By some inscrutable turn of affairs, lady Feng begins to feel the
pangs of jealousy.
Pao-yü experiences joy, beyond all his expectations, when P'ing Erh
(receives a slap from lady Feng) and has to adjust her hair.
But to resume our narrative. At the performance of the 'Record of the
boxwood hairpin,' at which all the inmates of the household were
present, Pao-yü and his female cousins sat together. When Lin Tai-yü
noticed that the act called, 'The man offers a sacrifice' had been
reached, "This Wang Shih-p'eng," she said to Pao-ch'ai, "is very
stupid! It would be quite immaterial where he offered his sacrifices,
and why must he repair to the riverside? 'At the sight of an object,'
the proverb has it, 'one thinks of a person. All waters under the
heavens revert but to one source.' So had he baled a bowlful from any
stream, and given way to his lamentations, while gazing on it, he could
very well have satisfied his feelings."
Pao-ch'ai however made no reply.
Pao-yü then turned his head round and asked for some warm wine to drink
to lady Feng's health. The fact is, that dowager lady Chia had enjoined
on them that this occasion was unlike others, and that it was
absolutely necessary for them to do the best to induce lady Feng to
heartily enjoy herself for the day. She herself, nevertheless, felt too
listless to join the banquet, so simply reclining on a sofa of the
inner room, she looked at the plays in company with Mrs. Hsüeh; and
choosing several kinds of such eatables as were to her taste, she
placed them on a small teapoy, and now helped herself to some, and now
talked, as the fancy took her. Then allotting what viands were served
on the two tables assigned to her to the elder and younger
waiting-maids, for whom no covers were laid, and to those female
servants and other domestics, who were on duty and had to answer calls,
she urged them not to mind but to seat themselves outside the windows,
under the eaves of the verandahs, and to eat and drink at their
pleasure, without any regard to conventionalities. Madame Wang and
Madame Hsing occupied places at the high table below; while round
several tables outside sat the posse of young ladies.
"Do let that girl Feng have the seat of honour," old lady Chia shortly
told Mrs. Yu and her contemporaries, "and mind be careful in doing the
honours for me, for she is subjected to endless trouble from one year's
end to another!"
"Very well," said Mrs. Yu. "I fancy," she went on to smile, "that
little used as she is to filling the place of honour, she's bound, if
she takes the high seat, to be so much at a loss how to behave, as to
be loth even to have any wine!"
Dowager lady Chia was much amused by her reply. "Well, if you can't
succeed," she said, "wait and I'll come and offer it to her."
Lady Feng with hasty step walked into the inner room. "Venerable
ancestor!" she smiled, "don't believe all they tell you! I've already
had several cups!"
"Quick, pull her out," old lady Chia laughingly cried to Mrs. Yu, "and
shove her into a chair, and let all of you drink by turns to her
health! If she then doesn't drink, I'll come myself in real earnest and
make her have some!"
At these words, Mrs. Yu speedily dragged her out, laughing the while,
and forced her into a seat, and, directing a servant to fetch a cup,
she filled it with wine. "You've got from one year's end to another,"
she smiled, "the trouble and annoyance of conferring dutiful attentions
upon our venerable senior, upon Madame Wang and upon myself, so, as
I've nothing to-day, with which to prove my affection for you, have a
sip, from my hand, my own dear, of this cup of wine I poured for you
myself!"
"If you deliberately wish to present me a glass," lady Feng laughed,
"fall on your knees and I'll drink at once!"
"What's this you say?" Mrs. Yu replied with a laugh. "And who are you,
I wonder? But let me tell you this once for all and finish that though
we've succeeded, after ever so many difficulties, in getting up this
entertainment to-day, there's no saying whether we shall in the future
be able to have anything more the like of this or not. Let's avail
ourselves then of the present to put our capacity to the strain and
drink a couple of cups!"
Lady Feng saw very well that she could not advance any excuses, and
necessity obliged her to swallow the contents of two cups. In quick
succession, however, the various young ladies also drew near her, and
lady Feng was constrained again to take a sip from the cup each held.
But nurse Lai Ta too felt compelled, at the sight of dowager lady Chia
still in buoyant spirits, to come forward and join in the merriment, so
putting herself at the head of a number of nurses, she approached and
proffered wine to lady Feng who found it once more so difficult to
refuse that she had to swallow a few mouthfuls. But Yüan Yang and her
companions next appeared, likewise, on the scene to hand her their
share of wine; but lady Feng felt, in fact, so little able to comply
with their wishes, that she promptly appealed to them entreatingly.
"Dear sisters," she pleaded, "do spare me! I'll drink some more
to-morrow!"
