An idiotic bully tries to be lewd and comes in for a sound thrashing.
A cold-hearted fellow is prompted by a dread of trouble to betake
himself to a strange place.
As soon as Madame Wang, so runs our narrative, heard of Madame Hsing's
arrival, she quickly went out to welcome her. Madame Hsing was not yet
aware that dowager lady Chia had learnt everything connected with Yüan
Yang's affair, and she was coming again to see which way the wind blew.
The moment, however, she stepped inside the courtyard-entrance, several
matrons promptly explained to her, quite confidentially, that their old
mistress had been told all only a few minutes back, and she meant to
retrace her steps, (but she saw that) every inmate in the suite of
rooms was already conscious of her presence. When she caught sight,
besides, of Madame Wang walking out to meet her she had no option but
to enter. First and foremost, she paid her respects to dowager lady
Chia, but old lady Chia did not address her a single remark, so she
felt within herself smitten with shame and remorse.
Lady Feng soon gave something or other as an excuse and withdrew. Yüan
Yang then returned also quite alone to her chamber to give vent to her
resentment; and Mrs. Hsüeh, Madame Wang and the other inmates, one by
one, retired in like manner, for fear of putting Madame Hsing out of
countenance. Madame Hsing, however, could not muster courage to beat a
retreat. Dowager lady Chia noticed that there was no one but themselves
in her apartments. "I hear," she remarked, "that you had come to play
the part of a go-between for your lord and master! You can very well
observe the three obediences and four virtues, but this softness of
yours is a work of supererogation! You people have also got now a whole
lot of grandchildren and sons. Do you still live in fear and trembling
lest he should put his monkey up? Rumour has it that you yet let that
disposition of your husband's run riot!"
Madame Hsing's whole face got suffused with blushes. "I advised him
time and again," she explained, "but he wouldn't listen to me. How is
it, venerable senior, that you don't yet know that he turns a deaf ear
to me? That's why I had no choice in the matter!"
"Would you go and kill any one," dowager lady Chia asked, "that he
might instigate you to? But consider now. Your brother's wife is
naturally a quiet sort of person, and is born with many ailments; but
is there anything, whether large or small, that she doesn't go to the
trouble of looking after? And notwithstanding that that daughter-in-law
of yours lends her a helping hand, she is daily so busy that she 'no
sooner puts down the pick than she has to take up the broom.' So busy,
that I have myself now curtailed a hundred and one things. But whenever
there's anything those two can't manage, there's Yüan Yang to come to
their assistance. She is, it's true, a mere child, but nevertheless
very careful; and knows how to concern herself about my affairs a bit;
indenting for anything that need be indented, and availing herself of
an opportunity to tell them to supply every requisite. Were Yüan Yang
not the kind of girl she is, how could those two ladies not neglect a
whole or part of those matters, both important as well as unimportant,
connected with the inner and outer quarters? Would I not at present
have to worry my own mind, instead of leaving things to others? Why,
I'd daily have to rack my brain and go and ask them to give me whatever
I might need! Of those girls, who've come to my quarters and those
who've gone, there only remains this single one. She's, besides other
respects, somewhat older in years, and has as well a slight conception
of my ways of doing things, and of my tastes. In the second place, she
has managed to win her mistresses' hearts, for she never tries to
extort aught from me, or to dun this lady for clothes or that one for
money. Hence it is that beginning from your sister-in-law and
daughter-in-law down to the servants in the house, irrespective of old
or young, there isn't a soul, who doesn't readily believe every single
word she says in anything, no matter what it is! Not only do I thus
have some one upon whom I can rely, but your young sister-in-law and
your daughter-in-law are both as well spared much trouble. With a
person such as this by me, should even my daughter-in-law and
granddaughter-in-law not have the time to think of anything, I am not
left without it; nor am I given occasion to get my temper ruffled. But
were she now to go, what kind of creature would they hunt up again to
press into my service? Were you even to bring me a person made of real
pearls, she'd be of no use; if she doesn't know how to speak! I was
just about to send some one to go and explain to your husband that
'I've got money in here enough to buy any girl he fancies,' and to tell
him that 'he's at liberty to give for her purchase from eight to ten
thousand taels; that, if he has set his heart upon this girl, he can't
however have her; and that by leaving her behind to attend to me,
during the few years to come, it will be just the same as if he tried
to acquit himself of his filial duties by waiting upon me day and
night,' so you come at a very opportune moment. Were you therefore to
go yourself at once and deliver him my message, it will answer the
purpose far better!"
These words over, she called the servants. "Go," she said, "and ask
Mrs. Hsüeh, and your young mistresses to come! We were in the middle of
a chat full of zest, and how is it they've all dispersed?"
The waiting-maids immediately assented and left to go in search of
their mistresses, one and all of whom promptly re-entered her
apartments, with the sole exception of Mrs. Hsüeh.
"I've only now returned," she observed to the waiting-maid, "and what
shall I go again for? Just tell her that I'm fast asleep!"
