Chapter 43
To Kill Time Money Is Raised
to Celebrate a Birthday
Incense Is Burned on the Ground
to Undying Love
The Lady Dowager was not really ill but had simply caught a chill that day in the Garden. Knowing that a visit from the doctor and some medicine had set her right, Lady Wang stopped worrying and sent for Xifeng whom she told to prepare some things to be taken to Jia Zheng. While they were discussing this, the old lady summoned them and they both hurried over.
‘Are you feeling better, madam?’ asked Lady Wang.
‘Much better,’ replied the Lady Dowager. ‘Just now I tried some of that quail soup you sent, and found it tasty. I ate a few mouthfuls of the flesh too, and enjoyed it.’
‘That was a filial offering from Xifeng,’ said Lady Wang. ‘It shows a proper respect for her elders and due gratitude for all your kindness to her.’
‘It’s good of her to be so thoughtful.’ The old lady nodded. ‘If there’s any left not yet cooked, I’d like a few slices fried, because being salty it goes well with porridge. The soup doesn’t, although it’s good.’
Xifeng promised to see to this at once and had the order passed on to the kitchen.
Meantime the Lady Dowager told Lady Wang, ‘I’ll tell you why I sent for you. The second of next month is Xifeng’s birthday. Last year and the year before that I meant to celebrate it, but each time something urgent cropped up and I let matters slide. This year everyone’s here and nothing’s likely to happen, so let’s all have some good fun.’
‘Just what I was thinking,’ replied Lady Wang. ‘If that’s what you want, madam, why not settle on it?’
‘For birthdays in the past we’ve always sent our presents separately, which is stereotyped and rather formal. Now I’ve thought of a new, informal way which should be fun.’
‘We’ll do whatever you think best, madam.’
‘Well then, why don’t we copy those poorer families in which everybody chips in, and however much is collected goes for a treat. What do you say? Wouldn’t that be fun?’
‘Very good. But how shall we go about it?’
Hearing this, the Lady Dowager in high spirits at once gave orders to invite over Aunt Xue, Lady Xing, the girls and Baoyu, as well as Jia Zhen’s wife Madam You from the other mansion, and the wives of the chief stewards such as Lai Da. The maids, infected by the old lady’s good humour, bustled off cheerfully to deliver her invitations; and in less time than it takes for a meal the room was packed with people, old and young, high and low.
Aunt Xue and the Lady Dowager had the seats of honour; Lady Xing and Lady Wang had two chairs by the door; Baochai and five or six other girls sat on the kang; Baoyu sat at his grandmother’s knee; and the rest stood, crowding the floor.
The Lady Dowager ordered stools to be fetched for Lai Da’s mother and a few of the older and most highly thought of nurses; for it was the family custom to show more respect to domestics who had served the older generation than to the sons and daughters of the house. Hence Madam You and Xifeng remained standing while, after a show of declining, Lai Da’s mother and three or four other old nurses sat down.
Then the Lady Dowager, beaming, announced her plan. All fell in readily with the novel suggestion. Those on good terms with Xifeng liked the idea, those afraid of her were glad of a chance to please her; and since everyone could afford it they agreed with alacrity.
The Lady Dowager made the first contribution, promising to give twenty taels.
‘I’ll follow suit,’ said Aunt Xue, ‘and give twenty too.’
‘We dare not rank ourselves with the old lady,’ disclaimed Lady Xing and Lady Wang laughingly. ‘Since we’re one grade lower, we’ll give sixteen apiece.’
‘We’re naturally one grade lower still,’ put in Madam You and Li Wan. ‘We’ll give twelve taels each.’
‘You’re a widow with no means of support,’ objected the old lady to Li Wan. ‘We can’t milk you like this. I’ll pay your share.’
‘Don’t get carried away, madam,’ warned Xifeng with a chuckle. ‘First count the cost. You still have two more shares to pay, yet now you’re offering to give twelve taels for her. You’re in a good mood at the moment, but presently you may regret it and complain, ‘So much spent on that minx Xifeng!’ Then you’ll play some clever trick to make me part unknowingly with three or four times the amount.’