"Quite so! we're a mean lot," Yüan Yang laughed. "But now that we stand
in the presence of your ladyship, do condescend to look upon us
favourably! We've always enjoyed some little consideration, and do you
put on the airs of a mistress on an occasion like the present, when
there's such a crowd of people standing by? Really, I shouldn't have
come. But, as you won't touch our wine, we might as well be quick and
retire!"
While she spoke, she was actually walking away, when lady Feng hastened
to lay hold of her and to detain her. "Dear sister," she cried, "I'll
drink some and have done!"
So saying, she took the wine and filled a cup to the very brim, and
drained it. Yüan Yang then at length gave her a smile, (and she and her
friends) dispersed.
Subsequently, the company resumed their places at the banquet. But lady
Feng was conscious that the wine she had primed herself with was
mounting to her head, so abruptly staggering to the upper end, she
meant to betake herself home to lie down, when seeing the jugglers
arrive, "Get the tips ready!" she shouted to Mrs. Yu. "I'm off to wash
my face a bit."
Mrs. Yu nodded her head assentingly; and lady Feng, noticing that the
inmates were off their guard, left the banquet, and wended her steps
beneath the eaves towards the back entrance of the house. P'ing Erh
had, however, been keeping her eye on her, so hastily she followed in
her footsteps. Lady Feng at once propped herself on her arm. But no
sooner did they reach the covered passage than she discerned a young
maid, attached to her quarters, standing under it. (The girl), the
moment she perceived them, twisted herself round and beat a retreat.
Lady Feng forthwith began to give way to suspicion; and she immediately
shouted out to her to halt. The maid pretended at first not to hear,
but, as, while following her they called out to her time after time,
she found herself compelled to turn round. Lady Feng was seized with
greater doubts than ever. Quickly therefore entering the covered
passage with P'ing Erh, she bade the maid go along with them. Then
opening a folding screen, lady Feng stated herself on the steps leading
to the small courtyard, and made the girl fall on her knees. "Call two
boy-servants from among those on duty at the second gate," she cried
out to P'ing Erh, "to bring a whip of twisted cords, and to take this
young wench, who has no regard for her mistress, and beat her to
shreds."
The servant-maid fell into a state of consternation, and was scared out
of her very wits. Sobbing the while, she kept on bumping her head on
the ground and soliciting for grace.
"I'm really no ghost! So you must have seen me! Don't you know what
good manners mean and stand still?" lady Feng asked. "Why did you
instead persist in running on?"
"I truly did not see your ladyship coming," the maid replied with tears
in her eyes. "I was, besides, much concerned as there was no one in the
rooms; that's why I was running on."
"If there's no one in the rooms, who told you to come out again?" lady
Feng inquired. "And didn't you see me, together with P'ing Erh, at your
heels, stretching out our necks and calling out to you about ten times?
But the more we shouted, the faster you ran! You weren't far off from
us either, so is it likely that you got deaf? And are you still bent
upon bandying words with me?"
So speaking, she raised her hand and administered her a slap on the
face. But, while the girl staggered from the blow, she gave her a
second slap on the other side of the face, so both cheeks of the maid
quickly began to get purple and to swell.
P'ing Erh hastened to reason with her mistress. "My lady!" she said,
"be careful you'll be hurting your hand!"
"Go on, pommel her," urged lady Feng, "and ask her what made her run!
and, if she doesn't tell you, just you take her mouth and tear it to
pieces for her!"
At the outset, the girl obstinately prevaricated, but when she
eventually heard that lady Feng intended to take a red-hot
branding-iron and burn her mouth with, she at last sobbingly spoke out.
"Our Master Secundus, Mr. Lien, is at home," she remarked, "and he sent
me here to watch your movements, my lady; bidding me go ahead, when I
saw you leave the banquet, and convey the message to him. But, contrary
to his hopes, your ladyship came back just now!"
Lady Feng saw very well that there lurked something behind all she
said. "What did he ask you to watch me for?" she therefore eagerly
asked. "Can it be, pray, that he dreaded to see me return home? There
must be some other reason; so be quick and tell it to me and I shall
henceforward treat you with regard. If you don't minutely confess all
to me, I shall this very moment take a knife and pare off your flesh!"
Threatening her the while, she turned her head round, and, extracting a
hairpin from her coiffure, she stuck it promiscuously about the maid's
mouth. This so frightened the girl that, as she made every effort to
get out of her way, she burst out into tears and entreaties. "I'll tell
your ladyship everything," she cried, "but you mustn't say that it was
I who told you."