"Dearest Mrs. Hsüeh!" the waiting-maid pleaded, "my worthy senior! our
old mistress will get angry. If you, venerable lady, don't appear
nothing will appease her; so do it for the love of us! Should you
object to walking, why I'm quite ready to carry you on my back."
"You little imp!" Mrs. Hsüeh laughed. "What are you afraid of? All
she'll do will be to scold you a little; and it will all be over soon!"
While replying, she felt that she had no course but to retrace her
footsteps, in company with the waiting-maid.
Dowager lady Chia at once motioned her into a seat. "Let's have a game
of cards!" she then smilingly proposed. "You, Mrs. Hsüeh, are not a
good hand at them; so let's sit together, and see that lady Feng
doesn't cheat us!"
"Quite so," laughed Mrs. Hsüeh. "But it will be well if your venerable
ladyship would look over my hand a bit! Are we four ladies to play, or
are we to add one or two more persons to our number?"
"Naturally only four!" Madame Wang smiled.
"Were one more player let in," lady Feng interposed, "it would be
merrier!"
"Call Yüan Yang here," old lady Chia suggested, "and make her take this
lower seat; for as Mrs. Hsüeh's eyesight is rather dim, we'll charge
her to look over our two hands a bit."
"You girls know how to read and write," lady Feng remarked with a
smile, addressing herself to T'an Ch'un, "and why don't you learn
fortune-telling?"
"This is again strange!" T'an Ch'un exclaimed. "Instead of bracing up
your energies now to rook some money out of our venerable senior, you
turn your thoughts to fortune-telling!"
"I was just wishing to consult the fates," lady Feng proceeded, "as to
how much I shall lose to-day. Can I ever dream of winning? Why, look
here. We haven't commenced playing, and they have placed themselves in
ambush on the left and right."
This remark amused dowager lady Chia and Mrs. Hsüeh. But presently Yüan
Yang arrived, and seated herself below her old mistress. After Yüan
Yang sat lady Feng. The red cloth was then spread; the cards were
shuffled; the dealer was decided upon and the quintet began to play.
After the game had gone on for a time, Yüan Yang noticed that dowager
lady Chia had a full hand and was only waiting for one two-spotted
card, and she made a secret sign to lady Feng. Lady Feng was about to
lead, but purposely lingered for a few moments. "This card will, for a
certainty, be snatched by Mrs. Hsüeh," she smiled, "yet if I don't play
this one, I won't be able later to come out with what I want."
"I haven't got any cards you want in my hand," Mrs. Hsüeh remarked.
"I mean to see by and bye," lady Feng resumed.
"You're at liberty to see," Mrs. Hsüeh said. "But go on, play now! Let
me look what card it is."
Lady Feng threw the card in front of Mrs. Hsüeh. At a glance, Mrs.
Hsüeh perceived that it was the two spot. "I don't fancy this card,"
she smiled. "What I fear is that our dear senior will get a full hand."
"I've played wrong!" lady Feng laughingly exclaimed at these words.
Dowager lady Chia laughed, and throwing down her cards, "If you dare,"
she shouted, "take it back! Who told you to play the wrong card?"
"Didn't I want to have my fortune told?" lady Feng observed. "I played
this card of my own accord, so there's no one with whom I can find
fault."
"You should then beat your own lips and punish your own self; it's only
fair;" old lady Chia remarked. Then facing Mrs. Hsüeh, "I'm not a
niggard, fond of winning money," she went on to say, "but it was my
good luck!"
"Don't we too think as much?" Mrs. Hsüeh smiled. "Who's there stupid
enough to say that your venerable ladyship's heart is set upon money?"
Lady Feng was busy counting the cash, but catching what was said, she
restrung them without delay. "I've got my share," she said, laughingly
to the company. "It isn't at all that you wish to win. It's your good
luck that made you come out a winner! But as for me, I am really a mean
creature; and, as I managed to lose, I count the money and put it away
at once."
Dowager lady Chia usually made Yüan Yang shuffle the cards for her, but
being engaged in chatting and joking with Mrs. Hsüeh, she did not
notice Yüan Yang take them in hand. "Why is it you're so huffed," old
lady Chia asked, "that you don't even shuffle for me?"
"Lady Feng won't let me have the money!" Yüan Yang replied, picking up
the cards.
"If she doesn't give the money," dowager lady Chia observed, "it will
be a turning-point in her luck. Take that string of a thousand cash of
hers," she accordingly directed a servant, "and bring it bodily over
here!"
A young waiting-maid actually fetched the string of cash and deposited
it by the side of her old mistress.
"Let me have them," lady Feng eagerly cried smiling, "and I'll square
all that's due, and finish."
"In very truth, lady Feng, you're a miserly creature!" Mrs. Hsüeh
laughed. "It's simply for mere fun, nothing more!"