‘What do you propose then?’ asked the Lady Dowager amid general laughter.
‘My birthday hasn’t come yet,’ said Xifeng, ‘but already I’m quite overwhelmed. Here I am, not paying a cent myself but imposing on all of you ‘ it’s really too bad. So why not let me pay for my sister-in-law? Then I’ll eat more on that day and enjoy myself better.’
Since Lady Xing and the others approved, the old lady gave her consent.
‘I’ve something else to say,’ continued Xifeng. ‘It’s quite fair, I think, for our Old Ancestress to give twenty herself plus Daiyu’s and Baoyu’s shares, and for Aunt Xue to give twenty herself plus Baochai’s share. But it’s not very fair for the two mistresses to give less themselves, only sixteen each, and not to pay for anybody else either. This is too hard on our Old Ancestress.’
The Lady Dowager laughed heartily. ‘So this hussy Xifeng takes my side, and quite right too,’ she crowed. ‘They’d have cheated me if not for you.’
‘Just turn Baoyu and Daiyu over to them,’ urged Xifeng. ‘Make them pay one extra share each.’
‘Yes, that’s only fair,’ the old lady approved. ‘We’ll do that.’
Lai Da’s mother rose to her feet in mock indignation.
‘This is too bad! I can’t bear to see Their Ladyships treated this way. One is Madam Lian’s mother-in-law, the other’s her father’s sister; yet instead of taking their side she sides with someone less close. What’s become of her family feeling?’
This set the whole party laughing.
Then Lai Da’s mother said, ‘Twelve taels each from Madam You and Madam Zhu. Of course we’re a grade lower, aren’t we?’
‘No, you can’t reckon that way,’ replied the old lady. ‘It’s true you re one grade lower, but I know you’re all rich. You’ve much more money than they have. So though you rank lower, you must pay the same amount.’
The stewards’ wives readily agreed to this.
‘As for the girls,’ continued the old lady, ‘they can simply make a gesture by each giving the equivalent of her monthly allowance.’ She turned then and called, ‘Here, Yuanyang! A few of you get together and decide on your contributions.
Yuanyang assented and went out, coming back presently with Pinger, Xiren, Caixia and a few other younger maids. Some said they would give two taels, others one.
‘Why are you in on this?’ the old lady asked Pinger. ‘Shouldn’t you give your mistress something special for her birthday?’
‘I have my own present ready,’ replied Pinger gaily. ‘But I want to give my share to the general fund too.’
‘That’s a good girl,’ approved the Lady Dowager.
‘That accounts for everyone here,’ remarked Xifeng. ‘Just to be polite, though, we’d better ask the two concubines whether they’d like to join in or not. Otherwise they may feel slighted.’
‘Of course. Fancy my forgetting them! I don’t suppose they’re free to come. Send a maid to ask them.’
One of the girls went and after some time brought back the answer, ‘They’ll give two taels each too.’
The Lady Dowager was pleased. ‘Get a brush and ink and see how much it comes to,’ she ordered.
‘You greedy bitch,’ whispered Madam You to Xifeng. ‘So many inlaws and nurses chipping in for your birthday, yet you’re still not satisfied. You must needs drag in those two poor wretches too.’
‘Nonsense!’ Countered Xifeng softly. ‘Get away with you! Who says they’re poor? They throw their money away on other people. We may as well take some and have a good time.’
By now the contributions had been counted and they totalled just over a hundred and fifty taels.
‘That’s more than enough for one day’s theatricals and feasts,’ observed the Lady Dowager.
‘As we’re not inviting guests, the feasting won’t cost much,’ remarked Madam You. ‘This sum should be enough for two or three days. Besides, the theatricals won’t cost anything. We can save on that.’
‘We must get whatever troupe Xifeng wants,’ insisted the old lady.
‘We’ve heard our own actresses so many times,’ said Xifeng, ‘let’s spend some money and get in a troupe from outside.’
