第二十三回
第二十三回 西厢记妙词通戏语 牡丹亭艳曲警芳心
话说贾元春自那日幸大观园回宫去后，便命将那日所有的题咏，命探春依次抄录妥协，自己编次，叙其优劣，又命在大观园勒石[1]，为千古风流雅事。因此，贾政命人各处选拔精工名匠，在大观园磨石镌字，贾珍率领蓉、萍等监工。因贾蔷又管理着文官等十二个女戏并行头等事，不大得便，因此贾珍又将贾菖、贾菱唤来监工。一日，汤蜡钉朱[2]，动起手来。这也不在话下。
且说那个玉皇庙并达摩庵两处，一班的十二个小沙弥并十二个小道士，如今挪出大观园来，贾政正想发到〔一〕各庙去分住。不想后街上住的贾芹之母周氏，正盘算着也要到贾政这边谋一个大小事务与儿子管管，也好弄些银钱使用，可巧听见这件事出来，便坐轿子来求凤姐。凤姐因见他素日〔二〕不大拿班作势的，便依允了，想了几句话便回王夫人说：“这些小和尚道士万不可打发到别处去，一时娘娘出来就要承应。倘或散了〔三〕，若再用时，可是又费事。依我的主意，不如将他们竟送到咱们家庙里铁槛寺去，月间不过派一个人拿几两银子去买柴米就完了。说声用，走去叫来，一点儿不费事呢。”王夫人听了，便商之于贾政。贾政听了笑道：“倒是提醒了我，就是这样。”即时唤贾琏来。
当下贾琏正同凤姐吃饭，一闻呼唤，不知何事，放下饭便走。凤姐一把拉住，笑道：“你且站住，听我说话。若是别的事我不管，若是为小和尚们的事，好歹依我这么着。”如此这般教了一套话。贾琏笑道：“我不知道〔四〕，你有本事你说去。”凤姐听了，把头一梗，把筷子一放，腮上似笑不笑的瞅着贾琏道：“你当真的，还是玩话？”贾琏笑道：“西廊下[7]五嫂子的儿子芸儿来求了我两三遭，要个事情管管。我依了，叫他等着。好容易出来这件事，你又夺了去。”凤姐儿笑道：“你放心。园子东北角子上，娘娘说了，还叫多多的种松柏树，楼底下还叫种些花草。等这件事出来，我管保叫芸儿管这件工程。”贾琏道：“果然这样也罢了。只是昨儿晚上，我不过是要改个样儿，你就扭手扭脚的。”凤姐儿听了，嗤的一声笑了，向贾琏啐了一口，低下头便吃饭。
贾琏已经笑着去了，到了前面见了贾政，果然是小和尚一事。贾琏便依了凤姐的主意，说道：“如今看来，芹儿倒大大的出息了，这件事竟交与他去管办。横竖照在里头的规例，每月叫芹儿支领就是了。”贾政原不大理论这些事，听贾琏如此说，便如此依了。贾琏回到房中告诉凤姐儿，凤姐即命人去告诉了周氏。贾芹便来见贾琏夫妻两个，感谢不尽。凤姐又作情央贾琏先支三个月的供给，叫他写了领字，贾琏批票画了押，登时发了对牌出去。银库上按数发出三个月的供给来，白花花二三百两。贾芹随手拈一块，撂与掌平的人，叫他们吃茶罢。于是命小厮拿回家，与母亲商议。登时雇了大叫驴，自己骑上；又雇了几辆车，至荣国府角门前，唤出二十四个人来，坐上车，一径往城外铁槛寺去了。当下无话。
如今且说贾元春，因在宫中自编大观园题咏之后，忽想起那大观园中景致，自己幸过之后，贾政必定敬谨封锁，不敢使人进去骚扰，岂不寥落。况家中现有几个能诗会赋的姊妹，何不命他们进去居住，也不使佳人落魄，花柳无颜。却又想到宝玉自幼在姊妹丛中长大，不比别的兄弟，若不命他进去，只怕他冷清了，一时不大畅快，未免贾母王夫人愁虑，须得也命他进园居住方妙。想毕，遂命太监夏守忠〔五〕到荣国府来下一道谕，命宝钗等只管在园中居住，不可禁约封锢，命宝玉仍随进去读书。
贾政、王夫人接了这谕，待夏守忠去后，便来回明贾母，遣人进去〔六〕各处收拾打扫，安设帘幔床帐。别人听了还自犹可，惟宝玉听了这谕，喜的无可不可。正和贾母盘算，要这个，弄那个，忽见丫鬟来说：“老爷叫宝玉。”宝玉听了，好似打了个焦雷，登时扫去兴头，脸上转了颜色，便拉着贾母扭的好似扭股儿糖，杀死[10]不敢去。贾母只得安慰他道：“好宝贝，你只管去，有我呢，他不敢委曲了你。况且你又作了那篇好文章。想是娘娘叫你进去住，他吩咐你几句，不过不教你在里头淘气。他说什么，你只好生答应着就是了。”一面安慰，一面唤了两个老嬷嬷来，吩咐“好生带了宝玉去，别叫他老子唬着他”。老嬷嬷答应了。
宝玉只得前去，一步挪不了三寸，蹭到这边来。可巧贾政〔七〕在王夫人房中商议事情，金钏儿、彩云、彩霞、绣鸾、绣凤等众丫鬟都在廊檐底下站着呢，一见宝玉来，都抿着嘴笑。金钏一把拉住宝玉，悄悄的笑道：“我这嘴上是才擦的香浸胭脂，你这会子可吃不吃了？”彩云一把推开金钏，笑道：“人家正心里不自在，你还奚落他。趁这会子喜欢，快进去罢。”宝玉只得挨进门去。原来贾政和王夫人都在里间呢。赵姨娘打起帘子，宝玉躬身进去。只见贾政和王夫人对面坐在炕上说话，地下一溜椅子，迎春、探春、惜春、贾环四个人都坐在那里。一见他进来，惟有探春和惜春、贾环站了起来。
贾政一举目，见宝玉站在跟前，神彩飘逸，秀色夺人；看看贾环，人物委琐，举止荒疏；忽又想起贾珠来，再看看王夫人只有这一个亲生的儿子，素爱如珍，自己的胡须将已苍白：因这几件上，把素日嫌恶处分宝玉之心不觉减了八九。半晌说道：“娘娘吩咐，说你日日外头嬉游，渐次疏懒，如今叫禁管，同你姊妹在园里读书写字。你可好生用心习学，再如不守分安常，你可仔细！”宝玉连连的答应了几个“是”。王夫人便拉他在身旁坐下。他姊弟三人依旧坐下。
