Chapter 63
Girls Feast at Night to Celebrate
Baoyu’s Birthday
Jia Jing Dies of an Elixir and Madam You
Manages the Funeral Single-Handed
Baoyu going back to his room to wash up told Xiren, ‘We mustn’t stand on ceremony tonight but drink and enjoy ourselves. Let them know in good time what dishes we want so that they’ll have them ready.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she replied. ‘Qingwen, Sheyue, Qiuwen and I have contributed half a tael of silver each, which makes two taels; and Fangguan, Bihen, Xiaoyan and Sier have each given thirty cents. So, apart from those who are away, we’ve raised three taels and twenty cents which we’ve already given to Mrs. Liu, who’s preparing forty dishes. I’ve also arranged with Pinger to have a vat of good Shaoxing wine smuggled in. The eight of us are going to throw a birthday party for you.’
Baoyu was delighted but demurred, ‘How can they afford it? You shouldn’t have made them chip in.’
Qingwen demanded, ‘Do we have money and not they? All of us are just showing our feeling. Never mind whether they can afford it. Even if they steal the money, just you accept it.’
‘That’s right,’ said Baoyu.
‘It seems that you can’t be satisfied unless she gives you a few digs every day, ‘chuckled Xiren.
‘Now you’re learning bad ways too,’ shot back Qingwen. ‘Always goading others on to stir up trouble!’
At that all three laughed, after which Baoyu proposed locking the courtyard gate. But Xiren objected:
‘No wonder people say you’re forever making a great ado about nothing. If we lock the gate now that will arouse suspicion. Better wait a bit.’
Baoyu nodded.
‘I’ll take a stroll outside then,’ he said, ‘while Sier fetches water. Xiaoyan can come with me.’
He went out, and as there was nobody else about asked when Wuer would be coming.
‘I told Mrs. Liu just now, and of course she’s very pleased,’ Xiaoyan informed him. ‘Only Wuer got so worked up that night she was hauled over the coals that as soon as she got home she fell ill again. She can’t come until she’s better.’
Baoyu sighed in disappointment.
‘Does Xiren know this?’ he asked.
‘I didn’t tell her,’ was the reply. ‘But Fangguan may have done for all I know.’
‘Well, I never told her. All right, I’ll let her know now.
He went back inside on the pretext of washing his hands. Now, as the time came to light the lamps, they heard people approaching the courtyard gate and when they peeped through the window saw Mrs. Lin with a few other stewards’ wives, the one in front carrying a big lantern.
‘They’re making their nightly check-up of those on duty,’ whispered Qingwen. ‘Once they’ve gone we can close the gate.’
All the servants on night duty in Happy Red Court had gone out to meet these women. After checking that they were all present Mrs. Lin warned them:
‘No gambling or drinking now, and no sleeping till morning! If I hear of such goings-on I’ll have something to say.’
‘Which of us would dare?’ they answered laughingly.
Then Mrs. Lin asked, ‘Is Master Bao in bed yet?’
As they replied that they did not know, Xiren nudged Baoyu, who put on slippers to go out to greet them.
‘No, I’m not in bed yet,’ he called. ‘Come in and sit down.’ Looking towards the house, he ordered: ‘Serve tea, Xiren.’
Mrs. Lin entered then, smiling.
‘Still up!’ she exclaimed. ‘Now the days are long, the nights short, you should go to bed early so as to get up early tomorrow. Otherwise you may oversleep, and people will jeer that you don’t behave like a scholarly young gentleman but like a common coolie.’ Having said this she laughed.
Baoyu promptly agreed, ‘You’re right, nanny. I do generally go to bed early, so that I don’t know when you come every evening because I’m already asleep. But today after eating noodles I was afraid of getting indigestion; that’s why I’ve stayed up a bit.’
Mrs. Lin advised Xiren and Qingwen to brew him some puer tea.
‘We’ve made him some nuer tea1 and he’s drunk two bowls. Won’t you try some, madam?’ they answered. ‘It’s already brewed.’
As Qingwen poured a bowl Mrs. Lin observed, ‘Recently I’ve noticed that the Second Master always calls you girls by your names. Though you’re working here you belong to Their Ladyships, so he should show more respect. If once in a while he happens to use your names, that doesn’t matter; but if this becomes a habit then his cousins and nephews may follow suit, and then people will laugh at us and say we’ve no respect for elders in our household.’
‘You’re right, nanny,’ agreed Baoyu again. ‘Actually I only do that once in a while.’
The two girls put in, ‘You must be fair to him. Even now he still refers to us as ‘elder sisters,’ only using our names occasionally in fun. In front of others he always addresses us as he did before.’
‘That’s good,’ approved Mrs. Lin. ‘That’s how someone with education and good manners ought to behave. The more modest you are, the more respected you’ll be. Not to say members of the staff of long standing or those transferred from Their Ladyships’ apartments, but even the dogs and cats from there mustn’t be badly treated. That’s the way a well brought up young gentleman should behave.’ She then drank up her tea and said, ‘We must be off now. I’ll wish you a good night.’
Baoyu pressed them to stay, but Mrs. Lin had already led her party off to finish making their rounds. At once Qingwen and others ordered the gate to be locked, and coming back Qingwen said:
‘That grandame must have been drinking, gabbing away and nagging at us like that.’
‘She means well anyway,’ remarked Sheyue as she started to lay the table. ‘She has to remind us from time to time to be on our guard and not overstep the limits.’
‘We don’t need that high table,’ put in Xiren. ‘Let’s put that round low pear-wood one on the kang. There’s room for all of us at it, and it’s more convenient.’
So they carried the table over, after which Sheyue and Sier fetched the dishes, making four or five trips with two big trays while two old women squatting outside by the brazier warmed the wine.