Lady Feng, at this insinuation, speedily stood up, and, laying her hand
on Mrs. Hsüeh, she turned her head round, and pointed at a large wooden
box, in which old lady Chia usually deposited her money. "Aunt," she
said, a smile curling her lips, "look here! I couldn't tell you how
much there is in that box that was won from me! This tiao will be
wheedled by the cash in it, before we've played for half an hour! All
we've got to do is to give them sufficient time to lure this string in
as well; we needn't trouble to touch the cards. Your temper, worthy
ancestor, will thus calm down. If you've also got any legitimate thing
for me to do, you might bid me go and attend to it!"
This joke had scarcely been concluded than it evoked incessant laughter
from dowager lady Chia and every one else. But while she was bandying
words, P'ing Erh happened to bring her another string of cash prompted
by the apprehension that her capital might not suffice to meet her
wants.
"It's useless putting them in front of me!" lady Feng cried. "Place
these too over there by our old lady and let them be wheedled in along
with the others! It will thus save trouble, as there won't be any need
to make two jobs of them, to the inconvenience of the cash already in
the box."
Dowager lady Chia had a hearty laugh, so much so, that the cards, she
held in her hand, flew all over the table; but pushing Yüan Yang. "Be
quick," she shouted, "and wrench that mouth of hers!"
P'ing Erh placed the cash according to her mistress' directions. But
after indulging too in laughter for a time, she retraced her footsteps.
On reaching the entrance into the court, she met Chia Lien. "Where's
your Madame Hsing?" he inquired. "Mr. Chia She told me to ask her to go
round."
"She's been standing in there with our old mistress," P'ing Erh hastily
laughed, "for ever so long, and yet she isn't inclined to budge! Seize
the earliest opportunity you can get to wash your hands clean of this
business! Our old lady has had a good long fit of fuming and raging.
Luckily, our lady Secunda cracked an endless stock of jokes, so she, at
length, got a bit calmer!"
"I'll go over," Chia Lien said. "All I have to do is to find out our
venerable senior's wishes, as to whether she means to go to Lai Ta's
house on the fourteenth, so that I might have time to get the chairs
ready. As I'll be able to tell Madame Hsing to return, and have a share
of the fun, won't it be well for me to go?"
"My idea is," P'ing Erh suggested laughingly, "that you shouldn't put
your foot in there! Every one, even up to Madame Wang, and Pao-yü, have
alike received a rap on the knuckles, and are you also going now to
fill up the gap?"
"Everything is over long ago," Chia Lien observed, "and can it be that
she'll cap the whole thing by blowing me up too? What's more, it's no
concern of mine. In the next place, Mr. Chia She enjoined me that I was
to go in person, and ask his wife round, so, if I at present depute
some one else, and he comes to know about it, he really won't feel in a
pleasant mood, and he'll take advantage of this pretext to give vent to
his spite on me."
These words over, he quickly marched off. And P'ing Erh was so
impressed with the reasonableness of his arguments, that she followed
in his track.
As soon as Chia Lien reached the reception hall, he trod with a light
step. Then peeping in he saw Madame Hsing standing inside. Lady Feng,
with her eagle eye, was the first to espy him. But she winked at him
and dissuaded him from coming in, and next gave a wink to Madame Hsing.
Madame Hsing could not conveniently get away at once, and she had to
pour a cup of tea, and place it in front of dowager lady Chia. But old
lady Chia jerked suddenly round, and took Chia Lien at such a
disadvantage that he found it difficult to beat a retreat. "Who is
outside?" exclaimed old lady Chia. "It seemed to me as if some
servant-boy had poked his head in."
Lady Feng sprung to her feet without delay. "I also," she interposed,
"indistinctly noticed the shadow of some one."
Saying this, she walked away and quitted the room. Chia Lien entered
with hasty step. Forcing a smile, "I wanted to ask," he remarked,
"whether you, venerable senior, are going out on the fourteenth, so
that the chairs may be got ready."
"In that case," dowager lady Chia rejoined, "why didn't you come
straight in; but behaved again in that mysterious way?"
"I saw that you were playing at cards, dear ancestor," Chia Lien
explained with a strained laugh, "and I didn't venture to come and
disturb you. I therefore simply meant to call my wife out to find out
from her."
"Is it anything so very urgent that you had to say it this very
moment?" old lady Chia continued. "Had you waited until she had gone
home, couldn't you have asked her any amount of questions you may have
liked? When have you been so full of zeal before? I'm puzzled to know
whether it isn't as an eavesdropping spirit that you appear on the
scene; nor can I say whether you don't come as a spy. But that impish
way of yours gave me quite a start! What a low-bred fellow you are!
Your wife will play at cards with me for a good long while more, so
you'd better bundle yourself home, and conspire again with Chao Erh's
wife how to do away with your better half."
Her remarks evoked general merriment.
"It's Pao Erh's wife," Yüan Yang put in laughingly, "and you, worthy
senior, have dragged in again Chao Erh's wife."