‘I’m entrusting all the arrangements to Zhen’s wife,’ announced the Lady Dowager. ‘We mustn’t make Xifeng work. She’s just to have fun that day.’
Madam You agreed to this. And they went on chatting till the old lady was tired, when the party slowly dispersed.
After seeing Lady Xing and Lady Wang off, Madam You called on Xifeng to discuss what arrangements to make for the party.
‘Don’t ask me,’ said Xifeng. ‘Just watch the old lady’s reactions and do whatever she wants.’
‘You minx, you don’t deserve such luck,’Madam You teased. ‘I couldn’t think what we were being summoned for. So it was just for this. And as if paying up weren’t bad enough, I’ve got to go to so much trouble too. How are you going to thank me?’
‘Don’t talk rubbish,’ chuckled Xifeng. ‘I didn’t ask you to help, why should I thank you? If you think it too much trouble, go and ask the old lady to give someone else the job.’
‘See how this has gone to your head!’ Madam You laughed. ‘Take my advice and be a bit more modest. If you’re so full of yourself you’ll spill over!’
After some further conversation she left.
The next morning Madam You was still making her toilet when some silver was delivered to the Ning Mansion.
‘Who brought this?’ she asked.
Her maids told her the wife of the steward Lin Zhixiao. She sent to have her fetched from the maids’ room. Madam You offered her a stool and still combing her hair inquired:
‘How much is there in this packet?’
‘It’s the money from the staff which we’ve brought over first,’ was the answer. ‘The old lady’s and the mistresses’ isn’t here yet.’
At this point the maids announced, ‘People have come with chips from Madam Xue and the mistress in the other mansion.’
‘You wretches,’ scolded Madam You, smiling. ‘You only remember words of no consequence. Yesterday, for fun, the old lady decided to copy the way poor families chip in to raise money; but you keep solemnly repeating the word. Bring the silver in at once. And see that the messengers have some tea before they go.’
With a cheerful assent the maids brought in two packets of silver, including the shares of Baochai and Daiyu.
‘Whose is still missing?’ asked Madam You.
‘The old lady’s, Lady Xing’s and the shares of the young ladies and their maids,’ replied Mrs. Lin.
‘How about Madam Zhu?’
‘You’ll get hers from Madam Lian when you go over there, madam. It’s all there.’
Madam You, having finished her toilet, ordered her carriage and drove to the Rong Mansion. She called first on Xifeng, who had already wrapped the silver up ready to be delivered.
‘Is it all here?’ asked Madam You.
‘Yes.’ Xifeng smiled. ‘Hurry up and take it away. I won’t be responsible if anything’s lost.’
‘I don’t quite believe you.’ Madam You laughed. ‘I must count it here in your presence.’ She did so, and found that Li Wan’s share was missing. ‘I knew you were up to one of your tricks,’ she scolded. ‘Where’s your elder sister-in-law’s contribution?’
‘Haven’t you got enough with all the rest? What does it matter if you’re one share short? I’ll make it up later if your funds run out.’
‘Yesterday in front of everyone you played the Lady Bountiful; now you want to get out of it, but I won’t let you. I’ll have to apply to the old lady now for the money.’
‘What a terror you are,’ protested Xifeng, smiling. ‘Don’t complain next time you’re in trouble if I put on the screws.
‘So you can be frightened too! I wouldn’t let you off if you weren’t usually so dutiful to me.’ She took out Pinger’s share then, saying, ‘Here, Pinger, take this back. I’ll make it up for you if we haven’t enough.’
Pinger understood and replied, ‘Do keep it, madam. If there’s any left over, you can give it back to me later just the same.’
‘So your mistress is allowed to cheat, but I’m not allowed to bribe you,’ teased Madam You.
Then Pinger had to take the money back.
‘Your mistress is so thrifty,’ continued Madam You, ‘I wonder what she does with all her money. If she can’t spend it all, she’ll have to take it and spend it when she’s in her coffin.’
With this she set off to pay her respects to the Lady Dowager, and after a little conversation with her adjourned to Yuanyang’s room to ask her advice about the party and how best to please the old lady. When their plans were made and she was ready to leave, Madam You returned Yuanyang’s two taels with the explanation:
‘I shan’t be needing these.’