‘It’s so hot, let’s take off our outer clothes,’ Baoyu suggested.
‘You can if you want to,’ said the girls, ‘but we have to take it in turns to offer toasts.’
‘If you do that it’ll take all night,’ he objected. ‘You know how much I dislike those vulgar conventions. We may have to observe them in front of outsiders, but if you provoke me like that it won’t be nice.’
‘We’ll do as you say,’ they agreed.
So before taking seats they first divested themselves of their outer things and had soon laid aside their formal gowns and trinkets, leaving their hair to hang free and wearing only long skirts and bodices. Baoyu himself stripped down to a scarlet linen jacket and green dotted satin trousers, letting the ends of the trouser legs hang loose. Leaning on a jade-colored gauze cushion filed with all sorts of fresh rose and peony petals, he started playing the finger-guessing game with Fangguan.
Fangguan, who had also been complaining of the heat, had on only a short lined satin jacket a patchwork of red, blue and jade-coloured squares, a green sash, and pink trousers with a floral design left untied at her ankles. Her hair, woven in small plaits, was gathered on the crown of her head into a thick braid hanging down at the back. In her right ear she wore a jade stop no bigger than a grain of rice, in her left a ruby-ear-ring set in gold the size of a gingko nut, making her face seem whiter than the full moon, her eyes clearer than water in autumn.
‘The two of them look like twin brothers!’ chuckled the others.
Xiren and the rest poured wine for each.
‘Wait a bit before you start the finger-guessing game,’ they said. ‘Though we’re dispensing with the usual toasts, you must each take a sip from our cups.
Xiren held the first cup to her lips and took a sip, to be followed by the others, after which all sat down in a circle. As there was insufficient room on the kang, Xiaoyan and Sier set two chairs beside it. The forty white Ding ware dishes no bigger than saucers held all manner of sweet-meats and delicacies of land and sea, fresh or preserved, from every part of the country and from abroad. And now Baoyu proposed playing some drinking games.
‘Something quiet, not too rowdy,’ advised Xiren. ‘We don’t want people to hear us. And nothing too literary either, as we’re no scholars.’
‘How about the dice game ‘Grabbing the Red’?’ said Sheyue.
‘That’s no fun,’ objected Baoyu. ‘Better play the ‘Flower Game.’’
‘Yes, do let’s!’ cried Qingwen. ‘I’ve always wanted to play that.’
‘It’s a good game,’ agreed Xiren, ‘but no fun for just a few people.’
‘I’ve an idea,’ put in Xiaoyan. ‘Let’s quietly invite Miss Baochai and Miss Daiyu over to play for a short time. It won’t matter if we go on till the second watch.’
‘If we go around knocking different people up, we may run into some night-watchers,’ Xiren pointed out.
‘Don’t be afraid,’ said Baoyu. ‘My Third Sister likes drinking too; we should count her in. And Miss Baoqin as well.’
‘Not Miss Baoqin,’ the others demurred. ‘She’s with Madam Zhu, so that would make too much of a stir.’
‘Never mind,’ insisted Baoyu. ‘Hurry up and invite them.’
Xiaoyan and Sier, who had been awaiting this order, immediately called for the gate to be unlocked and went off to the different apartments.
‘They may not be able to get Miss Baochai and Miss Daiyu,’ predicted the senior maids. ‘We’ll have to go and drag them here by main force.’ So, telling an old woman to bring a lantern, Xiren and Qingwen went off as well.
Sure enough, Baochai objected that it was too late while Daiyu pleaded poor health, but the two maids begged them:
‘Do give us a little face. Just go and sit there for a while.’
As for Tanchun, she was eager to come but felt that if Li Wan were left out and came to hear of it later that wouldn’t be good; so she told Zuimo and Xiaoyan to insist that Li Wan and Baoqin should both be invited. Presently they all arrived, one by one, at Happy Red Court, where Xiren had dragged Xiangling over as well. Another table had to be put on the kang before they could all sit down.
‘Cousin Daiyu feels the cold,’ said Baoyu. ‘Come and sit by the partition.’
She was given a cushion for her back while Xiren and the other maids fetched chairs and seated themselves beside the kang.
Leaning against her back-rest some way from the table, Daiyu teased Baochai, Li Wan and Tanchun, ‘You’re always accusing people of drinking and gambling at night, and now that’s just what we’re doing. How can we blame others in future?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ replied Li Wan, ‘if we only do this on birthdays or festivals, not every night. There’s nothing to be afraid of.’
As she was speaking, Qingwen brought in a carved bamboo container filled with ivory slips bearing the names of flowers. Having shaken this she put it down in the middle. Next she brought the dice-box and shook it, and upon opening the box saw that the number on the dice was five. She counted, starting from herself, and Baochai being the fifth was the one who should start.
‘I’ll draw,’ said Baochai. ‘I wonder what I shall get.’
She shook the container and took out a slip on which they saw the picture of a peony with the words ‘Beauty surpassing all flowers.’ Inscribed in smaller characters beneath was the line of Tang poetry, ‘Though heartless she has charm.’ The instructions read, ‘All the feasters must drink a cup by way of congratulations, for this is the queen of the flowers. She can order anyone to compose a poem or tell a joke to enliven the drinking.’
‘What a coincidence!’ all exclaimed laughingly. ‘A peony is just the flower for you.’ With that they drank a cup each.
After Baochai had drunk she decreed, ‘Let Fangguan sing us a song.’
‘In that case,’ said Fangguan, ‘you must all finish your cups.
When all had drained them, Fangguan started singing The Birthday Feast Is Spread in a Fine Season.
