Chapter 56

Chapter 56

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Chapter 56: Perceptive Tanchun Promotes Benefits and Abolishes Long-standing Abuses; Discerning Baochai Bestows Small Favors and Preserves the Greater Whole

After Ping'er had accompanied Xifeng to dinner and attended to her washing and toilet, she went to Tanchun's quarters. The courtyard was quiet; only the maids and women servants from the inner apartments waited outside the windows.

When Ping'er entered the reception hall, the three young ladies were discussing household matters—specifically, the incident at the Lai family's garden party earlier in the year. Seeing her arrive, Tanchun invited her to sit on the foot of the couch and said, "The matter I've been considering is this: Besides our monthly allowance of two taels, the maids also receive their own monthly stipends. The other day someone reported that we are also allotted two taels monthly for hair oil and face powder. This duplicates the eight taels for the school just established. Though the matter is small and the sum limited, it doesn't seem right to me. How could your mistress not have noticed this?"

Ping'er smiled. "There's a reason, miss. The items you young ladies use are naturally provided according to fixed rules. The purveyors buy them each month, and the women deliver them to us in each apartment for safekeeping, simply to have them ready for use. It wouldn't be proper for us to go out personally each day buying hair oil and face powder. So the purveyors take charge of it overall and distribute them monthly through the women to us. The two taels each of you receives monthly is not meant for buying these things. It was arranged in case the mistress or madam in charge of the household happens to be absent or occupied, and you might need a small sum on occasion, so you wouldn't have to ask someone for it. It was meant to prevent you from being put in an awkward position. You see, this money was never intended for buying these things. Now I've noticed that the girls in each apartment are spending their own money to buy these items—more than half of them. I suspect either the purveyors delay the deliveries, or they don't buy the proper goods and substitute unusable items as a stopgap."

Both Tanchun and Li Wan laughed. "So you've noticed too. They don't fail to deliver entirely—they wouldn't dare—but they delay. When pressed, they get hold of something from somewhere, but it's only nominally the right thing; it's actually unusable, and we still have to buy it fresh. Even with these two taels, we have to hire someone else's wet nurse or a brother or nephew to buy it for us to get anything usable. If we used the household's own people, it would be the same. I don't know what methods they use—perhaps they get damaged goods that shops have discarded and bring them to us exclusively?"

Ping'er smiled. "The purveyors do buy inferior goods. When they try to buy quality items, the purveyors wouldn't let it pass without a quarrel, accusing them of trying to usurp the purveyors' position. So they have no choice. They'd rather offend those inside than the people handling affairs outside. The young ladies can only use the wet nurses and mothers, and even then those people dare not gossip about it."

Tanchun said, "That's why it bothers me. We're paying twice over, and half the goods are wasted. On the whole, it costs us double. Better to abolish the purveyors' monthly allotment altogether. That's the first matter. The second is this: you went to the Lai family's gathering last year too. How did their small garden compare with ours?"

Ping'er smiled. "It's not even half as large as ours, and far fewer trees and flowers."

Tanchun said, "While chatting with their daughter, I learned that besides the flowers they grow themselves and the bamboo shoots, vegetables, fish, and shrimp they consume, someone contracts to manage the garden for them, and at year's end they clear a surplus of two hundred taels. That day I realized that even a withered lotus leaf or a dried grass root has value."

Baochai laughed. "Truly the talk of silk-clad idlers! Though you are young ladies of a wealthy house, you naturally don't know about such things. But since you've all studied and can read, surely you've seen Master Zhu's essay 'On Not Rejecting Things'?"

Tanchun smiled. "I've read it, but it's only meant to encourage self-improvement—empty comparisons and flowery words. How could it all be literally true?"

Baochai said, "Are Master Zhu's words mere empty comparisons? Every line is grounded in truth. You've only been managing affairs for two days and already you're blinded by profit; you dismiss Master Zhu as superficial. If you go out and see the greater matters of benefit and harm, you'll dismiss Confucius as superficial too!"