王夫人摸挲着宝玉的脖项说道：“前儿的丸药都吃完了？”宝玉答道：“还有一丸。”王夫人道：“明儿再取十丸来，天天临睡的时候，叫袭人服侍你吃了再睡。”宝玉道：“只从太太吩咐了，袭人天天晚上想着，打发我吃。”贾政问道：“袭人是何人？”王夫人道：“是个丫头。”贾政道：“丫头不管叫个什么罢了，是谁这样刁钻，起这样的名字？”王夫人见贾政不自在了，便替宝玉掩饰道：“是老太太起的。”贾政道：“老太太如何知道这话，一定是宝玉。”宝玉见瞒不过，只得起身回道：“因素日读诗，曾记古人有一句诗云：‘花气袭人知昼暖’[12]。因这个丫头姓花，便随口起了这个名字。”王夫人忙又道：“宝玉，你回去改了罢。老爷也不用为这小事动气。”贾政道：“究竟也无碍，又何用改。只是可见宝玉不务正，专在这些秾词艳赋上作工夫。”说毕，断喝一声：“作业的畜生，还不出去！”王夫人也忙道：“去罢，只怕老太太等你吃饭呢。”宝玉答应了，慢慢的退出去，向金钏儿笑着伸伸舌头，带着两个嬷嬷一溜烟去了。
刚至穿堂门前，只见袭人倚门立在那里，一见宝玉平安回来，堆下笑来问道：“叫你作什么？”宝玉告诉他：“没有什么，不过怕我进园去淘气，吩咐吩咐。”一面说，一面回至贾母跟前，回明原委。只见林黛玉正在那里，宝玉便问他：“你住那一处好？”林黛玉正心里盘算这事，忽见宝玉问他，便笑道：“我心里想着潇湘馆好，爱那几竿竹子隐着一道曲栏，比别处更觉幽静。”宝玉听了拍手笑道：“正和我的主意一样，我也要叫你住这里呢。我就住怡红院，咱们两个又近，又都清幽。”
二人正计较，就有贾政遣人来回贾母说：“二月二十二日子好，哥儿姐儿们好搬进去的。这几日内遣人进去分派收拾。”薛宝钗住了蘅芜苑〔八〕，林黛玉住了潇湘馆，贾迎春住了缀锦楼，探春住了秋爽斋，惜春住了蓼风轩，李氏住了稻香村，宝玉住了怡红院。每一处添两个老嬷嬷，四个丫头，除各人奶娘亲随丫鬟不算外，另有专管收拾打扫的。至二十二日，一齐进去，登时园内花招绣带，柳拂香风，不似前番那等寂寞了。
闲言少叙。且说宝玉自进花园以来，心满意足，再无别项可生贪求之心。每日只和姊妹丫头们一处，或读书，或写字，或弹琴下棋，作画吟诗，以至描鸾刺凤，斗草簪花[14]，低吟悄唱，拆字猜枚，无所不至，倒也十分快乐。他曾有几首即事诗[15]，虽不算好，却倒是真情真景，略记几首云：
春夜即事〔九〕
霞绡云幄[17]任铺陈，隔巷蟆更听未真[18]。
枕上轻寒窗外雨，眼前春色梦中人。
盈盈烛泪因谁泣，点点花愁为我嗔。
自是小鬟娇懒惯，拥衾不耐笑言频。
夏夜即事
倦绣佳人幽梦长，金笼鹦鹉唤茶汤。
窗明麝月开宫镜，室霭檀云品御香。[19]
琥珀杯倾荷露滑，玻璃槛纳柳风凉。[20]
水亭处处齐纨动[21]，帘卷朱楼罢晚妆。
秋夜即事
绛芸轩里绝喧哗，桂魄流光浸茜纱[22]。
苔锁石纹容睡鹤，井飘桐露湿栖鸦。[23]
抱衾婢至舒金凤，倚槛人归落翠花。[24]
静夜不眠因酒渴，沉烟重拨索烹茶。
冬夜即事
梅魂竹梦已三更，锦罽衾[25]睡未成。
松影一庭惟见鹤，梨花[26]满地不闻莺。
女儿翠袖诗怀冷，公子金貂酒力轻[27]。
却喜侍儿知试茗，扫将新雪及时烹。
因这几首诗，当时有一等势利人，见是荣国府十二三岁的公子作的，抄录出来各处称颂；再有一等轻浮子弟，爱上那风骚妖艳之句，也写在扇头壁上，不时吟哦赏赞。因此竟有人来寻诗觅字，倩画求题的。宝玉亦发得了意，镇日家作这些外务。
谁想静中生烦恼，忽一日不自在起来，这也不好，那也不好，出来进去只是闷闷的。园中那些人多半是女孩儿，正在混沌世界，天真烂熳之时，坐卧不避，嬉笑无心，那里知宝玉此时的心事。那宝玉心内不自在，便懒在园内，只在外头鬼混，却又痴痴的。茗烟见他这样，因想与他开心，左思右想，皆是宝玉顽奈烦了的，不能开心，惟有这件，宝玉不曾看见过。想毕，便走去到书坊内，把那古今小说并那飞燕、合德[28]、武则天、杨贵妃的外传与那传奇角本买了许多来，引宝玉看。宝玉何曾见过这些书，一看见了便如得了珍宝。茗烟又嘱咐他不可拿进园去，“若叫人知道了，我就吃不了兜着走呢”。宝玉那里舍的不拿进去，踟蹰再三，单把那文理细密〔一〇〕的拣了几套进去，放在床顶上，无人时自己密看。那粗俗过露的，都藏在外面书房里。
那一日正当三月中浣[30]，早饭后，宝玉携了一套《会真记》[31]，走到沁芳闸桥边桃花底下一块石上坐着，展开《会真记》，从头细玩。正看到“落红成阵”，只见一阵风过，把树头上桃花吹下一大半来，落的满身满书满地皆是。宝玉要抖将下来，恐怕脚步践踏了，只得兜了那花瓣，来至池边，抖在池内。那花瓣浮在水面，飘飘荡荡，竟流出沁芳闸去了。回来只见地下还有许多。