Ping Erh, who stood by, exhorted her to obey; but she at the same time
impressed on her mind to speak out without delay.
"Mr. Secundus himself arrived only a few minutes back," the maid began.
"The moment, however, he came, he opened a bog, and, taking two pieces
of silver, two hairpins, and a couple of rolls of silk, he bade me
stealthily take them to Pao Erh's wife and tell her to come in. As soon
as she put the things away, she hurried to our house, and Master
Secundus ordered me to keep an eye on your ladyship; but of what
happened after that, I've no idea whatever."
When these disclosures fell on lady Feng's ears, she flew into such a
rage that her whole person felt quite weak; and, rising immediately,
she straightway repaired home. The instant she reached the gate of the
courtyard, she espied a waiting-maid peep out of the entrance. Seeing
lady Feng, she too drew in her head, and tried at once to effect her
escape. But lady Feng called her by name, and made her stand still.
This girl had ever been very sharp, so when she realised that she could
not manage to beat a retreat, she went so far as to run out to her. "I
was just going to tell your ladyship," she smiled, "and here you come!
What a strange coincidence!"
"Tell me what?" lady Feng exclaimed.
"That Mr. Secundus is at home," the girl replied, "and has done so and
so." She then recounted to her all the incidents recorded a few minutes
back.
"Ts'ui!" ejaculated lady Feng. "What were you up to before? Now, that
I've seen you, you come and try to clear yourself!"
As she spoke, she raised her arm and administered the maid a slap,
which upset her equilibrium. So with hurried step, she betook herself
away. Lady Feng then drew near the window. Lending an ear to what was
going on inside, she heard some one in the room laughingly observe:
"When that queen-of-hell sort of wife of yours dies, it will be a good
riddance!"
"When she's gone," Chia Lien rejoined, "and I marry another, the like
of her, what will I again do?"
"When she's dead and gone," the woman resumed, "just raise P'ing Erh to
the rank of primary wife. I think she'll turn out considerably better
than she has."
"At present," Chia Lien put in, "she won't even let me enjoy P'ing
Erh's society! P'ing Erh herself is full of displeasure; yet she dares
not speak. How is it that it has been my fate to bring upon myself the
influence of this evil star?"
Lady Feng overheard these criticisms and flew into a fit of anger,
which made her tremble violently. When she, however, also caught the
praise heaped by both of them upon P'ing Erh, she harboured the
suspicion that P'ing Erh too must, as a matter of course, have all
along employed the sly resentful language against her. And, as the wine
bubbled up more and more into her head, she did not so much as give the
matter a second thought, but, twisting round, she first and foremost
gave P'ing Erh a couple of whacks, and, with one kick, she banged the
door open, and walked in. Then, without allowing her any time to give
any explanation in her own defence, she clutched Pao Erh's wife, and,
tearing her about, she belaboured her with blows. But the dread lest
Chia Lien should slip out of the room, induced her to post herself in
such a way as to obstruct the doorway. "What a fine wench!" she shouted
out abusingly. "You make a paramour of your mistress' husband, and then
you wish to compass your master's wife's death, for P'ing Erh to
transfer her quarters in here! You base hirelings! You're all of the
same stamp, thoroughly jealous of me; you try to cajole me by your
outward display!"
While abusing them, she once more laid hold of P'ing Erh and beat her
several times. P'ing Erh was pummelled away till her heart thrilled
with a sense of injury, but she had nowhere to go, and breathe her
woes. Such resentment overpowered her feelings that she sobbed without
a sign of a tear. "You people," she railingly shouted, "go and do a lot
of shameful things, and then you also deliberately involve me; but
why?"
So shouting, she too clutched Pao Erh's wife and began to assail her.
Chia Lien had freely primed himself with wine, so, on his return home,
he was in such exuberance of spirits that he observed no secresy in his
doings. The moment, however, he perceived lady Feng appear on the
scene, he got to his wits' end. Yet when he saw P'ing Erh also start a
rumpus, the liquor he had had aroused his ire. The sight of the assault
committed by lady Feng on Pao Erh's wife had already incensed him and
put him to shame, but he had not been able with any consistency to
interfere; but the instant he espied P'ing Erh herself lay hands on
her, he vehemently jumped forward and gave her a kick. "What a vixen!"
he cried. "Are you likewise going to start knocking people about?"
P'ing Erh was of a timid disposition. At once, therefore, she withheld
her hands, and melted into tears. "Why do you implicate me," she said,
"in things you say behind my back?"
When lady Feng descried in what fear and dread P'ing Erh was of Chia
Lien, she lost more than ever control over her temper, and, starting
again in pursuit of her, she struck P'ing Erh, while urging her to go
for Pao Erh's wife.
