第八回
第八回 比通灵金莺微露意 探宝钗黛玉半含酸
话说凤姐和宝玉回家，见过众人。宝玉先〔二〕便回明贾母秦钟要上家塾之事，自己也有了个伴读的朋友，正好发奋；又着实的称赞秦钟的人品行事，最使人怜爱。凤姐又在一旁帮着说“过日他还来拜老祖宗”等语，说的贾母喜欢起来。凤姐又趁势请贾母后日过去看戏。贾母虽年老，却极有兴头。至后日，又有尤氏来请，遂携了王夫人林黛玉宝玉等过去看戏。至晌午，贾母便回来歇息了。王夫人本是好清净的，见贾母回来也就回来了。然后凤姐坐了首席，尽欢至晚无话。
却说宝玉因送贾母回来，待贾母歇了中觉，意欲还去看戏取乐，又恐扰的秦氏等人不便，因想起近日薛宝钗在家养病，未去亲候，意欲去望他一望。若从上房后角门过去，又恐遇见别事缠绕，再或可巧遇见他父亲，更为不妥，宁可绕远路罢了。当下众嬷嬷丫鬟伺候他换衣服，见他不换，仍出二门去了。众嬷嬷丫鬟只得跟随出来，还只当他去那府中看戏。谁知到穿堂，便向东向北绕厅后而去。偏顶头遇见了门下清客相公[3]詹光单聘仁二人走来，一见了宝玉，便都笑着赶上来，一个抱住腰，一个携着手，都道：“我的菩萨哥儿，我说作了好梦呢，好容易得遇见了你。”说着，请了安，又问好，劳叨半日，方才走开。老嬷嬷叫住，因问：“二位爷是从老爷跟前来的不是？”二人点头道：“老爷在梦坡斋小书房里歇中觉呢，不妨事的。”一面说，一面走了。说的宝玉也笑了。
于是转弯向北奔梨香院来。可巧银库房的总领名唤吴新登与仓上的头目名戴良，还有几个管事的头目，共有七个人，从帐房里出来，一见了宝玉，赶来都一齐垂手站住。独有一个买办名唤钱华，因他多日未见宝玉，忙上来打千儿[4]请安，宝玉忙含笑携他起来。众人都笑说：“前儿在一处看见二爷写的斗方儿[5]，字法越发好了，多早晚儿赏我们几张贴贴。”宝玉笑道：“在那里看见了？”众人道：“好几处都有，都称赞的了不得，还和我们寻呢。”宝玉笑道：“不值什么，你们说与我的小幺儿们就是了。”一面说，一面前走，众人待他过去，方都各自散了。
闲言少述，且说宝玉来至梨香院中，先入薛姨妈室中来，正见薛姨妈打点针黹与丫鬟们呢。宝玉忙请了安，薛姨妈忙一把拉了他，抱入怀内，笑说：“这们冷天，我的儿，难为你想着来，快上炕来坐着罢。”命人倒滚滚的茶来。宝玉因问：“哥哥不在家？”薛姨妈叹道：“他是没笼头的马，天天忙不了，那里肯在家一日。”宝玉道：“姐姐可大安了？”薛姨妈道：“可是呢，你前儿又想着打发人来瞧他。他在里间不是，你去瞧他，里间比这里暖和，那里坐着，我收拾收拾就进去和你说话儿。”
宝玉听说，忙下了炕来至里间门前，只见吊着半旧的红软帘。宝玉掀帘一迈步进去，先就看见薛宝钗坐在炕上作针线，头上挽着漆黑油光的儿，蜜合色棉袄，玫瑰紫二色金银鼠比肩褂，葱黄绫棉裙，一色半新不旧，看去不觉奢华。唇不点而红，眉不画而翠，脸若银盆，眼如水杏。罕言寡语，人谓藏愚；安分随时，自云守拙[6]。宝玉一面看，一面问：“姐姐可大愈了？”宝钗抬头只见宝玉进来，连忙起身含笑答说：“已经大好了，倒多谢记挂着。”说着，让他在炕沿上坐了，即命莺儿斟茶来。一面又问老太太姨娘安，别的姐妹们都好。一面看宝玉头上戴着累丝嵌宝紫金冠，额上勒着二龙抢珠金抹额，身上穿着秋香色立蟒白狐腋[7]箭袖，系着五色蝴蝶鸾绦，项上挂着长命锁、记名符，另外有一块落草时衔下来的宝玉。
宝钗因笑说道：“成日家说你的这玉，究竟未曾细细的赏鉴，我今儿倒要瞧瞧。”说着便挪近前来。宝玉亦凑了上去，从项上摘了下来，递在宝钗手内。宝钗托于掌上，只见大如雀卵，灿若明霞，莹润如酥，五色花纹缠护。这就是大荒山中青埂峰下的那块顽石的幻相。后人曾有诗嘲云：
女娲炼石已荒唐，又向荒唐演大荒[8]。
失去幽灵真境界[9]，幻来亲就臭皮囊[10]。
好知运败金无彩[11]，堪叹时乖玉不光[12]。
白骨如山忘姓氏，无非公子与红妆。
那顽石亦曾记下他这幻相并癞僧所镌的篆文，今亦按图画于后。但其真体最小，方能从胎中小儿口内衔下。今若按其体画，恐字迹过于微细，使观者大废眼光，亦非畅事。故今只按其形式，无非略展些规矩[13]，使观者便于灯下醉中可阅。今注明此故，方无胎中之儿口有多大，怎得衔此狼犺[14]蠢大之物等语之谤。
宝钗看毕，又从新翻过正面来细看，口内念道：“莫失莫忘，仙寿恒昌。”念了两遍，乃回头向莺儿笑道：“你不去倒茶，也在这里发呆作什么？”莺儿嘻嘻笑道：“我听这两句话，倒像和姑娘的项圈上的两句话是一对儿。”宝玉听了，忙笑道：“原来姐姐那项圈上也有八个字，我也赏鉴赏鉴。”宝钗道：“你别听他的话，没有什么字。”宝玉笑央：“好姐姐，你怎么瞧我的了呢。”宝钗被缠不过，因说道：“也是个人给了两句吉利话儿，所以錾上了，叫天天带着；不然，沉甸甸的有什么趣儿。”一面说，一面解了排扣，从里面大红袄上将那珠宝晶莹黄金灿烂的璎珞掏将出来。宝玉忙托了锁看时，果然一面有四个篆字，两面八字，共成两句吉谶[15]。亦曾按式画下形相：
宝玉看了，也念了两遍，又念自己的两遍，因笑问：“姐姐这八个字倒真与我的是一对。”莺儿笑道：“是个癞头和尚送的，他说必须錾在金器上——”宝钗不待说完，便嗔他不去倒茶，一面又问宝玉从那里来。
宝玉此时与宝钗就近，只闻一阵阵凉森森甜丝丝的幽香，竟不知系何香气，遂问：“姐姐熏的是什么香？我竟从未闻见过这味儿。”宝钗笑道：“我最怕熏香，好好的衣服，熏的烟燎火气的。”宝玉道：“既如此，这是什么香？”宝钗想了一想，笑道：“是了，是我早起吃了丸药的香气。”宝玉笑道：“什么丸药这么好闻？好姐姐，给我一丸尝尝。”宝钗笑道：“又混闹了，一个药也是混吃的？”
一语未了，忽听外面人说：“林姑娘来了。”话犹未了，林黛玉已摇摇的走了进来，一见了宝玉，便笑道：“嗳哟，我来的不巧了！”宝玉等忙起身笑让坐，宝钗因笑道：“这话怎么说？”黛玉笑道：“早知他来，我就不来了。”宝钗道：“我更不解这意。”黛玉笑道：“要来一群都来，要不来一个也不来；今儿他来了，明儿我再来，如此间错开了来着，岂不天天有人来了？也不至于太冷落，也不至于太热闹了。姐姐如何反不解这意思？”
宝玉因见他外面罩着大红羽缎[16]对衿褂子，因问：“下雪了么？”地下婆娘们道：“下了这半日雪珠儿了。”宝玉道：“取了我的斗篷来不曾？”黛玉便道：“是不是，我来了他就该去了。”宝玉笑道：“我多早晚儿说要去了？不过拿来预备着。”宝玉的奶母李嬷嬷因说道：“天又下雪，也好早晚的了，就在这里同姐姐妹妹一处顽顽罢。姨妈那里摆茶果子呢。我叫丫头去取了斗篷来，说给小幺儿们散了罢。”宝玉应允。李嬷嬷出去，命小厮们都各散去不提。
这里薛姨妈已摆了几样细巧茶果来留他们吃茶。宝玉因夸前日在那府里珍大嫂子的好鹅掌鸭信[17]。薛姨妈听了，忙也把自己糟的取了些来与他尝。宝玉笑道：“这个须得就酒才好。”薛姨妈便令人去灌了最上等的酒来。李嬷嬷便上来道：“姨太太，酒倒罢了。”宝玉央道：“妈妈，我只喝一钟。”李嬷嬷道：“不中用！当着老太太、太太，那怕你吃一坛呢。想那日我眼错不见一会，不知是那一个没调教的，只图讨你的好儿，不管别人死活，给了你一口酒吃，葬送的我挨了两日骂。姨太太不知道，他性子又可恶，吃了酒更弄性。有一日老太太高兴了，又尽着他吃，什么日子又不许他吃，何苦我白赔在里面。”薛姨妈笑道：“老货，你只放心吃你的去。我也不许他吃多了。便是老太太问，有我呢。”一面令小丫鬟：“来，让你奶奶们去，也吃一杯搪搪雪气。”那李嬷嬷听如此说，只得和众人去吃些酒水。