‘Not that song,’ protested the others. ‘We don’t want you, right now, to congratulate him on his birthday. Sing us your best song instead.’
Then Fangguan had to give them a careful rendering of a verse set to the melody The Season for Enjoying Flowers. 2
With a broom of green phoenix feathers,
I leisurely sweep fallen blossoms for immortals;
Lo, a wind rising all of a sudden
Swirls jade dust under the clouds,
So far removed though just outside the gate.
Do not miss by an inch again your slash at the yellow dragon,
Nor return to the poor wine-vendor in the east.
But let us turn our eyes to the roseate clouds.
Ah, Lu Dongbin,
Hasten back when you have found one to replace me!
If you delay,
I shall nurse my grief for ever by the peach-blossom.
Baoyu, holding the slip of ivory, had been softly repeating to himself. ‘Though heartless she has charm,’ gazing at Fangguan as she sang, lost in thought. Now Xiangyun snatched the slip from him and gave it to Baochai who threw sixteen, which made it Tanchun’s turn.
‘I wonder what I’ll get,’ she said with a smile.
But having drawn a slip out and seen what it was, she threw it down.
‘We shouldn’t play this game,’ she declared with a blush. ‘It’s a game for those men outside, a whole lot of silly nonsense.’
The others were wondering what she meant when Xiren picked up the slip for all to see. Under the picture of an apricot-blossom were the words in red ‘Fairy flower from paradise’ and the verse ‘A red apricot by the sun grows in the clouds.’ The directions were: ‘Whoever draws this will have a noble husband. All must drink to her, then drink another cup together.’
‘Is that all?’ they laughed. ‘This is a game for the inner apartments. Apart from a couple of slips with mottoes like these, there’s nothing improper; so what does it matter? Our family already has one Imperial Consort; are you going to be another? Congratulations!’
They all raised their cups, but Tanchun would not drink this toast until compelled to by Xiangyun, Xiangling and Li Wan.
When she protested, ‘Let’s give up this game and play another,’ they would not agree, and Xiangyun held her hand, forcing her to throw the dice. The number nineteen coming up, it was Li Wan’s turn. She shook the container, took out a slip, and smiled when she saw what it was. ‘Excellent!’ she crowed. ‘Just see what I’ve got. This is fun.’
They saw the picture of an old plum-tree with the motto ‘Cold beauty in frosty dawn’ and the line of verse ‘Content to stay by the bamboo fence and thatched hut.’ The instructions were: ‘Whoever draws this lot must drink a cup, then the one whose turn comes next must throw the dice.’
‘That’s fine,’ said Li Wan. ‘You go on dicing while I just drink one cup without worrying how the rest of you get on.’
She drained her cup and passed the dice to Daiyu, who threw eighteen, making it Xiangyun’s turn. Xiangyun rolled up her sleeves to draw her lot, a picture of crab-apple-blossom with the motto ‘Deep in a fragrant dream’ and the line ‘So late at night the flower may fall asleep.’
Daiyu teased, ‘The words ‘late at night’ should be changed to ‘cool on the stone.’
At that everyone laughed, knowing that she was referring to how Xiangyun had fallen asleep earlier that day on a stone.
Giggling, Xiangyun pointed at the mechanical boat.
‘Hurry up and leave by that boat, and stop talking nonsense!’ she retorted.
Amid more laughter they read the instructions, ‘As she is deep in a fragrant sleep and cannot drink, the two next to her must each drink a cup instead.’
Xiangyun clapped her hands.
‘Amida Buddha!’ she cried. ‘This is really a lucky dip!’
It so happened that Daiyu and Baoyu were one either side of her, so they both filled their cups. Baoyu first drank half the cup, as no one was watching, then passed the rest to Fangguan, who drained the cup. As for Daiyu, while chatting with the others she quietly poured her drink into a rinse-bowl. Xiangyun then threw a nine, which made it Sheyue’s turn. On the lot she drew they saw a rose with the motto ‘Flower of final splendour’ and the line ‘When the rose blooms, spring flowers fade.’
Below was written, ‘All at the feast should drink three cups each to farewell the spring.’
When Sheyue asked what was written there, Baoyu frowned and hid the slip, saying, ‘We must all drink.’ So they took three sips each to symbolize three cups.
Then Sheyue threw nineteen and it was Xiangling’s turn. She drew a picture of two flowers on one stem with the motto ‘Double beauty linked with good fortune’ and the line ‘Double flowers bloom on a single stem.’ The instructions were: ‘All must congratulate the one who draws this lot and make her drink three cups, drinking one each themselves.’
Xiangling then threw a six, making it Daiyu’s turn. ‘I hope I get something good,’ she thought while drawing a lot. It showed a hibiscus flower with the motto ‘Quiet and sad in wind and dew’ and the line ‘Blame not the east wind but yourself.’ The instruction was: ‘Both hibiscus and peony must drink a cup.’
‘Fine!’ cried the others. ‘She’s the only one here fit to be compared to a hibiscus.’
Daiyu smiled too as she drank, then threw a twenty which made it Xiren’s turn.
Xiren drew a picture of peach-blossom with the motto ‘Exotic scene at Wuling’ and the line ‘Another spring returns and the peach blooms red.’ The instructions were, ‘The apricot-blossom, as well as those born in the same year, on the same day and those with the same surname must drink one cup.
‘This one is lively and good fun,’ cried the rest.
They worked it out that Xiangling, Qingwen and Baochai were the same age as Xiren, while Daiyu’s birthday fell on the same day; but they could not think of anyone with the same name until Fangguan said:
‘My family name is Hua. I’ll drink with her.’
As they filled their cups Daiyu remarked to Tanchun, ‘You’re the apricot-blossom destined to have a noble husband. So drink up quickly and we’ll follow suit.’