She went on then to Lady Wang’s apartments to chat, and when Lady Wang withdrew to her Buddhist shrine she gave Caiyun her share back too. Next she took advantage of Xifeng’s absence to reimburse the two concubines Zhou and Zhao as well. When they dared not take the silver she insisted:
‘You’re not well off enough to afford this. If Xifeng hears about it, I’ll take the blame.’
Then the two women accepted with effusive thanks.
In no time it was the second of the ninth month. All the inmates of the Garden knew that Madam You had arranged for a grand party with not only operas but acrobatics and blind story-tellers too, both men and women. They were looking forward to a delightful time.
Li Wan reminded the girls again, ‘Don’t forget, today is the day for our club meeting. I suppose Baoyu’s not here because he’s forgotten this refined gathering in his eagerness to join in the fun.’ She sent a maid to see what he was doing and ask him over.
The maid returned after some time to report, ‘Sister Xiren says he went out first thing this morning.’
‘Surely not!’ they exclaimed in surprise. ‘This girl’s muddled up the message.’
So Cuimo was sent to ask again, but on her return she confirmed that Baoyu had gone out, saying that a friend of his had died and he must go to offer condolences.
‘Impossible,’ cried Tanchun. ‘Nothing could have induced him to go out today. Fetch Xiren and let me ask her.’
But even as she was speaking, Xiren walked in.
‘Whatever business he had, he shouldn’t have gone out today,’ said Li Wan and the others. ‘In the first place, how could he run off on Madam Lian’s birthday, when the old lady’s in such good spirits and high and low in both mansions are going to join in the fun? In the second, this is the day for our first club meeting, yet he sneaks off alone without even asking leave.’
Xiren explained, ‘Last night he told me he’d important business first thing this morning and must go to the mansion of the Prince of Beijing, but he’d hurry back. I tried to dissuade him, but he wouldn’t listen. When he got up today he asked for a suit of mourning. It looks as if some lady of consequence in the prince’s household has died.’
‘If that’s so, he did right to go,’ observed Li Wan. ‘Still, he should be back by now.’
They discussed what to do.
‘Let’s just go ahead with our poems,’ said some. ‘We can punish him when he comes back.’
But just then the Lady Dowager sent for them, and they all went to her apartments. The old lady was displeased when Xiren reported Baoyu’s absence. She ordered him to be fetched back.
Baoyu, with something preying on his mind, the previous day had given Mingyan some instructions. ‘I’m going out first thing tomorrow, so have two horses waiting at the back gate. I don’t want anyone else to come with us. Tell Li Gui that I’m going to call on the Prince of Beijing, and that he must stop anyone going out to look for me. He can say I’ve been kept by the prince and will soon be back anyway.
Mingyan had no idea what was afoot but had to carry out his orders. The next morning, sure enough, he had two horses ready saddled outside the back gate of the Garden.
At dawn Baoyu, in full mourning, came out of the side gate, mounted his horse without a word and, bending low in the saddle, cantered off down the street. Mingyan could only mount the other horse and whip it on to catch up, shouting after him:
‘Where are we going?’
‘Where does this road lead?’
‘It’s the main road to the North Gate. There’s nothing amusing outside, it’s quiet and deserted.’
Baoyu nodded. ‘A quiet spot is what I want to find.’
He whipped his horse on and after a couple of turns it sped through the city gate. More puzzled than ever, Mingyan followed close behind. They rode straight on for seven or eight ii until the houses were few and far between. Then Baoyu reined to a halt and turned to ask:
‘Can I buy some incense here?’
‘I suppose so,’ said Mingyan. ‘What kind do you want?’
Baoyu replied thoughtfully, ‘Other kinds are no good; it must be made of sandalwood, rue or laka-wood.’
‘Those are difficult to get,’ Mingyan told him, grinning. When Baoyu looked worried he asked, ‘What do you need incense for, sir? I’ve noticed that you often carry bits of incense in your pouch. Why don’t you use that?’