这里宝玉又说：“不必温暖了，我只爱吃冷的。”薛姨妈忙道：“这可使不得，吃了冷酒，写字手打儿[18]。”宝钗笑道：“宝兄弟，亏你每日家杂学旁收[19]的，难道就不知道酒性最热，若热吃下去，发散的就快；若冷吃下去，便凝结在内，以五脏去暖他，岂不受害？从此还不快不要吃那冷的了。”宝玉听这话有情理，便放下冷酒，命人暖来方饮。
黛玉磕着瓜子儿，只抿着嘴笑。可巧黛玉的小丫鬟雪雁走来与黛玉送小手炉，黛玉因含笑问他：“谁叫你送来的？难为他费心，那里就冷死了我！”雪雁道：“紫鹃姐姐怕姑娘冷，使我送来的。”黛玉一面接了，抱在怀中，笑道：“也亏你倒听他的话。我平日和你说的，全当耳旁风；怎么他说了你就依，比圣旨还快些！”宝玉听这话，知是黛玉借此奚落他，也无回复之词，只嘻嘻的笑两声罢了。宝钗素知黛玉是如此惯了的，也不去睬他。薛姨妈因道：“你素日身子弱，禁不得冷的，他们记挂着你倒不好？”黛玉笑道：“姨妈不知道。幸亏是姨妈这里，倘或在别人家，人家岂不恼？好说就看的人家连个手炉也没有，巴巴的从家里送个来。不说丫鬟们太小心过馀，还只当我素日是这等轻狂惯了呢。”薛姨妈道：“你这个多心的，有这样想，我就没这样心。”
说话时，宝玉已是三杯过去。李嬷嬷又上来拦阻。宝玉正在心甜意洽之时，和宝黛姊妹说说笑笑的，那肯不吃。宝玉只得屈意央告：“好妈妈，我再吃两钟就不吃了。”李嬷嬷道：“你可仔细老爷今儿在家，隄防问你的书！”宝玉听了这话，便心中大不自在，慢慢的放下酒，垂了头。黛玉先忙的说：“别扫大家的兴！舅舅若叫你，只说姨妈留着呢。这个妈妈，他吃了酒，又拿我们来醒脾[20]了！”一面悄推宝玉，使他赌气；一面悄悄的咕哝说：“别理那老货，咱们只管乐咱们的。”那李嬷嬷不知黛玉的意思，因说道：“林姐儿，你不要助着他了。你倒劝劝他，只怕他还听些。”林黛玉冷笑道：“我为什么助他？我也不犯着劝他。你这妈妈太小心了，往常老太太又给他酒吃，如今在姨妈这里多吃一口，料也不妨事。必定姨妈这里是外人，不当在这里的也未可定。”李嬷嬷听了，又是急，又是笑，说道：“真真这林姐儿，说出一句话来，比刀子还尖。你——这算了什么。”宝钗也忍不住笑着，把黛玉腮上一拧，说道：“真真这个颦丫头的一张嘴，叫人恨又不是，喜欢又不是。”薛姨妈一面又说：“别怕，别怕，我的儿！来这里没好的你吃，别把这点子东西唬的存在心里，倒叫我不安。只管放心吃，都有我呢。越发吃了晚饭去，便醉了，就跟着我睡罢。”因命：“再烫热酒来！姨妈陪你吃两杯，可就吃饭罢。”宝玉听了，方又鼓起兴来。
李嬷嬷因吩咐小丫头子们：“你们在这里小心着，我家里换了衣服就来，悄悄的回姨太太，别由着他，多给他吃。”说着便家去了。这里虽还有三两个婆子，都是不关痛痒的，见李嬷嬷走了，也都悄悄去寻方便去了。只剩了两个小丫头子，乐得讨宝玉的欢喜。幸而薛姨妈千哄万哄的，只容他吃了几杯，就忙收过了。作酸笋鸡皮汤，宝玉痛喝了两碗，吃了半碗碧粳粥。一时薛林二人也吃完了饭，又酽酽的沏上茶来大家吃了。薛姨妈方放了心。雪雁等三四个丫头已吃了饭，进来伺候。黛玉因问宝玉道：“你走不走？”宝玉乜斜[21]倦眼道：“你要走，我和你一同走。”黛玉听说，遂起身道：“咱们来了这一日，也该回去了。还不知那边怎么找咱们呢。”说着，二人便告辞。
小丫头忙捧过斗笠来，宝玉便把头略低一低，命他戴上。那丫头便将着大红猩毡斗笠一抖，才往宝玉头上一合，宝玉便说：“罢，罢！好蠢东西，你也轻些儿！难道没见过别人戴过的？让我自己戴罢。”黛玉站在炕沿上道：“罗唆什么，过来，我瞧瞧罢。”宝玉忙就近前来。黛玉用手整理，轻轻笼住束发冠，将笠沿掖在抹额之上，将那一颗核桃大的绛绒簪缨扶起，颤巍巍露于笠外。整理已毕，端相了端相，说道：“好了，披上斗篷罢。”宝玉听了，方接了斗篷披上。薛姨妈忙道：“跟你们的妈妈都还没来呢，且略等等不迟。”宝玉道：“我们倒去等他们，有丫头们跟着也够了。”薛姨妈不放心，到底命两个妇女跟随他兄妹方罢。他二人道了扰，一径回至贾母房中。
贾母尚未用晚饭，知是薛姨妈处来，更加欢喜。因见宝玉吃了酒，遂命他自回房去歇着，不许再出来了。因命人好生看侍着。忽想起跟宝玉的人来，遂问众人：“李奶子怎么不见？”众人不敢直说家去了，只说：“才进来的，想有事才去了。”宝玉踉跄回头道：“他比老太太还受用呢，问他作什么！没有他只怕我还多活两日。”一面说，一面来至自己的卧室。只见笔墨在案，晴雯先接出来，笑说道：“好，好，耍[22]我研了那些墨，早起高兴，只写了三个字，丢下笔就走了，哄的我们等了一日。快来与我写完这些墨才罢！”宝玉忽然想起早起的事来，因笑道：“我写的那三个字在那里呢？”晴雯笑道：“这个人可醉了。你头里过那府里去，嘱咐贴在这门斗上，这会子又这么问。我生怕别人贴坏了，我亲自爬高上梯的贴上，这会子还冻的手僵冷的呢。”宝玉听了，笑道：“我忘了。你的手冷，我替你渥[23]着。”说着便伸手携了晴雯的手，同仰首看门斗上新书的三个字。
一时黛玉来了，宝玉笑道：“好妹妹，你别撒谎，你看这三个字那一个好？”黛玉仰头看里间门斗上，新贴了三个字，写着“绛云轩”。黛玉笑道：“个个都好。怎么写的这们好了？明儿也与我写一个匾。”宝玉嘻嘻的笑道：“又哄我呢。”说着又问：“袭人姐姐呢？”晴雯向里间炕上努嘴。宝玉一看，只见袭人和衣睡着在那里。宝玉笑道：“好，太渥早了些。”因又问晴雯道：“今儿我在那府里吃早饭，有一碟子豆腐皮的包子，我想着你爱吃，和珍大奶奶说了，只说我留着晚上吃，叫人送过来的，你可吃了？”晴雯道：“快别提。一送了来，我知道是我的，偏我才吃了饭，就放在那里。后来李奶奶来了看见，说：‘宝玉未必吃了，拿来给我孙子吃去罢。’他就叫人拿了家去了。”接着茜雪捧上茶来。宝玉因让“林妹妹吃茶。”众人笑说：“林妹妹早走了，还让呢。”
宝玉吃了半碗茶，忽又想起早起的茶来，因问茜雪道：“早起沏了一碗枫露茶，我说过，那茶是三四次后才出色的，这会子怎么又沏了这个来？”茜雪道：“我原是留着的，那会子李奶奶来了，他要尝尝，就给他吃了。”宝玉听了，将手中的茶杯只顺手往地下一掷，豁啷一声，打了个粉碎，泼了茜雪一裙子的茶。又跳起来问着茜雪道：“他是你那一门子的奶奶，你们这么孝敬他？不过是仗着我小时候吃过他几日奶罢了。如今逞的他比祖宗还大了。如今我又吃不着奶了，白白的养着祖宗作什么！撵了出去，大家干净！”说着便要去立刻回贾母，撵他乳母。
原来袭人实未睡着，不过故意装睡，引宝玉来怄[24]他顽耍。先闻得说字问包子等事，也还可不必起来；后来摔了茶钟，动了气，遂连忙起来解释劝阻。早有贾母遣人来问是怎么了。袭人忙道：“我才倒茶来，被雪滑倒了，失手砸了钟子。”一面又安慰宝玉道：“你立意要撵他，也好，我们也都愿意出去，不如趁势连我们一齐撵了。我们也好，你也不愁再有好的来服侍你。”宝玉听了这话，方无了言语，被袭人等扶至炕上，脱换了衣服。不知宝玉口内还说些什么，只觉口齿缠绵，眼眉愈加饧涩，忙服侍他睡下。袭人伸手从他项上摘下那通灵玉来，用自己的手帕包好，塞在褥下，次日带时便冰不着脖子。那宝玉就枕便睡着了。彼时李嬷嬷等已进来了，听见醉了，不敢前来再加触犯，只悄悄的打听睡了，方放心散去。