P'ing Erh was driven to exasperation; and forthwith rushing out of the
apartment, she went in search of a knife to commit suicide with. But
the company of old matrons, who stood outside, hastened to place
impediments in her way, and to argue with her.
Lady Feng, meanwhile, realised that P'ing Erh had gone to take her
life, and rolling, head foremost, into Chia Lien's embrace, "You put
your heads together to do me harm," she said, "and, when I overhear
your designs, you people conspire to frighten me! But strangle me and
have done."
Chia Lien was driven to despair; to such a degree that unsheathing a
sword suspended on the wall, "There's no need for any one of you to
commit suicide!" he screamed. "I too am thoroughly exasperated, so I'll
kill the whole lot of you and pay the penalty with my own life! We'll
all then be free from further trouble!"
The bustle had just reached a climax beyond the chance of a settlement,
when they perceived Mrs. Yu and a crowd of inmates make their
appearance in the room. "What's the matter?" they asked. "There was
nothing up just now, so why is all this row for?"
At the sight of the new arrivals, Chia Lien more than ever made the
three parts of intoxication, under which he laboured, an excuse to
assume an air calculated to intimidate them, and to pretend, in order
to further his own ends, that he was bent upon despatching lady Feng.
But lady Feng, upon seeing her relatives appear, got into a mood less
perverse than the one she had been in previous to their arrival; and,
leaving the whole company of them, she scampered, all in tears, over to
the off side, into dowager lady Chia's quarters.
By this time, the play was over. Lady Feng rushed consequently into the
old lady's presence and fell into her lap. "Venerable ancestor! help
me!" she exclaimed. "Mr. Chia Lien wishes to kill me."
"What's up?" precipitately inquired dowager lady Chia, Mesdames Hsing
and Wang and the rest.
"I was just going to my rooms to change my dress," lady Feng wept,
"when I unexpectedly found Mr. Chia Lien at home, talking with some
one. Fancying that visitors had come, I was quite taken aback, and not
presuming to enter, I remained outside the window and listened. It
turned out, in fact, to be Pao Erh's wife holding council with him. She
said that I was dreadful, and that she meant to poison me so as to get
me out of the way and enable P'ing Erh to be promoted to be first wife.
At this, I lost my temper. But not venturing, none the less, to have a
row with him, I simply gave P'ing Erh two slaps; and then I asked him
why he wished to do me harm. But so stricken did he get with shame that
he tried there and then to despatch me."
Dowager lady Chia treated every word that fell on her ear as truth.
"Dreadful!" she ejaculated. "Bring here at once that low-bred
offspring!"
Barely was, however, this exclamation out of her lips, than they
perceived Chia Lien, a sword in hand, enter in pursuit of his wife,
followed closely by a bevy of inmates. Chia Lien evidently placed such
thorough reliance upon the love, which old lady Chia had all along
lavished upon them, that he entertained little regard even for his
mother or his aunt, so he came, with perfect effrontery, to stir up a
disturbance in their presence. When Mesdames Hsing and Wang saw him,
they got into a passion, and, with all despatch, they endeavoured to
deter him from his purpose. "You mean thing!" they shouted, abusing
him. "Your crime is more heinous, for our venerable senior is in here!"
"It's all because our worthy ancestor spoils her," cried Chia Lien,
with eyes awry, "that she behaved as she did and took upon herself to
rate even me!"
Madame Hsing was full of resentment. Snatching the sword from his
grasp, she kept on telling him to quit the room at once. But Chia Lien
continued to prattle foolish nonsense in a drivelling and maudlin way.
His manner exasperated dowager lady Chia. "I'm well aware," she
observed, "that you haven't the least consideration for any one of us.
Tell some one to go and call his father here and we'll see whether he
doesn't clear out."
When Chia Lien caught these words, he eventually tottered out of the
apartment. But in such a state of frenzy was he that he did not return
to his quarters, but betook himself into the outer study.
During this while, Mesdames Hsing and Wang also called lady Feng to
task.
"Why, what serious matter could it ever have been?" old lady Chia
remarked. "But children of tender years are like greedy kittens, and
how can one say for certain that they won't do such things? Human
beings have, from their very infancy, to go through experiences of this
kind! It's all my fault, however, for pressing you to have a little
more wine than was good for you. But you've also gone and drunk the
vinegar of jealousy!"
This insinuation made every one laugh.
