss
Lin's and see what she's up to. Should she inquire about me, all you
need tell her is that I'm all right."
"What shall I go empty-handed for?" rejoined Ch'ing Wen. "If I were, at
least, to give her a message, it would look as if I had gone for
something."
"I have no message that you can give her," added Pao-yü.
"If it can't be that," suggested Ch'ing Wen; "I might either take
something over or fetch something. Otherwise, when I get there, what
excuse will I be able to find?"
After some cogitation, Pao-yü stretched out his hand and, laying hold
of a couple of handkerchiefs, he threw them to Ch'ing Wen. "These will
do," he smiled. "Just tell her that I bade you take them to her."
"This is strange!" exclaimed Ch'ing Wen. "Will she accept these two
half worn-out handkerchiefs! She'll besides get angry and say that you
were making fun of her."
"Don't worry yourself about that;" laughed Pao-yü. "She will certainly
know what I mean."
Ch'ing Wen, at this rejoinder, had no help but to take the
handkerchiefs and to go to the Hsiao Hsiang lodge, where she discovered
Ch'un Hsien in the act of hanging out handkerchiefs on the railings to
dry. As soon as she saw her walk in, she vehemently waved her hand.
"She's gone to sleep!" she said. Ch'ing Wen, however, entered the room.
It was in perfect darkness. There was not even so much as a lantern
burning, and Tai-yü was already ensconced in bed. "Who is there?" she
shouted.
"It's Ch'ing Wen!" promptly replied Ch'ing Wen.
"What are you up to?" Tai-yü inquired.
"Mr. Secundus," explained Ch'ing Wen, "sends you some handkerchiefs,
Miss."
Tai-yü's spirits sunk as soon as she caught her reply. "What can he
have sent me handkerchiefs for?" she secretly reasoned within herself.
"Who gave him these handkerchiefs?" she then asked aloud. "They must be
fine ones, so tell him to keep them and give them to some one else; for
I don't need such things at present."
"They're not new," smiled Ch'ing Wen. "They are of an ordinary kind,
and old."
Hearing this, Lin Tai-yü felt downcast. But after minutely searching
her heart, she at last suddenly grasped his meaning and she hastily
observed: "Leave them and go your way."
Ch'ing Wen was compelled to put them down; and turning round, she
betook herself back again. But much though she turned things over in
her mind during the whole of her way homewards, she did not succeed in
solving their import.
When Tai-yü guessed the object of the handkerchief, her very soul
unawares flitted from her. "As Pao-yü has gone to such pains," she
pondered, "to try and probe this dejection of mine, I have, on one
hand, sufficient cause to feel gratified; but as there's no knowing
what my dejection will come to in the future there is, on the other,
enough to make me sad. Here he abruptly and deliberately sends me a
couple of handkerchiefs; and, were it not that he has divined my inmost
feelings, the mere sight of these handkerchiefs would be enough to make
me treat the whole thing as ridiculous. The secret exchange of presents
between us," she went on to muse, "fills me also with fears; and the
thought that those tears, which I am ever so fond of shedding to
myself, are of no avail, drives me likewise to blush with shame."
And by dint of musing and reflecting, her heart began, in a moment, to
bubble over with such excitement that, much against her will, her
thoughts in their superabundance rolled on incessantly. So speedily
directing that a lamp should be lighted, she little concerned herself
about avoiding suspicion, shunning the use of names, or any other such
things, and set to work and rubbed the ink, soaked the pen, and then
wrote the following stanzas on the two old handkerchiefs:
Vain in my eyes the tears collect; those tears in vain they flow,
Which I in secret shed; they slowly drop; but for whom though?
The silk kerchiefs, which he so kindly troubled to give me,
How ever could they not with anguish and distress fill me?
The second ran thus:
Like falling pearls or rolling gems, they trickle on the sly.
Daily I have no heart for aught; listless all day am I.
As on my pillow or sleeves' edge I may not wipe them dry,
I let them dot by dot, and drop by drop to run freely.
And the third:
The coloured thread cannot contain the pearls cov'ring my face.
Tears were of old at Hsiang Chiang shed, but faint has waxed each
trace.
Outside my window thousands of bamboos, lo, also grow,
But whether they be stained with tears or not, I do not know.
Lin Tai-yü was still bent upon going on writing, but feeling her whole
body burn like fire, and her face scalding hot, she advanced towards
the cheval-glass, and, raising the embroidered cover, she looked in.
She saw at a glance that her cheeks wore so red that they, in very
truth, put even the peach blossom to the shade. Yet little did she
dream that from this date her illness would assume a more serious
phase. Shortly, she threw herself on the bed, and, with the
handkerchiefs still grasped in her hand, she was lost in a reverie.
