第二十五回

第二十五回 魇魔法姊弟逢五鬼 红楼梦通灵遇双真

话说红玉心神恍惚，情思缠绵，忽朦胧睡去，遇见贾芸要拉他，却回身一跑，被门槛绊了一跤，唬醒过来，方知是梦。因此翻来覆去，一夜无眠。至次日天明，方才起来，就有几个丫头子来会他去打扫房子地面，提洗脸水。这红玉也不梳洗，向镜中胡乱挽了一挽头发，洗了洗手，腰内束了一条汗巾子，便来打扫房屋。

谁知宝玉昨儿见了红玉，也就留了心。若要直点名唤他来使用，一则怕袭人等寒心；二则又不知红玉是何等行为，若好还罢了，若不好起来，那时倒不好退送的。因此心下闷闷的，早起来也不梳洗，只坐着出神。一时下了窗子，隔着纱屉子[3]，向外看的真切，只见好几个丫头在那里扫地，都擦胭抹粉，簪花插柳的，独不见昨儿那一个。宝玉便靸了鞋晃出了房门，只装着看花儿，这里瞧瞧，那里望望，一抬头，只见西南角上游廊底下栏杆上似有一个人倚在那里，却恨面前有一株海棠花遮着，看不真切。只得又转了一步，仔细一看，可不是昨儿那个丫头在那里出神。待要迎上去，又不好去的。正想着，忽见碧痕来催他洗脸，只得进去了。不在话下。

却说红玉正自出神，忽见袭人招手叫他，只得走上前来。袭人笑道：“我们这里的喷壶还没有收拾了来呢，你到林姑娘那里去，把他们的借来使使。”红玉答应了，便走出来往潇湘馆去。正走上翠烟桥，抬头一望，只见山坡上高处都是拦着帏幙，方想起今儿有匠役在里头种树。因转身一望，只见那边远远一簇人在那里掘土，贾芸正坐在那山子石上。红玉待要过去，又不敢过去，只得闷闷的向潇湘馆取了喷壶回来，无精打彩自向房内倒着。众人只说他一时身上不爽快，都不理论。

展眼过了一日，原来次日就是王子腾夫人的寿诞，那里原打发人来请贾母王夫人的，王夫人见贾母不自在，也便不去了。倒是薛姨妈同凤姐儿并贾家几〔一〕个姊妹、宝钗、宝玉一齐都去了，至晚方回。

可巧王夫人见贾环下了学，便命他来抄个《金刚咒》唪诵唪诵[5]。那贾环正在王夫人炕上坐着，命人点灯，拿腔作势的抄写。一时又叫彩云倒杯茶来，一时又叫玉钏儿来剪剪蜡花，一时又说金钏儿挡了灯影。众丫鬟们素日厌恶他，都不答理。只有彩霞还和他合的来，倒了一钟茶来递与他。因见王夫人和人说话儿，他便悄悄的向贾环说道：“你安些分罢，何苦讨这个厌那个厌的。”贾环道：“我也知道了，你别哄我。如今你和宝玉好，把我不答理，我也看出来了。”彩霞咬着嘴唇，向贾环头上戳了一指头，说道：“没良心的！狗咬吕洞宾〔二〕[7]，不识好人心。”

两人正说着，只见凤姐来了，拜见过王夫人。王夫人便一长一短的问他，今儿是那几位堂客，戏文好歹，酒席如何等语。说了不多几句话，宝玉也来了，进门见了王夫人，不过规规矩矩说了几句，便命人除去抹额，脱了袍服，拉了靴子，便一头滚在王夫人怀里。王夫人便用手满身满脸摩挲抚弄他，宝玉也扳着王夫人的脖子说长道短的。王夫人道：“我的儿，你又吃多了酒，脸上滚热。你还只是揉搓，一会闹上酒来。还不在那里静静的倒一会子呢。”说着，便叫人拿个枕头来。宝玉听说便下来，在王夫人身后倒下，又叫彩霞来替他拍着。宝玉便和彩霞说笑，只见彩霞淡淡的，不大答理，两眼睛只向贾环处看。宝玉便拉他的手笑道：“好姐姐，你也理我理儿呢。”一面说，一面拉他的手，彩霞夺手不肯，便说：“再闹，我就嚷了。”

二人正闹着，原来贾环听的见，素日原恨宝玉，如今又见他和彩霞闹，心中越发按不下这口毒气。虽不敢明言，却每每暗中算计，只是不得下手，今见相离甚近，便要用热油烫瞎他的眼睛。因而故意装作失手，把那一盏油汪汪的蜡灯向宝玉脸上只一推。只听宝玉“嗳哟”了一声，满屋里众人都唬了一跳。连忙将地下的戳灯挪过来，又将里外间屋的灯拿了三四盏看时，只见宝玉满脸是油。王夫人又急又气，一面命人来替宝玉擦洗，一面又骂贾环。凤姐三步两步的上炕去替宝玉收拾着，一面笑道：“老三还是这么慌脚鸡似的，我说你上不得高台盘〔三〕。赵姨娘时常也该教导教导他。”一句话提醒了王夫人，那王夫人不骂贾环，便叫过赵姨娘来骂道：“养出这样黑心不知道理下流种子来，也不管管！几番几次我都不理论，你们得了意了，越发上来了！”

那赵姨娘素日虽然常怀嫉妒之心，不忿凤姐宝玉两个，也不敢露出来；如今贾环又生了事，受这场恶气，不但吞声承受，而且还要走去替宝玉收拾。只见宝玉左边脸上烫了一溜燎泡出来，幸而眼睛竟没动。王夫人看了，又是心疼，又怕明日贾母问怎么回答，急的又把赵姨娘数落一顿。然后又安慰了宝玉一回，又命取败毒消肿药来敷上。宝玉道：“有些疼，还不妨事。明儿老太太问，就说是我自己烫的罢了。”凤姐笑道：“便说是自己烫的，也要骂人为什么不小心看着，叫你烫了！横竖有一场气生的，到明儿凭你怎么说去罢。”王夫人命人好生送了宝玉回房去后，袭人等见了，都慌的了不得。

林黛玉见宝玉出了一天门，就觉闷闷的，没个可说话的人。至晚，正打发人来问了两三遍回来不曾，这遍方才回来，又偏生烫了。林黛玉便赶着来瞧，只见宝玉正拿镜子照呢，左边脸上满满的敷了一脸的药。林黛玉只当烫的十分利害，忙上来问怎么烫了，要瞧瞧。宝玉见他来了，忙把脸遮着，摇手叫他出去，不肯叫他看。——知道他的癖性喜洁，见不得这些东西。林黛玉自己也知道自己也有这件癖性，知道宝玉的心内怕他嫌脏，因笑道：“我瞧瞧，烫了那里了，有什么遮着藏着的。”一面说，一面就凑上来，强搬着脖子瞧了一瞧，问他疼的怎么样。宝玉道：“也不很疼，养一两日就好了。”林黛玉坐了一回，闷闷的回房去了。一宿无话。

次日，宝玉见了贾母，虽然自己承认是自己烫的，不与别人相干，免不得那贾母又把跟从的人骂一顿。

过了一日，就有宝玉寄名的干娘[9]马道婆进荣国府来请安。见了宝玉，唬一大跳，问起原由，说是烫的，便点头叹息一回，向宝玉脸上用指头画了一画，口内嘟嘟囔囔的又持诵了一回，说道：“管保就好了，这不过是一时飞灾。”又向贾母道：“祖宗老菩萨那里知道，那经典佛法上说的利害，大凡那王公卿相人家的子弟，只一生长下来，暗里便有许多促狭鬼跟着他，得空便拧他一下，或掐他一下，或吃饭时打下他的饭碗来，或走着推他一跤，所以往往的那些大家子孙多有长不大的。”

