Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The previous chapter | Back to Contents | The next chapter

Chapter 19

Tender Words on a Fine Night: A Flower Offers Counsel

Lingering Thoughts on a Quiet Day: Jade Gives Off Fragrance

After the Imperial Concubine Jia returned to the palace, the next day she had an audience with the Emperor to express her gratitude and to report on her visit home. The Dragon Countenance was greatly pleased. He also issued from the Inner Treasury colored silks, satins, gold, and silver, to bestow upon Jia Zheng and the various members of the imperial relatives' households—no need to recount this in detail.

Now, in the Ningguo and Rongguo mansions, because they had exhausted their energies day after day, every single person was weary in body and drained in spirit. It took them another two or three days to put away all the furnishings and articles used in the Garden. As for Xifeng, first of all, she had many responsibilities and heavy duties—others might steal some rest and quiet, but she alone could not get away. Second, her nature was to be strong and competitive; she would not allow anyone to criticize her. She simply forced herself to carry on as if she were an idle person. The first of all to be idle and at leisure was Baoyu.

Now on this particular morning, Xiren's mother had come in person to report to Grandmother Jia that she was taking Xiren home to partake of the New Year's tea, and she would not be back until the evening. So Baoyu was left only playing dice and weiqi with the other maids. Just as he was playing in his room without any spirit, a maid suddenly came to report, "Master Zhen from the East Mansion has invited you over to watch the opera and see the lanterns." Baoyu upon hearing this, ordered his clothes changed. Just as he was about to leave, a sweetened steamed cheese pastry sent by the Imperial Concubine Jia arrived. Baoyu remembered that Xiren had enjoyed this last time, so he ordered it set aside for Xiren. He then went to report to Grandmother Jia and went off to watch the opera.

Who would have thought that Jia Zhen's side was performing "Ding Lang Recognizes His Father," "Huang Boyang Deploys the Grand Array of Shades," along with "Sun Wukong Creates Havoc in Heaven" and "Jiang Ziya Beheads Generals and Deifies Them." In an instant, gods and ghosts appeared in wild profusion; suddenly demons were fully revealed—even to the point of raising banners and holding processions, chanting Buddhist invocations and burning incense, while the noise of gongs and drums and shouting could be heard far beyond the lanes. Everyone on the street exclaimed, "What a lively show! No other household could possibly put on anything like this!" Baoyu saw that the bustle and excitement had reached such an intolerable degree; he only sat briefly, then went off to amuse himself in various places. First he went inside to chat and laugh for a while with Madam You and her maids and concubines, then he came out through the second gate. Madam You and the others still supposed he had come out to watch the opera, so they paid him no attention. Jia Zhen, Jia Lian, Xue Pan, and the others were absorbed in guessing games and drinking, making merry in every way, and gave him no thought. If he was missing from his seat for a moment, they simply assumed he had gone inside, and so did not ask after him. As for the pages attending Baoyu, the older ones knew that once Baoyu had come, they would not be dismissed until evening. So they took the opportunity to slip away—some to gamble, some to go to relatives' homes for New Year's tea, and others to visit prostitutes or drink wine. They all dispersed privately, planning to return in the evening. The younger ones had all crept into the opera house to watch the excitement.

Baoyu, seeing that there was not a single person about, thought to himself: "There is a small study here that usually has a painting of a beautiful woman hanging in it, painted most lifelike. Today with all this commotion, there must naturally be no one there, and that beauty must be lonely. I must go and console her for a while." Thinking this, he headed for the study. Just as he reached the window, he heard a moaning sound from inside. Baoyu was startled: Could it be that the beauty had come to life? He summoned up his courage, tore a hole in the window paper, and looked inside—the painted beauty had not come to life after all. It was Mingyan pressing down upon a young girl, doing precisely what the Goddess of Disenchantment had instructed. Baoyu could not contain himself and shouted, "Unforgivable!" He kicked the door open, startling the two apart, trembling in their clothes.