次日醒来，就有人回：“那边小蓉大爷带了秦相公来拜。”宝玉忙接了出去，领了拜见贾母。贾母见秦钟形容标致，举止温柔，堪陪宝玉读书，心中十分欢喜，便留茶留饭，又命人带去见王夫人等。众人因素爱秦氏，今见了秦钟是这般人品，也都欢喜，临去时都有表礼。贾母又与了一个荷包[25]并一个金魁星[26]，取“文星和合[27]”之意。又嘱咐他道：“你家住的远，或有一时寒热饥饱不便，只管住在这里，不必限定了。只和你宝叔在一处，别跟着那些不长进的东西们学。”秦钟一一的答应，回去禀知。
他父亲秦业现任营缮郎[28]，年近七十，夫人早亡。因当年无儿女，便向养生堂[29]抱了一个儿子并一个女儿。谁知儿子又死了，只剩女儿，小名唤可儿，长大时，生的形容袅娜，性格风流。因素与贾家有些瓜葛，故结了亲，许与贾蓉为妻。那秦业至五旬之上方得了秦钟。因去岁业师亡故，未暇延请高明之士，只得暂时在家温习旧课。正思要和亲家去商议送往他家塾中，暂且不致荒废，可巧遇见了宝玉这个机会。又知贾家塾中现今司塾的是贾代儒，乃当今之老儒，秦钟此去，学业料必进益，成名可望，因此十分喜悦。只是宦囊羞涩[30]，那贾家上上下下都是一双富贵眼睛，贽见礼[31]必须丰厚，〔三〕容易[33]拿不出来，又恐误了儿子的终身大事，说不得东拚西凑的恭恭敬敬封了二十四两贽见礼，亲自带了秦钟，来代儒家拜见了。然后听宝玉上学之日，好一同入塾。正是：
早知日后闲争气，岂肯今朝错读书。
〔一〕 此回甲戌本回前诗：“题曰：古鼎新烹凤髓香，那堪翠斝贮琼浆。莫言绮縠无风韵，试看金娃对玉郎。”
〔二〕 “回家，见过众人。宝玉先”九字，底本无，卞藏本无“见过众人”四字，下作“宝玉先”。从梦稿、甲戌、蒙府、戚序、甲辰、舒序本补。
[3] 清客相公——清客：旧时依附于官僚富贵人家帮闲凑趣的门客。相公：这里是对读书人的一般称呼，近似“先生”。
[4] 打千儿——旧时满族男子向人请安，左膝前屈，右腿后弯，上身微俯，右手下垂，行半跪礼。
[5] 斗方儿——一种一二尺见方的单幅笺纸，置四角于上下左右四方，写字作画其中，可张挂或收藏。
[6] 藏愚、守拙——藏愚：藏智巧于愚讷的外表之中；守拙：拙于应世而淡泊自守。
[7] 狐腋——狐狸腋窝部位的皮。皮质轻软，毛色纯白，集之成裘，十分轻暖，是一种名贵的皮毛。
[8] “又向”句——荒唐：指荒唐的人间。演大荒：演述大荒山青埂峰顽石的故事。
[9] “失去”句——意谓石头离开清幽灵秀的真境界。幽灵：即第五回太虚幻境中的“幽微灵秀地”。真境界：或指真如境界。佛教认为，世界有一种神秘的精神本体，叫真如，只有它才是真实的、永恒的，其他的一切都是虚幻不实的。
[10] “幻来”句——指石头幻形为通灵宝玉。幻：幻化。就：附。臭皮囊：佛教徒对人躯体的厌称，认为其中藏有痰粪等秽物，故称。这里指贾宝玉。
[11] “好知”句——好知：应当知道。运败金无彩：据脂批“伏下文，又夹入宝钗，不是虚图对的工”，当指原稿后半部关于薛宝钗结局的情节。金：指金锁，寓指宝钗及金玉良缘。
[12] 时乖玉不光——指原稿后半部贾宝玉潦倒穷困的遭遇。时乖：时运不好。
[13] 展些规矩——放大些尺寸。规、矩：画圆和求方的两种工具，引申为比例、尺寸的意思。
[14] 狼犺（kānɡ康）——形容蠢大笨重。
[15] 吉谶（chèn衬）——预示吉利的话。谶：预言。
[16] 羽缎——又称羽毛缎，一种毛织品，疏细者称羽纱，厚密者称羽缎，着水不湿，可御雨雪。
[17] 鸭信——鸭舌头，可制成名菜。信：舌头。
[18] 打儿——即打颤儿，发抖。
[19] 杂学旁收——相对于应世举业的“正途”学问而言，即不去攻读《四书》《五经》时文八股而爱好诗词曲赋小说戏曲以至茶酒医药等闲杂学问。
[20] 醒脾——即开胃；可引申为开心。本中医术语，是指一种治疗脾气虚寒、运化无力的方法。
[21] 乜（miē咩）斜——眯着眼睛，斜眼看人。
[22] 耍——戏弄之意。
[23] 渥（wò沃）——覆盖裹藏某物，借以保暖或使之变暖，叫“渥”。
[24] 怄（òu沤）——这里是撩拨逗弄、厮缠、磨人的意思。
[25] 荷包——用以装药品、香料等细小物品的扁圆形绣花小袋。
[26] 金魁星——黄金铸成的魁星神像，有祝颂功名顺利的意思。魁星：本作奎星，北斗第一星，汉代纬书《孝经援神契》有“奎主文章”之说，后遂以此星为掌文运之神。
[27] 文星和合——“文星”又称文昌星、文曲星，星相家以其为吉星、主文运、保功名。“和合”与荷包谐音，且为中国民间所奉喜庆吉祥之神，本祀万回，清代雍正年间封天台僧人寒山、拾得为“和合二仙”。
[28] 营缮郎——官名。明清时工部有营缮司，设郎中、员外郎等职。
[29] 养生堂——又叫育婴堂。一种收养弃婴的慈善机构。
[30] 宦囊羞涩——意谓做官者手头拮据。语本“阮囊羞涩”，见《韵府群玉·阳韵》。
[31] 贽（zhì至）见礼——旧时学生拜见老师时所送的礼，封套上要写“贽敬”。
〔三〕 “贽见礼必须丰厚”七字，据戚序、蒙府本补。
[33] 容易——轻易。
CHAPTER 8 By a strange coincidence, Jia Baoyu becomes acquainted with the golden clasp. In an unexpected meeting, Xue Baochai sees the jade of spiritual perception.
Baoyu and lady Feng, we will now explain, paid, on their return home, their respects to all the inmates, and Baoyu availed himself of the first occasion to tell dowager lady Jia of his wish that Qin Zhong should come over to the family school. “The presence for himself of a friend as schoolmate would,” he argued, “be fitly excellent to stir him to zeal,” and he went on to speak in terms of high praise of Qin Zhong, his character and his manners, which most of all made people esteem him.
Lady Feng besides stood by him and backed his request. “In a day or two,” she added, “Qin Zhong will be coming to pay his obeisance to your venerable ladyship.”
This bit of news greatly rejoiced the heart of dowager lady Jia, and lady Feng likewise did not let the opportunity slip, without inviting the old lady to attend the theatrical performance to come off the day after the morrow. Dowager lady Jia was, it is true, well on in years, but was, nevertheless, very fond of enjoyment, so that when the day arrived and Mrs. You came over to invite her round, she forthwith took Madame Wang, Lin Daiyu, Baoyu, and others along and went to the play.