‘Stop talking nonsense!’ retorted Tanchun. ‘Sister-in-law, give her a slap.’
‘She hasn’t got a noble husband and now you want me to beat her,’ teased Li Wan. ‘No, I can’t bring myself to do it.’
At that they all laughed.
Xiren was about to throw the dice when they heard someone at the gate. An old woman went to see who was there and found it was a maid sent by Aunt Xue to fetch Daiyu back.
‘What time is it?’ everyone asked.
‘After the second watch,’ the maid informed them. ‘The clock’s just struck eleven.’
Baoyu could not believe it was so late, but when he called for his watch and looked at the time it was ten past eleven.
‘I can’t stay up any longer,’ said Daiyu getting up. ‘1 have to take medicine too after I go back.’
All agreed that it was time to disperse, so when Xiren and Baoyu tried to keep them Li Wan and Baochai demurred:
‘It doesn’t look right being so late. We’ve already made an exception to our rule.’
‘In that case,’ said Xiren, ‘let’s each have one final cup.
Qingwen and the others filled the cups, and after drinking them they called for lanterns. Xiren and the rest, having seen the visitors past Seeping Fragrance Pavilion to the other side of the stream, came back and locked the gate, then continued their game. They also filled several big goblets and selected several dishes for the old maid-servants waiting on them. And now, being slightly tipsy, they played the finger-guessing game and made the losers sing songs. By the time of the fourth watch, the old women in addition to drinking their share had stolen more wine on the sly so that the whole vat was empty. When they learned to their surprise that the wine was finished, they cleared the table, washed and made ready for bed.
Fangguan’s cheeks after drinking were as red as rouge, making her look still more charming. Unable to hold herself steady she leaned on Xiren.
‘Dear sister,’ she murmured, ‘my heart’s beating ever so fast!’
‘Who gave you permission to drink so much?’ Xiren retorted.
Xiaoyan and Sier, who had felt dizzy too, had already gone to bed. Only Qingwen was still trying to rouse them.
‘No need to wake them,’ Baoyu remonstrated. ‘Let’s just get some rest anyhow.’
With that, lying back on his pillow of fragrant red petals, he curled up and went to sleep too.
Xiren feared that Fangguan was so drunk that she might be sick, so she quietly helped her over to lie down next to Baoyu, then sank down on the opposite couch herself. They all slept then, oblivious of everything around them.
When Xiren next opened her eyes the day was bright.
‘So late!’ she exclaimed.
Seeing Fangguan still sleeping on the edge of the kang she got up quickly to wake her. But by this time Baoyu had turned over and woken up.
‘It is late!’ he chuckled, nudging Fangguan to make her get up.
Fangguan sat up, still drowsy, rubbing her eyes.
‘Aren’t you ashamed?’ Xiren laughed. ‘You were so drunk you didn’t care where you flopped down to sleep.’
Fangguan stared round, and when she discovered that she had shared Baoyu’s bed she at once scrambled up.
‘How is it that I don’t remember a thing?’ she answered laughingly.
‘That goes for me too,’ rejoined Baoyu. ‘If I’d known, I’d have blackened your face with ink.’
Some young maids came in now to help them with their toilet.
‘I gave you a lot of trouble yesterday,’ declared Baoyu. ‘Tonight I’m going to throw a return party.’
‘No, we mustn’t raise another rumpus today,’ said Xiren. ‘If we did, people would complain.’
‘Why should we care?’ he retorted. ‘It’s only a couple of times. But we must be good drinkers if we managed to finish that whole vat of wine. Things were just getting lively when we ran out of wine.’
‘That’s what made it so good,’ said Xiren. ‘If we’d drunk to our full capacity, it wouldn’t seem such fun looking back. Yesterday we all did fine, and Qingwen actually forgot her scruples. I remember that she even sang a song.
‘Have you forgotten, sister, that even you sang one too?’ demanded Sier. ‘Everyone at the party sang.’
They all blushed then, hiding their faces in their hands, and were giving way to fits of laughter when Pinger came in.
‘I’ve come in person,’ she announced merrily, ‘to invite all the people at the party yesterday. Today I’m standing treat. Everybody must come.’
They asked her to take a seat and drink some tea.
‘It’s a pity we didn’t have her here last night,’ observed Qingwen.
‘What did you do last night?’ she asked.
‘We can’t tell you,’ Xiren replied. ‘Things were so lively, it was far more fun than even those times when Their Ladyships gave us parties. We finished up a whole vat of wine; then after drinking we all forgot ourselves and started singing, really let ourselves go! Finally not till after the fourth watch ‘ we lay down just anywhere to sleep it off.’
‘Fine goings-on!’ exclaimed Pinger. ‘You asked me for the wine but didn’t invite me, then tell me this to provoke me.’
‘He’s giving a return party today and is sure to invite you,’ Qingwen assured her. ‘Just wait.’
‘‘He’? Who is ‘he’?’ asked Pinger with a smile.
Qingwen made as if to slap her, protesting laughingly, ‘Why do you have such sharp ears?’
‘I’m too busy to bandy words with you now,’ Pinger told her. ‘I must be off to see to some business. Later on I’ll send to invite you. If anyone fails to turn up, I’ll come and knock down your door.’
Baoyu wanted to urge her to stay, but she was already gone. After he had finished his toilet and was drinking tea he suddenly caught sight of a piece of paper under the inkstone.
‘It’s no good,’ he scolded, ‘the way you stuff things carelessly just anywhere you please.
Xiren and Qingwen hastily asked what was wrong. Baoyu pointed at the paper.
‘What’s this under the inkstone? One of you must have forgotten to put your patterns away.