贾母听如此说，便赶着问：“这有什么佛法解释[10]没有呢？”马道婆道：“这个容易，只是替他多作些因果善事也就罢了。再那经上还说，西方有位大光明普照菩萨，专管照耀阴暗邪祟，若有善男子善女人虔心供奉者，可以永佑儿孙康宁安静，再无惊恐邪祟撞客[11]之灾。”贾母道：“倒不知怎么个供奉这位菩萨？”马道婆道：“也不值些什么，不过除香烛供养之外，一天多添几斤香油，点上个大海灯。这海灯，便是菩萨现身法像[12]，昼夜不敢息的。”贾母道：“一天一夜也得多少油？明白告诉我，我也好作这件功德[13]的。”马道婆听如此说，便笑道：“这也不拘，随施主菩萨们随心愿舍罢了〔四〕。像我们庙里，就有好几处的王妃诰命供奉的：南安郡王府里的太妃，他许的多，愿心大，一天是四十八斤油，一斤灯草，那海灯也只比缸略小些；锦田侯的诰命次一等，一天不过二十四斤油；再还有几家也有五斤的、三斤的、一斤的，都不拘数。那小家子穷人家舍不起这些，就是四两半斤，也少不得替他点。”

贾母听了，点头思忖。马道婆又道：“还有一件，若是为父母尊亲长上的，多舍些不妨；若是像老祖宗如今为宝玉，若舍多了倒不好，还怕哥儿禁不起，倒折了福。也不当家花花的[15]，要舍，大则七斤，小则五斤，也就是了。”贾母说：“既是这样说，你便一日五斤合准了，每月打趸来关了去[16]。”马道婆念了一声“阿弥陀佛慈悲大菩萨”。贾母又命人来吩咐：“以后大凡宝玉出门的日子，拿几串钱交给他的小子们带着，遇见僧道穷苦人好舍。”

说毕，那马道婆又坐了一回，便又往各院各房问安，闲逛了一回。一时来至赵姨娘房内，二人见过，赵姨娘命小丫头倒了茶来与他吃。马道婆因见炕上堆着些零碎绸缎湾角，赵姨娘正粘鞋呢。马道婆道：“可是我正没了鞋面子了。赵奶奶你有零碎缎子，不拘什么颜色的，弄一双鞋面给我。”赵姨娘听说，便叹口气说道：“你瞧瞧那里头，还有那一块是成样的？成了样的东西，也不能到我手里来！有的没的都在这里，你不嫌，就挑两块子去。”马道婆见说，果真便挑了两块袖将起来。

赵姨娘问道：“前日我送了五百钱去，在药王[17]跟前上供，你可收了没有？”马道婆道：“早已替你上了供了。”赵姨娘叹口气道：“阿弥陀佛！我手里但凡从容些，也时常的上个供，只是心有馀力量不足。”马道婆道：“你只管放心，将来熬的环哥儿大了，得个一官半职，那时你要作多大的功德不能？”赵姨娘听说，鼻子里笑了一声，说道：“罢，罢，再别说起。如今就是个样儿，我们娘儿们跟的上这屋里那一个儿！也不是有了宝玉，竟是得了活龙。他还是小孩子家，长的得人意儿，大人偏疼他些也还罢了；我只不服这个主儿。”一面说，一面伸出两个指头儿来。马道婆会意，便问道：“可是琏二奶奶？”赵姨娘唬的忙摇手儿，走到门前，掀帘子向外看〔五〕看无人，方进来向马道婆悄悄说道：“了不得，了不得！提起这个主儿来，真真把人气杀，叫人一言难尽。我白和你打个赌，明儿这一分家私要不都叫他搬送到娘家去，我也不是个人。”

马道婆见他如此说，便探他口气说道：“我还用你说，难道都看不出来。也亏你们，心里也不理论，只凭他去。倒也妙。”赵姨娘道：“我的娘，不凭他去，难道谁还敢把他怎么样呢？”马道婆听说，鼻子里一笑，半晌说道：“不是我说句造孽的话，你们没有本事！——也难怪别人。明不敢怎样，暗里也就算计了，还等到这如今！”赵姨娘闻听这话里有道理，心内暗暗的欢喜，便说道：“怎么暗里算计？我倒有这个意思，只是没这样的能干人。你若教给我这法子，我大大的谢你。”马道婆听说这话打拢了一处，便又故意说道：“阿弥陀佛！你快休问我，我那里知道这些事。罪过，罪过。”赵姨娘道：“你又来了。你是最肯济困扶危的人，难道就眼睁睁的看人家来摆布死了我们娘儿两个不成？难道还怕我不谢你？”马道婆听说如此，便笑道：“若说我不忍叫你娘儿们受人委曲还犹可，若说谢我的这两个字，可是你错打算盘了。就便是我希图你谢，靠你有些什么东西能打动我？”

赵姨娘听这话口气松动了，便说道：“你这么个明白人，怎么糊涂起来了。你若果然法子灵验，把他两个绝了，明日这家私不怕不是我环儿的。那时你要什么不得？”马道婆听了，低了头，半晌说道：“那时候事情妥了，又无凭据，你还理我呢！”赵姨娘道：“这又何难。如今我虽手里没什么，也零碎攒了几两梯己，还有几件衣服簪子，你先拿些去。下剩的，我写个欠银子文契给你，你要什么保人也有，那时我照数给你。”马道婆道：“果然这样？”赵姨娘道：“这如何还撒得谎。”说着便叫过一个心腹婆子来，耳根底下嘁嘁喳喳说了几句话。

那婆子出去了，一时回来，果然写了个五百两欠契来。赵姨娘便印了手模，走到厨柜里将梯己拿了出来，与马道婆道：“这个你先拿了去做香烛供奉使费，可好不好？”马道婆看看〔六〕白花花的一堆银子，又有欠契，并不顾青红皂白，满口里应着，伸手先去抓了银子掖起来，然后收了欠契。又向裤腰里掏了半晌，掏出十个纸铰的青面白发的鬼来，并两个纸人，递与赵姨娘，又悄悄的教他道：“把他两个的年庚八字[20]写在这两个纸人身上，一并五个鬼都掖在他们各人的床上就完了。我只在家里作法，自有效验。千万小心，不要害怕！”正才说着，只见王夫人的丫鬟进来找道：“奶奶可在这里，太太等你呢。”二人方散了，不在话下。

却说林黛玉因见宝玉近日烫了脸，总不出门，倒时常在一处说说话儿。这日饭后看了两篇书，自觉无趣，便同紫鹃雪雁做了一回针线，更觉烦闷。便倚着房门出了一回神，信步出来，看阶下新迸出的稚笋，不觉出了院门。来到园中，四顾无人，惟见花光柳影，鸟语溪声。

林黛玉信步便往怡红院中来，只见几个丫头舀水，都在回廊上围着看画眉洗澡呢。听见房内有笑声，林黛玉便入房中看时，原来是李宫裁、凤姐、宝钗都在这里呢，一见他进来都笑道：“这不又来了一个。”林黛玉笑道：“今儿齐全，谁下帖子请来的？”凤姐道：“前儿我打发了丫头送了两瓶茶叶去，你往那去了？”林黛玉笑道：“哦，可是倒忘了，多谢多谢。”凤姐儿又道：“你尝了可还好不好？”没有说完，宝玉便说道：“论理可倒罢了，只是我说不大甚好，也不知别人尝着怎么样。”宝钗道：“味倒轻，只是颜色不大好些。”凤姐道：“那是暹罗[21]进贡来的。我尝着也没什么趣儿，还不如我每日吃的呢。”林黛玉道：“我吃着好，不知你们的脾胃是怎样？”宝玉道：“你果然爱吃，把我这个也拿了去吃罢。”凤姐笑道：“你要爱吃，我那里还有呢。”林黛玉道：“果真的，我就打发丫头取去了。”凤姐道：“不用取去，我打发人送来就是了。我明儿还有一件事求你，一同打发人送来。”