Putting her aside, we will now take up our story with Hsi Jen. She went
to pay a visit to Pao-ch'ai, but as it happened, Pao-ch'ai was not in
the garden, but had gone to look up her mother. Hsi Jen, however, could
not very well come back with empty hands so she waited until the second
watch, when Pao-ch'ai eventually returned to her quarters.
Indeed, so correct an estimate of Hsüeh P'an's natural disposition did
Pao-ch'ai ever have, that from an early moment she entertained within
herself some faint suspicion that it must have been Hsüeh P'an, who had
instigated some person or other to come and lodge a complaint against
Pao-yü. And when she also unexpectedly heard Hsi Jen's disclosures on
the subject, she became more positive in her surmises. The one, who
had, in fact, told Hsi Jen was Pei Ming. But Pei Ming too had arrived
at the conjecture in his own mind, and could not adduce any definite
proof, so that every one treated his statements as founded partly on
mere suppositions, and partly on actual facts; but, despite this, they
felt quite certain that it was (Hsüeh P'an) who had intrigued.
Hsüeh P'an had always enjoyed this reputation; but on this particular
instance the harm was not, actually, his own doing; yet as every one,
with one consent, tenaciously affirmed that it was he, it was no easy
matter for him, much though he might argue, to clear himself of blame.
Soon after his return, on this day, from a drinking bout out of doors,
he came to see his mother; but finding Pao-ch'ai in her rooms, they
exchanged a few irrelevant remarks. "I hear," he consequently asked,
"that cousin Pao-yü has got into trouble; why is it?"
Mrs. Hsüeh was at the time much distressed on this score. As soon
therefore as she caught this question, she gnashed her teeth with rage,
and shouted: "You good-for-nothing spiteful fellow! It's all you who
are at the bottom of this trouble; and do you still have the face to
come and ply me with questions?"
These words made Hsüeh P'an wince. "When did I stir up any trouble?" he
quickly asked.
"Do you still go on shamming!" cried Mrs. Hsüeh. "Every one knows full
well that it was you, who said those things, and do you yet
prevaricate?"
"Were every one," insinuated Hsüeh P'an, "to assert that I had
committed murder, would you believe even that?"
"Your very sister is well aware that they were said by you." Mrs. Hsüeh
continued, "and is it likely that she would accuse you falsely, pray?"
"Mother," promptly interposed Pao-ch'ai, "you shouldn't be brawling
with brother just now! If you wait quietly, we'll find out the plain
and honest truth." Then turning towards Hsüeh P'an: "Whether it's you,
who said those things or not," she added, "it's of no consequence. The
whole affair, besides, is a matter of the past, so what need is there
for any arguments; they will only be making a mountain of a mole-hill!
I have just one word of advice to give you; don't, from henceforward,
be up to so much reckless mischief outside; and concern yourself a
little less with other people's affairs! All you do is day after day to
associate with your friends and foolishly gad about! You are a
happy-go-lucky sort of creature! If nothing happens well and good; but
should by and bye anything turn up, every one will, though it be none
of your doing, imagine again that you are at the bottom of it! Not to
speak of others, why I myself will be the first to suspect you!"
Hsüeh P'an was naturally open-hearted and plain-spoken, and could not
brook anything in the way of innuendoes, so, when on the one side,
Pao-ch'ai advised him not to foolishly gad about, and his mother, on
the other, hinted that he had a foul tongue, and that he was the cause
that Pao-yü had been flogged, he at once got so exasperated that he
jumped about in an erratic manner and did all in his power, by vowing
and swearing, to explain matters. "Who has," he ejaculated, heaping
abuse upon every one, "laid such a tissue of lies to my charge! I'd
like to take the teeth of that felon and pull them out! It's clear as
day that they shove me forward as a target; for now that Pao-yü has
been flogged they find no means of making a display of their zeal. But,
is Pao-yü forsooth the lord of the heavens that because he has had a
thrashing from his father, the whole household should be fussing for
days? The other time, he behaved improperly, and my uncle gave him two
whacks. But our venerable ancestor came, after a time, somehow or
other, I don't know how, to hear about it, and, maintaining that it was
all due to Mr. Chia Chen, she called him before her, and gave him a
good blowing up. And here to-day, they have gone further, and involved
me. They may drag me in as much as they like, I don't fear a rap! But
won't it be better for me to go into the garden, and take Pao-yü and
give him a bit of my mind and kill him? I can then pay the penalty by
laying down my life for his, and one and all will enjoy peace and
quiet!"
While he clamoured and shouted, he looked about him for the bar of the
door, and, snatching it up, he there and then was running off, to the
consternation of Mrs. Hsüeh, who clutched him in her arms. "You
murderous child of retribution!" she cried. "Whom would you go and
beat? come first and assail me?"