Thus reminded, Baoyu reached for the pouch inside his lapel and was pleased to discover two bits of eaglewood in it. He thought, ‘This seems a bit lacking in respect. Still, something I have on me should be better anyway than anything I can buy.’ He asked then where he could get hold of an incense-burner.
‘An incense-burner!’ exclaimed Mingyan. ‘Where would we find one out in the open country? If you wanted these things why didn’t you tell me before? I could easily have brought them.’
‘Don’t be a fool,’ retorted Baoyu. ‘I wouldn’t have been riding so hard if it was so simple.’
Mingyan thought for a while then suggested, ‘I have an idea you might consider, sir. I imagine you’ll be needing other things too, so why not go on another couple of ii to River Goddess Convent?’
‘Is River Goddess Convent near here? So much the better. Come on, then.
With a crack of his whip Baoyu set off again, calling over his shoulder to Mingyan, ‘The nuns in that convent often come to our house. If we ask them for the loan of an incense-burner, they’re bound to let us have one.’
‘Of course, we’re patrons of theirs. Even in a temple we didn’t know they could hardly refuse. Only I don’t understand why you’re so pleased to go there today, sir. I always thought you had a special dislike for this River Goddess Convent.’
‘It’s those vulgar fools who worship gods and build temples for no reason that I hate. Those rich eunuchs and ignorant women who have too much money to spend hear of some god and build a temple to him without knowing the least thing about him, on the strength of some legend or romance they’ve heard, which they take as the truth. In this River Goddess Convent, for example, they worship the Goddess of the River Luo. That’s how the convent got its name. But of course in ancient times no such goddess existed. She’s Cao Zijian’s invention.1 Yet some fools had to make an image and worship her. Still, this happens to suit my purpose today, so I’ll make use of it.’
They had now reached the convent gate. The old abbess was as astonished by this visit as if a live dragon had swooped down from the sky. She made haste to welcome them and told an old serving-man to see to their horses. Baoyu, going in, did not bow to the image of the goddess but simply stared at it in admiration. For though made of clay it really had the grace of ‘a startled swan of drifting dragon’ and the charm of ‘a lotus rising from green water or sun shining through morning mist.’2 Unwittingly, he shed tears.
When the old abbess offered him tea he asked if he might borrow an incense-burner. She went to fetch one, finally returning with incense and sacrificial paper to burn as well, but these Baoyu declined. He told Mingyan to find a clean spot at the back of the garden for the incense-burner. Failing to find one, his page asked:
‘How about the coping of the well?’
Baoyu nodded and went with him to the well. Having put down the incense-burner, Mingyan stepped aside. Baoyu produced and lit his eaglewood, bowed to it with tears in his eyes, then turned and ordered Mingyan to return the incense-burner. The page assented, but instead of doing as he was told he fell on his knees, kowtowed several times and then prayed:
‘I, Mingyan, have served our second master for several years now and known all his affairs; but he didn’t tell me about today’s sacrifice, and I dared not ask. Though your name, oh spirit to whom he is sacrificing, is unknown to me, I am sure you must be a girl with no peer on earth or in heaven, of incomparable intelligence and beauty. As my master can’t tell you what it is he wants, let me pray to you in his place.
‘If your fragrant spirit has feeling and compassion, although separated from the world of men do come and visit our young master from time to time, since he longs for you so much. And do help him in the nether world too, so that in his next life he may be reborn as a girl and enjoy himself with the rest of you, never again becoming a filthy man with a beard and shaggy eyebrows.’
This prayer ended, he gave several more kowtows before scrambling to his feet. While he was still holding forth, Baoyu could not help bursting out laughing. Now he kicked him over and swore:
‘Shut up, or people will laugh.’
Mingyan rose then and picked up the incense-burner. As they walked away he said, ‘I told the abbess you’d come out without any breakfast, sir, and asked her to prepare a simple meal. So do try to eat something. I know you’ve come out to avoid the big feast and the racket at home today. Spending a quiet day here you’ll have anyway observed the proprieties; but it would never do if you eat nothing.’