林黛玉听了笑道：“你们听听，这是吃了他们家一点子茶叶，就来使唤人了。”凤姐笑道：“倒求你，你倒说这些闲话，吃茶吃水的。你既吃了我们家的茶[22]，怎么还不给我们家作媳妇？”众人听了一齐都笑起来。林黛玉红了脸，一声儿不言语，便回过头去了。李宫裁笑向宝钗道：“真真我们二婶子的诙谐是好的。”林黛玉道：“什么诙谐，不过是贫嘴贱舌讨人厌恶罢了。”说着便啐了一口。凤姐笑道：“你别作梦！你给我们家作了媳妇，少什么？”指宝玉道：“你瞧瞧，人物儿、门第配不上，根基配不上，家私配不上？那一点还玷辱了谁呢？”

林黛玉抬身就走。宝钗便叫：“颦儿急了，还不回来坐着。走了倒没意思。”说着便站起来拉住。刚至房门前，只见赵姨娘和周姨娘两个人进来瞧宝玉。李宫裁、宝钗、宝玉等都让他两个坐。独凤姐只和林黛玉说笑，正眼也不看他们。宝钗方欲说话时，只见王夫人房内的丫头来说：“舅太太来了，请奶奶姑娘们出去呢。”李宫裁听了，连忙叫着凤姐等走了。赵、周两个忙辞了宝玉出去。宝玉道：“我也不能出去，你们好歹别叫舅母进来。”又道：“林妹妹，你先略站一站，我说一句话。”凤姐听了，回头向林黛玉笑道：“有人叫你说话呢。”说着便把林黛玉往里一推，和李纨一同去了。

这里宝玉拉着林黛玉的袖子，只是嘻嘻的笑，心里有话，只是口里说不出来。此时林黛玉只是禁不住把脸红涨了，挣着要走。宝玉忽然“嗳哟”了一声，说：“好头疼！”〔七〕林黛玉道：“该，阿弥陀佛！”只见宝玉大叫一声：“我要死！”将身一纵，离地跳有三四尺高，口内乱嚷乱叫，说起胡话来了。林黛玉并丫头们都唬慌了，忙去报知王夫人、贾母等。此时王子腾的夫人也在这里，都一齐来时，宝玉益发拿刀弄杖，寻死觅活的，闹得天翻地覆。贾母、王夫人见了，唬的抖衣乱颤，且“儿”一声“肉”一声放声恸哭。于是惊动诸人，连贾赦、邢夫人、贾珍、贾政、贾琏、贾蓉、贾芸、贾萍、薛姨妈、薛蟠并周瑞家的一干家中上上下下里里外外众媳妇丫头等，都来园内看视。

登时园内乱麻一般。正没个主见，只见凤姐手持一把明晃晃钢刀砍进园来，见鸡杀鸡，见狗杀狗，见人就要杀人。众人越发慌了。周瑞媳妇忙带着几个有力量的胆壮的婆娘上去抱住，夺下刀来，抬回房去。平儿、丰儿等哭的泪天泪地。贾政等心中也有些烦难，顾了这里，丢不下那里。

别人慌张自不必讲，独有薛蟠更比诸人忙到十分去：又恐薛姨妈被人挤倒，又恐薛宝钗被人瞧见，又恐香菱被人臊皮，——知道贾珍等是在女人身上做功夫的，因此忙的不堪。忽一眼瞥见了林黛玉风流婉转，已酥倒在那里。

当下众人七言八语，有的说请端公送祟[24]的，有的说请巫婆跳神[25]的，有的又荐玉皇阁的张真人，种种喧腾不一。也曾百般医治祈祷，问卜求神，总无效验。堪堪日落。王子腾夫人告辞去后，次日王子腾也来瞧问。接着小史侯家、邢夫人弟兄辈并各亲戚眷属都来瞧看，也有送符水的，也有荐僧道的，总不见效。他叔嫂二人愈发糊涂，不省人事，睡在床上，浑身火炭一般，口内无般不说。到夜晚间，那些婆娘媳妇丫头们都不敢上前。因此把他二人都抬到王夫人的上房内，夜间派了贾芸带着小厮们挨次轮班看守。贾母、王夫人、邢夫人、薛姨妈等寸地不离，只围着干哭。

此时贾赦、贾政又恐哭坏了贾母，日夜熬油费火，闹的人口不安，也都没了主意。贾赦还各处去寻僧觅道。贾政见不灵效，着实懊恼，因阻贾赦道：“儿女之数，皆由天命，非人力可强者。他二人之病出于不意，百般医治不效，想天意该如此，也只好由他们去罢。”贾赦也不理此话，仍是百般忙乱，那里见些效验。看看三日光阴，那凤姐和宝玉躺在床上，益发连气都将没了。合家人口无不惊慌，都说没了指望，忙着将他二人的后世的衣履都治备下了。贾母、王夫人、贾琏、平儿、袭人这几个人更比诸人哭的忘餐废寝，觅死寻活。赵姨娘、贾环等自是称愿。

到了第四日早晨，贾母等正围着宝玉哭时，只见宝玉睁开眼说道：“从今以后，我可不在你家了！快收拾了，打发我走罢。”贾母听了这话，如同摘心去肝一般。赵姨娘在旁劝道：“老太太也不必过于悲痛。哥儿已是不中用了，不如把哥儿的衣服穿好，让他早些回去，也免些苦；只管舍不得他，这口气不断，他在那世里也受罪不安生。”这些话没说完，被贾母照脸啐了一口唾沫，骂道：“烂了舌头的混帐老婆，谁叫你来多嘴多舌的！你怎么知道他在那世里受罪不安生？怎么见得不中用了？你愿他死了，有什么好处？你别做梦！他死了，我只和你们要命。素日都不是你们调唆着逼他写字念书，把胆子唬破了，见了他老子不像个避猫鼠儿？都不是你们这起淫妇调唆的！这会子逼死了，你们遂了心，我饶那一个！”一面骂，一面哭。

贾政在旁听见这些话，心里越发难过，便喝退赵姨娘，自己上来委婉解劝。一时又有人来回说：“两口棺椁都做齐了，请老爷出去看。”贾母听了，如火上浇油一般，便骂：“是谁做了棺椁？”一叠声只叫把做棺材的拉来打死。

正闹的天翻地覆，没个开交，只闻得隐隐的木鱼声响，念了一句：“南无[26]解冤孽菩萨。有那人口不利，家宅颠倾，或逢凶险，或中邪祟者，我们善能医治。”贾母、王夫人听见这些话，那里还耐得住，便命人去快请进来。贾政虽不自在，奈贾母之言如何违拗；想如此深宅，何得听的这样真切，心中亦希罕，命人请了进来。众人举目看时，原来是一个癞头和尚与一个跛足道人。见那和尚是怎的模样：

鼻如悬胆两眉长，目似明星蓄宝光，

破衲芒鞋无住迹，腌[27]更有满头疮。

那道人又是怎生模样：

一足高来一足低，浑身带水又拖泥。

相逢若问家何处，却在蓬莱弱水西[28]。

贾政问道：“你道友二人在那庙焚修？”那僧笑道：“长官不须多话。因闻得府上人口不利，故特来医治。”贾政道：“倒有两个人中邪，不知你们有何符水？”那道人笑道：“你家现有希世奇珍，如何还问我们要符水？”贾政听这话有意思，心中便动了，因说道：“小儿落草时虽带了一块宝玉下来，上面说能除邪祟，谁知竟不灵验。”那僧道：“长官你那里知道那物的妙用。只因他如今被声色货利所迷，故不灵验了。你今且取他出来，待我们持诵持诵，只怕就好了。”

贾政听说，便向宝玉项上取下那玉来递与他二人。那和尚接了过来，擎在掌上，长叹一声道：“青埂峰一别〔八〕，展眼已过十三载矣！人世光阴，如此迅速，尘缘满日，若似弹指！可羡你当时的那段好处：

天不拘兮地不羁，心头无喜亦无悲；

却因锻炼通灵后，便向人间觅是非。

可叹你今日这番经历：

粉渍脂痕污宝光[30]，绮栊昼夜困鸳鸯[31]。

沉酣一梦终须醒，冤孽偿清好散场！[32]”