宝玉正踟蹰间，只听背后有人说道：“你在这里作什么？”宝玉一回头，却是林黛玉来了，肩上担着花锄，锄上挂着花囊〔一一〕，手内拿着花帚。宝玉笑道：“好，好，来把这个花扫起来，撂在那水里。我才撂了好些在那里呢。”林黛玉道：“撂在水里不好。你看这里的水干净，只一流出去，有人家的地方脏的臭的混倒，仍旧把花遭塌了。那畸角上我有一个花冢，如今把他扫了，装在这绢袋里，拿土埋上，日久不过随土化了，岂不干净。”
宝玉听了喜不自禁，笑道：“待我放下书，帮你来收拾。”黛玉道：“什么书？”宝玉见问，慌的藏之不迭，便说道：“不过是《中庸》《大学》。”黛玉笑道：“你又在我跟前弄鬼。趁早儿给我瞧，好多着呢。”宝玉道：“好妹妹，若论你，我是不怕的。你看了，好歹别告诉别人去。真真这是好书！你要看了，连饭也不想吃呢。”一面说，一面递了过去。林黛玉把花具且都放下，接书来瞧，从头看去，越看越爱看，不到一顿饭工夫，将十六出俱已看完，自觉词藻警人，馀香满口〔一二〕。虽看完了书，却只管出神，心内还默默记诵。
宝玉笑道：“妹妹，你说好不好？”林黛玉笑道：“果然有趣。”宝玉笑道：“我就是个‘多愁多病身’，你就是那‘倾国倾城貌’[34]。”林黛玉听了，不觉带腮连耳通红，登时直竖起两道似蹙非蹙〔一三〕的眉，瞪了两只似睁非睁的眼，微腮带怒，薄面含嗔，指宝玉道：“你这该死的胡说！好好的把这淫词艳曲弄了来，还学了这些混话来欺负我。我告诉舅舅舅母去。”说到“欺负”两个字上，早又把眼睛圈儿红了，转身就走。宝玉着了急，向前拦住说道：“好妹妹，千万饶我这一遭，原是我说错了。若有心欺负你，明儿我掉在池子里，教个癞头鼋吞了去，变个大忘八[36]，等你明儿做了‘一品夫人’病老归西的时候，我往你坟上替你驮一辈子的碑去。”说的林黛玉嗤的一声笑了，一面揉着眼睛，一面笑道：“一般也唬的这个调儿，还只管胡说。‘呸，原来是苗而不秀，是个银样镴枪头〔一四〕。’[38]”宝玉听了，笑道：“你这个呢？我也告诉去。”林黛玉笑道：“你说你会过目成诵，难道我就不能一目十行么？”
宝玉一面收书，一面笑道：“正经快把花埋了罢，别提那个了。”二人便收拾落花，正才掩埋妥协，只见袭人走来，说道：“那里没找到，摸在这里来。那边大老爷身上不好，姑娘们都过去请安，老太太叫打发你去呢。快回去换衣裳去罢。”宝玉听了，忙拿了书，别了黛玉，同袭人回房换衣不提。
这里林黛玉见宝玉去了，又听见众姊妹也不在房，自己闷闷的。正欲回房，刚走到梨香院墙角上，只听墙内笛韵悠扬，歌声婉转。林黛玉便知是那十二个女孩子演习戏文呢。只因林黛玉素习不大喜看戏文，便不留心，只管往前走。偶然两句吹到耳内，明明白白，一字不落，唱道是：“原来姹紫嫣红开遍，似这般都付与断井颓垣。”林黛玉听了，倒也十分感慨缠绵，便止住步侧耳细听，又听唱道是：“良辰美景奈何天，赏心乐事谁家院。”听了这两句，不觉点头自叹，心下自思道：“原来戏上也有好文章。可惜世人只知看戏，未必能领略这其中的趣味。”想毕，又后悔不该胡想，耽误了听曲子。又侧耳时，只听唱道：“则为你如花美眷，似水流年……”林黛玉听了这两句，不觉心动神摇。又听道“你在幽闺自怜”等句[39]，亦发如醉如痴，站立不住，便一蹲身坐在一块山子石上，细嚼“如花美眷，似水流年”八个字的滋味。忽又想起前日见古人诗中有“水流花谢两无情”[40]之句，再又有词中有“流水落花春去也，天上人间”[41]之句，又兼方才所见《西厢记》中“花落水流红，闲愁万种”[42]之句，都一时想起来，凑聚在一处。仔细忖度，不觉心痛神痴，眼中落泪。正没个开交，忽觉背上击了一下，及回头看时，原来是……且听下回分解。正是：
妆晨绣夜心无矣，对月临风恨有之。
[1] 勒石——在石碑上刻字。
[2] 汤蜡钉朱——刻碑时的两道工序。将熔化了的白蜡涂在已经用朱色写好文字的石碑面上，保护朱书，以免擦掉，叫做“汤蜡”，也作“烫蜡”。汤蜡后石工按朱书镌刻，叫做“钉朱”。
〔一〕 “正想发到”，原“想”下旁添“着要打”，“道”圈改为“到”。梦稿、戚序本作“正思想发到”。甲辰本同底本原文。
〔二〕 “见他素日”，原无“素日”二字，从蒙府、戚序、舒序、甲辰本补。
〔三〕 “散了”，原作“散了花”，从梦稿本删。
〔四〕 “我不知道”，原无，从各本补。
[7] 廊下——建筑术语。中国建筑史上自隋唐以来，府第、衙署、寺庙这一类多院落的大建筑群，四周皆以廊庑围绕，沿回廊两侧之街巷则称东西廊下（正房皆座北朝南，所以不会有南北廊下）。宋以后回廊多以廊屋和围墙代替，形成今天四合院的面貌，但东西廊下之旧称仍沿用不变。
〔五〕 “夏守忠”，原作“夏忠”，从梦稿、蒙府本改。
〔六〕 “读书。贾政王夫人接了这谕，待夏守忠去后，便来回明贾母，遣人进去”二十七字，原缺，各本均有，文字略异，今从梦稿本补。
[10] 杀死——亦作“煞死”。意为拼命、抵死、一个劲儿。
〔七〕 “贾政”，原无，从梦稿本补。
[12] “花气”句——原句作“花气袭人知骤暖”，见陆游《村居喜书》。
〔八〕 “蘅芜苑”，原作“蘅芜院”，从舒序、甲辰本改。
[14] 斗草簪花——斗草，又称“斗百草”，一种起源很古的民俗游戏，春夏花草繁茂之期，闺中多喜此戏，参加者各采花草竹木，举其名称作对，以吉祥而少见者为胜。簪花，斗花、斗草的一种形式。杜牧《代人作》：“斗草怜香蕙，簪花间雪梅。”