"Compose your mind!" proceeded dowager lady Chia. "To-morrow I'll send
for him to apologise to you; but, you'd better to-day not go over, as
you might put him to shame!" Continuing, she also went on to abuse
P'ing Erh. "I've always thought highly of that wench," she said, "and
how is it that she's turned out to be secretly so bad?"
"P'ing Erh isn't to blame!" Mrs. Yu and the others smiled. "It's lady
Feng who makes people her tools to give vent to her spite! Husband and
wife could not very well come to blows face to face, so they combined
in using P'ing Erh as their scapegoat! What injuries haven't fallen to
P'ing Erh's lot! And do you, venerable senior, still go on blowing her
up?"
"Is it really so!" exclaimed old lady Chia. "I always said that that
girl wasn't anything like that artful shrew! Well, in that case, she is
to be pitied, for she has had to bear the brunt of her anger, and all
through no fault of hers!" Calling Hu Po to her, "Go," she added, "and
tell P'ing Erh all I enjoin you; 'that I know that she has been
insulted and that to-morrow I'll send for her mistress to make amends,
but that being her mistress' birthday to-day, I won't have her give
rise to any reckless fuss'!"
P'ing Erh had, we may explain, from an early hour, been dragged by Li
Wan into the garden of Broad Vista. Here P'ing Erh gave way to bitter
tears. So much so, that her throat choked with sobs, and could not give
utterance to speech.
"You are an intelligent person," exhorted her Pao-ch'ai, "and how
considerately has your lady treated you all along! It was simply
because she has had a little too much wine that she behaved as she did
to-day! But had she not made you the means of giving vent to her spite,
is it likely that she could very well have aired her grievances upon
any one else? Besides, any one else would have laughed at her for
acting in a sham way!"
While she reasoned with her, she saw Hu Po approach, and deliver
dowager lady Chia's message. P'ing Erh then felt in herself that she
had come out of the whole affair with some credit, and she, little by
little, resumed her equilibrium. She did not, nevertheless, put her
foot anywhere near the front part of the compound.
After a little rest, Pao Ch'ai and her companions came and paid a visit
to old lady Chia and lady Feng, while Pao-yü pressed P'ing Erh to come
to the I Hung court. Hsi Jen received her with alacrity. "I meant," she
said, "to be the first to ask you, but as our senior lady, Chia Chu,
and the young ladies invited you, I couldn't very well do so myself."
P'ing Erh returned her smile. "Many thanks!" she rejoined. "How words
ever commenced between us;" she then went on, "when there was no
provocation, I can't tell! But without rhyme or reason, I came in for a
spell of resentment."
"Our lady Secunda has always been very good to you," laughingly
remarked
Hsi Jen, "so she must have done this in a sudden fit of exasperation!"
"Our lady Secunda did not, after all, say anything to me," P'ing Erh
explained. "It was that wench that blew me up. And she deliberately
made a laughing-stock of me. But that fool also of a master of ours
struck me!"
While recounting her experiences, she felt a keener sense of injustice
than before, and she found it hard to restrain her tears from trickling
down her cheeks.
"My dear sister," Pao-yü hastily advised her, "don't wound your heart!
I'm quite ready to express my apologies on behalf of that pair!"
"What business is that of yours?" P'ing Erh smiled.
"We cousins, whether male or female, are all alike." Pao-yü smilingly
argued. "So when they hurt any one's feelings, I apologise for them;
it's only right that I should do so. What a pity;" he continued, "these
new clothes too have been stained! But you'll find your sister Hua's
costumes in here, and why don't you put one on, and take some hot wine
and spurt it over yours and iron them out? You might also remake your
coiffure."
Speaking, he directed the young maids to draw some water for washing
the face and to heat an iron and bring it.
P'ing Erh had ever heard people maintain that all that Pao-yü excelled
in was in knitting friendships with girls. But Pao-yü had so far been
loth, seeing that P'ing Erh was Chia Lien's beloved secondary wife, and
lady Feng's confidante, to indulge in any familiarities with her. And
being precluded from accomplishing the desire upon which his heart was
set, he time and again gave way to vexation. When P'ing Erh, however,
remarked his conduct towards her on this occasion, she secretly
resolved within herself that what was said of him was indeed no idle
rumour. But as he had anticipated every one of her wants, and she saw
moreover that Hsi Jen had, for her special benefit, opened a box and
produced two articles of clothing, not much worn by her, she speedily
drew near and washed her face.
Pao-yü stood by her side. "You must, dear girl, also apply a little
cosmetic and powder," she smiled; "otherwise you'll look as if you were
angry with lady Feng. It's her birthday, besides; and our old ancestor
has sent some one again to come and cheer you up."