Mingyan, seeing that it was Baoyu, hastily knelt down and begged without ceasing. Baoyu said, "In broad daylight—what is this? If Master Zhen finds out, will you live or die?" He glanced at the girl—though not especially pretty, she was at least clean and fair, and there was something faintly attractive about her. She was blushing crimson and hanging her head, unable to speak. Baoyu stamped his foot: "Hurry up and run!" These words reminded the girl, and she flew off like the wind. Baoyu ran after her and called out, "Don't be afraid—I won't tell anyone." This so alarmed Mingyan that he called after him, "Ancestor! This is clearly telling someone!" Baoyu then asked, "How old is that girl?" Mingyan replied, "Probably no more than sixteen or seventeen." Baoyu said, "You didn't even ask her age—naturally you know nothing else about her either. So you really don't know her at all. Pitiful, pitiful!" He asked again, "What is her name?" Mingyan laughed loudly: "If I were to tell you her name, it would be a long story—truly a fresh and strange tale that couldn't be written out. According to what she said, when her mother was carrying her, she had a dream in which she obtained a piece of brocade, on which was a pattern of the swastika symbol of wealth and nobility without end. So her name is Wan'er." Baoyu, hearing this, laughed: "How novel indeed. She may have some good fortune in store for her." As he spoke, he fell into a reverie for a while.

Mingyan asked, "Why doesn't Your Lordship watch such a fine play?" Baoyu replied, "I've watched for half the day and got terribly bored. I came out for a stroll and ran into you. What are you up to now?" Mingyan said with a grin, "No one knows where we are at the moment. I could quietly take Your Lordship out of the city for a wander, and by the time we come back here, none of them would be any the wiser." Baoyu said, "No, that's no good. We might be kidnapped by those kidnappers. And even if the others found out, it would cause too much of a fuss. We'd better go somewhere closer and more familiar, so we can get back easily." Mingyan said, "Somewhere close and familiar? Whose house could we go to? That's the problem." Baoyu said with a smile, "I have an idea. Let's go find your Sister Xiren and see what she's up to at home." Mingyan laughed, "Good, good! I forgot about her place." Then he added, "But if the others find out and say I led Your Lordship roaming about, they'll beat me for it!" Baoyu said, "I'll take care of that." At this, Mingyan led the horse round, and the two of them slipped out through the back gate. Fortunately, Xiren's house was not far—only about half the distance of a li—and in the blink of an eye they were at the gate. Mingyan went in first to call for Xiren's brother, Hua Zifang. At that time, Xiren's mother had brought Xiren and several nieces and grand-nieces home, and they were eating fruit and drinking tea. When someone outside called out "Brother Hua," Hua Zifang hurried out to find his young master and his servant standing there. Thoroughly startled and alarmed, he hastily lifted Baoyu down from the horse and shouted into the courtyard, "Master Bao is here!" The others took the news calmly enough, but Xiren, hearing it, could not imagine what had happened and rushed out to greet Baoyu. She seized him by the hand and demanded, "How did you get here?" Baoyu said with a smile, "I was feeling awfully bored, so I came to see what you were up to." Only then did Xiren's heart stop racing. She gave a sigh and said with a laugh, "You really are too wild! What have you come here for?" At the same time she asked Mingyan, "Who else came with you?" Mingyan grinned, "No one else knows. It's just the two of us." Xiren was alarmed again. "This will never do! What if we run into someone, or run into the Master? With all the crowds and carriages and sedan-chords jostling in the streets, if anything happened to you, could you still be playing around? Your courage is bigger than a bushel measure. This is all Mingyan's doing—when we get back, I'll tell the nurses to give you a good beating." Mingyan pouted and said, "It was His Lordship who cursed and beat me into bringing him here, and now you're putting the blame on me. I said we shouldn't come—otherwise let's go back right now." Hua Zifang quickly interposed, "Never mind, you're here now, so there's no point in talking about it. It's just that our thatched cottage is cramped and dirty—how is Your Lordship going to sit?"

Xiren's mother had already come out to greet them. Xiren led Baoyu inside. He saw three or four girls in the room who lowered their heads in shy confusion when he entered. Hua Zifang and his mother went to great lengths to make sure Baoyu was warm, inviting him to sit on the kang, hurriedly setting out another table of fruit, and quickly pouring good tea. Xiren said with a smile, "Don't go to all this trouble—I know what to do. There's no need to put out fruit, and I wouldn't dare let him eat just anything." As she spoke, she took her own cushion and spread it on the kang for Baoyu to sit on, placed her own foot-warmer under his feet, took two plum-blossom sachets from her pouch, opened her hand warmer and lit incense in it, closed it again and tucked it inside Baoyu's gown, then poured tea from her own cup and handed it to Baoyu. By this time her mother and brother had already bustled about setting out a whole table of fruit, neatly arranged. Seeing there was still nothing suitable to eat, Xiren said with a smile, "Since you've come, you shouldn't go away empty-handed. At least taste a little something—it will count as a visit to my home." So saying, she picked up a few pine nut kernels, blew off the thin skins, and held them on a handkerchief to give to Baoyu.

