A Dream of Red Mansions – Chapter 52

0
216

Chapter 52

Tactful Pinger Conceals the Theft of

Her Gold Bracelet

Plucky Qingwen Mends a

Peacock-Feather Cape in Bed

After the rest had left, Baochai and the other girls dined with the old lady. The meal at an end, Baoyu went back first to the Garden as he had Qingwen on his mind. His rooms were filled with the pungent scent of herbs and Qingwen was lying all alone on the kang, her face flushed with fever, her forehead hot to his touch. After hastily warming his hands over the brazier, he felt her body beneath the quilt and found it burning too.

‘I don’t mind the others going off,’ he said, ‘but how could Sheyue and Qiuwen have the heart to leave you?’

‘I made Qiuwen go for her meal, and just now Pinger called Sheyue out to have a word with her. Goodness knows what they’re being so secretive about my staying here although I’m ill, I suppose.’

‘Pinger’s not like that,’ he assured her. ‘Besides, she’d no idea you were ill. She must have come to talk to Sheyue about something else and, happening to find you in bed, said she’d come to ask after you. That’s only common politeness. If any trouble comes of your staying here, it has nothing to do with her. And the two of you normally get on so well, she’d never risk spoiling your friendship over something that is no concern of hers.’

‘You’re probably right,’ agreed Qingwen. ‘But why are they sud­denly hiding something from me?’

‘I’ll slip out by the back door and listen outside the window, then let you know what it’s all about,’ he told her with a grin.

He did in fact go out to eavesdrop and heard Sheyue ask softly, ‘How did you recover it?’

‘When I missed it that day after washing my hands, my mistress told me not to make a fuss,’ replied Pinger. ‘Once out of the Garden, however, she ordered the matrons in all the Garden apartments to investigate carefully. It was Miss Xiuyan’s maid whom we suspected. We thought that, being poor and never having seen such things before, the child might have picked it up. We never dreamed it would turn out to be one of your girls. Luckily Madam Lian was out when Mrs. Song brought the bracelet back to me saying she’d seen young Zhuier take it, and she’d come to report it to Madam Lian. I was very glad to get my bracelet back.

‘I couldn’t help thinking then how considerate Baoyu is to you girls, and how proud of you as well. Yet two years ago Lianger stole a piece of jade, which is still making idle tongues wag, and now another of your girls has stolen a gold bracelet from one of his neighbours, too! It’s a shame that Baoyu of all people should be disgraced by his own maids in this way. So I hurriedly asked Mrs. Song on no account to tell him but just to forget it, and to say nothing to anyone about it. For if this came to the ears of the old lady and Lady Wang, how angry they’d be! It would reflect badly on Xiren and the rest of you as well.

‘So I simply told Madam Lian that the clasp of my bracelet was loose and so I’d dropped it in the grass on the way to Madam Zhu’s place, when the snow was too deep to find it. Today after the snow had melted and it lay glinting in the sun, I picked it up where I’d dropped it. And she took my word for it. The reason I’m telling you this is so that you’ll take precautions in future and not send Zhuier out on any errands. When Xiren comes back, you can talk it over with her and cook up some excuse for dismissing the girl.’

‘It’s not as if the little bitch hadn’t seen plenty of things of that sort,’ exclaimed Sheyue. ‘Why did she have to steal it?’

‘There’s not too much gold in that bracelet, though the pearl on it is a good size,’ remarked Pinger. ‘It’s one that Madam Lian gave me. She called it her ‘shrimp-beard bracelet.’ I haven’t told Qingwen because she’s as hot-tempered as crackling charcoal. She’d be bound to flare up and start beating or cursing the girl; then the whole story would get out. That’s why I’m just warning you to be on your guard.’ This said she took her leave.

Baoyu had overheard this with mixed feelings: pleasure at Pinger’s consideration for him, anger at Zhuier’s dishonesty, and regret that such

an intelligent girl should do something so underhand.

He went back to Qingwen and told her all that Pinger had said, con­cluding, ‘She didn’t want you to know till you were better, because you take things so much to heart that this news might make your illness worse.

Indeed, Qingwen’s eyebrows had shot up and her eyes were round with rage. She wanted to summon Zhuier then and there.