Tanchun laughed. "You, a person of such broad understanding—have you never seen the miscellaneous philosophers? In the *Master Ji* it says: 'Those who enter the arena of profit and gain and stand at the seat of strategy and planning steal the words of Yao and Shun while turning their backs on the Way of Confucius and Mencius.'"

Baochai smiled. "And the line after that?"

Tanchun laughed. "Now you want me to quote the next line out of context? If I recite it, I'd be cursing myself!"

Baochai said, "In this world there is nothing that cannot be put to use. If it can be used, then then it has value. It's a pity that for all your intelligence, you have no experience with these proper matters of importance. It's a shame you've delayed so long."

Li Wan laughed. "You've called people here to discuss business, and instead you two are lecturing on philosophy."

Baochai said, "Philosophy is itself a proper business. When you apply learning to small matters, those small matters are elevated to a higher level. Without the guidance of learning, everything would sink into vulgar commonness."

The three of them had only been joking and laughing for a while before they returned to business. Tan-chun continued, "Our garden is only about half again as large as theirs. Doubling the amount, that would mean four hundred taels of silver in interest per year. If we were to sell it off to generate silver now, that would be petty and beneath a family like ours. But if we put two reliable people in charge, there are many valuable things here, and to let people trifle with them at will would be a waste of Heaven's bounty. Better to select from among all the old mothers in the garden a few who are honest, trustworthy, and knowledgeable about gardening, and put them in charge of managing things. We wouldn't need them to pay rent or taxes—only ask what they can offer as tribute in a year. First, with dedicated people tending the garden, the flowers and trees will flourish year after year without last-minute scrambling; second, things won't be trampled and wasted; third, the old mothers can make something extra for themselves, which is no small matter given their years of hard work in the garden; fourth, we can save the wages of flower gardeners, rockery workers, and sweepers. Using the surplus to cover the deficit—there's nothing wrong with that."

Pao-chai had been examining the calligraphy and paintings on the wall. Hearing this, she nodded from time to time. When Tan-chun finished, she laughed and said, "Well said! For three years there will be no famine!" Li Wan laughed, "A good idea. If this is put in practice, the Mistress will certainly be pleased. Saving money is a minor matter—first of all, there will be people to sweep and maintain things, each with their own duties, and they'll be allowed to sell things for profit. Give them authority and move them with the prospect of gain, and no one will fail to do their duty."

P'ing-erh said, "This matter must come from you, miss. Our mistress has this in mind, but it would be hard for her to say it. You young ladies are living in the garden—you can't add more ornaments and trinkets, yet if you send someone to oversee repairs just to save money, that would be impossible to say."

Pao-chai hurried over and patted her face, laughing. "Open your mouth and let me see what your teeth and tongue are made of. From early morning until now, everything you've said has been in a different vein. You haven't flattered Third Miss, nor have you said that my mistress is too dull to think of it. And whenever Third Miss says something, you immediately agree—as if whatever Third Miss thinks of, your mistress has already thought of, only there's some reason it can't be done. And now it's because the young ladies are living in the garden that you can't very well suggest sending someone to oversee things to save money. Think about it—if you really entrusted someone to make money from it, that person naturally wouldn't allow a single flower to be picked or a single fruit to be touched. The young ladies wouldn't dare take anything, and they'd be quarrelling with the girls every day. She thinks of distant worries and near concerns, neither overbearing nor servile. Even if our mistress weren't on good terms with us, hearing this speech she'd have to feel ashamed and mend her ways—any ill feeling would turn to good."

Tan-chun laughed, "I woke up this morning full of anger. When I heard she'd come, I suddenly thought of her mistress—that woman who always acts so high-handed when she's managing things—and I was furious just seeing her. But when she arrived, she stood there for half the day like a mouse hiding from a cat, pitiful enough. Then she said all those things—she didn't say her mistress treated me well, but rather, 'It shows the kindness our mistress has always shown you.' At those words, not only did my anger vanish, but I felt ashamed and my heart ached. I thought to myself—I'm just a girl, and I've made such a mess of things that no one cares for me or looks after me. How can I have anything to offer others?"