Hearing how reasonable his suggestions were, P'ing Erh readily went in
search of powder; but she failed to notice any about, so Pao-yü
hurriedly drew up to the toilet-table, and, removing the lid of a
porcelain box made at the "Hsüan" kiln, which contained a set of ten
small ladles, tuberose-like in shape, (for helping one's self to powder
with), he drew out one of them and handed it to P'ing Erh. "This isn't
lead powder," he smiled. "This is made of the seeds of red jasmine,
well triturated, and compounded with suitable first class ingredients."
P'ing Erh emptied some on the palm of her hand. On examination, she
really found that it was light, clear, red and scented; perfect in all
four properties; that it was easy to apply evenly to the face, that it
kept moist, and that it differed from other kinds of powder, ordinarily
so rough. She subsequently noticed that the cosmetic too was not spread
on a sheet, but that it was contained in a tiny box of white jade, the
contents of which bore the semblance of rose-paste.
"The cosmetic one buys in the market isn't clean;" Pao-yü remarked
smilingly. "Its colour is faint as well. But this is cosmetic of
superior quality. The juice was squeezed out, strained clear, mixed
with perfume of flowers and decocted. All you need do is to take some
with that hair-pin and rub it on your lips, that will be enough; and if
you dissolve some in a little water, and rub it on the palm of your
hand, it will be ample for you to cover your whole face with."
P'ing Erh followed his directions and performed her toilette. She
looked exceptionally fresh and beautiful. A sweet fragrance pervaded
her cheeks. Pao-yü then cut, with a pair of bamboo scissors, a stalk,
with two autumn orchids, which had blossomed in a flower pot, and he
pinned it in her side-hair. But a maid was unexpectedly seen to enter
the room, sent by Li Wan to come and call her, so she quitted his
quarters with all possible despatch.
Pao-yü had not so far been able to have his wishes to revel in P'ing
Erh's society gratified. P'ing Erh was furthermore a girl of a high
grade, most intelligent, most winsome, and unlike that sort of vulgar
and dull-minded beings, so that he cherished intense disgust against
his fate.
The present occasion had been the anniversary of Chin Ch'uan-erh's
birth, and he had remained, in consequence, plunged in a disconsolate
frame of mind throughout the whole day. But, contrary to his
expectations, the incident eventually occurred, which afforded him,
after all, an opportunity to dangle in P'ing Erh's society and to
gratify to some small degree a particle of his wish. This had been a
piece of good fortune he so little expected would fall to his share
during the course of his present existence, that as he reclined on his
bed, his heart swelled with happiness and contentment. Suddenly, he
reflected that Chia Lien's sole thought was to make licentious
pleasures the means of gratifying his passions, and that he had no idea
how to show the least regard to the fair sex; and he mused that P'ing
Erh was without father or mother, brothers or sisters, a solitary being
destined to dance attendance upon a couple such as Chia Lien and his
wife; that Chia Lien was vulgar, and lady Feng haughty, but that she
was gifted nevertheless with the knack of splendidly managing things;
and that (P'ing Erh) had again to-day come across bitter sorrow, and
that her destiny was extremely unfortunate.
At this stage of his reverie, he began to feel wounded and distressed.
When he rose once more to his feet, he noticed that the wine, which she
had spurted on the clothes, she had a few minutes back divested herself
of, had already half dried, and, taking up the iron, he smoothed them
and folded them nicely for her. He then discovered that she had left
her handkerchief behind, and that it still bore traces of tears, so
throwing it into the basin, he rinsed it and hung it up to dry, with
feelings bordering on joy as well as sadness. But after a short time
spent in a brown study, he too betook himself to the Tao Hsiang village
for a chat; and it was only when the lamps had been lit that he got up
to take his leave.
P'ing Erh put up in Li Wan's quarters for the night. Lady Feng slept
with dowager lady Chia, while Chia Lien returned at a late hour to his
home. He found it however very lonely. Yet unable to go and call his
wife over, he had no alternative but to sleep as best he could for that
night. On the morrow, he remembered, as soon as he opened his eyes, the
occurrence of the previous day, and he fell a prey to such extreme
unhappiness that he could not be conscience-stricken enough.
Madame Hsing pondered with solicitude on Chia Lien's drunken fit the
day before. The moment therefore it was light, she hastily crossed
over, and sent for Chia Lien to repair to dowager lady Chia's
apartments. Chia Lien was thus compelled to suppress all timidity and
to repair to the front part of the mansion and fall on his knees at the
feet of his old senior.
"What was the matter?" inquired old lady Chia.
"I really had too much wine yesterday," Chia Lien promptly answered
with a forced smile. "I must have given you a fright, worthy ancestor,
so I come to-day to receive condign punishment."