‘All Pinger’s consideration for us would be wasted if you make a scene,’ he warned. ‘As she’s been so thoughtful, let’s do as she sug­gested and get rid of Zhuier later.’

‘It’s all very well for you to talk,’ cried Qingwen. ‘But I can’t stand it ‘ I’m so angry!’

‘It’s not worth flaring up about. Just concentrate on getting better.’

Qingwen took some medicine then and that evening had the second infusion. She sweated a little that night, but not enough, and awoke the next morning with a fever, headache, a stopped-up nose and sore throat. Doctor Wang called again and made certain alterations in the prescrip­tion; but although her temperature went down a little, her head continued to ache.

‘Bring her some snuff,’ Baoyu told Sheyue. ‘She’ll feel better after a few good sneezes.

Sheyue accordingly brought him a small flat, golden-starred glass case with gilt double-catches, and Baoyu opened it. Inside the lid, in western enamel, was a picture of a naked girl with yellow hair and fleshy wings the case contained some genuine Wangqia foreign snuff; but instead of taking it, Qingwen just pored over the picture.

‘Do hurry up and take some,’ Baoyu urged her. ‘It’s not good to expose snuff to the air too long.’

She promptly dipped one finger-nail into the snuff, put it to her nose and inhaled. As she felt no effect, she tried a larger amount. At once her nose tingled and the smarting spread right up to her cranium. She sneezed so violently, five or six times in succession, that her nose and eyes started to run.

‘My, that’s better!’ she exclaimed, closing the case. ‘Fetch me some paper, quick.’

One of the younger maids had a stack of fine soft paper ready, and Qingwen took sheet after sheet to blow her nose.

‘Well, how’s that?’ asked Baoyu.

‘Better. But my temples still ache.’

‘We may as well try some other Western medicine to set that right too.’ He told Sheyue, ‘Go and ask the Second Mistress for some of that Western ointment she keeps for headaches. Yi-fu-na, it’s called.’

Sheyue assented and went off to Xifeng’s apartments, returning after a while with some of the ointment. She then fetched a scrap of red satin from which she cut out two round patches, each the size of her finger-tip. Having heated the ointment, she spread it on with a hairpin. Qingwen picked up a hand-mirror and stuck the patches on her temples herself.

‘You were lying there like a tousled ghost,’ teased Sheyue. ‘Now with these patches you look rather pretty! We’re so used to the Second Mistress wearing these that we hardly notice them on her.’

She turned to Baoyu. ‘Madam Lian says tomorrow is your Uncle Wang’s birthday, and the mistress wants you to go and pay your re­spects. What will you wear? We’d better get your clothes ready tonight, to save trouble tomorrow morning.’

‘I’ll wear whatever’s handy,’ Baoyu answered. ‘I can’t keep track of these endless birthdays all the year round.’

With that he got up and went out, intending to go and watch Xichun painting. Just outside his compound, however, he saw Baoqin’s little maid Xiaoluo passing by not far away. Overtaking her, he asked where she was going.

‘Our two young ladies are with Miss Daiyu,’ she told him. ‘I’m on my way there too.’

So he changed his mind and went with her to Bamboo Lodge. There, sitting round the brazier and chatting with Daiyu, he found not only Baochai and Baoqin but Xiuyan as well, while Zijuan was sewing in the warm alcove by the window.

‘Here comes another!’ they cried at sight of him. ‘There’s no place left for you.

‘What a delightful picture!’ laughed Baoyu. ‘‘Beauties in a Winter Chamber!’ Too bad I didn’t come a bit earlier. Still, this is the warmest room there is and I shan’t be cold on this chair.’

He seated himself on Daiyu’s favourite chair which was covered with a squirrel-fur rug. And his eye fell on a rectangular marble jardiniere in the alcove in which were arranged some single-petalled narcissi and rocks.

‘What lovely flowers!’ he exclaimed. ‘The warmer the room, the stronger their scent. How is it I didn’t notice them yesterday?’

Daiyu told him, ‘The wife of your chief steward Lai Da sent Baoqin two pots of winter-plum and two of narcissi. Baoqin gave me one pot of narcissi and Tanchun one of winter-plum. I only took it to show my ap­preciation of her kindness. If you like it, you can have it.’

‘I’ve two pots actually in my room, only they’re not as good as this,’ he replied. ‘How can you possibly give away a present from cousin Baoqin?’