As she spoke these words, tears began to flow. Li Wan and the others, seeing how earnest she was, and thinking how her mother Chao had always slandered her and how she had suffered for it in front of Lady Wang, could not help shedding tears too. They all hastened to comfort her: "Since we have a quiet moment today, let's discuss a couple of measures to promote benefits and eliminate abuses—it won't be a waste of the Mistress's trust. Why bring up such trivial matters?"

P'ing-erh said quickly, "I understand. Just say who you think is best, miss, and assign them to the task."

Tan-chun said, "Even so, we must report it to your mistress. We're already overstepping by looking into small savings here, and I only do this because your mistress is an understanding person. If she were muddled, superstitious, and jealous, I wouldn't dare—it would be like trying to catch her at fault. How could we act without consulting her?"

P'ing-erh laughed, "In that case, I'll go and tell her." She left and was gone for some time before returning with a smile. "I said it was a wasted trip—with such a good idea, how could our mistress not agree?"

When Tan-chun heard this, she and Li Wan had someone bring the list of all the old women in the garden. They deliberated together and roughly settled on several names. Then they summoned them all, and Li Wan explained the general idea to them. When the women heard it, none were unwilling. One said, "Give me that grove of bamboo to manage alone. In a year's time, there will be another whole grove. Besides the bamboo shoots for the household, I can also contribute some money and grain each year." Another said, "Give me that rice field to manage. In a year, the grain needed for all those mischievous sparrows and birds won't have to come from the household funds—I can contribute money and grain too."

Tan-chun was just about to speak when someone came to report, "The doctor has come to see the young lady in the garden." The old women had to go to receive the doctor. P'ing-erh said quickly, "With just you lot, a hundred of you wouldn't make a proper arrangement. Aren't there two head women who could have brought the doctor in?" The person who had reported said, "Yes—Big Woman Wu and Big Woman Shan are waiting at the South-West Corner by the Gathering-Brocade Gate." Only then did P'ing-erh let the matter rest.

After the old women had departed, Tanchun asked Baochai what she thought of the matter. Baochai smiled and replied, "Those who are fortunate at the beginning grow negligent at the end; those who polish their words are greedy for profit." Tanchun nodded approvingly at this remark, then pointed out several names from the register for the three of them to examine. P'ing-erh hurriedly brought over the writing implements. The three said, "This old Mrs. Zhu is reliable enough. Besides, her husband and son have for generations been in charge of tending the bamboo groves. Let us now entrust all the bamboo to her. And this old Mrs. Tian is a farmer by trade. The area around Rice Fragrance Village—all the vegetables, rice, and other crops there—though they are merely a trifle and need not be cultivated with great effort and seriousness, still requires someone like her. If she were to tend them and improve them seasonally, would that not be even better?"

Tanchun smiled again. "What a pity—there is nothing productive in the two large compounds of All-spice Court and Happy Red Court." Li Wan quickly replied with a smile, "All-spice Court is even more remarkable. Are not the various spices and herbs sold by spice shops and at the great markets and temples all things like these? Calculated up, the profit is even greater than from the others. As for Happy Red Court, to say nothing of other things, just consider how many roses there are in a single spring and summer season. Then there are the roses, monthly roses, tree peonies, and honeysuckle along the fences. Even if these unimportant flowers are dried and sold to tea shops and apothecaries, they are still worth a few coins."

Tunchun smiled. "So that's how it is. But there is no one skilled in tending fragrant herbs." P'ing-erh hastily replied with a smile, "Ying-erh's mother, who serves our Miss Pao-chai, is exactly the one who knows how to manage such things. Last time she gathered some, dried them, and braided them into flower baskets and gourd shapes for me to play with. Have you forgotten, miss?"