[15] 即事诗——以眼前事物为题材的诗。
〔九〕 “春夜即事”，原“事”下有“云”字，从戚序本删。以下“夏夜即事”、“秋夜即事”、“冬夜即事”同。
[17] 霞绡云幄（wò握）——彩色丝衾，轻纱帷帐。绡：轻软的丝织品。幄：帐幕。
[18] “隔巷”句——意谓更鼓之声从隔巷传来，听不真切。蟆更，即虾蟆更。明·郎瑛《七修续稿》辩证类“六更鼓”条引《蟫精隽》：“宋内五鼓绝，梆鼓遍作，谓之虾蟆更。其时禁门开而百官入，所谓六更也。”一说江南夜间击柝曰虾蟆更。《事物纪原》：“夜间击柝代更筹，曰虾蟆更。”《豹隐纪谈》引郝天挺语：“江南以木柝警夜，曰虾蟆更。”
[19] “窗明”二句——打开镜匣，好像明月映窗；御香弥漫，好像檀云绕室。麝月：月亮。南朝徐陵《玉台新咏序》：“麝月共嫦娥竞爽。”檀云：香云。品：鉴赏。
[20] “琥珀”二句——琥珀：黄褐色透明松脂化石，可作器皿饰物。荷露：指酒，以花露为名。滑：酒味醇美。玻璃：一种石英类透明晶体，不同于今之玻璃。这里“荷露”“柳风”又都是夏天实景，可以引起荷翻露珠似倾杯、垂柳成行如栏杆的联想。一说：这里的“麝月”、“檀云”、“琥珀”、“玻璃”又指贾府的四个丫头。
[21] 齐纨动——意谓夏日女子所穿绢绸衫裙随风飘动。又团扇多以细绢制成，也可解作纨扇摇动。齐纨：古代齐国出产的细绢。
[22] “桂魄”句——月光如水，浸透了窗纱。桂魄：月亮，传说月中有桂。唐代李商隐《雪》诗：“侵夜可能争桂魄”。
[23] “苔锁”二句——纹痕上布满青苔的岩石可容仙鹤憩息，井边飘落沾满秋露的桐叶，沾湿了栖止在树上的乌鸦。
[24] “抱衾”二句——上句用《西厢记》第四本第一折红娘抱衾而至的故事。舒：展。金凤：绣有金凤图案的被褥。下句写贵族女子兴尽人归卸下头饰。翠花：饰有翡翠珠玉的簪花。
[25] 锦罽（jì shuānɡ计双）衾——锦罽：织有文彩的毛毯。衾：疑指绣有图案花纹的被子。：即，雁的一种。也是传说中五方神鸟之一。
[26] 梨花——喻雪。
[27] “公子”句——公子穿着貂裘还嫌酒力不足以御寒。金貂：黄色貂皮。貂皮轻暖，十分珍贵。
[28] 合德——即赵合德，赵飞燕之妹。汉成帝时入宫为昭仪，姊妹专宠十余年，成帝死后自杀。事见《汉书·孝成皇后传》、《飞燕外传》。
〔一〇〕 “文理细密”，“细”原作“纲”，从梦稿、戚序、甲辰本改。
[30] 中浣（huàn幻）——指每月的中旬。浣：洗涤。唐代规定官吏们一个月中每十日休假一天，用来沐浴、洗涤。一个月分为上浣、中浣、下浣。后借作上旬、中旬、下旬的别称。
[31] 《会真记》——即唐代元稹作的传奇小说《莺莺传》。因文中有“会真”诗三十韵，故又称《会真记》。金、元人把其中的故事演为诸宫调和杂剧，名为《西厢记》。这里是指元代王实甫的杂剧《西厢记》。由下文可知，这是一部全本只有十六出的《北西厢》，有别于舞台盛演出目大增的南曲《西厢记》。
〔一一〕 “锄上挂着花囊”，“花囊”原作“行囊”，“行”又点改为“竹”，“锄”字为旁添。梦稿本作“上挂着花囊”，蒙府本作“锄上挂着行囊”，今参合两本酌改。
〔一二〕 “馀香满口”，“香”原作“者”，又点改为“音”。从梦稿、舒序、甲辰本补。
[34] 倾国倾城貌——金批本《西厢记》第一本第四折，张生称自己是“多愁多病身”，莺莺是“倾国倾城貌”。倾：倾覆。《汉书·孝武李夫人传》：“延年侍上起舞，歌曰：‘北方有佳人，绝世而独立，一顾倾人城，再顾倾人国。’”后常用“倾国倾城”形容女子的美貌。
〔一三〕 “两道似蹙非蹙”，原无“两道”和“非蹙”，从蒙府、戚序、舒序、甲辰本补。
[36] 癞头鼋、大忘八——鼋：大鳖。这里的大忘八指俗传能驮碑的大乌龟。实为赑（bì xì币戏），是传说中龙所生的怪物，似龟，好负重。见《升庵外集》。
〔一四〕 “银样镴枪头”，“镴”原作“蜡”，诸本均同。今据《西厢记》改。
[38] “苗而不秀”两句——即中看不中用的意思，语出《西厢记》金批本第四本第二折。苗而不秀：语见《论语·子罕》：“子曰：‘苗而不秀者有矣夫！’”意谓庄稼苗长了，却不秀穗。喻才质秀美而早夭，没有什么成就。后亦用以比喻虚有其表，其实无能。银样镴枪头，与此义近。镴是一种铅锡合金，色似银，亮而软。
[39] “原来姹（chà诧）紫嫣（yān焉）红开遍……你在幽闺自怜”等句——见《牡丹亭·惊梦》。前四句是杜丽娘唱词；后几句是柳梦梅唱词。姹紫嫣红：指各色娇艳的花朵。良辰美景：美好的时光和景物，这里是指美好的春光、春景。赏心乐事：称心如意的事，这里是指向往爱情和美满婚姻的心事。南朝谢灵运《拟魏太子邺中集诗序》：“天下良辰美景赏心乐事，四者难并”。谁家：一说作“哪一家”解；一说作“甚么”解，“家”与“价”通，“谁家院”即“谁价院”，与“奈何天”作对，意谓还成什么院落。
[40] 水流花谢两无情——见唐代崔涂《旅怀》诗。