‘I’ve medicine simmering on the stove all day; in fact, I practically live on medicine,’ she countered. ‘How can I stand the scent of flowers as well? It’s too enervating. Besides, the pungent aroma of medicine here spoils the fragrance of the flowers. You’d better take these narcissi to your place where their pure perfume won’t get mixed up with other odours.’

‘How do you know?’ he demanded laughingly. ‘I’ve a patient tak­ing medicine in my place too now.’

‘That’s a strange way to talk,’ she retorted. ‘As if I was hinting at something. How should I know what’s happening in your apartments? You should have come earlier to listen to our stories, instead of turning up now and raising such a rumpus.’

‘We’ve a subject now for the next meeting of our club,’ declared Baoyu. ‘We can write on the narcissus and winter-plum.’

‘Not I!’ cried Daiyu. ‘No more versifying for me. One only gets penalized each time, and that’s too shameful.’ She covered her face with her hands.

‘Now then!’ laughed Baoyu. ‘Why make fun of me again? If even I don’t feel ashamed why should you hide your face?’

‘Next time I’ll call a meeting,’ announced Baochai. ‘Each of you will have to produce four pentasyllabic shi and four ci on different themes. The first shi of couplets will be on The Diagram of the Supreme Ulti­mate,’ and all the words that rhyme with xian will have to be used ‘ not one must be left out.’

‘You obviously don’t really want to invite us, cousin, or you wouldn’t make things so difficult,’ chuckled Baoqin. ‘Of course, if one tried, one could manage by filling up the lines with phrases from the Book of Change – but where’s the fun in that? When I was eight, my father took me to the coast of the western sea to buy foreign goods, and there we saw a girl from the land of Zhenzhen, who had just turned fifteen, with a face like those beauties in Western paintings. Her long golden hair was plaited, and in it she wore precious stones like coral, amber, cat’s-eye and emer­ald. She had on golden chain-mail and a jacket of foreign brocade, and she carried a Japanese sword inlaid with gold and studded with gems-in fact, she was even lovelier than those beauties in the paintings. It was said that she was versed in our Chinese classics and could expound the Five Can­ons and write poems; so my father asked, through an interpreter, to see one of her poems written in her own hand.’

They all marvelled at this story.

Baoyu pleaded, ‘Good cousin, do let me have a look at that poem!’

‘I left it in Nanjing,’ said Baoqin. ‘I can’t lay my hands on it at a moment’s notice.’

Baoyu, most disappointed, sighed at not having the luck to see it.

‘Don’t try to fool us!’ chuckled Daiyu, tugging at Baoqin’s sleeve. ‘I know you wouldn’t leave such things behind. You’d naturally bring them all along. They may be taken in by your fib, but not I.’

Baoqin smiled and blushingly lowered her head in silence.

‘Trust Daiyu to say such a thing,’ put in Baochai. ‘You can’t out­smart her.’

‘If you’ve brought it, do let us profit by seeing it,’ urged Daiyu.

‘They’ve a whole pile of cases and baskets not yet sorted out,’ ex­plained Baochai. ‘Who knows which one it’s in? Just wait until everything’s properly unpacked, then she’ll let everyone see it.’ She turned to Baoqin. ‘Don’t you know it by heart? Do recite it.’

‘I remember a pentasyllabic regular verse she wrote,’ said Paoqin. ‘It wasn’t bad at all for a foreigner.’

‘Wait a bit,’ interposed Baochai. ‘Let’s get Xiangyun here to hear it too.’ She called Xiaoluo and told her, ‘Go to our apartments and tell our maid poetess that we have a foreign beauty here who writes good po­ems. And tell her to bring the other poetry maniac to see her too.’

Xiaoluo went off on this errand with a smile.

After a while they heard Xiangyun demanding merrily, ‘Where is this foreign beauty?’ And in she came with Xiangling.

They teased, ‘Before you see her, you hear her voice.’

Baoqin and the others hurriedly offered them seats and told them what had been said.

‘Hurry up and let us hear the poem,’ begged Xiangyun.

Then Baoqin recited:

Last night I dreamed in a vermilion mansion,

Today my songs rise by the sea:

Clouds from the islands make a haze over the ocean,

Mist from the hills links the forests’ greenery;

To the moon, past and present are one;

Men’s passions, inconstant, are no counterpart.