It was about noon, when dowager lady Jia returned to her apartments for her siesta; and Madame Wang, who was habitually partial to a quiet life, also took her departure after she had seen the old lady retire. Lady Feng subsequently took the seat of honor; and the party enjoyed themselves immensely till the evening, when they broke up.
But to return to Baoyu. Having accompanied his grandmother Jia back home, and waited till her ladyship was in her midday sleep, he had in fact an inclination to return to the performance, but he was afraid lest he should be a burden to Mrs. Qin and the rest and lest they should not feel at ease. Remembering therefore that Baochai had been at home unwell for the last few days, and that he had not been to see her, he was anxious to go and look her up, but he dreaded that if he went by the side gate, at the back of the drawing-room, he would be prevented by something or other, and fearing, what would be making matters worse, lest he should come across his father, he consequently thought it better to go on his way by a detour. The nurses and waiting-maids thereupon came to help him to change his clothes; but they saw him not change, but go out again by the second door. These nurses and maids could not help following him out; but they were still under the impression that he was going over to the other mansion to see the theatricals. Contrary to their speculations, upon reaching the entrance hall, he forthwith went to the east, then turned to the north, and walking round by the rear of the hall, he happened to come face to face with two of the family companions, Mr. Zhan Guang, and Mr. Dan Pingren. As soon as they caught sight of Baoyu, they both readily drew up to him, and as they smiled, the one put his arm round his waist, while the other grasped him by the hand.
“Oh divine brother!” they both exclaimed, “this we call dreaming a pleasant dream, for it’s no easy thing to come across you!”
While continuing their remarks they paid their salutations, and inquired after his health; and it was only after they had chatted for ever so long, that they went on their way. The nurse called out to them and stopped them, “Have you two gentlemen,” she said, “come out from seeing master?”
They both nodded assent. “Your master,” they explained, “is in the Meng Po Zhai small library having his siesta; so that you can go through there with no fear.”
As they uttered these words, they walked away.
This remark also evoked a smile from Baoyu, but without further delay he turned a corner, went towards the north, and came into the Pear Fragrance Court, where, as luck would have it, he met the head manager of the Household Treasury, Wu Xindeng, who, in company with the head of the granary, Dailiang, and several other head stewards, seven persons in all, was issuing out of the Account Room.