Baochai smiled. "I was just praising you, and now you come to make sport of me." The three were all surprised and asked why she said this. Baochai replied, "It simply will not do! You already have plenty of capable people here, all idle with nothing to do. If I were to send another person now, those people would think lightly of even me. But let me suggest someone else for you. In Happy Red Court there is an old Mrs. Yeh, who is Ming-yen's mother. She is an honest old woman, and she is on very good terms with our Ying-erh's mother. Let us entrust this matter to Mrs. Yeh. If there is anything she does not understand, we need not even tell her—she will go to consult Ying-erh's mother herself. Even if Mrs. Yeh takes no responsibility at all and simply hands it over to the other one, that would be a private arrangement between them, and if anyone speaks ill of it, the blame will not fall on us. By doing it this way, your conduct will be perfectly impartial, and the matter will be handled with great propriety."

Both Li Wan and P'ing-erh said, "Exactly so." Tanchun smiled and said, "Even so, I'm afraid they may be tempted by profit and forget what is right." P'ing-erh smiled and replied, "That's no concern. Just the other day Ying-erh acknowledged Mrs. Yeh as her adoptive mother, invited her to feasts and wine, and the two families are on excellent terms." Only then was Tanchun satisfied. Together they deliberated and selected several more people, all of whom the four of them had long had their eye on in quiet observation, and circled their names with the brush.

Presently the old women returned to report that the doctor had left. The prescription was sent up for inspection. After the three young ladies had read it, they dispatched someone to fill it and to see that the medicine was properly prepared and administered. At the same time, Tanchun and Li Wan made it clear to the others that each of them would be assigned to manage a particular area. According to the seasons, after the household's fixed allowances had been deducted, whatever surplus remained could be taken and turned to profit, with accounts settled at year's end.

Tanchun laughed and said, "I've just thought of something else. If the accounts are settled and the money turned in at the end of the year, naturally it goes to the chief steward's office, where it falls under the control of those above us again, right into their hands, and they take another cut. Now that we've initiated this scheme and assigned you all to these tasks, we've already bypassed them. They're fuming inside but can't say anything. When you go to settle accounts at year's end, what's to stop them from making things difficult for you? Furthermore, throughout the year, whoever manages anything receives half a share for the masters and half a share for themselves. This is an old household rule, known to everyone—never mind the other things they pilfer on the side. Now this garden is my new creation. It must not fall into their hands. The yearly accounting should be settled within our own household."

Baochai laughed and said, "In my opinion, there's no need to settle accounts within our own household either. If one has too much and another too little, that only creates more trouble. Why not simply ask each of them who receives a share to take responsibility for one area of business? It would only cover the expenses of people in the garden. I've calculated for you—there are only a few items: rouge, face powder, incense, and paper, all of which have fixed allowances for each young lady and her maids. Then there are brooms, dustpans, feather dusters, and the feed for the various birds, deer, and rabbits. These few items can be covered by the women themselves, so they won't need to draw money from the chief steward's office. Just calculate how much you'd save."

Ping'er laughed and said, "These items may seem small, but added up over a year, they would save four hundred taels of silver."

Baochai laughed and said, "Let me go further. Four hundred taels a year means eight hundred in two years—enough to rent several houses or buy a few acres of poor land. Although there would still be a surplus, since they've worked hard for a year, they should be allowed to keep something for themselves to supplement their own households. Although the guiding principle is to generate profit and economize, one must be careful not to be too stingy. Even if you saved another two or three hundred taels, it would lose the proper dignity of a great household. So with this arrangement, the outer steward's office spends four or five hundred taels less a year without feeling any great pinch, and those inside receive some small compensation. The old women who have no other means of livelihood are better provided for; the flowers and trees in the garden can flourish more abundantly each year; and you all get useful things. This way, the proper dignity is largely preserved. If you insist on economizing at all costs, you could squeeze money out of anywhere. If every bit of surplus profit were confiscated for the general fund, there would be complaints from all sides—wouldn't that lose the dignity of a family like yours? Now there are several dozen old women in this garden. If you only give them this much, those left out would certainly grumble about unfairness. As I said, if they were only responsible for supplying these few items, they would be too generously provided for. At the end of each year, apart from this, whether they have a surplus or not, let each of them contribute a certain amount of cash, and pool it together to distribute among all the old women in the garden. Although they don't manage these affairs, they too are in the garden day and night, looking after those on duty, closing gates and doors, rising early and retiring late, through heavy rain and snow, attending when the young ladies go out—carrying sedan chairs, poling boats, pulling ice sleds. All rough and menial tasks fall to them. They labor in the garden all year round, and since the garden now produces income, they too are entitled to share a little of what is rightfully theirs. Let me say one more small thing and make it even plainer: if you only look after your own comfort and don't share something with them, although they won't openly complain, they'll resent it in their hearts. They'll only use the pretext of public business to pick a few extra fruits from you or break off a few extra branches of flowers, and you'll have nowhere to air your grievances. If they share in the profits too, then wherever you fail to look after things, they'll look after them for you."