As spring pervades south China.

How can I but take this to heart?

‘Not bad at all!’ was the verdict. ‘Better, in fact, than some Chinese could write.’

As they were speaking Sheyue came in to announce, ‘The mistress has sent to tell Master Bao to call on his uncle first thing tomorrow morn­ing. She wants him to explain that she’s not well enough to go herself.’

Baoyu, who had risen to accept these instructions, asked Baochai and Baoqin if they would be going too.

‘No,’ said Baochai. ‘We just sent presents yesterday.’

After a little further chat they dispersed.

Baoyu had told his cousins to go on ahead, leaving him to follow, but now Daiyu asked him:

‘When will Xiren be back?’

‘Not until after the funeral, of course,’ he answered.

Daiyu had more to say but hesitated, lost in thought for a while.

‘Well, go along now,’ she said finally.

Baoyu, too, had much in his heart to say but did not know how to put it into words. After a thoughtful pause he rejoined, ‘We can talk again tomorrow.’

He walked down the steps with lowered head, turning back suddenly to ask, ‘Are you coughing much, now that the nights are longer? How often do you wake?’

‘I had a good night yesterday, with only two fits of coughing. But I only managed to sleep through the fourth watch ‘ after that I couldn’t get back to sleep again.’

‘I’ve just remembered something important.’ Drawing closer to her he whispered, ‘I think that bird’s-nest Baochai gave you….’

He was cut short by the arrival of concubine Zhao, come to ask after Daiyu’s health.

Daiyu knew that she had only called out of politeness on her way back from Tanchun’s apartments. She made her sit down and remarked, ‘It was considerate of you to come out on such a cold day.’

She ordered tea, glancing at Baoyu as she did so. Taking the hint, he left to join his mother for dinner, and was there reminded to make an early start the next day. Upon his return to Happy Red Court he saw to it that Qingwen took her medicine and slept in the warmth inside the al­cove, while he remained outside. The brazier was moved closer to the alcove, and Sheyue slept on the clothes-warmer. They passed a quiet night.

The next morning Qingwen woke Sheyue before it was light.

‘Get up!’ she called. ‘You never seem to have had enough sleep! Go and get them to make some tea while I wake him up.’

Sheyue scrambled into her clothes.

‘Let’s get him up and dressed first, and move away this clothes-warmer before we call the others,’ she proposed. ‘The nurses said he wasn’t to sleep in this room for fear of infection. If we let them see us all crowded together in here, they’ll start nagging again.

‘Just what I think,’ agreed Qingwen.

Baoyu woke up himself as they were about to rouse him. He got up and dressed without delay while Sheyue called in some young maids to tidy the room. Only when this was done were Qiuwen and Tanyun summoned to wait on Baoyu.

As he finished his toilet Sheyue said, ‘It’s cloudy again and looks like snow, you’d better wear something woollen.’

He nodded and changed his clothes, then sipped a little of the lotus-seed and date broth a young maid offered him on a small tray, and took a piece of crystallized ginger from the plate Sheyue brought him. Finally, having urged Qingwen to look after herself, he went to the Lady Dowager’s apartments.

His grandmother was still abed, but hearing that Baoyu was going out she had him admitted to her bedroom, where he saw Baoqin lying asleep behind her, her face to the wall.

The Lady Dowager noticed that Baoyu was wearing, over his brown velvet archer’s coat lined with fox fur, a scarlet felt jacket embroidered with gold thread. Its slate-blue satin border was fringed with tassels.

‘Is it snowing?’ she asked him.

‘Not yet, but it looks as if it will,’ he replied.

‘Bring him that peacock-feather cape taken out yesterday,’ the old lady ordered Yuanyang.

The maid promptly brought in a cape which shimmered gold, green and blue and was no less magnificent, in a different style, than Baoqin’s cape of wild-duck down.

‘This is called ‘golden peacock felt, ‘‘ his grandmother told him with a smile. ‘It was woven of peacock feathers in Russia. The other day I gave your cousin one of wild-duck down, so now I’m making you a present of this.’

Baoyu kowtowed his thanks and put on the cape.