念毕，又摩弄一回，说了些疯话，递与贾政道：“此物已灵，不可亵渎，悬于卧室上槛，将他二人安在一室之内，除亲身妻母外，不可使阴人[33]冲犯。三十三日之后，包管身安病退，复旧如初。”说着回头便走了。贾政赶着还说话，让二人坐了吃茶，要送谢礼，他二人早已出去了。贾母等还只管着人去赶，那里有个踪影。少不得依言将他二人就安放在王夫人卧室之内，将玉悬在门上。王夫人亲身守着，不许别个人进来。

至晚间他二人竟渐渐醒来，说腹中饥饿。贾母、王夫人如得了珍宝一般，旋熬了米汤来与他二人吃了，精神渐长，邪祟稍退，一家子才把心放下来。李宫裁并贾府三艳、薛宝钗、林黛玉、平儿、袭人等在外间听信息。闻得吃了米汤，省了人事，别人未开口，林黛玉先就念了一声“阿弥陀佛”。薛宝钗便回头看了他半日，嗤的一声笑。众人都不会意，贾惜春道：“宝姐姐，好好的笑什么？”宝钗笑道：“我笑如来佛[34]比人还忙：又要讲经说法，又要普渡众生；这如今宝玉、凤姐姐病了，又烧香还愿，赐福消灾；今才好些，又管林姑娘的姻缘了。你说忙的可笑不可笑。”林黛玉不觉的红了脸，啐了一口道：“你们这起人不是好人，不知怎么死！再不跟着好人学，只跟着凤姐贫嘴烂舌的学。”一面说，一面摔帘子出去了。不知端详，且听下回分解。

[1] 魇（yǎn演）魔法、五鬼——魇魔法：一种迷信活动，认为施行一种所谓“法术”可以驱使鬼神折磨人，致人于死。五鬼：旧时星命家所称的恶煞之一，取象于鬼宿第五星。见《协纪辨方书·五鬼》。

[2] 双真——真：真人，即仙人。双真：这里指癞头和尚和跛足道人。

[3] 纱屉子——旧时的窗户分两层，里面一层是用纱绷上的，透明、通气，称“纱屉子”。外面一层窗棂是用纸糊或木板装的，白天可以卸下来或支起，晚间再安上或放下。

〔一〕 “几个”，原作“四个”，从梦稿本改。

[5] 《金刚咒》唪（fěnɡ讽）诵——《金刚咒》是《金刚经》后面附的咒语。佛家说唪诵这几句咒语可以消灾祈福。唪诵：大声念经。

〔二〕 “狗咬吕洞宾”，原无“吕”字，从各本补。

[7] 狗咬吕洞宾——歇后语：“狗咬吕洞宾——不识好人心”。吕洞宾是传说中的八仙之一。

〔三〕 “高台盘”，原作“高抬板”，从甲辰本改。

[9] 寄名的干娘——这里是指把子弟寄其名下为义子的道姑。“寄名”是为了得到神的保佑，免除灾难。

[10] 佛法解释——这里是用佛法消灾去病之意。解释：消散、解脱。

[11] 撞客——旧时迷信认为突然神智昏迷、胡言乱语，遭灾得病是邪祟入侵、鬼神附体，俗称“撞客”。

[12] 现身法像——佛教说：佛为化度众生而变幻出无数的“化身”来。“现身法像”就是佛所变幻出的形象。这里是说“海灯”就是佛的“化身”。

[13] 功德——佛家称去恶行善为“功德”。施舍财物、诵经，以祈福消灾叫“作功德”。

〔四〕 “愿舍罢了”，原无，从甲戌本增。

[15] 不当家花花的——亦作“不当家花拉的”。“不当家”亦作“不当价”。意即不应该、当不起、罪过。“价”为助词，“花花的”是词尾，无义。

[16] 打趸（dǔn盹）来关了去——凑总数领走。趸：整数。关：领取。

[17] 药王——菩萨名。佛教经典中有药王药上二菩萨，传入中国后受到供奉，但远不如民间信仰影响大。民间传说以神农或扁鹊为药王；一说唐代孙思邈为药王，认为祈求药王可以愈病。

〔五〕 “向外看”，原作“向窗外看”，从甲戌本删。

〔六〕 “道，这个你先拿了去做香烛供奉使费，可好不好？马道婆看看”，原缺，甲戌、梦稿、蒙府、戚序、舒序本均有，文字略异，今从甲戌本增补。

[20] 年庚八字——年庚：人诞生的年月日时。以天干地支记年月日时，如甲子年、乙丑月、丙寅日、丁卯时，共八个字，故称为“八字”。相术家说法，“八字”有好坏，它注定人的一生命运。用巫术诅咒人时，要写明被咒者的年庚八字。

[21] 暹（xiān先）罗——古国名，在今泰国一带。

[22] 吃了我们家的茶——女子受聘，俗谓“吃茶”。《七修类稿》：种茶下子，不可移植，移植则不复生，故以喻女子受聘。

〔七〕 “宝玉忽然嗳哟了一声，说：‘好头疼！’”，原作“宝玉道，嗳哟好头疼”，从甲戌本增改。

[24] 端公送祟——请巫师焚烧纸钱等物“送走鬼祟”的仪式。端公：即巫师。清代唐甄《潜书·抑尊》：“蜀人之事神必冯（凭）巫，谓巫为端公。”

[25] 巫婆跳神——巫婆：旧时以装神弄鬼替人治病或祈祷的女人。巫婆烧香上供，请“神仙附体”，手舞足蹈，代神降旨，叫跳神。

[26] 南无（nā　mó那谟）——佛教用语。虔诚皈依、祈求度我之意。

[27] 腌——北京方言，意为脏、不干净。

[28] 蓬莱弱水西——蓬莱：传说渤海中的仙山。弱水，汉代东方朔《十洲记》：“凤麟洲在西海之中央，四面有弱水绕之，鸿毛不浮，不可越也。”

〔八〕 “青埂峰一别”，原作“青硬以别”，从甲戌、梦稿、戚序、舒序本增改。

[30] “粉渍（zì字）”句——谓通灵玉被脂粉玷污失去精彩的光泽。渍：沾染。脂：胭脂、香粉之类。

[31] “绮栊（lónɡ龙）”句——绮栊：华丽的房屋。栊：房屋的窗户，在此代指房屋。鸳鸯：借指男女。是说宝玉在富贵的环境里，整天和姊妹丫鬟们在一起厮混。

[32] “沉酣”二句——意谓人生如梦境般虚幻，终有醒悟的时候；生活如还债般苦恼，还清了孽债，大家便散伙收场。沉酣：沉睡貌。

[33] 阴人——这里指女人。

[34] 如来佛——释迦牟尼佛的十种称号之一，为梵文的音译。“如”亦称“如实”即“真如”，指佛所说的绝对真理，沿此行事便可达到佛的境界。

CHAPTER 25. Two cousins are subjected by witchcraft to the assaults of demons And the Magic Jade meets an old acquaintance while rather the worse for wear

We have seen how Crimson, after lying a long time a prey to confused and troubled thoughts, at last dozed off to sleep; and how later, when Jia Yun grabbed at her, she turned and fled, only to stumble and fall on the threshold of her room. At that point she woke in bed and discovered that she had been dreaming. She did not get to sleep again after that, but lay tossing restlessly throughout the night.

When daylight came at last, she got up, and shortly after was joined by the other maids who shared with her the early morning duties of sweeping the rooms and courtyards and fetching water for the others’ washing.

Crimson’s own toilet was a simple one: a brief look in the mirror while she coiled her hair, a quick wash, and she was ready to join the others in their sweeping.

Her encounter with Bao-yu had made a stronger impression on that impressionable young man than she realized. He had even thought of asking for her by name to wait upon him, but hesitated, partly from fear of offending Aroma and the rest, and partly because he did not know what she was really like and dreaded the unpleasantness of sending her away again if she proved unsatisfactory. The question still preoccupied him when he woke that morning. He rose quite early and sat musing silently on his own, making no effort to begin his toilet.