"Yes!" assented old lady Chia, likewise with a laugh. "How could I
remember whether he wasn't (pao) embracing her, or (pei) carrying her
on his back. The bare mention of these things makes me lose all
self-control and provokes me to anger! Ever since I crossed these doors
as a great grandson's wife, I have never, during the whole of these
fifty-four years, seen anything like these affairs, albeit it has been
my share to go through great frights, great dangers, thousands of
strange things and hundred and one remarkable occurrences! Don't you
yet pack yourself off from my presence?"
Chia Lien could not muster courage to utter a single word to vindicate
himself, but retired out of the room with all promptitude. P'ing Erh
was standing outside the window. "I gave you due warning in a gentle
tone, but you wouldn't hear; you've, after all, rushed into the very
meshes of the net!"
These reproaches were still being heaped on him when he caught sight of
Madame Hsing, as she likewise made her appearance outside. "My father,"
Chia Lien ventured, "is at the bottom of all this trouble; and the
whole
blame now is shoved upon your shoulders as well as mine, mother."
"I'll take you, you unfilial thing and…" Madame Hsing shouted. "People
lay down their lives for their fathers; and you are prompted by a few
harmless remarks to murmur against heaven and grumble against earth!
Won't you behave in a proper manner? He's in high dudgeon these last
few days, so mind he doesn't give you a pounding!"
"Mother, cross over at once," Chia Lien urged; "for he told me to come
and ask you to go a long time ago."
Pressing his mother, he escorted her outside as far as the other part
of the mansion. Madame Hsing gave (her husband) nothing beyond a
general outline of all that had been recently said; but Chia She found
himself deprived of the means of furthering his ends. Indeed, so
stricken was he with shame that from that date he pleaded illness. And
so little able was he to rally sufficient pluck to face old lady Chia,
that he merely commissioned Madame Hsing and Chia Lien to go daily and
pay their respects to her on his behalf. He had no help too but to
despatch servants all over the place to make every possible search and
inquiry for a suitable concubine for him. After a long time they
succeeded in purchasing, for the sum of eighty taels, a girl of
seventeen years of age, Yen Hung by name, whom he introduced as
secondary wife into his household.
But enough of this subject. In the rooms on the near side, they
protracted for a long time their noisy game of cards, and only broke up
after they had something to eat. Nothing worthy of note, however,
occurred during the course of the following day or two. In a twinkle,
the fourteenth drew near. At an early hour before daybreak, Lai Ta's
wife came again into the mansion to invite her guests. Dowager lady
Chia was in buoyant spirits, so taking along Madame Wang, Mrs. Hsüeh,
Pao-yü and the various young ladies, she betook herself into Lai Ta's
garden, where she sat for a considerable time.
This garden was not, it is true, to be compared with the garden of
Broad Vista; but it also was most beautifully laid out, and consisted
of spacious grounds. In the way of springs, rockeries, arbours and
woods, towers and terraces, pavilions and halls, it likewise contained
a good many sufficient to excite admiration. In the main hall outside,
were assembled Hsüeh P'an, Chia Chen, Chia Lien, Chia Jung and several
close relatives. But Lai Ta had invited as well a number of officials,
still in active service, and numerous young men of wealthy families, to
keep them company. Among that party figured one Liu Hsiang-lien, whom
Hsüeh P'an had met on a previous occasion and kept ever since in
constant remembrance. Having besides discovered that he had a
passionate liking for theatricals, and that the parts he generally
filled were those of a young man or lady, in fast plays, he had
unavoidably misunderstood the object with which he indulged in these
amusements, to such a degree as to misjudge him for a young rake. About
this time, he had been entertaining a wish to cultivate intimate
relations with him, but he had, much to his disgust, found no one to
introduce him, so when he, by a strange coincidence, came to be thrown
in his way, on the present occasion, he revelled in intense delight.
But Chia Chen and the other guests had heard of his reputation, so as
soon as wine had blinded their sense of shame, they entreated him to
sing two short plays; and when subsequently they got up from the
banquet, they ensconced themselves near him, and, pressing him with
questions, they carried on a conversation on one thing and then
another.
This Liu Hsiang-lien was, in fact, a young man of an old family; but he
had been unsuccessful in his studies, and had lost his father and
mother. He was naturally light-hearted and magnanimous; not particular
in minor matters; immoderately fond of spear-exercise and fencing, of
gambling and boozing; even going to such excesses as spending his
nights in houses of easy virtue; playing the fife, thrumming the harp,
and going in for everything and anything. Being besides young in years,
and of handsome appearance, those who did not know what his standing
was, invariably mistook him for an actor. But Lai Ta's son had all
along been on such friendly terms with him, that he consequently
invited him for the nonce to help him do the honours.