On seeing Baoyu approaching, they, in a body, stood still, and hung down their arms against their sides. One of them alone, a certain butler, called Qianhua, promptly came forward, as he had not seen Baoyu for many a day, and bending on one knee, paid his respects to Baoyu. Baoyu at once gave a smile and pulled him up.
“The day before yesterday,” smiled all the bystanders, “we were somewhere together and saw some characters written by you, master Secundus, in the composite style. The writing is certainly better than it was before! When will you give us a few sheets to stick on the wall?”
“Where did you see them?” inquired Baoyu, with a grin.
“They are to be found in more than one place,” they replied, “and everyone praises them very much, and what’s more, asks us for a few.”
“They are not worth having,” observed Baoyu smilingly; “but if you do want any, tell my young servants and it will be all right.”
As he said these words, he moved onwards. The whole party waited till he had gone by, before they separated, each one to go his own way.
But we need not dilate upon matters of no moment, but return to Baoyu.
On coming to the Pear Fragrance Court, he entered, first, into “aunt” Xue’s room, where he found her getting some needlework ready to give to the waiting-maids to work at. Baoyu forthwith paid his respects to her, and “aunt” Xue, taking him by the hand, drew him towards her and clasped him in her embrace.
“With this cold weather,” she smilingly urged, “it’s too kind of you, my dear child, to think of coming to see me; come along on the stove-couch at once! Bring some tea,” she continued, addressing the servants, “and make it as hot as it can be!”
“Isn’t Xue Pan at home?” Baoyu having inquired: “He’s like a horse without a halter,” Mrs. Xue remarked with a sigh; “he’s daily running here and there and everywhere, and nothing can induce him to stay at home one single day.”
“Is sister (Baochai) all right again?” asked Baoyu. “Yes,” replied Mrs. Xue, “she’s well again. It was very kind of you two days ago to again think of her, and send round to inquire after her. She’s now in there, and you can go and see her. It’ s warmer there than it’s here; go and sit with her inside, and, as soon as I’ve put everything away, I’ll come and join you and have a chat.”
Baoyu, upon hearing this, jumped down with alacrity from the stove-couch, and walked up to the door of the inner room, where he saw hanging a portiere somewhat the worse for use, made of red silk. Baoyu raised the portiere and making one step towards the interior, he found Baochai seated on the couch, busy over some needlework. On the top of her head was gathered, and made into a knot, her chevelure, black as lacquer, and glossy like pomade. She wore a honey- colored wadded robe, a rose-brown short-sleeved jacket, lined with the fur of the squirrel of two colors: the “gold and silver;” and a jupe of leek-yellow silk. Her whole costume was neither too new, neither too old, and displayed no sign of extravagance.
Her lips, though not rouged, were naturally red; her eyebrows, though not pencilled, were yet blue-black; her face resembled a silver basin, and her eyes, juicy plums. She was sparing in her words, chary in her talk, so much so that people said that she posed as a simpleton. She was quiet in the acquittal of her duties and scrupulous as to the proper season for everything. “I practise simplicity,” she would say of herself.
“How are you? are you quite well again, sister?” inquired Baoyu, as he gazed at her; whereupon Baochai raised her head, and perceiving Baoyu walk in, she got up at once and replied with a smile, “I’m all right again; many thanks for your kindness in thinking of me.”
While uttering this, she pressed him to take a seat on the stove-couch, and as he sat down on the very edge of the couch, she told Ying’er to bring tea and asked likewise after dowager lady Jia and lady Feng. “And are all the rest of the young ladies quite well?” she inquired.
Saying this she scrutinised Baoyu, who she saw had a head-dress of purplish-gold twisted threads, studded with precious stones. His forehead was bound with a gold circlet, representing two dragons, clasping a pearl. On his person he wore a light yellow, archery-sleeved jacket, ornamented with rampant dragons, and lined with fur from the ribs of the silver fox; and was clasped with a dark sash, embroidered with different-colored butterflies and birds. Round his neck was hung an amulet, consisting of a clasp of longevity, a talisman of recorded name, and, in addition to these, the precious jade which he had had in his mouth at the time of his birth.
“I’ve daily heard everyone speak of this jade,” said Baochai with a smile, “but haven’t, after all, had an opportunity of looking at it closely, but anyhow today I must see it.”
As she spoke, she drew near. Baoyu himself approached, and taking it from his neck, he placed it in Baochai’s hand. Baochai held it in her palm. It appeared to her very much like the egg of a bird, resplendent as it was like a bright russet cloud; shiny and smooth like variegated curd, and covered with a net for the sake of protection.
Readers, you should know that this was the very block of useless stone which had been on the Da Huang Hills, and which had dropped into the Qing Keng cave, in a state of metamorphosis. A later writer expresses his feelings in a satirical way as follows:
Nu Wa’s fusion of stones was e’er a myth inane, But from this myth hath sprung fiction still more insane! Lost is the subtle life, divine, and real!—gone! Assumed, mean subterfuge! foul bags of skin and bone! Fortune, when once adverse, how true! gold glows no more! In evil days, alas! the jade’s splendor is o’er! Bones, white and bleached, in nameless hill-like mounds are flung, Bones once of youths renowned and maidens fair and young.
The rejected stone has in fact already given a record of the circumstances of its transformation, and the inscription in seal characters, engraved upon it by the bald-headed bonze, and below will now be also appended a faithful representation of it; but its real size is so very diminutive, as to allow of its being held by a child in his mouth while yet unborn, that were it to have been drawn in its exact proportions, the characters would, it is feared, have been so insignificant in size, that the beholder would have had to waste much of his eyesight, and it would besides have been no pleasant thing.
While therefore its shape has been adhered to, its size has unavoidably been slightly enlarged, to admit of the reader being able, conveniently, to peruse the inscription, even by very lamplight, and though he may be under the influence of wine.
These explanations have been given to obviate any such sneering remarks as: “What could be, pray, the size of the mouth of a child in his mother’s womb, and how could it grasp such a large and clumsy thing?”
On the face of the jade was written:
Precious Gem of Spiritual Perception. If thou wilt lose me not and never forget me, Eternal life and constant luck will be with thee!
On the reverse was written:
To exorcise evil spirits and the accessory visitations; To cure predestined sickness; To prognosticate weal and woe.
Baochai having looked at the amulet, twisted it again to the face, and scrutinising it closely, read aloud:
If thou wilt lose me not and never forget me, Eternal life and constant luck will be with thee!
She perused these lines twice, and, turning round, she asked Ying’er laughingly: “Why don’t you go and pour the tea? why are you standing here like an idiot!”
“These two lines which I’ve heard,” smiled Ying’er, “would appear to pair with the two lines on your necklet, miss!”
“What!” eagerly observed Baoyu with a grin, when he caught these words, “are there really eight characters too on your necklet, cousin? do let me too see it.”
“Don’t listen to what she says,” remarked Baochai, “there are no characters on it.”
“My dear cousin,” pleaded Baoyu entreatingly, “how is it you’ve seen mine?”
Baochai was brought quite at bay by this remark of his, and she consequently added, “There are also two propitious phrases engraved on this charm, and that’s why I wear it every day. Otherwise, what pleasure would there be in carrying a clumsy thing.”