In a little while the paper-covered shutters were removed and he was able to see clearly through the silken gauze of the casement into the courtyard outside. He could see several girls there sweeping, all of them heavily made-up and with flowers and ornaments in their hair, but no sign of the quiet, neat girl of the day before. He went outside in his slippers to look around, pretending that he had gone out to inspect the flowers. He could see someone leaning on the balustrade in the south-west corner of the cloister-like covered walk, but she was half hidden by the crab-apple tree and he could not make out who it was. He approached and looked more closely. It was she, yesterday’s girl, standing there on her own, apparently lost in thought. He was a little shy of addressing her at that particular moment and was still hesitating when Emerald came up and asked him to come in and wash. He had to go in again without having spoken to her.

While Crimson stood there musing, she suddenly became aware that Aroma was beckoning to her, and hurried up to see what she wanted.

‘Our spittoon is broken,’ Aroma said. ‘Can you go to Miss Lin’s and ask them if they will lend us one until we can get a replacement?’

Crimson hurried off in the direction of the Naiad’s House. When she got to Green Haze Bridge, she stopped a moment to look around. She noticed that cloth screens had been set up all along the side of the artificial hill, and remembered that this was the day on which the workmen were coming into the garden to plant trees. She could just make out a knot of workmen digging a hole in the distance and Jia Yun sitting on some rocks supervising them. She would have liked to go over, but did not quite dare, and having collected the spittoon, returned, in very low spirits, and lay down in her own room to brood. The others all assumed that she must be feeling unwell and took no notice.

Next day was the birthday of Wang Zi-teng’s lady. A message had already been received from that quarter inviting Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang to spend the day with her. Lady Wang would have liked to go but felt unable, even though the invitation was from her brother’s wife, because she could see that Grandmother Jia did not want to. Wang Zi-teng’s other sister, Aunt Xue, went instead, together with his niece Xi-feng, Bao-chai, Bao-yu and the three Jia girls. They did not return until the evening.

Not long before they returned, Jia Huan got back from school and Lady Wang gave him the task of copying out the text of that prolonger of life and highly efficacious prophylactic against sickness and misfortune, the Dharani of the Immaculate Diamond. He seated himself on Lady Wang’s kang, called for a candle to be lit, and, with a great deal of self-important fuss, began his copying, one minute calling for Suncloud to pour him tea, the next requiring Silver to trim the wick of his candle, and shortly after that informing Golden that she was standing in his light. The maids all hated Jia Huan and took no notice – all, that is, except Sunset, who had always had a soft spot for him. She poured him a cup of tea and, observing that Lady Wang was engaged in conversation with someone elsewhere in the apartment, quietly counselled some restraint:

‘Try not to throw your weight about so!’ she said. ‘It’s silly to put people’s backs up.’

Jia Huan scowled angrily:

‘I know what I’m doing,’ he said. ‘Don’t talk to me like a child! You’re friends with Bao-yu nowadays, aren’t you? You don’t like me any more. I know. I’ve watched you both.’

Sunset clenched her teeth. She stabbed the air above his head with her finger:

‘You ungrateful thing! You’re like the dog that bit Lü Dong-bin: you don’t know a friend when you see one.’

They were still exchanging words when Xi-feng came in, having just got back from the birthday party. Lady Wang wanted to know about the other ladies who had been invited, whether the plays had been any good, and what sort of things they had had to eat and drink.

In a little while Bao-yu, too, arrived, and after a few respectful words to his mother, asked the servants to take off his headband and gown for him and help him off with his boots. Disencumbered, he flung himself into his mother’s bosom to be fondled and petted by her, then, worming his way up and nuzzling affectionately against her neck, he proceeded to add his own amusing commentary on the day’s events.

‘You’ve been drinking again, child,’ said Lady Wang. ‘Your face is burning. All this romping about will make you sick. Lie down quietly for a while over there!’

She made them bring him a head-rest, and he lay down behind her, towards the back of the kang. Sunset was instructed to massage him by gently patting his legs.

He tried to joke with Sunset as she knelt beside him, but she barely acknowledged his questions and answered frigidly, directing her eyes and all her attention upon Jia Huan. Bao-yu seized her hand:

‘Come, my dear! You must take notice of me if I speak to you!’

He tugged at her hand as he spoke, but she snatched it from his grasp.

‘If you do that again,’ she said, ‘I shall call out!’

Jia Huan heard every word of this exchange. He had always hated Bao-yu, and this flirting with Sunset – his Sunset – was the last straw. He must be revenged or burst. A moment’s reflection suggested the means. He had only to feign a slight clumsiness of the hand and it was done. The candle, brimming with molten wax, toppled straight on to Bao-yu’s face. There was a piercing cry, which made everyone else in the room jump. Quickly they brought standard lamps up from the floor below. By their light Bao-yu’s face was seen to be covered all over in wax. Torn between anguish for him and anger with Jia Huan, Lady Wang urged the servants to remove it as quickly as possible, while alternately berating the other boy for his carelessness. Xi-feng scrambled up on to the kang to help the servants, grumbling at Jia Huan as she did so:

‘Huan, you are the most cack-handed creature I have ever met! You are simply not fit for decent company. I don’t know why Aunt Zhao hasn’t taught you better.’

Her words reminded Lady Wang that she had been abusing a Master in front of the servants. She ceased rebuking Jia Huan at once and, summoning Aunt Zhao, directed all her wrath upon that luckless concubine:

‘This is a fine son you bore us, I must say! He is a black-hearted little monster! You might at least try to teach him better. But no. Time and again I have overlooked this sort of thing, but instead of feeling sorry, you glory in it. You think that when I do nothing, you have got the better of me.’

Aunt Zhao was obliged to swallow her anger and endure these taunts in silence. She climbed up onto the kang and made a show of helping the others with the injured boy. She looked at his face. The whole left side of it was badly blistered. It was a wonder that the eye had not been damaged. When Lady Wang saw it, she was both full of anguish for her son and at the same time, when she thought of the questioning to which she would inevitably be subjected by Grandmother Jia and wondered what she would say, terrified on her own account. To relieve her fear she turned once more on Aunt Zhao. Then, after tongue-lashing the concubine, she comforted her beloved son and applied Antiphlogistic Ointment to the blistered part of his face.

‘It does hurt a bit,’ said Bao-yu when she asked him, ‘but nothing very terrible. When Grandma asks about it, we had better tell her that I did it.’

‘She’ll blame the rest of us for not looking after you properly, even if you say you did it yourself,’ said Xi-feng.

‘There’ll be a row, whatever you say.’

Lady Wang told them to see him back to his room. It was a great shock to Aroma and the other maids when they saw him.

Dai-yu had had a dull time of it with Bao-yu away all day, and in the course of the evening sent several times round to his room to inquire whether he was back yet. It was in this way that she heard about his scalding. She hurried round immediately to see for herself how he was.

She found him with a mirror in his hand, examining the extent of the damage. The entire left side of his face was thickly plastered with ointment, from which she deduced that the injury must be a serious one. But when she approached him to look closer, he averted his head and waved her away. He knew how squeamish she was, and feared that the sight of it would upset her. Dai-yu for her parts was sufficiently aware of her own weakness not to insist on looking. She merely asked him ‘whether it hurt very badly’.

‘Not so bad as all that,’ said Bao-yu. ‘A couple of days and it will probably be all right again.’

Dai-yu sat with him a little longer and then went back to her room.

Next day Bao-yu had to see Grandmother Jia. Although he told her that he had burned himself through his own carelessness, the old lady, as had been predicted, berated his attendants for having allowed the accident to happen.

Another day went by, and Bao-yu’s godmother, old Mother Ma, called round. Mother Ma was a Wise Woman. Her special relationship with Bao-yu had been arranged in his infancy to ensure him the protection of her powers. She was shocked by her godson’s appearance and, on being informed of the cause, shook her head and tutted sympathetically. She made a few signs over his face with her fingers, muttering some gibberish as she did so, after which she assured them that he would soon be better: the malignant aura that had caused the accident was of a transitory, impermanent nature. She turned to Grandmother Jia:

‘Bless you, my lucky lady! Bless you dearie! You don’t know a half of the unseen harms and dangers the Scripture tells us of. All the sons of princes and great folks the moment they begin to grow up are followed round everywhere they go by troops of invisible little imps – spiteful little creatures who nip them and pinch them whenever they can. Sometimes they knock the ricebowl from their hands when they’re eating. Sometimes they push them over when they are walking. It’s on account of these creatures that so many young gentlemen of good family don’t live to make old bones.’