Of a sudden, while every one was, after the wines had gone round, still
on his good behaviour, Hsüeh P'an alone got another fit of his old
mania. From an early stage, his spirits sunk within him and he would
fain have seized the first convenient moment to withdraw and consummate
his designs but for Lai Shang-jung, who then said: "Our Mr. Pao-yü told
me again just now that although he saw you, as he walked in, he
couldn't speak to you with so many people present, so he bade me ask
you not to go, when the party breaks up, as he has something more to
tell you. But as you insist upon taking your leave, you'd better wait
until I call him out, and when you've seen each other, you can get
away; I'll have nothing to say then."
While delivering the message, "Go inside," he directed the
servant-boys, "and get hold of some old matron and tell her quietly to
invite Mr. Pao-yü to come out."
A servant-lad went on the errand, and scarcely had time enough elapsed
to enable one to have a cup of tea in, than Pao-yü, actually, made his
appearance outside.
"My dear sir," Lai Shang-jung smilingly observed to Pao-yü, "I hand him
over to you. I'm going to entertain the guests!"
With these words, he was off.
Pao-yü pulled Lia Hsiang-lien into a side study in the hall, where they
sat down.
"Have you been recently to Ch'in Ch'ung's grave?" he inquired of him.
"How could I not go?" Hsiang-lien answered. "The other day a few of us
went out to give our falcons a fly; and we were yet at a distance of
two li from his tomb, when remembering the heavy rains, we've had this
summer, I gave way to fears lest his grave may not have been proof
against them; so evading the notice of the party I went over and had a
look. I found it again slightly damaged; but when I got back home, I
speedily raised a few hundreds of cash, and issued early on the third
day, and hired two men, who put it right."
"It isn't strange then!" exclaimed Pao-yü, "When the lotus blossomed
last month in the pond of our garden of Broad Vista, I plucked ten of
them and bade T'sai Ming go out of town and lay them as my offering on
his grave. On his return, I also inquired of him: whether it had been
damaged by the water or not; and he explained that not only had it not
sustained any harm, but that it looked better than when last he'd seen
it. Several of his friends, I argued, must have had it put in proper
repair; and I felt it irksome that I should, day after day, be so caged
at home as to be unable to be my own master in the least thing, and
that if even I move, and any one comes to know of it, this one is sure
to exhort me, if that one does not restrain me. I can thus afford to
brag, but can't manage to act! And though I've got plenty of money, I'm
not at liberty to spend any of it!"
"There's no use your worrying in a matter like this!" Liu Hsiang-lien
said. "I am outside, so all you need do is to inwardly foster the wish;
that's all. But as the first of the tenth moon will shortly be upon us,
I've already prepared the money necessary for going to the graves. You
know well enough that I'm as poor as a rat; I've no hoardings at home;
and when a few cash find their way into my pocket, I soon remain again
quite empty-handed. But I'd better make the best of this opportunity,
and keep the amount I have, in order that, when the time comes, I
mayn't find myself without a cash."
"It's exactly about this that I meant to send Pei Ming to see you,"
Pao-yü added. "But it isn't often that one can manage to find you at
home. I'm well aware how uncertain your movements are; one day you are
here, and another there; you've got no fixed resort."
"There's no need sending any one to hunt me up!" Liu Hsiang-lien
replied. "All that each of us need do in this matter is to acquit
ourselves of what's right. But in a little while, I again purpose going
away on a tour abroad, to return in three to five years' time."
When Pao-yü heard his intention, "Why is this?" he at once inquired.
Liu Hsiang-lien gave a sardonic smile. "When my wish is on a fair way
to be accomplished," he said, "you'll certainly hear everything. I must
now leave you."
"After all the difficulty we've had in meeting," Pao-yü remarked,
"wouldn't it be better were you and I to go away together in the
evening?"
"That worthy cousin of yours," Hsiang-lien rejoined, "is as bad as
ever, and were I to stay any longer, trouble would inevitably arise. So
it's as well that I should clear out of his way."
Pao-yü communed with himself for a time. "In that case," he then
observed, "it's only right, that you should retire. But if you really
be bent upon going on a distant tour, you must absolutely tell me
something beforehand. Don't, on any account, sneak away quietly!".
As he spoke, the tears trickled down his cheeks.
"I shall, of course, say good-bye to you," Liu Hsiang-lien rejoined.
"But you must not let any one know anything about it!"
While uttering these words, he stood up to get away. "Go in at once,"
he urged, "there's no need to see me off!"
Saying this, he quitted the study. As soon as he reached the main
entrance, he came across Hsüeh P'an, bawling out boisterously, "Who let
young Liu-erh go?"
The moment these shouts fell on Liu Hsiang-lien's ear, his anger flared
up as if it had been sparks spurting wildly about, and he only wished
he could strike him dead with one blow. But on second consideration, he
pondered that a fight after the present festive occasion would be an
insult to Lai Shang-jung, and he perforce felt bound to stifle his
indignation.
When Hsüeh P'an suddenly espied him walking out, he looked as delighted
as if he had come in for some precious gem. With staggering step he
drew near him. Clutching him with one grip, "My dear brother," he
smirked. "where are you off to?"