Baoyu noticed that Xiren's eyes were slightly reddened and her face glowingly smooth. He asked her quietly, "Why are you crying?" Xiren smiled. "Who's crying? I just got something in my eye and rubbed it." And so the matter was glossed over.

At that time, Baoyu was wearing a red arrow-sleeve jacket embroidered with gold pythons and trimmed with fox fur at the arms, over which he had a coat of dark blue marten fur with a fringe of tassels. Xiren said, "You specially changed into new clothes just to come here—don't they ask you where you've been?" Baoyu laughed, "I changed at Uncle Zhen's place, where I went to watch the opera." Xiren nodded. Then she added, "Sit for a while and then go back. This is no place for you." Baoyu smiled, "It would be better if you went home too. I've kept something good for you." Xiren whispered with a smile, "Quiet! What would it sound like if they heard you?" At the same time she reached up and took the Spiritual Jade from around Baoyu's neck, saying with a smile to her sisters, "Have a look at this. You've always talked about it as something rare, wishing you could see it. Well, take a good look today. Whatever other rare things there may be, they're nothing compared to this." After saying this, she passed it around for them to examine, then hung it back around Baoyu's neck. She also told her brother to hire either a small sedan chair or a small cart to send Baoyu back. Hua Zifang said, "I'll take him back myself. Riding a horse is perfectly fine." Xiren said, "It's not that it's unsafe—it's that we might run into people." Hua Zifang hurriedly went to hire a small sedan chair. The others dared not press him to stay, so they could only see Baoyu out. Xiren also grabbed some fruits for Mingyan and gave him some money to buy firecrackers, instructing him, "Don't tell anyone, or you'll be in trouble too." She accompanied Baoyu all the way to the gate, watched him get into the sedan chair, and saw the curtain lowered. Hua and Mingyan followed on horseback. When they reached the street of the Ning Mansion, Mingyan ordered the chair to stop and said to Hua Zifang, "I need to go with the Second Master back to the Eastern Mansion and put in an appearance, or people will get suspicious." Hua Zifang, thinking this made sense, quickly carried Baoyu out of the sedan chair and helped him onto his horse. Baoyu said with a laugh, "You've really gone to a lot of trouble." And so he re-entered through the back gate. But no more of this.

Now after Baoyu had left, the maids in his room gave themselves over to wanton fun and games. Some were playing weiqi, others were throwing dice and playing cards, and melon seed shells were scattered all over the floor. It so happened that the old wet nurse Li, leaning on her cane, came in to pay her respects. She looked around for Baoyu, and seeing that he was not at home and that the maids were only amusing themselves, she could not bear the sight. She sighed, "Ever since I stopped coming in regularly, you've become more and more undisciplined. The other nurses don't dare say anything to you anymore. That Baoyu is like an eighteen-foot lamp stand—it illuminates others but not itself. He knows how to complain about other people's dirtiness, but this is his own room, and he lets you wreck it—it's becoming utterly disgraceful." These maids knew perfectly well that Baoyu didn't fuss about such things, and in any case old Nurse Li had retired and no longer had authority over them, so they just went on amusing themselves and paid her no attention. But old Nurse Li kept asking, "How much rice does Baoyu eat per meal these time?" "What time does he go to sleep?" and so forth. The maids answered her at random. One of them said, "What a tiresome old thing!"

Old Nurse Li asked again, "What's in this covered bowl? Cream cheese? Why didn't you send it to me? I'll eat it." So saying, she took a spoon and started eating. One of the maids said, "Don't touch that! It was set aside for Xiren—she'll be furious when she comes back. You admit it yourself, and don't drag us into the quarrel." Old Nurse Li, hearing this, was both angry and ashamed. She said, "I can't believe he's become so bad. Even if I drink a bowl of milk, something even more valuable than this would only be my due. Does he think Xiren is more important to him than I am? Doesn't he remember how he grew up? My blood turned into milk, and he drank it to grow so big. Now he's angry because I drink a bowl of his milk? I'll eat it, and let's see what happens! You don't know what Xiren will be like—she's nothing but a little maid I trained myself, some creature!" Even as she spoke, she ate up the cream cheese in a fit of pique. Another maid laughed and said, "They don't know how to talk, no wonder you're angry. Baoyu often sends things to show his respect to you as an elder—he wouldn't be upset over something like this." Old Nurse Li said, "Don't try to cozen me with your fox tricks. Do you think I don't know about how he drove out Qianxue over that tea business last time? If there's any blame next time, I'll come and claim it!" So saying, she left in a huff.