As she spoke, she unfastened the button, and produced from inside her crimson robe, a crystal-like locket, set with pearls and gems, and with a brilliant golden fringe. Baoyu promptly received it from her, and upon minute examination, found that there were in fact four characters on each side; the eight characters on both sides forming two sentences of good omen. The similitude of the locket is likewise then given below. On the face of the locket is written:
“Part not from me and cast me not away;”
And on the reverse:
“And youth, perennial freshness will display!”
Baoyu examined the charm, and having also read the inscription twice over aloud, and then twice again to himself, he said as he smiled, “Dear cousin, these eight characters of yours form together with mine an antithetical verse.”
“They were presented to her,” ventured Ying’er, “by a mangy-pated bonze, who explained that they should be engraved on a golden trinket....”
Baochai left her no time to finish what she wished to say, but speedily called her to task for not going to bring the tea, and then inquired of Baoyu where he had come from.
Baoyu had, by this time, drawn quite close to Baochai, and perceived whiff after whiff of some perfume or other, of what kind he could not tell. “What perfume have you used, my cousin,” he forthwith asked, “to fumigate your dresses with? I really don’t remember smelling any perfumery of the kind before.”
“I’m very averse,” replied Baochai blandly, “to the odor of fumigation; good clothes become impregnated with the smell of smoke.”
“In that case,” observed Baoyu, “what scent is it?”
“Yes, I remember,” Baochai answered, after some reflection; “it’s the scent of the ‘cold fragrance’ pills which I took this morning.”
“What are these ‘cold fragrance’ pills,” remarked Baoyu smiling, “that they have such a fine smell? Give me, cousin, a pill to try.”
“Here you are with your nonsense again,” Baochai rejoined laughingly; “is a pill a thing to be taken recklessly?”
She had scarcely finished speaking, when she heard suddenly someone outside say, “Miss Lin is come; ” and shortly Lin Daiyu walked in in a jaunty manner.
“Oh, I come at a wrong moment!” she exclaimed forthwith, smirking significantly when she caught sight of Baoyu.
Baoyu and the rest lost no time in rising and offering her a seat, whereupon Baochai added with a smile, “How can you say such things?”
“Had I known sooner,” continued Daiyu, “that he was here, I would have kept away.”
“I can’t fathom this meaning of yours,” protested Baochai.
“If one comes,” Daiyu urged smiling, “then all come, and when one doesn’t come, then no one comes. Now were he to come today, and I to come tomorrow, wouldn’t there be, by a division of this kind, always someone with you every day? and in this way, you wouldn’t feel too lonely, nor too crowded. How is it, cousin, that you didn’t understand what I meant to imply?”
“Is it snowing?” inquired Baoyu, upon noticing that she wore a cloak made of crimson camlet, buttoning in front.
“It has been snowing for some time,” ventured the matrons, who were standing below. “Fetch my wrapper!” Baoyu remarked, and Daiyu readily laughed. “Am I not right? I come, and, of course, he must go at once.”
“Did I ever mention that I was going?” questioned Baoyu; “I only wish it brought to have it ready when I want it.”
“It’s a snowy day,” consequently remarked Baoyu’s nurse, dame Li, “and we must also look to the time, but you had better remain here and amuse yourself with your cousin. Your aunt has, in there, got ready tea and fruits. I’ll tell the waiting-maid to go and fetch your wrapper and the boys to return home.” Baoyu assented, and nurse Li left the room and told the boys that they were at liberty to go.
By this time Mrs. Xue had prepared tea and several kinds of nice things and kept them all to partake of those delicacies. Baoyu, having spoken highly of some goose feet and ducks’ tongues he had tasted some days before, at his eldest sister-in-law’s, Mrs. You’s, “aunt” Xue promptly produced several dishes of the same kind, made by herself, and gave them to Baoyu to try. “With a little wine,” added Baoyu with a smile, “they would be first rate.”
Mrs. Xue thereupon bade the servants fetch some wine of the best quality; but dame Li came forward and remonstrated. “My lady,” she said, “never mind the wine.”
Baoyu smilingly pleaded: “My nurse, I’ll take just one cup and no more.”
“It’s no use,” nurse Li replied, “were your grandmother and mother present, I wouldn’t care if you drank a whole jar. I remember the day when I turned my eyes away but for a moment, and some ignorant fool or other, merely with the view of pandering for your favor, gave you only a drop of wine to drink, and how this brought reproaches upon me for a couple of days. You don’t know, my lady, you have no idea of his disposition! it’s really dreadful; and when he has had a little wine he shows far more temper. On days when her venerable ladyship is in high spirits, she allows him to have his own way about drinking, but he’s not allowed to have wine on any and every day; and why should I have to suffer inside and all for nothing at all?”
“You antiquated thing!” replied Mrs. Xue laughing, “set your mind at ease, and go and drink your own wine! I won’t let him have too much, and should even the old lady say anything, let the fault be mine.”
Saying this, she asked a waiting-maid to take nurse Li along with her and give her also a glass of wine so as to keep out the cold air.
When nurse Li heard these words, she had no alternative but to go for a time with all the others and have some wine to drink.
“The wine need not be warmed: I prefer it cold!” Baoyu went on to suggest meanwhile.
“That won’t do,” remonstrated Mrs. Xue; “cold wine will make your hand tremble when you write.”
“You have,” interposed Baochai smiling, “the good fortune, cousin Baoyu, of having daily opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of every kind of subject, and yet don’t you know that the properties of wine are mostly heating? If you drink wine warm, its effects soon dispel, but if you drink it cold, it at once congeals in you; and as upon your intestines devolves the warming of it, how can you not derive any harm? and won’t you yet from this time change this habit of yours? leave off at once drinking that cold wine.”
Baoyu finding that the words he had heard contained a good deal of sense, speedily put down the cold wine, and having asked them to warm it, he at length drank it.
Daiyu was bent upon cracking melon seeds, saying nothing but simply pursing up her lips and smiling, when, strange coincidence, Xueyan, Daiyu’s waiting-maid, walked in and handed her mistress a small hand-stove.
“Who told you to bring it?” ascertained Daiyu grinningly. “I’m sorry to have given whoever it is the trouble; I’m obliged to her. But did she ever imagine that I would freeze to death?”
“Zijuan was afraid,” replied Xueyan, “that you would, miss, feel cold, and she asked me to bring it over.”
Daiyu took it over and held it in her lap. “How is it,” she smiled, “that you listen to what she tells you, but that you treat what I say, day after day, as so much wind blowing past your ears! How is it that you at once do what she bids you, with even greater alacrity than you would an imperial edict?”
When Baoyu heard this, he felt sure in his mind that Daiyu was availing herself of this opportunity to make fun of him, but he made no remark, merely laughing to himself and paying no further notice. Baochai, again, knew full well that this habit was a weak point with Daiyu, so she too did not go out of her way to heed what she said.
“You’ve always been delicate and unable to stand the cold,” interposed “aunt” Xue, “and is it not a kind attention on their part to have thought of you?”
“You don’t know, aunt, how it really stands,” responded Daiyu smilingly; “fortunately enough, it was sent to me here at your quarters; for had it been in anyone else’s house, wouldn’t it have been a slight upon them? Is it forsooth nice to think that people haven’t so much as a hand-stove, and that one has fussily to be sent over from home? People won’t say that the waiting-maids are too officious, but will imagine that I’m in the habit of behaving in this offensive fashion.”