"You mean fellow!" shouted dowager lady Chia, spitting at him
disdainfully. "You go and glut yourself with spirits, and, not to speak
of your not going to stretch yourself like a corpse and sleep it off,
you contrariwise start beating your wife! But that vixen Feng brags
away the whole day long, as if she were a human being as valiant as any
tyrant, and yet yesterday she got into such a funk that she presented a
woeful sight! Had it not been for me, you would have done her bodily
harm; and what would you feel like now?"
Chia Lien was at heart full of a sense of injury, but he could not
master sufficient courage to say anything in his own defence. The only
course open to him was therefore to make a confession of fault.
"Don't lady Feng and P'ing Erh possess the charms of handsome women?"
dowager lady Chia resumed. "And aren't you yet satisfied with them that
you must, of a day, go slyly prowling and gallavanting about, dragging
indiscriminately into your rooms frowsy and filthy people? Is it for
the sake of this sort of wenches that you beat your wife and belabour
the inmates of your quarters? You've nevertheless had the good fortune
of starting in life as the scion of a great family; and do you, with
eyes wide open, bring disgrace upon your own head? If you have any
regard for me, well, then get up and I'll spare you! And if you make
your apologies in a proper manner to your wife and take her home, I'll
be satisfied. But if you don't, just you clear out of this, for I won't
even presume to have any of your genuflexions!"
Chia Lien took to heart the injunctions that fell on his ear. Espying
besides lady Feng standing opposite to him in undress, her eyes swollen
from crying, and her face quite sallow, without cosmetic or powder, he
thought her more lovable and charming than ever. "Wouldn't it be well,"
he therefore mused, "that I should make amends, so that she and I may
be on friendly terms again and that I should win the good pleasure of
my old ancestor?"
At the conclusion of his reflections, he forthwith put on a smile.
"After your advice, venerable senior," he said, "I couldn't be so bold
as not to accede to your wishes! But this is shewing her more
indulgence than ever!"
"What nonsense!" exclaimed dowager lady Chia laughingly. "I am well
aware that with her extreme decorum she couldn't hurt any one's
susceptibilities. But should she, in the future, wrong you in any way,
I shall, of course, take the law into my own hands and bid you make her
submit to your authority and finish."
Chia Lien, at this assurance, crawled up and made a bow to lady Feng.
"It was really my fault, so don't be angry, lady Secunda," he said.
Every one in the room laughed.
"Now, my girl Feng," lady Chia laughingly observed, "you are not to
lose your temper; for if you do, I'll lose mine too!"
Continuing, she directed a servant to go and call P'ing Erh; and, on
her arrival, she advised lady Feng and Chia Lien to do all they could
to reconcile her. At the sight of P'ing Erh, Chia Lien showed less
regard than ever for the saying that 'a primary wife differs from a
secondary wife,' and the instant he heard old lady Chia's exhortation
he drew near her. "The injuries," he remarked, "to which you were
subjected yesterday, Miss, were entirely due to my shortcoming. If your
lady hurt your feelings, it was likewise all through me that the thing
began. So I express my regret; but, besides this, I tender my apologies
as well on behalf of your mistress."
Saying this, he made another bow. This evoked a smile from dowager lady
Chia. Lady Feng, however, also laughed. Their old ancestor then desired
lady Feng to come and console P'ing Erh, but P'ing Erh hastily advanced
and knocked her head before lady Feng. "I do deserve death," she urged,
"for provoking your ladyship to wrath on the day of your birthday!"
Lady Feng was at the moment pricked by shame and remorse for having so
freely indulged in wine the previous day as to completely have lost
sight of longstanding friendships, and for allowing her temper to so
thoroughly flare up as to lend a patient ear to the gossip of
outsiders, and unjustly put P'ing Erh out of countenance, so when she
contrariwise now saw her make advances, she felt both abashed and
grieved, and, promptly extending her arms, she dragged her up and gave
way to tears.
"I've waited upon your ladyship for all these years," P'ing Erh
pleaded, "and you've never so much as given me a single fillip; and
yet, you beat me yesterday. But I don't bear you any grudge, my lady,
for it was that wench, who was at the bottom of it all. Nor do I wonder
that your ladyship lost control over your temper."
As she spoke, tears trickled down her cheeks too.
"Escort those three home!" dowager lady Chia shouted to the servants.
"If any one of them makes the least allusion to the subject, come at
once and tell me of it; for without any regard as to who it may be, I
shall take my staff and give him or her a sound flogging."