A short while later, Baoyu returned and sent someone to fetch Xiren. He found Qingwen lying motionless on the bed. Baoyu asked, "Are you sick? Or did you lose at gambling?" Qiuwen said, "Actually she won, but when old Mrs. Li came and muddled things up, she lost it all. She was so angry she went to sleep." Baoyu laughed, "Don't lower yourself to her level. Let her be." Just then Xiren arrived, and they greeted each other. Xiren asked Baoyu where he had eaten and what time he had returned, and also passed on greetings from her mother and sister to the other maids. After a while, Baoyu changed his clothes and removed his ornaments. He ordered someone to bring the cream cheese, and the maids replied, "Old Mrs. Li ate it." Baoyu was about to speak when Xiren quickly smiled and said, "So that's what you were saving. Thank you for the thought. The other day when I ate some, it tasted good at first, but then I got a terrible stomachache and was sick for quite a while before I recovered. It's good that she ate it—leaving it here would have just been a waste. I've been wanting to eat wind-dried chestnuts. You peel the chestnuts for me while I make the bed."

Baoyu, taking her words at face value, put the milk curds aside and reached for the chestnuts. He began hulling them by the lamp, and noticing that no one else was in the room, he smiled and asked Xiren, "Who was that girl in red today—what relation is she to you?"

Xiren replied, "She's my cousin, the daughter of my mother's sister."

Baoyu sighed admiringly twice. Xiren said, "What are you sighing about? I know what's on your mind—you're thinking she has no business wearing red."

Baoyu laughed. "No, no. If someone like her doesn't deserve to wear red, who else would dare? It's just that she's really so good—I only wish she could be in our household."

Xiren said with a cold laugh, "I'm a slave by birth, that's my lot, but does that mean all my relatives must be slaves too? Must you insist on finding only the very best maids before any of them can come to your family?"

Baoyu, hearing this, hastily said with a laugh, "You're being oversensitive again. When I said come to our household, did I mean as a slave? Can't she come as a relative?"

Xiren said, "That wouldn't be a suitable match either."

Baoyu then refused to say more and went on hulling his chestnuts. Xiren laughed. "Why have you fallen silent? I suppose I've offended you just now. Tomorrow I'll put on my proud airs and spend a few taels of silver to buy them all in."

Baoyu laughed. "What you say—how am I supposed to answer? I was only praising her, saying she truly belongs in a grand household like this. It's not fitting for the likes of us, such vulgar creatures, to have been born here instead."

Xiren said, "Though she may not have such good fortune, she's still been raised in comfort and indulgence—the darling of my aunt and uncle. She's seventeen now, and her trousseau is already complete. She'll be married next year."

At the words "married," Baoyu couldn't help sighing twice, feeling a vague unease. Then he heard Xiren say with a sigh, "Ever since I've been here these few years, sisters haven't been able to stay together. Now that I'm leaving, they've all scattered as well."

Baoyu sensed something behind these words and couldn't help being startled. He hastily put down the chestnuts and asked, "What? You're leaving now?"

Xiren said, "I heard my mother and brother discussing it today—they want me to be patient one more year. Next year when they come up to the capital, they'll buy my freedom and take me out."

Baoyu was even more stunned at this. "Why would they want to redeem you?"

Xiren said, "That's a strange question! I'm not like the hereditary servants here, whose whole families are elsewhere while I'm the only one left in this household—how could that ever be a proper resolution?"

Baoyu said, "But it would be difficult for me to let you go."

Xiren replied, "There's never been such a principle. Even in the imperial palace, there are fixed regulations—selections every few years, new entrances every few years. There's no precedent for keeping someone indefinitely, much less for you!"