[41] “流水”二句——见南唐李煜《浪淘沙》词。原词说好时光已如花落春去，相见之难犹如天上与人间之隔。
[42] “花落”二句——《西厢记》第一本《楔子》中莺莺的唱词。
CHAPTER 23. Words from the ‘Western Chamber’ supply a joke that offends And songs from the ‘Soul’s Return’ move a tender heart to anguish
Some time after her return from the Visitation the Imperial Concubine commissioned Tan-chun to make her a copy of all the poems about Prospect Garden that had been written during her visit, and having rearranged them in what she considered to be their order of merit, further instructed that they should be engraved on stone in the Prospect Garden itself – a lasting memorial to the precocious talent of her gifted family. In pursuance of these instructions, Jia Zheng ordered his people to look out the best craftsmen available to prepare and engrave the stone and delegated Cousin Zhen to supervise the work with Jia Rong and Jia Qiang as his lieutenants. As Jia Qiang proved to be fully occupied with his twelve young actresses – not to mention their costumes, properties and other paraphernalia – three other junior members of the clan, Jia Chang, Jia Ling and Jia Ping, were called in to supervise the labour in his stead. In due course the preliminary stages of waxing, scratching and ‘redding in’ had commenced, and work on the memorial proceeded according to plan. We pass from this to other matters.
The twenty-four little Buddhist and Taoist nuns having now been moved out of the two miniature temples in the garden, Jia Zheng had been thinking of dispersing them among various temples and convents about the city, when a certain Zhou-shi, the widow of a poor relation of the Rong-guo Jias who lived near by in North Dukes Street, chanced to get wind of this matter and saw in it the possibility of some employment.
Zhou-shi had for some time past been meaning to ask Jia Zheng if he would find her boy Jia Qin a job – no matter how small a job as long as it would bring them in a little income – and now, hearing this news about the nuns, she drove incontinent forth to Xi-feng as fast as cab could carry her and besought her to use her influence on the boy’s behalf.