"I'm going somewhere, but will be back soon," Hsiang-lien said by way
of response.
"As soon as you left," Hsüeh P'an smiled, "all the fun went. But pray
sit a while! If you do so, it will be a proof of your regard for me!
Don't flurry yourself. With such a senior brother as myself to stand by
you, it will be as easy a job for you to become an official as to reap
a fortune."
The sight of his repulsive manner filled the heart of Hsiang-lien with
disgust and shame. But speedily devising a plan, he drew him to a
secluded spot. "Is your friendship real," he smiled, "or is it only a
sham?"
This question sent Hsüeh P'an into such raptures that he found it
difficult to check himself from gratifying his longings. But glancing
at him with the corner of his eye, "My dear brother," he smiled, "what
makes you ask me such a thing? If my friendship for you is a sham, may
I die this moment, before your very eyes."
"Well, if that be so," Hsiang-lien proceeded, "it isn't convenient in
here, so sit down and wait a bit. I'll go ahead, but come out of this
yourself by and bye, and follow me to my place, where we can drink the
whole night long. I've also got there two first-rate young fellows who
never go out of doors. But don't bring so much as a single follower
with you, as you'll find, when you get there, plenty of people ready at
hand to wait on you."
So high did this assignation raise Hsüeh P'an's spirits that he
recovered, to a certain extent, from the effects of wine. "Is it really
so?" he asked.
"How is it," Hsiang-lien laughed, "that when people treat you with a
sincere heart, you don't, after all, believe them?"
"I'm no fool," eagerly exclaimed Hsüeh P'an, "and how could I not
believe you? But since this be the case, how am I, who don't even know
the way, to find your whereabouts if you are to go ahead of me?"
"My place is outside the northern gate." Hsiang-lien explained. "But
can you tear yourself away from your home to spend the night outside
the city walls?"
"As long as you're there," Hsüeh P'an said, "what will I want my home
for?"
"If that be so," Hsiang-lien resumed, "I'll wait for you on the bridge
outside the northern gate. But let us meanwhile rejoin the banquet and
have some wine. Come along, after you've seen me go; they won't notice
us then."
"Yes!" shouted Hsüeh P'an with alacrity as he acquiesced to the
proposal.
The two young fellows thereupon returned to the feast, and drank for a
time. Hsüeh Pan, however, could with difficulty endure the suspense. He
kept his gaze intent upon Hsiang-lien; and the more he pondered within
himself upon what was coming, the more exuberance swelled in his heart.
Now he emptied one wine-kettle; now another; and, without waiting for
any one to press him, he, of his own accord, gulped down one drink
after another, with the result that he unconsciously made himself
nearly quite tipsy. Hsiang-lien then got up and quitted the room, and
perceiving every one off his guard, he egressed out of the main
entrance. "Go home ahead," he directed his page Hsing Nu. "I'm going
out of town, but I'll be back at once."
By the time he had finished giving him these directions, he had already
mounted his horse, and straightway he proceeded to the bridge beyond
the northern gate, and waited for Hsüeh P'an. A long while elapsed,
however, before he espied Hsüeh P'an in the distance, hurrying along
astride of a high steed, with gaping mouth, staring eyes, and his head,
banging from side to side like a pedlar's drum. Without intermission,
he glanced confusedly about, sometimes to the left, and sometimes to
the right; but, as soon as he got where he had to pass in front of
Hsiang-lien's horse, he kept his gaze fixed far away, and never
troubled his mind with the immediate vicinity.
Hsiang-lien felt amused and angry with him, but forthwith giving his
horse also the rein, he followed in his track, while Hsüeh P'an
continued to stare ahead.
Little by little the habitations got scantier and scantier, so pulling
his horse round, (Hsüeh P'an) retraced his steps. The moment he turned
back, he unawares caught sight of Hsiang-lien, and his spirits rose
within him, as if he had got hold of some precious thing of an
extraordinary value. "I knew well enough," he eagerly smiled, "that you
weren't one to break faith."
"Quick, let's go ahead!" Hsiang-lien smilingly urged. "Mind people
might notice us and follow us. It won't then be nice!"
While instigating him, he took the lead, and letting his horse have the
rein, he wended his way onwards, followed closely by Hsüeh P'an. But
when Hsiang-lien perceived that the country ahead of them was already
thinly settled and saw besides a stretch of water covered with a growth
of weeds, he speedily dismounted, and tied his horse to a tree. Turning
then round; "Get down!" he said, laughingly, to Hsüeh P'an. "You must
first take an oath, so that in the event of your changing your mind in
the future, and telling anything to anyone, the oath might be
accomplished."
"You're quite right!" Hsüeh P'an smiled; and jumping down with all
despatch, he too made his horse fast to a tree, and then crouched on
his knees.
"If I ever in days to come," he exclaimed, "know any change in my
feelings and breathe a word to any living soul, may heaven blast me and
earth annihilate me!"