“You’re far too punctilious,” remarked Mrs. Xue, “as to entertain such notions! No such ideas as these crossed my mind just now.”
While they were conversing, Baoyu had taken so much as three cups of wine, and nurse Li came forward again to prevent him from having any more. Baoyu was just then in a state of exultation and excitement, (a state) enhanced by the conversation and laughter of his cousins, so that was he ready to agree to having no more! But he was constrained in a humble spirit to entreat for permission. “My dear nurse,” he implored, “I’ll just take two more cups and then have no more.”
“You’d better be careful,” added nurse Li, “your father is at home today, and see that you’re ready to be examined in your lessons.”
When Baoyu heard this mention, his spirits at once sank within him, and gently putting the wine aside, he dropped his head upon his breast.
Daiyu promptly remonstrated. “You’ve thrown cold water,” she said, “over the spirits of the whole company; why, if uncle should ask to see you, well, say that aunt Xue detained you. This old nurse of yours has been drinking, and again makes us the means of clearing her muddled head!”
While saying this, she gave Baoyu a big nudge with the intent of stirring up his spirits, adding, as she addressed him in a low tone of voice: “Don’t let us heed that old thing, but mind our own enjoyment.”
Dame Li also knew very well Daiyu’s disposition, and therefore remarked: “Now, Miss Lin, don’t you urge him on; you should after all, give him good advice, as he may, I think, listen to a good deal of what you say to him.”
“Why should I urge him on?” rejoined Lin Daiyu, with a sarcastic smile, “nor will I trouble myself to give him advice. You, old lady, are far too scrupulous! Old lady Jia has also time after time given him wine, and if he now takes a cup or two more here, at his aunt’s, lady Xue’s house, there’s no harm that I can see. Is it perhaps, who knows, that aunt is a stranger in this establishment, and that we have in fact no right to come over here to see her?”
Nurse Li was both vexed and amused by the words she had just heard. “Really,” she observed, “every remark this girl Lin utters is sharper than a razor! I didn’t say anything much!”
Baochai too could not suppress a smile, and as she pinched Daiyu’s cheek, she exclaimed, “Oh the tongue of this frowning girl! one can neither resent what it says, nor yet listen to it with any gratification!”
“Don’t be afraid!” Mrs. Xue went on to say, “don’t be afraid; my son, you’ve come to see me, and although I’ve nothing good to give you, you mustn’t, through fright, let the trifle you’ve taken lie heavy on your stomach, and thus make me uneasy; but just drink at your pleasure, and as much as you like, and let the blame fall on my shoulders. What’s more, you can stay to dinner with me, and then go home; or if you do get tipsy, you can sleep with me, that’s all.”
She thereupon told the servants to heat some more wine. “I’ll come,” she continued, “and keep you company while you have two or three cups, after which we’ll have something to eat!”
It was only after these assurances that Baoyu’s spirits began at length, once more to revive, and dame Li then directed the waiting-maids what to do. “You remain here,” she enjoined, “and mind, be diligent while I go home and change; when I’ll come back again. Don’t allow him,” she also whispered to “aunt” Xue, “to have all his own way and drink too much.”
Having said this, she betook herself back to her quarters; and during this while, though there were two or three nurses in attendance, they did not concern themselves with what was going on. As soon as they saw that nurse Li had left, they likewise all quietly slipped out, at the first opportunity they found, while there remained but two waiting-maids, who were only too glad to curry favor with Baoyu. But fortunately “aunt” Xue, by much coaxing and persuading, only let him have a few cups, and the wine being then promptly cleared away, pickled bamboo shoots and chicken-skin soup were prepared, of which Baoyu drank with relish several bowls full, eating besides more than half a bowl of finest rice congee.
By this time, Xue Baochai and Lin Daiyu had also finished their repast; and when Baoyu had drunk a few cups of strong tea, Mrs. Xue felt more easy in her mind. Xueyan and the others, three or four of them in all, had also had their meal, and came in to wait upon them.
“Are you now going or not?” inquired Daiyu of Baoyu.
Baoyu looked askance with his drowsy eyes. “If you want to go,” he observed, “I’ll go with you.”
Daiyu hearing this, speedily rose. “We’ve been here nearly the whole day,” she said, “and ought to be going back.”
As she spoke the two of them bade good-bye, and the waiting-maids at once presented a hood to each of them.
Baoyu readily lowered his head slightly and told a waiting-maid to put it on. The girl promptly took the hood, made of deep red cloth, and shaking it out of its folds, she put it on Baoyu’s head.
“That will do,” hastily exclaimed Baoyu. “You stupid thing! gently a bit; is it likely you’ve never seen anyone put one on before? let me do it myself.”
“Come over here, and I’ll put it on for you,” suggested Daiyu, as she stood on the edge of the couch. Baoyu eagerly approached her, and Daiyu carefully kept the cap, to which his hair was bound, fast down, and taking the hood she rested its edge on the circlet round his forehead. She then raised the ball of crimson velvet, which was as large as a walnut, and put it in such a way that, as it waved tremulously, it should appear outside the hood. These arrangements completed she cast a look for a while at what she had done. “That’s right now,” she added, “throw your wrapper over you!”
When Baoyu caught these words, he eventually took the wrapper and threw it over his shoulders.
“None of your nurses,” hurriedly interposed aunt Xue, “are yet come, so you had better wait a while.”
“Why should we wait for them?” observed Baoyu. “We have the waiting-maids to escort us, and surely they should be enough.”
Mrs. Xue finding it difficult to set her mind at ease deputed two married women to accompany the two cousins; and after they had both expressed (to these women) their regret at having troubled them, they came straightway to dowager lady Jia’s suite of apartments.
Her venerable ladyship had not, as yet, had her evening repast. Hearing that they had been at Mrs. Xue’s, she was extremely pleased; but noticing that Baoyu had had some wine, she gave orders that he should be taken to his room, and put to bed, and not be allowed to come out again.
“Do take good care of him,” she therefore enjoined the servants, and when suddenly she bethought herself of Baoyu’s attendants, “How is it,” she at once inquired of them all, “that I don’t see nurse Li here?”
They did not venture to tell her the truth, that she had gone home, but simply explained that she had come in a few moments back, and that they thought she must have again gone out on some business or other.
“She’s better off than your venerable ladyship,” remarked Baoyu, turning round and swaying from side to side. “Why then ask after her? Were I rid of her, I believe I might live a little longer.”
While uttering these words, he reached the door of his bedroom, where he saw brush and ink laid out on the writing table.
“That’s nice,” exclaimed Qingwen, as she came to meet him with a smile on her face, “you tell me to prepare the ink for you, but though when you get up, you were full of the idea of writing, you only wrote three characters, when you discarded the brush, and ran away, fooling me, by making me wait the whole day! Come now at once and exhaust all this ink before you’re let off.”
Baoyu then remembered what had taken place in the morning. “Where are the three characters I wrote?” he consequently inquired, smiling.