Xi-feng had always found Zhou-shi a pleasant, unassuming sort of body and was disposed to help her. Having agreed to do so, and having rehearsed her line of approach, she went in to Lady Wang and broached the matter with her in the following manner.
‘These little Buddhist and Taoist nuns,’ she said, ‘– we definitely ought not to send them away. We shall need them again if Her Grace ever comes on another visit, and it will be a terrible job getting them together again if they have all been dispersed. If you ask me, the best thing would be to move them to the Temple of the Iron Threshold where they would still be under our control. It would only be a question of sending someone out there every month with a bit of money to pay for their housekeeping; then if there is ever any question of needing them again, we have only to say the word and they can be with us immediately without any trouble.’
The suggestion pleased Jia Zheng when it was in due course relayed to him by Lady Wang.
‘Of course. That is just what we should do. I am glad you reminded me.’
From Jia Zheng a summons arrived for Jia Lian while he and Xi-feng were at dinner. He laid down his chopsticks and rose to go, but Xi-feng put a hand out and detained him:
‘Not so fast! Listen to me! If it’s anything else, never mind; but if it’s about those little nuns …’ – and she went on to tell him exactly what he should say in that event and to impress on him how important it was that he should say it.
Jia Lian smiled and shook his head:
‘Sorry, nothing doing! You’ll have to ask him yourself-if you think you know how to!’
Xi-feng’s back stiffened. She laid down her chopsticks and looked at Jia Lian. There was a glint in her eye and a dangerous little smile on her face when she spoke:
‘Do you mean that, or are you joking?’
‘That boy of my cousin’s widow who lives in West Lane, Jia Yun, has been on at me two or three times about getting him a job, and I promised to do something for him if he would wait. Now here at last a job comes along and, as usual, you want to snap it up yourself.’