Scarcely had he ended this oath, when a crash fell on his ear, and lo,
he felt as if an iron hammer had been brought down to bear upon him
from behind. A black mist shrouded his eyes, golden stars flew wildly
about before his gaze; and losing all control over himself, he sprawled
on the ground.
Hsiang-lien approached and had a look at him; and, knowing how little
he was accustomed to thrashings, he only exerted but little of his
strength, and struck him a few blows on the face. But about this time a
fruit shop happened to open, and Hsüeh P'an strained at first every
nerve to rise to his feet, when another slight kick from Hsiang-lien
tumbled him over again.
"Both parties should really be agreeable," he shouted. "But if you were
not disposed to accept my advances, you should have simply told me in a
proper way. And why did you beguile me here to give me a beating?"
So speaking, he went on boisterously to heap invective upon his head.
"I'll take you, you blind fellow, and show you who Mr. Liu is,"
Hsiang-lien cried. "You don't appeal to me with solicitous entreaties,
but go on abusing me! To kill you would be of no use, so I'll merely
give you a good lesson!"
With these words, he fetched his whip, and administered him, thirty or
forty blows from his back down to his shins.
Hsüeh P'an had sobered down considerably from the effects of wine, and
found the stings of pain so intolerable, that little able to restrain
himself, he gave way to groans.
"Do you go on in this way?" Hsiang-lien said, with an ironical smile.
"Why, I thought you were not afraid of beatings."
While uttering this taunt, he seized Hsüeh P'an by the left leg, and
dragging him several steps into a miry spot among the reeds, he rolled
him about till he was covered with one mass of mud. "Do you now know
what stuff I'm made of?" he proceeded to ask.
Hsüeh P'an made no reply. But simply lay prostrate, and moaned. Then
throwing away his whip Hsiang-lien gave him with his fist several
thumps all over the body.
Hsüeh P'an began to wriggle violently and vociferate wildly. "Oh, my
ribs are broken!" he shouted. "I know you're a proper sort of person!
It's all because I made the mistake of listening to other people's
gossip!"
"There's no need for you to drag in other people!" Hsiang-lien went on.
"Just confine yourself to those present!"
"There's nothing up at present!" Hsüeh P'an cried. "From what you say,
you're a person full of propriety. So it's I who am at fault."
"You'll have to speak a little milder," Hsiang-lien added, "before I
let you off."
"My dear younger brother," Hsüeh P'an pleaded, with a groan.
Hsiang-lien at this struck him another blow with his fist.
"Ai!" ejaculated Hsüeh P'an. "My dear senior brother!" he exclaimed.
Hsiang-lien then gave him two more whacks, one after the other.
"Ai Yo!" Hsüeh P'an precipitately screamed. "My dear Sir, do spare me,
an eyeless beggar; and henceforth I'll look up to you with veneration;
I'll fear you!"
"Drink two mouthfuls of that water!" shouted Hsiang-lien.
"That water is really too foul," Hsüeh P'an argued, in reply to this
suggestion, wrinkling his eyebrows the while; "and how could I put any
of it in my mouth?"
Hsiang-lien raised his fist and struck him.
"I'll drink it, I'll drink it!" quickly bawled Hsüeh P'an.
So saying, he felt obliged to lower his head to the very roots of the
reeds and drink a mouthful. Before he had had time to swallow it, a
sound of 'ai' became audible, and up came all the stuff he had put into
his mouth only a few seconds back.
"You filthy thing!" exclaimed Hsiang-lien. "Be quick and finish
drinking; and I'll let you off."
Upon hearing this, Hsüeh P'an bumped his head repeatedly on the ground.
"Do please," he cried, "lay up a store of meritorious acts for yourself
and let me off! I couldn't take that were I even on the verge of
death!"
"This kind of stench will suffocate me!" Hsiang-lien observed, and,
with this remark, he abandoned Hsüeh Pan to his own devices; and,
pulling his horse, he put his foot to the stirrup, and rode away.
Hsüeh Pan, meanwhile, became aware of his departure, and felt at last
relieved in his mind. Yet his conscience pricked him for he saw that he
should not misjudge people. He then made an effort to raise himself,
but the racking torture he experienced all over his limbs was so sharp
that he could with difficulty bear it.
Chia Chen and the other guests present at the banquet became, as it
happened, suddenly alive to the fact that the two young fellows had
disappeared; but though they extended their search everywhere, they saw
nothing of them. Some one insinuated, in an uncertain way, that they
had gone outside the northern gate; but as Hsüeh P'an's pages had ever
lived in dread of him, who of them had the audacity to go and hunt him
up after the injunctions, he had given them, that they were not to
follow him? But waxing solicitous on his account, Chia Chen
subsequently bade Chia Jung take a few servant-boys and go and discover
some clue of him, or institute inquiries as to his whereabouts.