After thinking this over, Baoyu found her reasoning sound. He added, "But it would be hard for the old lady to let you go." Xiren answered, "Why wouldn't she? If I were truly the most exceptional sort, and if I could move the old lady's heart, perhaps she wouldn't let me leave—it's possible she might even give our family a few extra taels of silver and keep me on. But really, I'm nothing more than an ordinary person. There are many, many who are better than I am. Ever since I came here as a young girl in the old lady's service, I attended to Miss Shi for several years, and now I've served you for several years. Now that my family has come to redeem me, it's only right that they be allowed to call me back. For all I know, they might not even ask for the purchase price—Her Ladyship might simply grant me leave out of kindness. As for the idea that I serve you so well they can't let me go—that simply isn't so. Serving well is my duty, nothing remarkable. After I leave, an even better one will come in my place; things won't fall apart just because I'm gone."

When Baoyu heard all this, it seemed there was every reason for her to leave and none for her to stay. His heart grew more frantic than ever, and he said, "Even so, I'm determined to keep you. I'm not afraid to ask the old lady to speak with your mother—I'll give your mother plenty of silver, and she'll be too embarrassed to take you back."

Xiren replied, "My mother wouldn't dare insist. Even setting aside the pleasant words and extra silver, even if we said nothing agreeable and gave not a single copper, and were intent on forcing me to stay, she wouldn't dare refuse. But our family has never been one to throw its weight around and bully people. This isn't like other things—if you take a liking to something, you can pay ten times its value to get it brought to you, and the seller takes no loss, so it can be done. But keeping me here for no good reason—it brings you no benefit and would tear our flesh and blood apart. This is something Her Ladyship and the mistress would never allow."

Baoyu listened and pondered for a long while. Then he said, "So you're saying you've made up your mind to leave?"

"I have," said Xiren.

Baoyu reflected to himself: "Who would have thought such a person could be so cold and unfeeling." He sighed, "Had I known they'd all want to leave, I never would have brought you here in the first place. In the end I'd be left a lonely ghost all by myself." With that, he flung himself petulantly onto the bed and went to sleep.

In fact, when Xiren was at home and heard her mother and brother wanted to redeem her, she had declared she would rather die than go back. She had said, "Back then, you had nothing to eat—I was the only one worth a few taels of silver. If you hadn't sold me, there would have been no way to stop you, father and mother, from starving to death. Fortunately I was sold to this household, where my food and clothing are the same as my mistress's, and I'm not beaten or cursed from morning to night. Besides, though father has passed away, you've managed to put the family back on its feet and recover your footing. If things were truly still hard, and you redeemed me and scraped together a few more coins, that might be one thing—but in reality things aren't difficult anymore. So what's the point of redeeming me now? You might as well count me dead and never raise the thought again!" And she had wept and carried on over it.

Seeing her so resolute, her mother and brother naturally understood she would come out no more. What's more, the original sale had been an irrevocable contract. They had relied on the Jia household being a charitable, generous family—they need only ask, and there was every likelihood the purchase price would be given back as a gift. Secondly, the Jia household had never abused its servants—there was always more kindness than severity. And all the young ladies-in-waiting in the apartments of the old and young masters were treated even better than the rest of the household servants—girls from poor families who were ladies themselves couldn't be shown such respect. So mother and son gave up the idea of redeeming her.

Later, when Baoyu happened to visit and they saw the way things stood, mother and son understood even better. It was as if a weight had dropped from their minds—more than they had dared hope for. They reassured each other and gave up all thought of redemption.

Now then: Xiren had known from childhood that Baoyu's temperament was extraordinary—his mischievous, wild ways were beyond those of other children, and he had several strange, unaccountable peculiarities besides. Lately, relying on his grandmother's doting love, with his parents unable to restrain him strictly, he had grown even more dissolute and undisciplined, giving free rein to his impulses, with no taste for proper pursuits. Whenever she wanted to advise him, she expected he wouldn't listen. Today, by a lucky coincidence, the subject of redeeming her had come up, so she used crafty words first to test his feelings and deflate his temper, making it easier to offer admonishment later. Now seeing him lying there silently asleep, she knew his feelings were reluctant and his spirit had flagged. She herself hadn't really wanted any chestnuts—she had only used them as an excuse to avoid another incident over milk curds, like the business with Camellia's tea, and so she'd brought up the chestnuts as a pretext to gloss over the matter with Baoyu and let it pass. She told the little maids to take the chestnuts away and eat them herself, then came over to rouse Baoyu. She found his face streaked with tears, and Xiren laughed, "What's there to be sad about? If you truly want me to stay, naturally I won't go."

Baoyu sensed there was something behind these words and said, "Go on then—tell me. What more must I do to keep you? I hardly know myself."