“Why this man is tipsy,” remarked Qingwen sneeringly. “As you were going to the other mansion, you told me to stick them over the door. I was afraid lest any one else should spoil them, as they were being pasted, so I climbed up a high ladder and was ever so long in putting them up myself; my hands are even now numb with cold.”
“Oh I forgot all about it,” replied Baoyu grinning, “if your hands are cold, come and I’ll rub them warm for you.”
Promptly stretching out his hand, he took those of Qingwen in his, and the two of them looked at the three characters, which he recently had written, and which were pasted above the door. In a short while, Daiyu came.
“My dear cousin,” Baoyu said to her smilingly, “tell me without any prevarication which of the three characters is the best written?”
Daiyu raised her head and perceived the three characters: Red, Rue, Hall. “They’re all well done,” she rejoined, with a smirk, “How is it you’ve written them so well? By and bye you must also write a tablet for me.”
“Are you again making fun of me?” asked Baoyu smiling; “what about sister Xiren?” he went on to inquire.
Qingwen pouted her lips, pointing towards the stove-couch in the inner room, and, on looking in, Baoyu espied Xiren fast asleep in her daily costume.
“Well,” Baoyu observed laughing, “there’s no harm in it, but its rather early to sleep. When I was having my early meal, on the other side,” he proceeded, speaking to Qingwen, “there was a small dish of dumplings, with bean curd outside; and as I thought you would like to have some, I asked Mrs. You for them, telling her that I would keep them, and eat them in the evening; I told someone to bring them over, but have you perchance seen them?”
“Be quick and drop that subject,” suggested Qingwen; “as soon as they were brought over, I at once knew they were intended for me; as I had just finished my meal, I put them by in there, but when nurse Li came she saw them. ‘Baoyu,’ she said, ‘is not likely to eat them, so I’ll take them and give them to my grandson.’ And forthwith she bade someone take them over to her home.”
While she was speaking, Xixue brought in tea, and Baoyu pressed his cousin Lin to have a cup.
“Miss Lin has gone long ago,” observed all of them, as they burst out laughing, “and do you offer her tea?”
Baoyu drank about half a cup, when he also suddenly bethought himself of some tea, which had been brewed in the morning. “This morning,” he therefore inquired of Xixue, “when you made a cup of maple-dew tea, I told you that that kind of tea requires brewing three or four times before its color appears; and how is that you now again bring me this tea?”
“I did really put it by,” answered Xixue, “but nurse Li came and drank it, and then went off.”
Baoyu upon hearing this, dashed the cup he held in his hand on the ground, and as it broke into small fragments, with a crash it spattered Xixue’s petticoat all over.
“Of whose family is she the mistress?” inquired Baoyu of Xixue, as he jumped up, “that you all pay such deference to her. I just simply had a little of her milk, when I was a brat, and that’s all; and now she has got into the way of thinking herself more high and mighty than even the heads of the family! She should be packed off, and then we shall all have peace and quiet.”
Saying this, he was bent upon going, there and then, to tell dowa ger lady Jia to have his nurse driven away.
Xiren was really not asleep, but simply feigning, with the idea, when Baoyu came, to startle him in play. At first, when she heard him speak of writing, and inquire after the dumplings, she did not think it necessary to get up, but when he flung the tea-cup on the floor, and got into a temper, she promptly jumped up and tried to appease him, and to prevent him by coaxing from carrying out his threat.
A waiting-maid sent by dowager lady Jia came in, meanwhile, to ask what was the matter.
“I had just gone to pour tea,” replied Xiren, without the least hesitation, “and I slipped on the snow and fell, while the cup dropped from my hand and broke. Your decision to send her away is good,” she went on to advise Baoyu, “and we are all willing to go also; and why not avail yourself of this opportunity to dismiss us in a body? It will be for our good, and you too on the other hand, needn’t perplex yourself about not getting better people to come and wait on you!”
When Baoyu heard this taunt, he had at length not a word to say, and supported by Xiren and the other attendants on to the couch, they divested him of his clothes. But they failed to understand the drift of what Baoyu kept on still muttering, and all they could make out was an endless string of words; but his eyes grew heavier and drowsier, and they forthwith waited upon him until he went to sleep; when Xiren unclasped the jade of spiritual perception, and rolling it up in a handkerchief, she lay it under the mattress, with the idea that when he put it on the next day it should not chill his neck.
Baoyu fell sound asleep the moment he lay his head on the pillow. By this time nurse Li and the others had come in, but when they heard that Baoyu was tipsy, they too did not venture to approach, but gently made inquiries as to whether he was asleep or not. On hearing that he was, they took their departure with their minds more at ease.
The next morning the moment Baoyu awoke, someone came in to tell him that young Mr. Rong, living in the mansion on the other side, had brought Qin Zhong to pay him a visit.
Baoyu speedily went out to greet them and to take them over to pay their respects to dowager lady Jia. Her venerable ladyship upon perceiving that Qin Zhong, with his handsome countenance, and his refined manners, would be a fit companion for Baoyu in his studies, felt extremely delighted at heart; and having readily detained him to tea, and kept him to dinner, she went further and directed a servant to escort him to see Madame Wong and the rest of the family.
With the fond regard of the whole household for Mrs Qin they were, when they saw what a kind of person Qin Zhong was, so enchanted with him, that at the time of his departure, they all had presents to give him; even dowager lady Jia herself presented him with a purse and a golden image of the God of Learning, with a view that it should incite him to study and harmony.
“Your house,” she further advised him, “is far off, and when it’s cold or hot, it would be inconvenient for you to come all that way, so you had better come and live over here with me. You’ll then be always with your cousin Baoyu, and you won’t be together, in your studies, with those fellow-pupils of yours who have no idea what progress means.
Qin Zhong made a suitable answer to each one of her remarks, and on his return home he told everything to his father.
His father, Qin Ye, held at present the post of Secretary in the Peking Field Force, and was well-nigh seventy. His Wife had died at an early period, and as she left no issue, he adopted a son and a daughter from a foundling asylum.
But who would have thought it, the boy also died, and there only remained the girl, known as Ke’er in her infacy, who when she grew up, was beautiful in face and graceful in manners, and who by reason of some relationship with the Jia family, was consequently united by the ties of marriage (to one of the household).
Qin Ye was in his fiftieth year when he at length got this son. As his tutor had the previous year left to go south, he remained at home keeping up his former lessons; and (his father) had been just thinking of talking over the matter with his relatives of the Jia family, and sending his son to the private school, when, as luck would have it, this opportunity of meeting Baoyu presented itself.
Knowing besides that the family school was under the direction of the venerable scholar Jia Dairu, and hoping that by joining his class, (his son) might advance in knowledge and by these means reap reputation, he was therefore intensely gratified. The only drawbacks were that his official emoluments were scanty, and that both the eyes of everyone in the other establishment were set upon riches and honors, so that he could not contribute anything short of the amount (given by others); but his son’s welfare throughout life was a serious consideration, and he, needless to say, had to scrape together from the East and to collect from the West; and making a parcel, with all deference, of twenty-four taels for an introduction present, he came along with Qin Zhong to Dairu’s house to pay their respects. But he had to wait subsequently until Baoyu could fix on an auspicious date on which they could together enter the school.
As for what happened after they came to school, the next chapter will divulge.