Qingwen took the paper from under the inkstone and saw it was a greeting card on a sheet of pink stationery. She passed it to Baoyu who read: ‘Miaoyu, the one outside the threshold, sends respectful greetings on the young master’s birthday.’
At once he sprang to his feet.
‘Who brought this in?’ he demanded. ‘Why wasn’t I told?’
The state he was in made Xiren and Qingwen suppose that this was a
greeting from someone of consequence.
‘Who accepted this card yesterday?’ they both asked together.
Sier rushed in to explain, ‘Miaoyu didn’t come herself but sent an old servant with this, so I put it there. But after all that drinking I forgot it.’
When the other girls heard this they commented, ‘We thought it was someone who mattered, the way you were carrying on; but this isn’t worth making such a fuss about.’
Baoyu, however, immediately asked for some paper and while spreading it out and grinding ink wondered how to word a reply matching that phrase ‘outside the threshold.’ Brush in hand he thought hard for a long time, but could not hit on anything appropriate. He reflected, ‘If I consult Baochai, she’s bound to criticize this as eccentric. I’d better ask Daiyu.’ So tucking the card up his sleeve he set off to find her and had just passed Seeping Fragrance Pavilion when he saw Xiuyan approaching with swaying steps.
‘Where are you going, cousin?’ he inquired.
‘To have a chat with Miaoyu,’ was the answer.
In surprise he remarked, ‘She’s so aloof and unconventional that she looks down on everybody. If she thinks so highly of you, this shows you’re not vulgar like the rest of us.’
‘She may not really think highly of me,’ replied Xiuyan with a smile, ‘but we were next-door neighbours for ten years when she was practising asceticism in Curly Fragrance Nunnery. My family was poor, and we lived for ten years in a house rented from the nunnery; so I often went in to see her when I was free, and she’s the one who taught me all the characters I know. Apart from being friends in poverty, she was half my teacher too. After we had left the nunnery to join our relatives, I heard that because she’d offended certain powerful people by her eccentric ways she had to come here for protection too. So as luck would have it we met again, and our old feeling for each other hadn’t changed ‘ in fact she’s even kinder to me than before.
Much impressed by this account Baoyu said with delight, ‘No wonder your own behaviour and conversation are as unworldly as a wild stork or floating clouds! So this is the reason, I’m stumped just now by something connected with her and was on my way to ask somebody’s advice. Meeting you is a heaven-sent chance. You must tell me what to do.’
Then he showed the card to Xiuyan.
‘She hasn’t changed in the least,’ observed Xiuyan with a smile. ‘She was born like this ‘ headstrong and eccentric. I’ve never seen other people use appellations like this in greeting cards. Why, this, as the saying goes, is neither fish, flesh nor fowl! It doesn’t make sense.’
‘But you see she’s not one of us,’ Baoyu put in. ‘She’s outside the mundane crowd. She’s only sent me this greeting because she thinks I have some slight discernment. But I’m at a loss as to how to word my reply. I was on my way to ask Cousin Daiyu when luckily I met you.’
Hearing this, Xiuyan looked him up and down for a while.
She then said cheerfully, ‘As the proverb says, ‘To know someone by repute is not as good as meeting face to face.’ No wonder Miaoyu sent you this greeting card; no wonder she gave you that plum-blossom last year. As even she shows you special consideration, I shall have to explain this to you. She often says that the only good poetry written by the ancients from the times of Han, un, the Five Dynasties, Tang and Song, was the two lines:
For a thousand years you may have an iron threshold. But the end must be a mound of earth.
This is why she calls herself the one outside the threshold. She likes the writings of Zhuang Zi, from which she took that term ‘the odd person.’ If she called herself ‘the odd person’ in her card, you could call yourself ‘the mundane person,’ meaning you’re one of the common herd, and that would please her. Now that she’s called herself the ‘one outside the threshold,’ meaning she’s outside the iron threshold, to fall in with her you should call yourself the ‘one inside the threshold.’
Baoyu felt as if Buddha had suddenly shown him the light.
‘Aiya!’ he exclaimed. ‘No wonder our family temple is called Iron Threshold Temple. So that’s the origin of the name. Well, cousin, I won’t hold you up any longer. I must go and write a reply.’
Then Xiuyan went on to Green Lattice Nunnery while Baoyu went back to write on a card: ‘With the deepest respects of Baoyu, the one inside the threshold.’ Taking this himself to the nunnery, he slipped it through a crack in the gate, then went back.
He found that Fangguan had finished doing her hair, which was fastened up in a knot, and she was wearing some trinkets. At once he insisted on her dressing in a different style. He urged her to shave off her fringe completely, exposing her bluish scalp, and to part her hair in the middle. He also said that in winter she should wear a sable cap in the shape of a crouching hare and small tiger-head battle boots decorated with multi-coloured curling clouds, or leave her trouser ends loose and wear white socks and thick-soled boots. He objected to the name Fangguan as well, saying it would be more original to take a man’s name instead, and proposing the name Xiongnu.3 Fangguan was delighted.
‘In that case,’ she said, ‘when you go out you must take me along, and if anyone asks who I am just tell them I’m a page like Mingyan.’
‘Still, people will be able to see who you are,’ he chuckled.
‘How dense you are, I must say!’ she retorted. ‘We have some families of tribesmen here ‘ just say I’m from one of those. Besides, everyone tells me I look better with my hair plaited. Wouldn’t that be the smart thing to do?’
‘Splendid!’ approved Baoyu elatedly. ‘I’ve often seen officials with followers captured from abroad, as such people can stand wind and frost and are excellent horsemen. In that case, I’ll give you a tribal name ‘Yali Xiongnu. Those are names used by the tribes who have been a scourge to China since the days of Yao and Shun, and who plagued us so much during the Jin and Tang dynasties.