The trio then prostrated themselves before dowager lady Chia and the
two ladies, Mesdames Hsing and Wang. And assenting to her old mistress'
injunctions, an old nurse accompanied the three inmates to their
quarters.
When they got home, lady Feng assured herself that there was no one
about. "How is it," she next asked, "that I'm like a queen of hell, or
like a 'Yakcha' demon? That courtesan swore at me and wished me dead;
and did you too help her to curse me? If I'm not nice a thousand days,
why, I must be nice on some one day! But if, poor me, I'm so bad as not
even to compare with a disorderly woman, how can I have the face to
come and spend my life with you here?"
So speaking, she melted into tears.
"Aren't you yet gratified?" cried Chia Lien. "Just reflect carefully
who was most to blame yesterday! And yet, in the presence of so many
people, it was I who, after all, fell to-day on my knees and made
apologies as well. You came in for plenty of credit, and do you now go
on jabber, jabber? Can it be that you'd like to make me kneel at your
feet before you let matters rest? If you try and play the bully beyond
bounds, it won't be a good thing for you!"
To these arguments, lady Feng could find no suitable response.
P'ing Erh then blurted out laughing.
"She's all right again!" Chia Lien smiled. "But I'm really quite at a
loss what to do with this one."
These words were still on his lips, when they saw a married woman walk
in. "Pao Erh's wife has committed suicide by hanging herself," she
said.
This announcement plunged both Chia Lien and lady Feng into great
consternation. Lady Feng, however, lost no time in putting away every
sign of excitement. "Dead, eh? What a riddance!" she shouted instead.
"What's the use of making such a fuss about a mere trifle?"
But not long elapsed before she perceived Lin Chih-hsiao's wife make
her appearance in the room. "Pao Erh's wife has hung herself," she
whispered to lady Feng in a low tone of voice, "and her mother's
relatives want to take legal proceedings."
Lady Feng gave a sardonic smile. "That's all right!" she observed. "I
myself was just thinking about lodging a complaint!"
"I and the others tried to dissuade them," Lin Chih-hsiao's wife
continued. "And by having recourse to intimidation as well as to
promises of money, they, at last, agreed to our terms."
"I haven't got a cash," lady Feng replied. "Had I even any money, I
wouldn't let them have it; so just let them go and lodge any charge
they fancy. You needn't either dissuade them or intimidate them. Let
them go and complain as much as they like. But if they fail to
establish a case against me, they'll, after all, be punished for trying
to make the corpse the means of extorting money out of me!"
Lin Chih-hsiao's wife was in a dilemma, when she espied Chia Lien wink
at her. Comprehending his purpose, she readily quitted the apartment
and waited for him outside.
"I'll go out and see what they're up to!" Chia Lien remarked.
"Mind, I won't have you give them any money!" shouted lady Feng.
Chia Lien straightway made his exit. He came and held consultation with
Lin Chih-hsiao, and then directed the servants to go and use some fair
means, others harsh. The matter was, however, not brought to any
satisfactory arrangement until he engaged to pay two hundred taels for
burial expenses. But so apprehensive was Chia Lien lest something might
occur to make the relatives change their ideas, that he also despatched
a messenger to lay the affair before Wang Tzu-t'eng, who bade a few
constables, coroners and other official servants come and help him to
effect the necessary preparations for the funeral. The parties
concerned did not venture, when they saw the precautions he had
adopted, to raise any objections, disposed though they may have been to
try and bring forward other arguments. Their sole alternative therefore
was to suppress their resentment, to refrain from further importunities
and let the matter drop into oblivion.
Chia Lien then impressed upon Lin Chih-hsiao to insert the two hundred
taels in the accounts for the current year, by making such additions to
various items here and there as would suffice to clear them off, and
presented Pao Erh with money out of his own pocket as a crumb of
comfort, adding, "By and bye, I'll choose a nice wife for you." When
Pao Erh, therefore, came in for a share of credit as well as of hard
cash, he could not possibly do otherwise than practise contentment; and
forthwith, needless to dilate on this topic, he began to pay court to
Chia Lien as much as ever.
In the inner rooms, lady Feng was, it is true, much cut up at heart;
but she strained every nerve to preserve an exterior of total
indifference. Noticing that there was no one present in the apartment,
she drew P'ing Erh to her. "I drank yesterday," she smiled, "a little
more wine than was good for me, so don't bear me a grudge. Where did I
strike you, let me see?"
"You didn't really strike me hard!" P'ing Erh said by way of reply.
But at this stage they heard some one remark that the ladies and young
ladies had come in.
If you desire, reader, to know any of the subsequent circumstances,
peruse the account given in the following chapter.