The old women, having heard this proposal and learning that they would no longer be subject to the accountant's office and would not have to settle accounts with Sister Feng, but would only have to put out a few thousand cash more per year, were all exceedingly delighted. They said one and all, "We'd much rather do this. It's better than being out there getting squeezed by him and still having to pay out money."

Those who did not manage any plots of land, hearing that they too would receive a share of the money at year's end without having done anything for it, were also pleased and said, "They've worked hard to tend the place—they deserve some extra money for their trouble. How can we just 'sit back and take the lion's share'?"

Xiaoyue laughed, "Don't stand on ceremony, mothers. This is what you're entitled to in the first place. All you need to do is work hard day and night, and don't shirk your duties or let people drink and gamble. If you do, then I shouldn't be managing this business, and you all know that Auntie personally asked me three or five times to look after things, saying that the Elder Young Lady is too busy now and the other young ladies are too small, and asking me to keep an eye on things. If I refused, it would clearly mean making Auntie worry. And your mistress is often ill and in pain, with a household full of business. I'm a person of leisure—even if I were just a neighbor on the street, I'd lend a hand, let alone when my own aunt asks me. I can't avoid putting the larger interest first and can't afford to worry about what everyone thinks of me. If I were only concerned with my small reputation, and then something happened because someone got drunk or gambled, how could I face Auntie? You'd regret it then, but it would be too late—you'd have lost the face you've built up over all these years. All these young ladies and misses, and this great big garden—it's all in your care. It's because we see that you are old family retainers of three or four generations, the most proper and rule-abiding, that everyone should work together and maintain some dignity. If you instead let others drink and gamble as they please, and Auntie hears of it, she might give you a scolding and that would be the end of it. But if those stewards' wives hear of it, they won't even need to report to Auntie—they'll teach you a lesson themselves. You old ones being taught by the younger ones, even though they are the ones in charge and have authority over you—wouldn't it be better to maintain your own dignity so that they have no way to trample on you? So now I've come up with this extra source of income for you, so that everyone can work together and keep this garden running carefully and prudently, so that those with power and authority will see how serious and careful things are here and won't need to worry—won't they have to respect you in their hearts? It won't be in vain that I've planned this extra income for you. Since it takes power from them and generates profit for you, why not practice governance without contention and share their burdens? Go and think this over carefully."

The household servants all clamored their agreement, saying, "What the young lady says says is exactly right. From now on, young lady and mistress, rest assured. If after such kindness and consideration from you we still don't show proper gratitude, heaven and earth won't tolerate us."

Just as they were speaking, Steward Lin Zhixiao's wife came in and said, "The family of the Zhen household in the south arrived in the capital yesterday. Today they are going to the palace to offer their congratulations. They have sent people ahead with gifts and to pay their respects." She presented the gift list. Tanchun took it and read: "Twelve lengths of first-quality embroidered and brocade satin for imperial use, twelve lengths of first-quality satin in various colors for imperial use, twelve lengths of first-quality gauze in various colors for imperial use, twelve lengths of first-quality palace silk for imperial use, and twenty-four lengths of official-use satin, gauze, silk, and damask in various colors."