‘We’re lucky to be living now under the rule of an Emperor directly descended from the sage king Shun, an age when virtue, humanity and filial piety as vast as Heaven are manifest, and in a dynasty which will endure as long as the sun and moon. That’s why all the unruly barbarians who made such trouble in previous dynasties now submit to us with folded hands and bowed heads according to Heaven’s will, without our having to resort to arms; and distant tribes have surrendered to our rule. So we should make fun of them to add to the glory of our sovereign.’
‘If that’s how you feel,’ countered Fangguan, ‘you should go and practise archery and horsemanship and learn other martial arts, then set off to the border to capture some rebels! Wouldn’t that show your loyalty better than using us to do it? You’re simply wagging your tongue for your own amusement, on the pretext of praising the state’s achievements and virtue.’
‘That’s exactly what you don’t understand,’ replied Baoyu laughingly. ‘Now the Four Seas have submitted to our rule and peace reigns everywhere; so for ages to come there will be no need for arms. And even when having fun we should praise the court, so as not to be unworthy to enjoy the fruits of peace.’
Fangguan agreed to this, and as both of them felt it quite appropriate he started addressing her as Yali Xiongnu. Actually the two Jia mansions had been presented by the court with slaves who had been captured by their ancestors; but these were only used as grooms, not being fit for other work.
Now Xiangyun was a madcap who loved to dress up as a warrior in a belted, tight-sleeved jacket. When she saw Baoyu fit Fangguan out as a boy, she followed suit by dressing Kuiguan up as a page too. Kuiguan, who had played warriors, kept her hair shaved over her temples and forehead as that had made it easier to paint a warrior’s face, and she was nimble too. So it was easy to dress her up as a page. Then Li Wan and Tanchun, also thinking it a good idea, made Baoqin’s Douguan dress up as a boy too in a short jacket and red shoes with her hair in two tufts. Had her face been painted, she would have been the spit of the Taoist priest’s acolyte who carries his master’s lyre on the stage.
Xiangyun changed Kuiguan’s name to Daying, and as her family name was Wei she was called Wei Daying;4 for in choosing this name Xiangyun had in mind the phrase ‘Only a true hero can keep his true colour.’ Why, to appear a man, should one resort to rouge or powder?
Douguan5 had been given that name because she was both small and young and a clever little imp. So in the Garden she was also called Adou or Fried Pea. Thinking that to give her a name like ‘Lyre-boy’ or ‘bookboy’ would sound vulgar, and that ‘Dou’ was more original, Baoqin called her Doutong. 6
That afternoon when Pinger gave a return feast she had several tables of new wine and good dishes set out in Elm Shade Hall, saying that it was too warm in Red Fragrance Farm. To everybody’s delight, Madam You brought over her husband’s two concubines Peifeng and Xieyuan, two attractive young women who seldom had a chance to enjoy themselves in the Garden. Coming here now and meeting Xiangyun, Xiangling, Fangguan, Ruiguan and the other girls, it was a genuine case of ‘like attracts like’ or ‘birds of a feather flock together.’ Chatting and laughing with each other they paid no attention to Madam You, leaving it to the maids to wait on her while they amused themselves with the other girls.
When presently they went to Happy Red Court and heard Baoyu call Yali Xiongnu, the two concubines and Xiangling burst out laughing and asked what language this was. They tried to say this name themselves but kept getting it wrong, sometimes forgetting one character or even calling her Yell,7 which made all who heard them double up with mirth. Fearing that Fangguan might feel hurt, Baoyu hastily interposed:
‘I’ve heard that west of the ocean, in France, they’ve a type of precious golden-starred glass which in their language they call venturina. Suppose we compare you with that and change your name to Venturina?’
Fangguan was pleased and readily agreed. Accordingly they changed her name again. However, the others still found this a tongue-twister, so they translated it into Chinese and took to calling her Boli.8 But enough of this.
They returned now to Elm Shade Hall to amuse themselves there on the pretext of drinking. Some women story-tellers were told to beat the drum and Pinger plucked a spray of peony; then everyone ‘ twenty or so in all ‘ passed this round and the one who had it when the drumming stopped had to drink. They had been making merry for some time when it was announced that two serving-women had come with presents from the Zhen family. Tanchun, Li Wan and Madam You went to the hail to receive them, and the rest left Elm Shade Hall to stroll outside. Peifeng and Xieyuan went to take turns on the swing.
‘Both get on together and I’ll push you,’ offered Baoyu.
‘Oh no,’ said Peifeng in dismay. ‘Don’t get us into trouble. Better ask your Wild Ass to come and push us instead.’
‘Stop teasing, sister,’ he begged. ‘Otherwise other people will follow your example and make fun of her too.’
‘If you’re limp from laughing, how can you swing?’ warned Xieyuan.
‘You’ll fall off and get smashed like an egg!’
Peifeng ran to catch her, and they were scuffling in fun when some servants from the Eastern Manison came rushing up frantically. ‘The old master’s ascended to Heaven!’ they announced.
Everybody was consternated.
‘He wasn’t even ill, how could he pass away so suddenly?’ they exclaimed.
The servants explained, ‘His Lordship took elixirs every day; now he must have achieved his aim and become an immortal.’
Madam You was most worried by this news; for as her husband Jia Zhen, their son Rong, and Jia Lian too were all away, there was no man at home to take charge. She hurriedly took off her finery and sent a steward to Mysterious Truth Temple to have all the Taoist priests there locked up until her husband came back to question them. Then she hastily went by carriage out of the city with the wives of Lai Sheng and some other stewards, having also sent for doctors to see what illness her father-in-law had succumbed to.