‘Mind you show it to your mother before you go out,’ the Lady Dowa­ger charged him with a smile.

He agreed to this and, going out, saw Yuanyang standing in the pas­sage rubbing her eyes. Since the day on which she had vowed never to marry, she had upset him by ignoring him. At sight of him now she started to slip away, but he stepped forward to greet her.

‘Look, dear sister! How does this suit me?’

She flung away from him into the old lady’s room.

Baoyu had to go on then to show the cape to his mother, after which he returned to the Garden and displayed it to Qingwen and Sheyue. He went back then to the Lady Dowager.

‘Mother’s seen it and thinks it a pity to wear it,’ he said. ‘She told me to be extra careful not to spoil it.’

‘It’s the only one left,’ replied his grandmother. ‘If you spoil it, you won’t get another. Impossible to replace it.’ She warned him not to drink too much and to come back early, which he promised to do.

Some old nurses followed him to the main hall where six stewards ‘Nanny Li’s son Li Gui, Wang Rong, Zhang Ruojin, Zhao Yihua, Qian Qi and Zhou Rui ‘ were waiting for him. With them were his four pages Mingyan, Banhe, Chuyao and Saohong, who were carrying a change of clothes for him and a cushion. A splendidly caparisoned white horse with an embossed saddle stood there in readiness too. When the stewards had received the old nurses’ instructions, acting as grooms they helped Baoyu to mount slowly into the saddle. Then Li Gui and Wang Rong took the bridle, Qian Qi and Zhou Rui led the way, and Zhang Ruojin and Zhao Yihua followed close behind, one on each side of Baoyu.

‘Let’s leave by the side gate, brothers,’ called Baoyu to Zhou Rui and Qian Qi. ‘Then I won’t have to dismount by my father’s study.’

‘There’s no need for that,’ replied Zhou Rui, turning his head with a smile. ‘His Lordship is away and the place is locked.’

‘Even so, I still ought to get down,’ insisted Baoyu.

‘Quite right, sir,’ chuckled Qian Qi and Li Gui. ‘If you were too lazy to dismount and we happened to run into Mr. Lai or Mr. Lin, even if they didn’t lecture you they’d have something to say about it. And all the blame would be laid on us for not teaching you better manners.’

So Zhou Rui and Qian Qi led the horse to the side gate. And, sure enough, as they were talking they ran into Lai Da. Baoyu promptly pulled up to dismount, but the chief steward hurried forward and clasped his knee. Baoyu stood up in his stirrups and, taking him by the hand, ex­changed greetings with him. Then a page came in at the head of a couple of dozen men with brooms and dustpans. These lined up respectfully by the wall at the sight of their young master, while the page knelt on one knee and paid his respects. Baoyu, not knowing his name, simply smiled and nodded. Not until he had ridden past did the men move on.

Then Baoyu and his party passed through the side gate, where some grooms and the boys under the six stewards had some dozen horses ready. Once outside the gate, Li Gui and the rest mounted these horses. Then the whole troop, escorting Baoyu on all sides, galloped off.

But let us return to Qingwen, who was worried because the medicine had done her no good and now started abusing the doctor.

‘He’s nothing but a swindler and quack,’ she complained. ‘His medicine’s no use at all.’

‘You must have patience,’ urged Sheyue. ‘Haven’t you heard the saying: ‘Illness comes as fast as a wall falling down, but goes as slowly as unravelling a cocoon’? He’s no Lao Jun2 with a magic elixir to cure you overnight. Just rest quietly for a few days and you’ll be all right. The more impatient you are, the worse for you.

Qingwen switched then to lashing out at the younger girls.

‘Where have they all buried themselves?’ she scolded. ‘They take advantage of my illness to make off, bold as brass! I’m going to flay each one of them for this when I’m better.’

This so frightened Zhuier, one of the younger maids, that she hurried in to ask, ‘Is there anything you want, miss?’

‘Are the others all dead?’ demanded Qingwen. ‘Are you the only one left?’

At this, Zhuier sidled in.

‘Look at that little bitch!’ cried Qingwen. ‘She won’t come unless asked for. But on pay-day or when sweets are shared out, she’s always the first to come running. Come over here! Am I a tiger? Are you afraid I’ll eat you?’