Li Wan also looked at it and said, "Reward them with a first-class envelope." She then gave orders to report to the Dowager.

The Dowager ordered that Li Wan, Tanchun, and Xiaoyue all be called over to look at the gifts. Li Wan received them and instructed the inner treasury staff, "Wait until the Lady has looked at them before putting them away."

The Dowager said, "The Zhen family is not like other families. Reward the men with a first-class envelope. I expect they'll send women to pay their respects soon enough—set aside some lengths of cloth."

Before she had finished speaking, someone came to report, "Four women from the Zhen household have come to pay their respects."

The Dowager, hearing this, quickly ordered that they be brought in.

Those four women were all upwards of forty years of age, and their attire and accessories differed hardly at all from those of their mistresses. After they had paid their respects and exchanged greetings, Grandmother Jia ordered four footstools to be brought. The four women thanked her and sat down; only after Baochai and the others had taken their seats did they all sit. Grandmother Jia then asked, "When did you enter the capital?" The four women quickly rose and replied, "We entered yesterday. Today the Mistress has taken the young lady to the palace to pay her respects, so she sent us women to pay our respects and inquire after the young ladies." Grandmother Jia asked with a smile, "You haven't come to the capital all these years—who would have thought you'd come this year?" The four women also replied with a smile, "Indeed. This year we came by imperial decree." Grandmother Jia asked, "Has your whole household come?" The four women replied, "The old lady, the young master, the two young ladies, and the other ladies have not come—only the Mistress has brought the Third Young Lady." Grandmother Jia asked, "Has she been betrothed?" The four women said, "Not yet." Grandmother Jia said with a smile, "The families of your First Young Lady and Second Young Lady both have very close ties with our family." The four women said with a smile, "Indeed. Every year the young ladies send letters back saying that they have relied entirely on Your Lordship's household for care." Grandmother Jia said with a smile, "What care—we are old family friends and related by long-standing ties; it is only as it should be. Your Second Young Lady is even better—she is not at all proud or self-important, which is why we have grown so close." The four women said with a smile, "The old lady is too modest." Grandmother Jia then asked, "Does this young master of yours go with your old lady?" The four women replied, "Yes, he goes with the old lady." Grandmother Jia asked, "How old is she?" and then, "Has she started her studies?" The four women said with a smile, "She is thirteen this year. Because she is so well-favored, the old lady dotes on her very much. From childhood she has been exceptionally mischievous and plays truant every day. The master and mistress find it inconvenient to discipline her too strictly." Grandmother Jia said with a smile, "Then she might as well belong to our family! What is this young master's name?" The four women replied, "Because the old lady treasures her like a jewel, and because she has such fair skin, the old lady calls her Baoyu." Grandmother Jia then turned to Li Wan and the others and said, "What a coincidence—she is also called Baoyu." Li Wan quickly leaned forward and said with a smile, "Since ancient times, there have been many cases of people in different generations sharing the same name." The four women also said with a smile, "Ever since this childhood name was given, all of us, high and low, have wondered whether some family among our relatives and friends might also have had one. But since we haven't come to the capital for the past ten years or so, we cannot remember for certain." Grandmother Jia said with a smile, "How could it be otherwise—she is my granddaughter. Someone come." Several maids and serving women answered and stepped forward a few paces. Grandmother Jia said with a smile, "Go to the garden and call our Baoyu here, and let these four stewards' wives have a look at her—let them compare her with their Baoyu!"