As Jia Jing was dead it was no use for the doctors to feel his pulse. They knew, however, that for years he had been practising absurd Taoist breathing exercises. As for his yoga, worship of the stars, keeping vigil on certain nights, taking sulphide of mercury and wearing himself out with his senseless striving for immortality ‘ these were what had carried him off. His belly after death was hard as iron, the skin of his face and lips parched, cracked and purple. They reported to the serving-women that he had died of excessive heat as a result of taking Taoist drugs.
The Taoist priests in their panic confessed, ‘His Lordship had just concocted a new elixir with some secret formula, and that was his undoing. We’d warned him not to take such things before achieving a certain potency; but last night, during his vigil, unknown to us he took some and became an immortal. Doubtless he has attained immortality owing to his piety, leaving this sea of woe and sloughing his earthly integument to fare forth at will.’
Madam You, shutting her ears to this, ordered them to be immured until Jia Zhen’s return. And she sent messengers posthaste to take the news. Seeing that the temple was too cramped for the coffin to be left there, and as it could not be taken into the city, she had the corpse shrouded and conveyed by sedan-chair to Iron Threshold Temple. She reckoned that her husband could not be back for another fortnight at least, and as the weather was too hot for the funeral to be delayed she decided to get an astrologer to choose a day for it. As the coffin had been prepared many years ago, and kept ever since in the temple, the funeral was easily managed. Three days later a mourning service was held and further masses were performed while waiting for Jia Zhen. Since Xifeng of the Rong Mansion could not leave home and Li Wan had to look after the girls, while Baoyu knew nothing of practical affairs, the work outside was entrusted to a few second-rank stewards. Jia Bin, ha Guang, Jia Heng, Jia Ying, Jia Chang and ha Ling also had their different assignments. Madam You, being unable to go home, invited her step-mother old Mrs. You to come and keep an eye on things in the Ning Mansion. And Mrs. You, to be easy in her mind, had to bring her two unmarried daughters with her.
When Jia Zhen heard of his father’s death he immediately asked for leave, as did Jia Rong who also had official duties. The Board of Ceremony, well aware that the Emperor set great store by filial piety, dared make no decision themselves but reported the request to the throne. The Emperor, with his transcendent benevolence and filial piety, always treated the descendants of meritorious ministers with special consideration. As soon as he saw the memorial he asked what official post ha Jing had held, and the Board of Ceremony reported that he had been a Palace Graduate, whose ancestor’s noble title had passed on to his son Jia Zhen. Being old and infirm Jia Jing had retired to live quietly in Mysterious Truth Temple outside the city, where he had now died of illness. His son Zhen and his grandson Rong were both at court on account of the state obsequies. They had therefore asked leave to return to attend to the funeral.
When the Emperor heard this, in his exceeding kindness he decreed: ‘Though Jia Jing was an ordinary citizen who performed no special service for the state, in view of his grand-father’s merit he is to be promoted posthumously to the fifth rank. His son and grandson are to escort his coffin through the lower north gate into the capital for a funeral ceremony at his own home, so that his descendants can mourn for him as is there, and as it could not be taken into the city, she had the corpse shrouded and conveyed by sedan-chair to Iron Threshold Temple. She reckoned that her husband could not be back for another fortnight at least, and as the weather was too hot for the funeral to be delayed she decided to get an astrologer to choose a day for it. As the coffin had been prepared many years ago, and kept ever since in the temple, the funeral was easily managed. Three days later a mourning service was held and further masses were performed while waiting for ha Zhen. Since Xifeng of the Rong Mansion could not leave home and Li Wan had to look after the girls, while Baoyu knew nothing of practical affairs, the work outside was entrusted to a few second-rank stewards. Jia Bin, Jia Guang, Jia Heng, Jia Ying, Jia Chang and Jia Ling also had their different assignments. Madam You, being unable to go home, invited her step-mother old Mrs. You to come and keep an eye on things in the Ning Mansion. And Mrs. You, to be easy in her mind, had to bring her two unmarried daughters with her.
When Jia Zhen heard of his father’s death he immediately asked for leave, as did Jia Rong who also had official duties. The Board of Ceremony, well aware that the Emperor set great store by filial piety, dared make no decision themselves but reported the request to the throne. The Emperor, with his transcendent benevolence and filial piety, always treated the descendants of meritorious ministers with special consideration. As soon as he saw the memorial he asked what official post ha Jing had held, and the Board of Ceremony reported that he had been a Palace Graduate, whose ancestor’s noble title had passed on to his son Jia Zhen. Being old and infirm ha Jing had retired to live quietly in Mysterious Truth Temple outside the city, where he had now died of illness. His son Zhen and his grandson Rong were both at court on account of the state obsequies. They had therefore asked leave to return to attend to the funeral.
When the Emperor heard this, in his exceeding kindness he decreed: ‘Though Jia Jing was an ordinary citizen who performed no special service for the state, in view of his grand-father’s merit he is to be promoted posthumously to the fifth rank. His son and grandson are to escort his coffin through the lower north gate into the capital for a funeral ceremony at his own home, so that his descendants can mourn for him as is fitting before escorting his remains to their ancestral district. Let the office of Imperial Banquets bestow on the deceased a sacrificial feast of the first grade, and let all at court from princes and dukes downwards be granted leave to offer their condolences. By Imperial Decree!’
As soon as this decree was issued, not only did the Jia family express thanks for the Emperor’s goodness, all the high ministers at court were loud in their praise.
Jia Zhen and his son were speeding home posthaste when they saw Jia Bin and ha Guang galloping towards them, attended by some servants. At sight of Jia Zhen they hastily dismounted to pay their respects.