From excitement Hsüeh P'an's eyes protruded like copper bells. "What
are you up to," he vociferated, "that you won't let me go where I
please, and that you deliberately go on calumniating me? But every day
that Pao-yü lives, the longer by that day I have to bear a false
charge, so it's as well that we should both die that things be cleared
up?"
Pao-ch'ai too hurriedly rushed forward. "Be patient a bit!" she
exhorted him. "Here's mamma in an awful state of despair. Not to
mention that it should be for you to come and pacify her, you
contrariwise kick up all this rumpus! Why, saying nothing about her who
is your parent, were even a perfect stranger to advise you, it would be
meant for your good! But the good counsel she gave you has stirred up
your monkey instead."
"From the way you're now speaking," Hsüeh P'an rejoined, "it must be
you, who said that it was I; no one else but you!"
"You simply know how to feel displeased with me for speaking," argued
Pao-ch'ai, "but you don't feel displeased with yourself for that
reckless way of yours of looking ahead and not minding what is behind!"
"You now bear me a grudge," Hsüeh P'an added, "for looking to what is
ahead and not to what is behind; but how is it you don't feel indignant
with Pao-yü for stirring up strife and provoking trouble outside?
Leaving aside everything else, I'll merely take that affair of Ch'i
Kuan-erh's, which occurred the other day, and recount it to you as an
instance. My friends and I came across this Ch'i Kuan-erh, ten times at
least, but never has he made a single intimate remark to me, and how is
it that, as soon as he met Pao-yü the other day, he at once produced
his sash, and gave it to him, though he did not so much as know what
his surname and name were? Now is it likely, forsooth, that this too
was something that I started?"
"Do you still refer to this?" exclaimed Mrs. Hsüeh and Pao-ch'ai, out
of patience. "Wasn't it about this that he was beaten? This makes it
clear enough that it's you who gave the thing out."
"Really, you're enough to exasperate one to death!" Hsüeh P'an
exclaimed. "Had you confined yourselves to saying that I had started
the yarn, I wouldn't have lost my temper; but what irritates me is that
such a fuss should be made for a single Pao-yü, as to subvert heaven
and earth!"
"Who fusses?" shouted Pao-ch'ai. "You are the first to arm yourself to
the teeth and start a row, and then you say that it's others who are up
to mischief!"
Hsüeh P'an, seeing that every remark, made by Pao-ch'ai, contained so
much reasonableness that he could with difficulty refute it, and that
her words were even harder for him to reply to than were those uttered
by his mother, he was consequently bent upon contriving a plan to make
use of such language as could silence her and compel her to return to
her room, so as to have no one bold enough to interfere with his
speaking; but, his temper being up, he was not in a position to weigh
his speech. "Dear Sister!" he readily therefore said, "you needn't be
flying into a huff with me! I've long ago divined your feelings. Mother
told me some time back that for you with that gold trinket, must be
selected some suitor provided with a jade one; as such a one will be a
suitable match for you. And having treasured this in your mind, and
seen that Pao-yü has that rubbishy thing of his, you naturally now
seize every occasion to screen him…."
However, before he could finish, Pao-ch'ai trembled with anger, and
clinging to Mrs. Hsüeh, she melted into tears. "Mother," she observed,
"have you heard what brother says, what is it all about?"
Hsüeh P'an, at the sight of his sister bathed in tears, became alive to
the fact that he had spoken inconsiderately, and, flying into a rage,
he walked away to his own quarters and retired to rest. But we can well
dispense with any further comment on the subject.
Pao-ch'ai was, at heart, full of vexation and displeasure. She meant to
give vent to her feelings in some way, but the fear again of upsetting
her mother compelled her to conceal her tears. She therefore took leave
of her parent, and went back all alone. On her return to her chamber,
she sobbed and sobbed throughout the whole night. The next day, she got
out of bed, as soon as it dawned; but feeling even no inclination to
comb her chevelure or perform her ablutions, she carelessly adjusted
her clothes and came out of the garden to see her mother.
As luck would have it, she encountered Tai-yü standing alone under the
shade of the trees, who inquired of her: "Where she was off to?"
"I'm going home," Hsüeh Pao-ch'ai replied. And as she uttered these
words, she kept on her way.
But Tai-yü perceived that she was going off in a disconsolate mood;
and, noticing that her eyes betrayed signs of crying, and that her
manner was unlike that of other days, she smilingly called out to her
from behind: "Sister, you should take care of yourself a bit. Were you
even to cry so much as to fill two water jars with tears, you wouldn't
heal the wounds inflicted by the cane."
But as what reply Hsüeh Pao-ch'ai gave is not yet known to you, reader,
lend an ear to the explanation contained in the next chapter.