The matrons hurried off and in half a moment escorted Baoyu in. The four women rose at once and said with a laugh, "You gave us quite a start! If we hadn't come into the household, and had run into you somewhere else, we'd have thought it was our own Baoyu who had followed us up to the capital." Even as they spoke, they all came forward to take his hand and ask one question after another. Baoyu, smiling, returned their greetings. The Lady Dowager laughed, "How does he compare with your young master?" Li Wan and the others said, "From what the four nannies just said, they must look alike." The Lady Dowager said, "What a coincidence! When well-born children are brought up delicately, unless they have some disfigurement or are extremely dark and ugly, they all look more or less the same—handsome and well-formed. There's nothing strange about that." The four women said, "Now that we see him, their looks are indeed the same. According to Your Ladyship, they're equally naughty too. But as far as we can tell, this young master's temperament is better than ours." The Lady Dowager asked eagerly, "How so?" The four women replied, "We could tell just now when we took his hand and talked to him. Ours scolds us for being so muddle-headed—he won't even let us touch his things, let alone hold his hand. The only people he allows to serve him are girls." Before they had finished, Li Wan and the others burst out laughing. The Lady Dowager also laughed, "We too could send someone to see your Baoyu. If you took his hand, he would naturally force himself to endure it for a moment. You see, children of families like ours, however eccentric and peculiar they may be, when they meet outsiders they must put on proper manners and deportment. If they don't show proper manners, they simply won't be allowed to carry on with their eccentricities. If a grown-up dotes on them, it's partly because they're born pleasing, and partly because their manners and deportment are actually better than those of their elders—people find them lovable and pitiable, and so behind closed doors they let them have their way a little. But if they behave without any sense of propriety, inside or out, and bring no credit to their elders, then no matter how pleasing they look, they deserve a good beating." The four women laughed, "What Your Ladyship says is exactly right. Although our Baoyu is naughty and peculiar, when he meets visitors his manners and deportment are actually more correct than the grown-ups'. That's why everyone who sees him loves him and wonders why he's beaten. What they don't know is that at home he's utterly lawless—he says things no one would think of and does things no one would dream of, which is why the Master and the Mistress are at their wits' end with him. Being temperamental is common enough for a child; spending money recklessly is common enough for a young gentleman; dreading school is common enough for a child—all of that can be corrected. But this inborn peculiar, eccentric temperament—what is to be done about that?" Before she had finished, someone announced, "The Mistress is back." Lady Wang came in and paid her respects. The four women greeted her and spoke a few words. The Lady Dowager then told them to go and rest. Lady Wang herself handed them tea before they withdrew. They took leave of the Lady Dowager and went to Lady Wang's quarters. After discussing some household matters, she dismissed them. No need to dwell on this.

Here the Lady Dowager was so delighted that she told everyone she met that there was another Baoyu, and that the two were just alike in every way. All those who heard this thought that with the vastness of the world and the great number of official families, it was quite common for people to share the same name, and for grandmothers to dote on their grandsons was a universal phenomenon since ancient times—nothing remarkable, so none of them paid it any mind. Baoyu alone, with his eccentric and muddle-headed temperament, believed that those four women had simply been flattering the Lady Dowager. Later, when he went to All-Spice Court to visit Shi Xiangyun, who was unwell, Xiangyun said to him, "Go ahead and carry on as you please. As they say, 'A single thread can't make a rope, a single tree can't make a forest.' Now that you've got a counterpart, if you carry things too far and they beat you too hard, you can just run away to Nanjing and find that other one." Baoyu said, "How can you believe such nonsense? There really is another Baoyu?" Xiangyun said, "Well, wasn't there a Lin Xiangru in the Warring States period and a Sima Xiangru in the Han Dynasty?" Baoyu laughed, "That may be so, but to look exactly alike too—that's impossible." Xiangyun said, "Didn't the people of Kuang mistake Confucius for Yang Hu?" Baoyu laughed, "Confucius and Yang Hu may have looked alike but had different names; Lin and Sima had the same name but different appearances. Are you saying that I and this other Baoyu share both the same name and the same looks?" Xiangyun, having no answer, laughed and said, "You just love to argue in circles—I'm not going to reason with you. Whether there is or isn't one, it's nothing to me." With that, she lay down and went to sleep.

Baoyu's mind was again assailed by doubt. If he said there surely was not, yet there seemed to be; if he said there surely was, he had never actually seen it. Troubled at heart, he returned to his room and sat silently pondering on his bed, and before he knew it drifted off into a fitful sleep, and presently found himself in a garden.