Asked their errand Jia Bin reported, ‘Sister-in-law was afraid that after you and our nephew came back there would be nobody to travel with the old lady, so she sent us to escort Her Ladyship.’
Jia Zhen expressed full approval, then asked how matters had been arranged at home, and Jia Bin described how the Taoist priests had been detained and the corpse taken to the family temple; and how, as there was no one in charge at home, old Mrs. You and her two daughters had been invited to stay and accommodation found for them in the main building.
Jia Rong had also dismounted. When he heard of the arrival of his two young aunts, he grinned at his father who was reiterating:
‘Well done, well done!’
They galloped on then, not stopping at any inns but changing horses at different post-houses as they sped back through the night. And upon reaching the capital they went straight to Iron Threshold Temple. It was then the fourth watch and the watch-men, hearing them, aroused everyone in the place. Jia Zhen alighted and with Jia Rong wailed aloud, both advancing on their knees from outside the gate to where the coffin was resting, kowtowing and lamenting all the way. They went on wailing till dawn, by which time their voices were hoarse.
Madam You and the others all came to meet them. Then Jia Zhen and his son, having changed into mourning according to the rites, prostrated themselves before the coffin. However, since they had business to attend to which they could not ignore, they had to curtail their mourning in order to issue instructions. Jia Zhen read out the Imperial Decree to their relatives and friends, then sent Jia Rong home first to arrange for the removal of the coffin there.
Jia Rong had been eagerly awaiting this order. He rode swiftly home and hastily gave instructions for the tables and chairs to be cleared away from the front hall, the partitions removed, white mourning curtains hung up, and a shed for musicians as well as an arch erected in front of the gate. This done, he hurried in to greet his step-grandmother and two aunts.
Now Mrs. You, being old and fond of sleeping, often lay down on the couch to have a nap while her two daughters were sewing with the maids. When they saw Jia Rong they expressed their condolences. Beaming all over his face he said to his second aunt:
‘So you’re here again, Second Auntie. My father’s been longing for you!’
Second Sister You blushed.
‘You rascal!’ she swore at him. ‘You can’t get by if I don’t curse you every other day! You’re going from bad to worse, with absolutely no sense of what’s proper. Imagine the son of a good family, who studies and is taught manners all the time, not even being up to low-class riffraff.’
She picked up an iron and grabbed his head as if to hit him, whereupon, shielding his head, he nestled close to her and begged for mercy. Third Sister You reached out to pinch his lips.
‘Wait till our elder sister hears of this,’ she scolded.
Chuckling, Jia Rong knelt on the kang to ask their pardon, at which both the sisters laughed. Then he tried to snatch some cardamom from his second aunt, who spat what she was chewing all over his face; but he just licked it off and ate it, shocking the maids who were there.
‘You’re wearing mourning and your grandmother is napping here,’ one of them remonstrated. ‘And after all they’re your aunts, for all they’re young. You really haven’t much respect for your mother. Presently we shall tell the master, and then you’ll be in big trouble.’
Jia Rong let go of his aunt then and grabbing hold of the maid kissed her on the mouth.
‘You’re quite right, sweetheart,’ he cried. ‘Now let’s make both their mouths water!’
The maids pushed him away. ‘You short-lived devil!’ they cursed. ‘You’ve a wife and maids of your own just like anyone else ‘ why come to plague us? Some people may know this is just fooling about; but there are other dirty-minded busybodies who like to gossip. They may spread so much talk that everyone in the other house hears about it. They’ll be saying we’re all fast and loose here.’
‘We’re two different households,’ scoffed Jia Rong. ‘We should both mind our own business. Haven’t we all enough troubles of our own? Since ancient times, even the Han and Tang dynasties have been described as ‘filthy Tang and stinking Han,’ to say nothing of families like ours. Which household hasn’t its share of philanderers? Shall I give you a few examples? Even though the Elder Master over there is so strict, Uncle Lian carried on with his young concubines; and though Aunt Xifeng is so stern, Uncle Rui tried to make her. Neither affair was any secret to me….
As Jia Rong was rattling away so wildly he noticed that the old lady had woken up, and made haste to pay his respects.
‘Sorry to have put you to so much trouble, Old Ancestress,’ he said. ‘And my two aunts as well. My father and I are most grateful. When this business is over, we shall take the whole family, young and old, to your place to kowtow our thanks.’
Old Mrs. You nodded.
‘It’s good of you to say that, my child,’ she replied. ‘We’re only acting as relatives should.’ Then she asked, ‘Is your father well? When did you get the message and hurry back?’
‘We’ve only just arrived,’ he told her. ‘He sent me on ahead to see how you are, madam, and to beg you to stay till the whole business is finished.’ As he said this he winked at his second aunt.
Gritting her teeth and smiling, Second Sister You scolded softly, ‘You glib-tongued monkey! Are you keeping us here to be your father’s mothers?’
‘Don’t worry, madam,’ said Jia Rong to old Mrs. You. ‘Not a day goes by but my father is thinking of my two aunts and looking for two well-born, handsome young gentlemen from rich and noble families to
arrange two matches for them. For some years he couldn’t find anyone suitable. Luckily, on his way home this time, he met just the right man.’
Old Mrs. You was only too ready to believe him.
‘What family is he from?’ she promptly asked.
The two sisters put down their sewing at this to chase him playfully and pummel him.
‘Don’t you believe the rascal, mother,’ one of them cried.
Even the maids protested, ‘Old Man Heaven has eyes. Look out, or you’ll be struck by a thunderbolt!’
Just then someone came in to announce, ‘We’ve made everything ready. Please go and have a look, Master Rong, and report it to His Lordship.’
Then ha Rong went out chuckling to himself. To know what happened later, read the next chapter.