Straightway therefore they prosecuted their search beyond the northern
gate, to a distance of two li below the bridge, and it was quite by
accident that they discerned Hsüeh P'an's horse made fast by the side
of a pit full of reeds.
"That's a good sign!" they with one voice exclaimed; "for if the horse
is there, the master must be there too!"
In a body, they thronged round the horse, when, from among the reeds,
they caught the sound of human groans, so hurriedly rushing forward to
ascertain for themselves, they, at a glance, perceived Hsüeh P'an, his
costume all in tatters, his countenance and eyes so swollen and bruised
that it was hard to make out the head and face, and his whole person,
inside as well as outside his clothes, rolled like a sow in a heap of
mud.
Chia Jung surmised pretty nearly the truth. Speedily dismounting, he
told the servants to prop him up. "Uncle Hsüeh," he laughed, "you daily
go in for lewd dalliance; but have you to-day come to dissipate in a
reed-covered pit? The King of the dragons in this pit must have also
fallen in love with your charms, and enticed you to become his
son-in-law that you've come and gored yourself on his horns like this!"
Hsüeh P'an was such a prey to intense shame that he would fain have
grovelled into some fissure in the earth had he been able to detect
any. But so little able was he to get on his horse that Chia Jung
directed a servant to run to the suburbs and fetch a chair. Ensconced
in this, Hsüeh P'an entered town along with the search party.
Chia Jung still insisted upon carrying him to Lai Ta's house to join
the feast, so Hsüeh P'an had to make a hundred and one urgent appeals
to him to tell no one, before Chia Jung eventually yielded to his
solicitations and allowed him to have his own way and return home.
Chia Jung betook himself again to Lai Ta's house, and narrated to Chia
Chen their recent experiences. When Chia Chen also learnt of the
flogging (Hsüeh P'an) had received from Hsiang-lien, he laughed. "It's
only through scrapes," he cried, "that he'll get all right!"
In the evening, after the party broke up, he came to inquire after him.
But Hsüeh P'an, who was lying all alone in his bedroom, nursing
himself, refused to see him, on the plea of indisposition.
When dowager lady Chia and the other inmates had returned home, and
every one had retired into their respective apartments, Mrs. Hsüeh and
Pao-ch'ai observed that Hsiang Ling's eyes were quite swollen from
crying, and they questioned her as to the reason of her distress. (On
being told), they hastily rushed to look up Hsüeh P'an; but, though
they saw his body covered with scars, they could discover no ribs
broken, or bones dislocated.
Mrs. Hsüeh fell a prey to anguish and displeasure. At one time, she
scolded Hsüeh P'an; at another, she abused Liu Hsiang-lien. Her wish
was to lay the matter before Madame Wang in order that some one should
be despatched to trace Liu Hsiang-lien and bring him back, but
Pao-ch'ai speedily dissuaded her. "It's nothing to make a fuss about,"
she represented. "They were simply drinking together; and quarrels
after a wine bout are ordinary things. And for one who's drunk to get a
few whacks more or less is nothing uncommon! Besides, there's in our
home neither regard for God nor discipline. Every one knows it. If it's
purely out of love, mother, that you desire to give vent to your spite,
it's an easy matter enough. Have a little patience for three or five
days, until brother is all right and can go out. Mr. Chia Chen and Mr.
Chia Lien over there are not people likely to let the affair drop
without doing anything! They'll, for a certainty, stand a treat, and
ask that fellow, and make him apologise and admit his wrong in the
presence of the whole company, so that everything will be properly
settled. But were you now, ma, to begin making much of this occurrence,
and telling every one, it would, on the contrary, look as if you had,
in your motherly partiality and fond love for him, indulged him to stir
up a row and provoke people! He has, on this occasion, had unawares to
eat humble pie, but will you, ma, put people to all this trouble and
inconvenience and make use of the prestige enjoyed by your relatives to
oppress an ordinary person?"
"My dear child," Mrs. Hsüeh rejoined, "after listening to the advice
proffered by her, you've, after all, been able to foresee all these
things! As for me, that sudden fit of anger quite dazed me!"
"All will thus be square," Pao-ch'ai smiled, "for, as he's neither
afraid of you, mother, nor gives an ear to people's exhortations, but
gets wilder and wilder every day that goes by, he may, if he gets two
or three lessons, turn over a new leaf."
While Hsüeh P'an lay on the stovecouch, he reviled Hsiang-lien with all
his might. Next, he instigated the servant-boys to go and demolish his
house, kill him and bring a charge against him. But Mrs. Hsüeh hindered
the lads from carrying out his purpose, and explained to her son: "that
Liu Hsiang-lien had casually, after drinking, behaved in a disorderly
way, that now that he was over the effects of wine, he was exceedingly
filled with remorse, and that, prompted by the fear of punishment, he
had effected his escape."
But, reader, if you feel any interest to know what happened when Hsüeh
P'an heard the version his mother gave him, listen to what you will
find in the next chapter.