‘Don’t worry!’ said Xi-feng consolingly. ‘Her Grace has mentioned that she wants a lot of planting done – pines and cypresses – in the north-east section of the garden, and she has also asked for more shrubs and flowers to be planted round the foot of the main hall. I promise you that as soon as that job comes up your Jia Yun shall be placed in charge of it.’
‘Oh well, in that case all right,’ said Jia Lian. ‘Just one thing, though’ – he dropped his voice and smiled at her slily – ‘Why did you keep pushing me off like that last night? I only wanted to try a change of position.’
A quick flush overspread Xi-feng’s face and she exploded in a little laugh. Then with a ‘pshaw!’ in his direction, she lowered her head again and went back to her meal.
Jia Lian laughed and slipped away. On entering Jia Zheng’s presence he found that the subject was, as Xi-feng had anticipated, the arrangements for accommodating the little nuns, and he replied as Xi-feng had instructed him:
‘Jia Qin is a promising young fellow. I think he could be entrusted with the job. In any case, he would be drawing the allowance from Accounts each month when all the other payments are made, so we should be able to keep an eye on him.’
Jia Zheng never took much interest in these trivial domestic matters and agreed readily enough to Jia Lian’s suggestion. The latter returned to his apartment and reported to Xi-feng. Xi-feng sent someone to inform Zhou-shi; and soon Jia Qin himself had arrived and was pouring out his gratitude to the two benefactors. With a show of conferring further favours, Xi-feng ‘begged’ Jia Lian to allow Jia Qin three months’ payment in advance. A receipt was written for this amount and Jia Lian’s seal affixed to it, and there and then Jia Qin was issued with a tally and sent to the counting-house to collect the money.
When the three hundred taels of shining silver had been weighed and counted and handed over, Jia Qin picked up a piece at random and tossed it to the cashiers to ‘buy themselves a cup of tea with’. He had a boy to carry the money back home for him, and after taking counsel with his mother he hired a stout little donkey for himself to ride on and four or five covered mule-carts for the nuns, and conducting the carts round to the side gate of the Rong-guo mansion, he called forth the twenty-four little nuns and packed them all inside. Then off they set, with Jia Qin on his donkey at the head of the procession, to the Temple of the Iron Threshold outside the city. And there we leave them.
Yuan-chun’s editing of the Prospect Garden poems had given her a vivid recollection of the garden’s beauties. She was sure that her father, out of a zealous reverence for the Emperor and herself, would have kept it all locked and closed since her visit and would have allowed no one else to enter, and she felt this to be a waste and a shame – the more so when her family contained so many poetical young ladies who would have found inspiration in its scenery – not to mention the benefit their presence would have bestowed on the garden itself: for, as is well-known,
When lovely woman smiles not,
All Nature’s charms are dead.
Assuredly, the girls must be allowed into the garden. It should become their home. And if the girls, why not Bao-yu? He had grown up in their midst. He was different from other boys. If he were not allowed into the garden as well, he would consider himself left out in the cold, and his distress would cause Lady Wang and Grandmother Jia to feel unhappy too. Unquestionably she should ask for him to be admitted along with the girls. Having reached this decision, she summoned the eunuch Xia Bing-zhong and ordered him to convey the following Edict to Rong-guo House:
Bao-chai and the other young ladies of the household are to reside in the Garden. The Garden is not to be kept closed. Bao-yu is to accompany the young ladies into the Garden and to continue his studies there.
The Edict was received by Jia Zheng and Lady Wang. When Xia Bing-zhong had gone, they reported it at once to Grandmother Jia and sent servants into the garden to sweep and prepare its buildings and rehang the blinds, portières and bed-curtains in readiness for occupation.
No one was more excited by the prospect of this move than Bao-yu. He was discussing it animatedly with Grandmother Jia (it was a discussion in which the words ‘I want’ recurred rather frequently) when suddenly a maid came in and announced that he was wanted by his father. At this bolt from the blue his countenance fell and all his animation drained away. Clinging to his grandmother with the gluey persistence of a toffee twist, he made it abundantly plain to her that he had no wish to obey. The old lady did her best to comfort him:
‘There, there, my lamb! You’d better go and see him. Grannie will see to it that he doesn’t hurt you. He wouldn’t dare. Besides, look at all those lovely poems you wrote: I expect that’s why Her Grace is letting you inside the garden. I’m sure that’s all he wants to see you about. Probably he just wants to warn you against getting up to mischief after you have moved in. You only have to answer nicely and promise to do as he says. You’ll be all right.’
To make sure, she sent a couple of old nannies along as well with strict instructions to watch over him:
‘See that his Pa doesn’t frighten him!’ she told them, and the old women promised their protection.