‘If we cut the feast, I don’t mind if we have a vegetarian snack here.’
‘Good. But there’s another thing: people are bound to be worried by our absence. If not for that, it wouldn’t matter going back late. But since they’ll be worrying, you ought to start back to town soon, sir, and go home. For one thing, that will relieve the minds of the old lady and Lady Wang; for another, you’ve already paid sufficient respect to the dead. That’s all there is to it. If you go home to drink and watch the shows, it won’t be because you want to but simply out of respect for your parents, sir. If you’re so set on staying here, regardless of how upset the old lady and Lady Wang are, even the spirit you’ve just sacrificed to will feel uncomfortable. What do you think, sir?’
‘I know what’s on your mind.’ Baoyu grinned. ‘You’re the only one to have come out with me, and you’re afraid of a dressing-down when we get home hence all this high-sounding advice. But I’ve not been here long, and I only came to make a sacrifice before going to the feast and watching the show. I never said I’d stay out here all day. Now that I’ve done what I came for, we can hurry back and stop them worrying. That’s best both ways, isn’t it?’
‘That’s more like it,’ said Mingyan.
They entered the hall where the abbess had indeed prepared a vegetarian meal for them. Baoyu ate a little and so did Mingyan, after which they mounted their horses and rode back the way they had come.
Mingyan behind kept warning, ‘Steady on, sir. That horse hasn’t been ridden much. Keep a good grip on the reins.’
In no time they re-entered the city and returned home through the back gate, then Baoyu hurried over to Happy Red Court. Xiren and the other girls had gone, leaving only a few old women there in charge. They beamed with joy at sight of Baoyu and exclaimed:
‘Amida Buddha! Here you are at last. You had Miss Xiren worried frantic. The feast is just starting. Do hurry, Master Bao.’
Baoyu hastily changed his mourning for splendid robes and asked where the feasters were.
The old women told him, ‘In the new hall in the small garden.’
He headed straight for the place, hearing in the distance the faint sound of singing and fluting. When he reached the entrance hall he saw Yuchuan sitting alone on the porch, in tears. She stopped crying at sight of him.
‘Here comes the phoenix!’ she cried. ‘Go in, quick. If you’d been any later, I can’t think what would have happened.’
‘Guess where I’ve been,’ he said with a sheepish smile.
But she did not answer, simply wiping her eyes.
He hurried into the hall and paid his respects to his grand-mother and mother. Everyone was as delighted as if they had indeed got hold of a phoenix. Then Baoyu greeted Xifeng and offered his congratulations.
‘You must have taken leave of your senses,’ scolded the Lady Dowager and his mother. ‘How could you run off without telling anybody? Disgraceful! If you ever do such a thing again, we shall tell your father when he comes home and he’ll give you another beating.’
Then the Lady Dowager rounded on the servants. ‘Why do you all do as he says?’ she stormed. ‘You let him go wherever he pleases without reporting it. And just where did you go?’ she asked Baoyu. ‘Have you had a meal? Did anything frighten you?’
‘‘Yesterday one of the Prince of Beijing’s favourite concubines died,’ said Baoyu. ‘I went to offer condolences. He was weeping so bitterly, I hadn’t the heart to leave him. So I stayed for a while.’
‘If you go out again without letting me know,’ she warned, ‘I really shall tell your father to beat you.’
Baoyu promised to do as she said. She threatened, then, to have his servants beaten; but the others pleaded:
‘Don’t take it to heart, madam. Now that he’s back we should stop worrying and have some fun.’
As the old lady’s fit of temper had been caused by anxiety, her delight at his return now restored her good humour. She stopped reproaching Baoyu and started making much of him instead, afraid he had had a bad time, missed his breakfast or been frightened on the road. Xiren had come to wait on him too, and they all went on watching the opera.
The opera performed that day was The Tale of the Thorn Pin, which so moved the old lady and Aunt Xue that they shed tears. The others laughed at or cursed the characters.
If you want to know what followed, read the next chapter.