Xiren smiled. "Our good relationship goes without saying. But today, if you sincerely want me to stay, it isn't about that. Let me name two or three things—if you truly agree to them, then I'll know you genuinely want me to stay, and even with a knife at my throat, I won't leave."

Baoyu said hastily with a smile, "Tell me, which things? I'll agree to all of them. Good sister, dear sister, don't just say two or three things—even two or three hundred, I'd agree. I only beg you all to watch over me and stay by my side, until one day I turn into flying ashes—no, even flying ashes aren't good enough, for ashes still have form and trace and consciousness. Wait until I've transformed into a wisp of light smoke, scattered by a gust of the wind, and then you won't be able to control me anymore, and I won't be able to look after you either. Then let me go wherever I please, and I'll let you go wherever you like." Before he'd finished speaking, Xiren, in a hurry, seized his mouth and said, "That's enough. I was trying to persuade you about these very things, and now you've gone and said something even worse." Baoyu said quickly, "I won't say it again." Xiren said, "That's the first thing you must change." Baoyu said, "I'll change it. If I say it again, you can pinch my lips. What else?"

Xiren said, "The second thing: whether you genuinely love reading or only pretend, when you're before the Master or in front of others, don't keep criticizing and mocking—just put on the appearance of someone who enjoys reading. That would save the Master some anger, and it would give people something good to say about you. He thinks to himself: 'My family has been a family of scholars for generations, and ever since you were born, I never expected you to dislike reading. Already he feels both angry and ashamed in his heart.' And then you go around saying those wild remarks behind people's backs and to their faces—anyone who studies and strives for advancement, you give the name 'career-grubbers,' and you say that apart from the 'Illustrious Virtue' there are no real books at all, that they're all things previous people compiled on their own interpretation because they couldn't understand the sages' writings. With talk like this, how can you blame the Master for being angry and beating you from time to time? What are other people supposed to think of you?" Baoyu said with a smile, "I won't say it again. That was all from when I was young and didn't know my place, talking recklessly. I wouldn't dare say such things now. What else?"

Xiren said, "You must never again slander monks and Daoists, or go around mixing rouge and powder. And there's an even more important thing: you must never again eat the rouge off people's lips, or indulge that weakness for red." Baoyu said, "I'll change it, I'll change it all. If there's anything else, tell me quickly." Xiren said with a smile, "There's nothing else. Just be careful about everything you do, and don't follow your whims. If you really do all I've asked, then even an eight-man sedan chair couldn't carry me away from here." Baoyu said with a smile, "If you stay here long enough, you won't have to worry about not getting to ride in an eight-man sedan chair." Xiren said with a cold laugh, "That's not something I care about. If I had the fortune, I wouldn't have the justification. Even if I rode in one, it wouldn't be much fun."

The two were talking when Qiuwen came in and said, "It's almost the third watch—time to sleep. The Old Ancestress just sent a nurse to ask, and I told her you were going to sleep." Baoyu ordered someone to bring a clock to look at, and sure enough the hands pointed to the beginning of the Hai hour. They then washed, changed clothes, and settled down to rest—but no more of this. The next morning, when Xiren got up, she felt heavy in her body, with a headache, swollen eyes, and burning limbs. At first she could still hold out, but after a while she couldn't bear it and just wanted to sleep, so she lay down on the kang with her clothes still on. Baoyu quickly reported this to Grandmother Jia, who sent for a doctor to examine her. The doctor said, "It's just a slight cold. Take one or two doses of medicine to disperse it and she'll be fine." After writing a prescription and leaving, someone was sent to fetch the medicine. It was decocted and she had just taken it; she was told to cover herself with a quilt to sweat out the illness. Baoyu then went himself to Daiyu's room to check on her.

At that time Daiyu was resting on her bed after lunch. The maids had all gone off on their own, and the whole room was quiet. Baoyu lifted the embroidered silk curtain and went inside. Seeing Daiyu lying there asleep, he hurried over and nudged her, saying, "Good sister, you just finished eating and you're sleeping again." He woke Daiyu up. Daiyu saw it was Baoyu and said, "You go out and wander around. I was restless all night last night, and I still haven't recovered—my whole body aches." Baoyu said, "The aching is a small matter, but sleeping sickness is serious. I'll keep you amused and help you get through the drowsiness." Daiyu kept her eyes closed and said, "I'm not sleepy. I'm just resting a bit. Go somewhere else for a while and come back later." Baoyu nudged her and say, "Where would I go? I find everyone else rather tiresome."