Zhuier had to come closer. Then Qingwen, lunging forward, grabbed one of her hands and began jabbing it with a hairpin from under her pillow.

‘What use is this claw?’ she swore. ‘It won’t hold a needle or thread, all it’s good for is stealing. You with your avid eyes and itching palms, you’re the bane of our lives and a disgrace to us all ‘ I’ll carve you up!’

Zhuier screamed with pain until Sheyue pulled her away and made Qingwen lie down again.

‘You’ll catch your death after that sweat you were in,’ she scolded. ‘Once you’re better you can beat her as much as you like. Why raise this rumpus now?’

But Qingwen ordered someone to fetch Nanny Song and when she arrived informed her, ‘Master Bao has told me to tell you that Zhuier’s too lazy. When he gives her a job to do she refuses to stir; and when Xiren asks her to do anything, she even curses her behind her back. She must be sent packing today, and tomorrow he’ll report it himself to the mistress.’

Nanny Song knew at once that this was because of the bracelet.

‘Even so,’ she said with a smile, ‘we’d better wait till Miss Xiren comes back before dismissing her.’

‘Master Bao was most emphatic,’ insisted Qingwen. ‘Never mind about this ‘Miss’ or that ‘Miss,’ we’ll answer to her. Just do as I say. Tell her family to come and take her away.’

‘You may as well,’ put in Sheyue. ‘She’ll have to go sooner or later. The sooner she goes, the sooner we’ll have some peace.’

So Nanny Song had to fetch Zhuier’s mother. And when they had packed up her things, the woman came in to see Qingwen and Sheyue.

‘What’s this I hear?’ she protested. ‘If my girl misbehaves, why can’t you teach her a lesson instead of throwing her out? At least leave us a little face.’

‘Save that talk for Baoyu,’ snapped Qingwen. ‘This has nothing to do with us.’

‘Ask him?’ The woman snorted. ‘He does just what you young ladies tell him, doesn’t he? Even if he were willing to keep her, you wouldn’t let him. Why, just now, even though you were talking behind his back, you referred to him by name. That may be all right for the likes of you, but in our case it would be thought most ill-bred.’

‘So I called him by his name, did I?’ Qingwen flushed with anger. ‘All right, go and report me to the old lady. Tell her I’ve run wild and have me thrown out too.’

‘Just take your daughter and go, sister,’ put in Sheyue. ‘You can have your say about it some other time. This is no place for you to bicker and wrangle. Have you ever seen anyone wrangling with us here? Even Mrs. Lai and Mrs. Lin have to treat us with some respect, not to say you.

‘As for using his name, we’ve done that since he was a child, as well you know, on the old lady’s orders. Didn’t they have his name written out and posted up everywhere so that everybody would use it, for fear that otherwise he might die young? Why, even water-carriers, night-soil collectors and beggars use it, not to say us. Only the other day, Mrs. Lin was taken to task by the old lady for calling him ‘young master. That’s the first point.

‘The second is that since we’re always in and out reporting things to the old lady and the mistress, we obviously can’t refer to him as ‘master. We must use the name Baoyu a couple of hundred times a day; so it’s strange that you should choose this to pick fault. Some day when you have time, you can listen to us using his name to the old lady and Lady Wang; then you’ll understand. But of course, it’s not to be wondered at that you don’t know the rules in the inner apartments, since you don’t have any important business that would take you near the ladies of the house ‘ you’re mucking about outside the gate all the time.

‘And this is no place for you to hang about. If you do, people will be coming to ask you the reason, even if we don’t say anything ourselves. So first take your girl away. If you’re not satisfied, you can complain to Mrs. Lin and ask her to speak to Master Bao about it. There are nearly a thousand people in this household. If you come one day and others the next, how are we to recognize who’s who? We can’t have everyone running in and out here.’

She ordered one of the young maids to fetch a cloth and wipe the floor.

Zhuier’s mother was silenced then and dared stay no longer. Swal­lowing her anger, she started out with her daughter.

‘You really have no manners,’ expostulated Nanny Song. ‘After working here all this time, your daughter should surely kowtow to the young ladies before she leaves. Presents they don’t expect, but she should at least kowtow to express her thanks. How can you just walk off?’