Grandmother Jia was anxious to know if the afflicted person could be freed from these unwelcome attentions.

‘Easily,’ said Mother Ma. ‘By doing good works. Giving a bit more to charity on the young person’s behalf. There is another way, though. According to what the Scripture says, there’s a Bodhisattva of Universal Light living in the Paradise of the West who spends his time lighting up the dark places where these evil spirits lurk, and if any believer, male or female, will make offerings to that Bodhisattva in a proper spirit of devoutness, he will grant their children and grandchildren his holy peace and protect them from possession by devils and from the powers of darkness.’

‘What sort of offerings do you make to this Bodhisattva?’ Grandmother Jia asked her.

‘Nothing very special. Apart from the usual incense offerings, we take a few pounds of sesame oil each day and make what we call a “sea of light” by burning wicks in it. We believe that this sea of light is the trans-substantial body of the Bodhisattva. It has to be kept burning night and day and never allowed to go out.’

‘How much oil does it take to keep it burning for one whole day and night?’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘I should like to do this for the boy.’

‘There’s no fixed amount,’ said Mother Ma. ‘We leave it to our clients to decide how much they want to give. There are several members of the aristocracy among those I do this service for. Let’s see … There’s the Prince of An-nan’s lady. She’s my biggest subscriber. Her subscription is for forty-eight pounds of oil and a pound of lampwicks a day. Her sea of light is pretty nearly as big as a cistern. Then there’s the Marquis of Jin-xiang’s lady: twenty pounds of oil a day. Oh, and there’s some pays for ten pounds a day, some for eight pounds, three pounds, five pounds— all sorts. All of them I keep their seas of light burning for them, back at my house.’

Grandmother Jia nodded thoughtfully.

‘One thing I should mention,’ said Mother Ma (observing the thoughtfulness): ‘if the offering is for an older person – a mother or father, say – it doesn’t matter how much you subscribe; but if it’s an older person making it for a younger one, like as it may be Your Ladyship for Bao-yu, you don’t want to subscribe too much, or it would overload his luck and have the opposite effect. In the case of Your Ladyship subscribing for Bao-yu, I should suggest between five and seven pounds a day.’

‘Make it five pounds a day, then,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘We’ll work out the total and send you a month’s supply every month.’

‘Amitabha, Merciful Buddha! Bless His Holy Name!’ said Mother Ma.

As a further precaution Grandmother Jia called in some of Bao-yu’s maids and told them that in future whenever Bao-yu went out anywhere his pages were to be provided with several strings of cash to give as alms to any itinerant monks or priests or any poor or afflicted persons they might meet upon the way.

After seeing Grandmother Jia, Mother Ma drifted round the mansion calling at various other apartments. Presently she came to Aunt Zhao’s room. After they had exchanged greetings, Aunt Zhao told her little servant to pour the old woman a cup of tea. Aunt Zhao was pasting pieces of cloth together for soling shoes with, and Mother Ma observed that the kang around her was piled with miscellaneous remnants of material.

‘I’m looking for something to make a pair of uppers out of, dearie,’ said Mother Ma. ‘I suppose you haven’t got an old bit of silk or an old bit of satin that would do? It doesn’t matter about the colour.’

Aunt Zhao heaved a long-suffering sigh:

‘Take a look at this lot! You won’t find anything much worth having here. Nothing worth having in this family ever comes my way. But you’re welcome to pick out a couple of pieces if you don’t mind the poor quality.’

Mother Ma rummaged around in the heap, and having picked out several pieces, stuffed them into her sleeve.

‘I sent someone round to you the other day with five hundred cash to pay for an offering to the Medicine Buddha,’ said Aunt Zhao. ‘Have you managed to make it yet?’

‘Oh yes. That was done days ago.’

‘Holy Name!’ said Aunt Zhao. ‘I’d do it oftener if things were a bit easier; but you know the saying: “my heart is willing but my purse is lean”.’

‘Don’t you worry about that!’ said Mother Ma. ‘You only have to hold out a few more years. When your Huan has grown up and got himself a job in the Service, you’ll be able to afford all the good works you want.’

Aunt Zhao made a scornful sound in her nose:

‘Hfn! Let’s not talk about it! It’ll be no different then from what it is now: Huan and I will never be able to compete with the Other One. It’s like the Heavenly Dragon appearing when he comes on the scene. Mind you, I don’t hold it against the child. He’s a good-looking boy, is Bao-yu, and you can understand the grown-ups being silly about him. No, this is the one I can’t stand.’

As she uttered the word ‘this’, she held up two fingers. Mother Ma guessed her meaning: ‘Number Two’ – the younger of the Rong mansion’s two daughters-in-law.

‘You mean Mrs Lian?’ she said.

Aunt Zhao’s face assumed an expression of terror. Motioning agitatedly to the other to remain silent, she got up, went to the door, raised the door-blind, looked around, and having satisfied herself that there were no eavesdroppers, came back and sat down again, her face close to Mother Ma’s.

‘She’s a dreadful person – dreadful! If that woman doesn’t end up by carrying off every stick of property belonging to this family to line her own nest with, my name’s not Zhao!’

Mother Ma sensed interesting possibilities in this conversation, and was quick to explore them:

‘It doesn’t need you to tell me that,’ she said. ‘You surely don’t think I haven’t noticed that? I’ve often wondered why you all let her get away with it – though I suppose it’s probably just as well you do.’

‘My dear good woman,’ said Aunt Zhao, ‘we’ve no choice but to let her get away with it. Who would ever have the nerve to stand up to her?’

‘Well,’ said Mother Ma, ‘I don’t want to seem a troublemaker, but if you don’t mind my saying so, you do all seem to have acted a bit helpless about her – not that I’m blaming you, mind. But I mean to say, even if you daren’t stand up to her openly, there are things you could do in secret. I’m surprised you haven’t thought of it before.’

To Aunt Zhao the words seemed to contain a hidden promise. She concealed her pleasure.

‘What do you mean: “things we could do in secret”?’ she said. ‘I’m willing enough to do them: it’s just that I’ve never met anyone who could tell me how. If you would show me the way, I’d pay you. I’d pay a lot.’

Mother Ma could see that they understood each other, but she was taking no chances.

‘Holy Name! Don’t ask me about things like that! I don’t touch that kind of business. No, no, no. That’s wicked.’

‘There you are!’ said Aunt Zhao. ‘That’s all the help I ever get. And I thought you were such a kind person, always helping those in trouble. Are you prepared to stand by and watch me and my Huan being made mincemeat of by that scheming woman? I suppose it’s because you think I wouldn’t pay you.’

‘If you was to say that I am too tender-hearted to stand by and watch you and your boy being wronged,’ said Mother Ma, ‘you would be saying no more nor less than the truth. But I don’t know what you mean about pay. What have you got that you could tempt me with, dearie, even if I was willing to do it for pay?’

Aunt Zhao observed that her opposition to the very idea of helping her in the desired way had considerably weakened.

‘For someone so clever,’ she said, ‘aren’t you being rather stupid? If you help me and it works, with the two of them safely out of the way, everything in this household will be ours. You’ll be able to ask for what you like. Fancy not thinking of that!’

Mother Ma lowered her head and reflected for a while in silence.

‘When that time comes and you’re safely landed,’ she said eventually, ‘you won’t want to have anything more to do with me, dearie – not when I’ve got no proof to show what I done for you.’

‘That’s no problem,’ said Aunt Zhao. ‘I’ve got a few taels put by of my own savings, and I’ve got some dresses, and there’s my jewellery. You can take some of each to be getting on with and I can give you an IOU promising to pay you so much later on. We can have a witness too, if you like.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Why should I tell a lie?’ said Aunt Zhao, and summoned a trusted crone into whose ear she whispered instructions:

‘Ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps-ps.’