When Daiyu heard this, she let out a little laugh and said, "Since you want to stay here, go over there and sit properly, and let's talk." Baoyu said, "I'll lie down too." Daiyu said, "Then lie down." Baoyu said, "There's no pillow—let's share one." Daiyu said, "Nonsense! Isn't there a pillow out there? Go get one to rest your head on." Baoyu went to the outer room, looked around, and came back with a smile, saying, "I don't want that one—I don't know which dirty old woman it belongs to." When Daiyu heard this, she opened her eyes, sat up, and said with a smile, "Truly, you are the 'demon star' of my fate! Here, use this one." She pushed her own pillow toward Baoyu, then got up, fetched another one for herself, and lay down. The two of them lay facing each other.

Daiyu noticed a stain the size of a button on Baoyu's left cheek, a smudge of blood. She leaned forward, drew close, and touched it with her hand to examine it more carefully. "Whose nails scratched you this time?" she asked.

Baoyu turned aside, dodging even as he laughed. "It wasn't a scratch. I was just helping them strain some rouge, and a little must have rubbed off on me." He began looking for a handkerchief to wipe it away, but Daiyu used her own to dab at his cheek instead. "At it again, are you? Very well—but you always have to leave some evidence. Even if your uncle doesn't see it, someone else will, and they'll carry the tale as a juicy bit of gossip, and it'll find its way to your uncle's ears, and then there'll be trouble for everyone."

Baoyu hadn't really been listening to any of this. He had caught a subtle fragrance emanating from Daiyu's sleeve—intoxicating, almost dizzying. He grabbed hold of her sleeve at once and tried to see what she had tucked inside. "It's the tenth month of winter," Daiyu said, laughing. "Who would be wearing perfume?"

"Then where is this scent coming from?" Baoyu said with a smile.

"I don't have any idea myself," Daiyu said. "It's probably the smell from the wardrobe, absorbed into the clothes."

Baoyu shook his head. "I don't think so. This fragrance is strange—it's not the scent of those perfume cakes, perfume balls, or sachets."

Daiyu gave a cold laugh. "What, do you think some arhat or immortal has given me a rare incense? Even if I had some extraordinary perfume, I don't have a dear elder brother or younger brother to help me prepare it from flowers, petals, frost, or snow. All I have is ordinary, commonplace fragrance."

Baoyu laughed. "Every single thing I say, you twist it into a whole sermon. If I don't show you what's what, you'll never learn—I won't let you off this time." So saying, he rolled over, blew on both his hands, and reached for Daiyu's armpits and the sides of her ribs, tickling furiously. Daiyu had always been unbearably ticklish. With Baoyu's hands attacking from both sides, she laughed until she could barely breathe. "Baoyu, if you keep this up, I'll be angry!"

Baoyu stopped and smiled. "Will you stop saying such things?"

Daiyu laughed. "I wouldn't dare." She smoothed her hair and smiled. "I have a rare fragrance—do you have a 'warm fragrance'?"

Baoyu didn't catch her meaning at first. "A 'warm fragrance'?" he asked.

Daiyu shook her head with a sigh and a laugh. "What a fool! What a fool! You have your jade, so someone has gold to match it. Someone has a 'cold fragrance'—don't you have a 'warm fragrance' to match?"

Only then did Baoyu understand. "Just a moment ago you were begging for mercy," he said with a laugh, "and now you're even more cutting than before." He reached out again.

Daiyu quickly laughed and said, "Good brother, I truly wouldn't dare."

Baoyu smiled. "Very well, I'll spare you—but just let me smell your sleeve." He pulled her sleeve up to his face and inhaled deeply again and again.

Daiyu snatched her hand back. "Now you really must go."

Baoyu laughed. "Go? I can't. Let's lie down properly and have a nice conversation." So saying, he lay back down again. Daiyu lay down too, covering her face with a handkerchief. Baoyu rambled on about this and that, but Daiyu paid him no mind. He asked her how old she had been when she came to the capital, what scenery and historical sights she had seen along the way, what ruins and old stories Yangzhou had to offer, what the local customs and folkways were like. Daiyu simply did not answer.

Baoyu, afraid that she might fall ill from lying down too long, coaxed her by saying, "Ai yo! There's a great story from the yamen at Yangzhou — do you know it?" Daiyu saw that he spoke with gravity and wore a stern, solemn expression, and took it for a real event. "What story?" she asked.