Baoyu thought in surprise, "Besides our Grand View Garden, there is yet another garden like this?" Even as he puzzled over this, several girls came along from the other side—all of them maids. Baoyu thought in further surprise, "Besides Xiren, Yuanyang, and Ping'er, there is actually another group of people like this?" The maids were all laughing. "What is Baoyu doing here?" Baoyu took them to mean himself and hastened forward with a smile to say, "I happened to wander here by chance. I don't know whose family garden this is. Good sisters, take me around and show me." The maids all laughed. "So this isn't our Baoyu. He's clean enough, I suppose, and his tongue is quite clever."

When Baoyu heard this, he quickly asked, "Sisters, is there also another Baoyu here?" The maids said hastily, "The name Baoyu was given by the Old Lady and the Mistress to bless him with long life and to ward off disaster from him. We call him by it, and he likes to hear it. Who are you, some dirty little slave from a distant place, to take such liberties? Mind your filthy hide—we'll beat it to a pulp!" Another maid laughed, "Let's go quickly. Don't let Baoyu catch sight of us. He'll say we've been talking to this dirty little slave and that he's made us stink." With that, they went off together.

Baoyu said to himself in bewilderment, "No one has ever been so venomous to me before. How could they treat me like this? Could there truly be another person like me?" As he mused, he walked along and soon arrived at a courtyard. Baoyu thought in surprise, "Besides Happy Red Court, there is yet another courtyard like this." He stepped up onto a terrace and entered the house, where he saw someone lying on a bed, while over on the side several girls were doing needlework, and some were laughing and playing. He saw the young man on the bed let out a sigh. A maid asked with a smile, "Baoyu, why aren't you sleeping? What are you sighing about? I suppose you're fretting and grieving over your sister's illness again."

Baoyu was alarmed to hear this. He saw the young man on the bed say, "I heard the Old Lady say that in Chang'an there is also a Baoyu, with the same temperament as myself. I didn't believe it. I had a dream just now, and in the dream I arrived at a garden in the capital, where I met several sisters, and they all called me a dirty little slave and paid me no heed. With great difficulty I found his room, but he happened to be sleeping—an empty shell, his true nature gone who knows where."

Baoyu said quickly, "I came here looking for Baoyu. So you are Baoyu?" The one on the bed hastily got down and seized his hand. "So you are Baoyu! Then this is no dream!" Baoyu said, "How could this be a dream? It is real, utterly real." Before he had finished speaking, someone came in and said, "The Master is calling for Baoyu." Both of them were thrown into a panic. One Baoyu hurried away, and the other cried out anxiously, "Baoyu, come back! Come back quickly!"

Xiren, who had been beside him and heard him talking in his sleep, quickly shook him awake and asked with a smile, "Where is Baoyu?" Although Baoyu was now awake, his mind was still in a daze. He pointed outside the door and said, "He just went out." Xiren laughed, "That was your dream confusing you. Rub your eyes and look carefully—it's your own reflection in the mirror." Baoyu looked ahead, and it turned out to be the large inlaid mirror facing him from the opposite side. He himself laughed at this. Soon someone brought over a rinsing bowl and a tea basin, and he rinsed his mouth.

Sheyue said, "No wonder the Old Lady always tells us that there mustn't be too many mirrors in a child's room. A child's soul is incomplete, and looking into mirrors too much makes one frightened while sleeping and prone to wild dreams. Now they've even put a bed right next to the large mirror. When they put the mirror cover on, it's all right; but in the other direction, when it's hot and one is drowsy and unsettled, who would think to cover it? Like just now—he forgot, of course. Naturally he lay down first and played with his reflection, then closed his eyes, and naturally his dreams went wild and confused. Otherwise, how could he have seen himself and called out his own name? It would be best to move the bed in tomorrow—that's the proper thing to do."

Before she had finished speaking, someone came from Lady Wang to summon Baoyu. What she had to say to him, we shall hear in the next chapter.