At this, Zhuier had to come in again and kowtow to Sheyue and Qingwen, then to Qiuwen and the others. They all ignored her. Her mother, thoroughly discomfited and too cowed to say another word, went off in high indignation.

Qingwen had caught another slight chill, and this no top of her anger made her feel even more poorly. She tossed about restlessly and did not quiet down until lighting-up time when Baoyu came back, sighing and stamping his feet. Sheyue asked him what was the matter.

‘Today the old lady was in a good mood and gave me this cape,’ he explained. ‘But somehow I carelessly burned a hole in the back. Luckily it was too dark just now for my grandmother or mother to notice it.’

He took the cape off and Sheyue inspected the damage. There was a hole the size of a finger-tip.

‘This must have been done by a spark from a hand-stove,’ She com­mented. ‘It’s nothing. We’ll smuggle it out at once for some skilled weaver to patch.’ She wrapped up the cape and told an old serving-woman to take it out. ‘See that it’s done by tomorrow morning,’ She ordered. ‘And be sure not to let the old lady or mistress know.’

The woman assented and went off, returning some time later with the cape.

‘I tried not only weavers and the best tailors but embroiders and sew­ing-women too,’ she said. ‘But as they’d never seen anything like this before, none of them dared take on the job.’

‘What’s to be done then?’ wondered Sheyue. ‘I suppose you needn’t wear it tomorrow.’

‘Tomorrow is the birthday proper,’ objected Baoyu. ‘The old lady and my mother expressly told me to wear it when I go. But the day before I burn it. What a bad show!’

Qingwen, who had been following the conversation, could no longer keep silence and now sat up in bed.

‘Let me see it,’ she called. ‘Maybe it’s not in your stars to wear this cape. Look at the state you’re in.’

‘You’re right,’ said Baoyu, smiling.

He handed the cape to Qingwen and took her the lamp.

‘This is made of peacock feathers and gold thread,’ she observed after examining it carefully. ‘If we darn it with the same material it should pass.’

‘We’ve peacock feathers and thread,’ said Sheyue. ‘But you’re the only one here who can do that type of darning.’

‘There’s no help for it then but to try my best, I suppose.’

‘How can you?’ Baoyu demurred. ‘You mustn’t start working the moment you’re a bit better.’

‘Don’t fuss,’ she retorted. ‘I know what I can do.’

With that she sat up to knot up her hair and put on some clothes. At once she felt so dizzy that stars began dancing before her eyes and she was afraid she would collapse; but rather than worry Baoyu by giving up, she gritted her teeth and stuck it out. Having asked Sheyue to help by twisting the thread, she now took one and compared it with the cape.

‘It’s not quite the same,’ she remarked. ‘once it’s mended, though, the difference shouldn’t show.’

‘That’s splendid,’ said Baoyu. ‘Where would we find a Russian tailor?’

Qingwen first unpicked the lining and slipped a bamboo embroidery-frame the size of a teacup up the back of the cape. Next she scraped away the singed edges with a knife, sewed two threads across at right angles to each other, stitched in the outline in cross-stitch, and then darned the hole to reproduce the original pattern. After a couple of stitches she would stop to examine her work, and after every four or five, feeling dizzy, breathless and faint, she would sink back on her pillow to rest for a while. Baoyu hovered over her solicitously, offering her hot water, urging her to rest, putting a squirrel cape over her shoulders and sending for a pillow for her back, until she became quite frantic.

‘Do go to bed, little ancestor!’ she begged him. ‘If you stay up half the night again, you’ll have sunken eyes tomorrow, and that wouldn’t do!’

To soothe her he had to lie down, but he could not sleep. He heard the clock strike four just as she finished her task and was fluffing up the down with a small toothbrush.

‘That’s fine!’ exclaimed Sheyue. ‘If you don’t look closely you’d never notice it.’

Baoyu asked to see it too.

‘It’s really as good as new,’ he commented.

Coughing after her exertions, Qingwen said, ‘I’m afraid the mend still shows. But I can’t do any more.’ She sank back with a groan of exhaustion.

If you want to know the outcome, read the next chapter.

Previous articleA Dream of Red Mansions – Chapter 51
Next articleA Dream of Red Mansions – Chapter 53
Discover the wonders of China through studying abroad - a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to expand your horizons, immerse yourself in a rich and diverse culture, and gain a world-class education.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here