When Baoyu saw her bite, he held back his laughter and improvised off the cuff: "There's a Mountain of Dai in Yangzhou. On the mountain there's a Forest Cave." Daiyu laughed, "You're just making things up. I've never heard of such a mountain in all my life."

Baoyu said, "There are mountains and rivers all over the world — how could you know them all? Let me finish before you criticize."

Daiyu said, "Go on then."

Baoyu improvised further: "In the Forest Cave there was originally a tribe of spirit rats. On the seventh day of the twelfth month one year, the Old Rat ascended his seat to hold council and said, 'Tomorrow is the eighth of the twelfth month, and all the people in the world cook Laba congee. Now our cave is short on fruit — we must take this opportunity to plunder some.' He drew an arrow of command and dispatched a capable young Rat to go and scout. After a while the young Rat returned and reported: 'I have searched and made inquiries everywhere, but only the temple below the mountain has the most fruit and grain.'

The Old Rat asked, 'What kinds of grain are there? What varieties of fruit?'

The young Rat said, 'Rice and beans fill the storehouses beyond counting. There are five kinds of fruit: first, red dates; second, chestnuts; third, peanuts; fourth, water caltrops; and fifth, fragrant taro.'

The Old Rat was overjoyed and immediately mustered the rats to set forth. He drew an arrow of command and asked, 'Who will go steal the rice?' One rat took the order and went to steal the rice. He drew another arrow and asked, 'Who will go steal the beans?' Another rat took the order and went to steal the beans. Then one by one each received his orders and departed.

Only the fragrant taro remained. He drew yet another arrow of command and asked, 'Who will go steal the fragrant taro?' A single very small and very weak young Rat stepped forward and said, 'I volunteer to steal the fragrant taro.'

The Old Rat and all the other rats, seeing how he was, feared he lacked experience and was timid and feeble, and would not permit him to go.

The young Rat said, 'Although I am young and slight, my magic is boundless, my tongue is nimble, and my schemes are far-reaching. When I go, I will certainly manage things more cleverly than they do.'

The other rats hastily asked, 'How will you be more clever?'

The young Rat said, 'I won't imitate their direct stealing. I'll just shake my body and transform myself into a fragrant taro, roll in among the pile of taros so that no one can see or hear me, and secretly use the art of self-division to carry them away — gradually, until they're all gone. Isn't that cleverer than direct stealing and crude taking?'

The rats all said, 'Wonderful, wonderful — but we don't know how you'll transform. Show us first.'

The young Rat heard this and laughed, 'That's not difficult — let me transform.' With that, he shook his body and said 'Transform!' and turned into the most beautiful and elegant young lady.

The rats all laughed and said, 'Wrong, wrong! You were supposed to turn into a fruit — how did you turn into a young lady?'

The young Rat resumed his true form and laughed, 'I told you that you'd seen nothing of the world. You only know that this fruit is called fragrant taro, but you don't know that the daughter of Lord Lin of the Salt Commission is the true Fragrant Jade.'"

When Daiyu heard this, she turned over, sat up, and seized Baoyu, laughing, "You rotten-mouthed wretch! I knew you were making fun of me!" As she spoke, she pinched Baoyu so that he begged for mercy repeatedly, saying, "Good sister, spare me, I won't dare do it again! It's because I caught your fragrance that I suddenly thought of this old tale."

Daiyu laughed, "You've already been cursed, and you still call it an old tale."

Before she had finished speaking, Baochai came in, smiling, and asked, "Who's telling old tales? Let me listen too."

Daiyu quickly made room for her to sit and laughed, "Just look — who else! He's already been cursed and still calls it an old tale."

Baochai laughed, "So it's Brother Bao. No wonder — he has plenty of old tales stored in his belly. It's just a pity about one thing: whenever he ought to use one, he forgets it. But when he remembered it today, he should have remembered it the other night when you were writing the poem about the plantain — he couldn't think of anything right in front of him, and while everyone else was freezing, he was sweating with anxiety. And now suddenly he's remembered everything again."

Daiyu laughed, "Amida Buddha! After all, you are my good sister — you've met your match too. Truly, one recompense for another, without the slightest error."

Just as she spoke, there came a great clamor and commotion from Baoyu's room. And so —

In tender affection, on a sweet night, flowers speak;

In lingering warmth, on a still day, jade gives forth fragrance.

Previous Chapter — Table of Contents — Next Chapter