The old crone nodded and went out, returning after a few minutes with a promissory note for five hundred taels of silver. Aunt Zhao made her mark on it and then went to the wardrobe to get out her savings. The white shine of silver and the signed and sealed IOU dispelled whatever residual doubts the Wise Woman may have entertained, for she seized and pocketed both with alacrity, giving hearty assurances of her aid as she did so; then, after rummaging for some time in the capacious waistband of her trousers, she fished out twelve little paper cut-out figures – ten of them demons with green faces and red hair and two of them plain human figures – and handed them to Aunt Zhao. Dropping her voice to a whisper, she instructed her to write the eight symbols of her victims’ nativity – two for the year, two for the month, two for the day and two for the hour – on each of the human figures, wrap five of the demons round each of them, and slip them somewhere under her victims’ beds.

‘That’s all you have to do,’ she said. ‘I shall be doing other things at home to help you. It’s sure to work – no question of that. But you must be very, very careful. And you mustn’t be afraid.’

While she was still talking, one of Lady Wang’s maids came in looking for her.

‘Oh, here you are! Her Ladyship is waiting for you.’

Mother Ma went off in the company of the maid.

And there we leave her.

Because of the injury to his face, Bao-yu had stopped going out of doors since his accident and Dai-yu spent a good deal of time in his apartment talking to him.

One morning after lunch she had settled down to read, but after a couple of chapters grew bored with the book and did some sewing instead with the maids Nightingale and Snowgoose. When that, too, became boring, she stood for a while leaning against the doorway, vacantly looking out. The young bamboo shoots were just breaking through in the forecourt, and after inspecting them, she drifted out into the Garden. Everywhere the flowers were blooming, the birds were singing, and the water splashed and tinkled, but not a human soul was to be seen. Almost without thinking where she was going, she made her way to the House of Green Delights. A group of maids had fetched some water from the well and were watching the white-eyes in the gallery giving themselves a bath. A sound of laughter came from Inside the house. Li Wan, Xi-feng and Bao-chai were there already. Their friendly laughter greeted Dai-yu as she entered:

‘Another one! Come in! Come in!’

‘What is this?’ said Dai-yu, joining in the good humour. ‘A party?’

‘I sent someone round to you the other day with two caddies-full of tea,’ said Xi-feng, ‘but you were out.’

‘Yes,’ said Dai-yu. ‘I’m sorry: I forgot to thank you.’

‘Have you tried it?’ said Xi-feng. ‘What did you think of it?’

‘I wouldn’t ask, if I were you,’ said Bao-yu, chipping in. ‘I thought it was rotten. I don’t know what the rest of you thought about it.’

‘I thought the flavour was all right,’ said Bao-chai. ‘The colour wasn’t up to much.’

‘That was tribute tea from Siam,’ said Xi-feng. ‘I didn’t like it at all. I thought it wasn’t as nice as the tea we drink every day.’

‘Oh, I quite liked it,’ said Dai-yu. ‘Your palates must be more sensitive than mine.’

‘If you really like it,’ said Bao-yu, ‘you’re welcome to have mine.’

‘I’ve still got quite a bit left,’ said Xi-feng. ‘If you really like it, you can have it all.’

‘Thank you very much,’ said Dai-yu. ‘I’ll send someone round to fetch it.’

‘No, don’t do that,’ said Xi-feng. ‘I’ll send it round to you. There’s something I want you to do for me. The person I send round about it can bring the tea as well.’

Dai-yu laughed mockingly:

‘Do you hear that, everybody? Because she’s given me a bit of her old tea, I have to start doing odd jobs for her.’

‘That’s fair enough,’ said Xi-feng. ‘You know the rule: “drink the family’s tea, the family’s bride-to-be”.’

Everyone laughed at this except Dai-yu, who turned her head away, blushing furiously, and said nothing.

‘Cousin Feng will have her little joke,’ Li Wan observed to Bao-chai with a smile.

‘Do you call that a joke?’ said Dai-yu. ‘It was a silly, idle remark, and very irritating.’

She gave a snort of disgust by way of reinforcement.

Xi-feng laughed:

‘What’s so irritating about it? Look at him!’ – She pointed at Bao-yu – ‘Isn’t he good enough for you? Good looks, good family, good income. There are no snags that I can see. It’s a perfect match!’

Dai-yu rose and fled.

‘Oh, Frowner’s in a rage! Come back Frowner!’ Bao-chai called out after her. ‘If you go, it will spoil all the fun.’

She got up and went after Dai-yu to bring her back. At the doorway they ran into Jia Zheng’s two concubines, Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhou, come to see Bao-yu. Li Wan, Bao-chai and Bao-yu made them welcome and invited them to sit down and talk, but Xi-feng and Dai-yu conversed with each other and rather pointedly ignored them.

Bao-chai was in the middle of saying something to the rest of the group when a maid arrived from Lady Wang’s to say that Wang Zi-teng’s wife had come and the presence of the young ladies was requested. Li Wan and Xi-feng rose to go. Aunt Zhao and Aunt Zhou hurriedly took their leave.

‘I can’t go out,’ said Bao-yu. ‘For heaven’s sake don’t let Aunt Wang come over here! – Cousin Lin!’ he called to Dai-yu. ‘Stay here a bit! There’s something I want to say to you.’

Hearing him, Xi-feng turned back to address Dai-yu:

‘Do you hear that? Someone wants a word with you. You’d better go back and see what he wants to say!’

She gave her a push in the direction of the house; then she and Li Wan went off, both laughing.

When they were alone together, Bao-yu took Dai-yu by the hand. He smiled and smiled, but said nothing. Dai-yu felt herself blushing, and tried to break away.

‘Aiyo!’ he said. ‘My head!’

‘Good!’ said Dai-yu. ‘It serves you right!’

Then Bao-yu let out a dreadful cry, jumped two or three feet into the air, and began to shout and babble deliriously. Dai-yu and the maids were terrified and ran to tell Lady Wang and Grandmother Jia. Wang Zi-teng’s lady was with them and hurried over with the rest to see him. By the time they arrived he had already tried several times to kill himself and was raving like a madman. His mother and grandmother were so stricken by the sight that for a few moments they stood mute and trembling. Then, breaking into loud weeping, they cried out to him piteously between their sobs: ‘my son!’, ‘my child!’, ‘my darling!’

Soon the news had spread to the other parts of the Rong household and to the household next door and Jia She, Lady Xing, Cousin Zhen, Jia Zheng, Jia Lian, Jia Rong, Jia Yun, Jia Ping, Aunt Xue and Xue Pan – not to mention Zhou Rui’s wife and a great bevy of domestics both high and low – came hurrying into the garden, adding numbers and confusion to the group of helpless spectators.

While they were still wondering what to do with Bao-yu, Xi-feng appeared, brandishing a gleaming knife in one hand and attacking whatever came in her path. She had already massacred several luckless dogs and hens and now, seeing people ahead, glared at them madly and would have rushed upon them too had not Zhou Rui’s wife and a few hefty and resourceful womenservants advanced upon her while the others looked on helplessly, clasped her about the arms and body, wrested the knife from her hand, and carried her off to her room. Patience and Felicity wept piteously to see their mistress in such a state.

On this occasion even Jia Zheng’s customary impassivity seemed to have deserted him, as he turned this way and that, uncertain on whom to direct his attention. And if Jia Zheng was distraught, the state of the others can be imagined. Most remarkable, perhaps, was the spectacle of Xue Pan fussing over his womenfolk, one moment afraid that his mother would be jostled in the crush, the next that Bao-chai might be ogled or Caltrop glad-eyed by some wanton male. Cousin Zhen, he knew for a fact, was a notorious womanizer. Then he caught sight of Dai-yu (whom he had never seen before) and forgot his anxiety in gawping admiration of that ethereal beauty.

Although no one knew what to do themselves, there were a great many opinions about what ought to be done. Some said an exorcist should be called in to expel the malignant spirits, some that it required a dancing medium to draw them out, some offered charm-sheets invoking the demon-quelling powers of the Heavenly Master and issued under the hand of the Taoist pontiff; yet in spite of prayers, incantations, divination, and all the expedients that faith and physic could provide, there was no visible improvement in the condition of the patients. At sundown Wang Zi-teng’s lady took her leave and went home.

Next day she made another visit to inquire after them. This was followed by visits from the wife of Grandmother Jia’s nephew the Marquis, from Lady Xing’s brothers’ wives, and from the wives of other marriage connections of the family. Bottled charm-water, wonder-working monks and Taoists and highly recommended physicians were also sent round to the mansion by various friends and relations.

But the cousins continued delirious and lay on their beds burning with fever and babbling incomprehensibly. At nightfall they became even worse, so that the maids and even the older women no longer dared go near them. The two of them had to be carried into Lady Wang’s room on their beds and set down there side by side so that Jia Yun and a group of pages could watch over them in shifts throughout the night. Grandmother Jia, Lady Wang, Lady Xing and Aunt Xue stayed near at hand, refusing to budge, though unable to do anything but sit by and weep. Jia She and Jia Zheng, afraid that their mother’s health would suffer, displayed their concern by keeping themselves and everyone else up throughout most of the night. There were lights burning everywhere and hardly anyone slept at all.

Jia She continued to hunt everywhere for monks and exorcists reputed able to cure diseases of the mind. Finally Jia Zheng, who saw that their methods were all useless, lost patience with him and tried to make him stop:

‘Young people will die if they must. Nothing can alter fate. And that they are fated to die would appear from the fact that all efforts to cure them have been unavailing. I think we should allow them to die in peace.’

But Jia She took no notice, and the commotion continued as before.

By the third day the patients were so weakened that they lay on their beds motionless and their breathing was scarcely perceptible. The whole family had by now abandoned hope and were already making preparations for their laying-out. Grandmother Jia, Lady Wang, Jia Lian, Patience and Aroma had cried themselves into a state bordering on prostration. Only Aunt Zhao was cheerful – though she did her best to look miserable.

Early on the fourth day Bao-yu suddenly opened his eyes wide and spoke to Grandmother Jia:

‘From now on I can no longer stay in this family. You must get my things ready and let me go.’

To the old lady the words were a tearing of heart from body; but Aunt Zhao, who also heard them, had the temerity to urge their acceptance:

‘Your Ladyship shouldn’t take it so hard. It’s already all up with the boy. We should be getting his graveclothes ready so that he can go in peace. It will be better that way. If we won’t let him go now, when he’s ready, it will only make more suffering for him in the world to come …’

She would have gone on, but Grandmother Jia spat in her face. No empty gesture: it was a full gob of spittle.

‘Evil woman! May your tongue rot! How do you know it’s all up with him? You want him to die, don’t you? But if you think you will gain by his death, you must be dreaming; because if he does die, I shall hold you responsible. It’s your spiteful meddling that has forced him to do all this studying. You have reduced the poor child to such a state that the mere sight of his father makes him more scared than a mouse with the cat after it. You have done this, you and the others of your kind. And now I suppose, if you succeed in murdering him, you will be satisfied. But don’t imagine you will escape me – any of you!’

She railed and wept. Jia Zheng was close at hand while she was saying all this and was deeply distressed by it. Peremptorily dismissing the concubine, he tried to calm his mother and reasoned against the injustice of her charges.

It was unfortunate that just at that moment a servant should have come in to announce that ‘the two coffins that had been ordered were now ready’. The words were as oil upon fire. The old lady blazed.

‘Who gave orders for those coffins to be made? Where is the man who made them? Go and get the man who made those coffins! Flog him to death!’

Suddenly, as she raged and stormed, the faint tock tock of a holy man’s wooden fish was heard upon the air and a high monotone chant that kept time with the beat:

‘Na-mah A-mi-ta-bha Bo-dhi-satt-va!

Mer-ci-ful de-li-ve-rer!

All a-fflic-ted and tor-men-ted,

All a-ttacked by e-vil spi-rits,

All de-mo-ni-ac po-sse-ssion,

I cure,

I cure,

I cure.’

Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang at once sent someone into the street to see who it was. The source of the chanting proved to be a disreputable-looking Buddhist monk. Stone describes him in the following quatrain:

A bottle nose he had and shaggy brows,

Through which peeped eyes that twinkled like bright stars.

His robe was patched and torn, his feet straw-shod,

His unclean pate blotched with unsightly scars.

He was accompanied by a lame Taoist, for whom a similar quatrain has been supplied by our poetical Stone:

Up, down he hopped on his unequal legs,

From mud and puddle not a stitch left dry.

Yet, if you asked him where his dwelling was,

‘Westward of Paradise’ he would reply.

Jia Zheng had them invited in and asked them what monastery they were from. The monk was genially dismissive:

‘There is no need for Your Worship to waste time on formalities. Suffice it to say that I heard you had sickness in this house and have come to cure it.’

‘Two members of this family have, indeed, fallen victims to some kind of witchcraft,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘Might one inquire what charm you intend to cure them with?’

‘Charm?’ The monk laughed. ‘You already possess in your own house a precious object capable of curing them. What other charm is necessary?’

Jia Zheng gave a start.

‘To be sure. My son was born with a piece of jade whose inscription makes some such claim – “Dispels the harms of witchcraft”. But as you see, it does not appear to possess the power it lays claim to.’

‘That is because the world and its temptations have confused it,’ said the monk. ‘It certainly used to have the power. If you will have the goodness to fetch it for me and allow me to hold it in my hand and say a wee prayer over it, I think I can undertake to bring the power back again.’

Jia Zheng took the Magic Jade from Bao-yu’s neck and handed it to the monk, who held it on the palm of his hand and addressed it with a sigh:

‘Thirteen years, old friend, since we first met under Greensickness Peak! Time certainly flies. But you have not finished with this world yet, you know. Dear, dear, dear! You aren’t the Stone you were, are you?

– Time was you lived in perfect liberty,

Your heart alike from joy and sorrow free,

Till, by the smelter’s alchemy transformed,

Into the world you came to purchase misery.

By the bye, I am sorry you have been having such a disagreeable experience these last few days.

– Vain sensual joys the jade’s sheen have besmirched;

The poor bird droops, in its close prison perched.

From drunken dreaming one day you’ll recover:

Then, when all debts are paid, the play will soon be over.’

When the monk had finished apostrophizing the stone, he rubbed it and polished it between his hands and muttered some strange-sounding words over it.

‘There! Its power has now been restored.’ He handed it back to Jia Zheng. ‘But you must be careful that it does not become contaminated again. Hang it above the threshold of the bedroom and let no women apart from the patient’s own mother and grandmother go inside. If you will do that, I can guarantee a complete recovery in thirty-three days.’

Jia Zheng would have liked to detain the monk for tea and offer him some remuneration, but he and the Taoist slipped quietly away and could not be traced.

The monk’s directions were scrupulously followed. Lady Wang guarded the doorway in person and prevented any unauthorized person from getting into the bedroom. By evening the sufferers had regained consciousness and said they were hungry. This news, so precious to the ears of Lady Jia and Lady Wang, who at once had rice gruel brought in to feed them with, was relayed to the girls in the outer room.

‘Bless His Holy Name!’ Dai-yu murmured fervently.

Bao-chai laughed, but said nothing. The others were mystified.

‘Why do you laugh, Cousin Bao?’ Xi-chun asked her.

‘I was thinking how busy He of the Holy Name must be,’ Bao-chai said. ‘Apart from working for the salvation of all sentient beings, He has to protect the sick and hasten their recovery – not to mention watching over plighted couples to make sure that they marry and live happily ever after. What a lot He has to keep Him busy! Don’t you find the thought rather amusing?’

Dai-yu affected scorn, but was blushing hotly.

‘You are all horrid. Instead of following good examples, you all imitate Feng and make nasty, cheap jokes all the time.’

She raised the portière and went out.

But if you wish to know more, you will have to wait for the next chapter.