Obliged to go, yet still reluctant, Bao-yu contrived to do so at so dawdling a pace that each step can have advanced him only a few inches upon his way. It so happened that Jia Zheng had gone for the purpose of discussing these matters into Lady Wang’s room and Lady Wang’s maids Golden, Suncloud, Sunset, Avis and Avocet were standing outside under the eaves. Their amusement when they caught sight of Bao-yu advancing at this snail’s pace into the courtyard was evident from the expression on their faces. Golden seized him by the hand, and thrusting out a pair of heavily carmined lips, she said to him in a whisper:
‘Look at that byootiful lipstick! I’ve only just put it on. Wouldn’t you like a taste of it?’
Suncloud, with a suppressed giggle, pushed her off him:
‘Can’t you see how scared he is? It’s mean of you to tease him at a time like this! He’s in a good mood,’ she said to Bao-yu. ‘You’d better go in straight away, while it lasts!’
Bao-yu entered in a sort of sideways crouch, the picture of a submissive son – a gesture that was wasted, however, since his father and mother were in the inner room at the back. Aunt Zhao raised the inner room’s portière to admit him. He bowed to her and entered. Jia Zheng and Lady Wang sat facing each other on the kang talking. Ying-chun, Tan-chun, Xi-chun and Jia Huan were sitting on a row of chairs below. Ying-chun remained seated at his entrance, but the other three rose to their feet.
Jia Zheng glanced up and saw Bao-yu standing before him. The lively intelligence that shone in the boy’s every feature, his almost breath-taking beauty of countenance contrasted strikingly with Jia Huan’s cringing, hang-dog looks and loutish demeanour, and Jia Zheng thought suddenly of his other son, Jia Zhu, his Firstborn, whom he had lost. He glanced at Lady Wang. Of the children she had borne him Bao-yu was now the only surviving son. He knew how much the boy meant to her. He thought of himself, too: ageing now, his beard already grey. And as he thought, much of his customary dislike of Bao-yu slipped away, so that for the time being perhaps only ten or twenty per cent of it still remained. After what seemed to Bao-yu a very long time, he said:
‘Her Grace has expressed a fear that by spending your time in constant amusement outside you may become an idler and a dullard, and she has directed that you and the girls should be moved into the garden so that you may be kept more closely at your books. See to it that you work hard and diligently! If I detect any signs of your former unruliness and disobedience, you will be in for trouble!’
Bao-yu assented meekly. Lady Wang took his hand and drew him up beside her on the kang. Now that he was seated, Jia Huan and the other two sat down once more in their chairs. Lady Wang stroked Bao-yu’s neck affectionately:
‘Have you finished those pills I sent you the other day yet?’
‘There’s still one left,’ said Bao-yu.
‘You must come for some more tomorrow. I’ll give you another ten. You must get Aroma to give you one every night before you go to sleep.’
‘Yes. You told Aroma, Mother. She’s been giving me one every night, as you said.’
‘Who is this “Aroma”?’ asked Jia Zheng sharply.
‘A maid,’ said Lady Wang.
‘I suppose there are no limits to what a maid may be called,’ said Jia Zheng, ‘but who would have picked an outlandish name like that to give her?’
Lady Wang could see that he was displeased and did her best to cover up for Bao-yu:
‘I think it was Lady Jia who gave her the name.’
‘Mother would never think of a name like that,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘It must have been Bao-yu.’
Bao-yu saw that a frank avowal was now unavoidable and rose to his feet:
‘This maid has a surname which means “Flowers”. There is a line in an old poem I happened to remember
The flowers’ aroma breathes of hotter days
and so I named her after that.’
‘When you get back you must change the name at once,’ said Lady Wang hurriedly to Bao-yu. ‘Come, Sir Zheng’ – this to her husband – ‘you aren’t going to get angry about a little thing like that?’
‘It doesn’t really matter,’ said Jia Zheng, ‘and there is no need for him to change the name; but it demonstrates what I have always said about the boy: he is fundamentally incapable of caring about serious matters and preoccupies himself with poetic frivolities and other such airy-fairy nonsense as a substitute for solid learning. Wretched fellow!’ he shouted at Bao-yu. ‘What are you waiting for?’
‘Go now, go now!’ said Lady Wang in a flutter. ‘Grandma is probably waiting to begin her dinner.’
Bao-yu murmured a reply and retired, rather more slowly than was necessary. Emerging from the outer door, he grinned and stuck his tongue out at Golden, then shot off like a puff of smoke, the two old nannies hurrying after him. Arriving at the entrance of the covered passage-way he came upon Aroma leaning in the doorway. Her face lit up when she saw him returning unscathed and she asked him what his father had wanted to see him about.
‘Oh, nothing much,’ said Bao-yu. ‘He just wanted to say a few words about not getting up to mischief after we’ve moved into the garden.’
Having answered Aroma, he went in to see his grandmother and told her about the interview. He found Dai-yu with her and asked her which part of the garden she planned to live in. It appeared that she had just been considering this question herself, for her answer was a prompt one:
‘I’ve been thinking how nice it would be in the Naiad’s House. I love all those bamboos and the little winding, half-hidden walk. It is so quiet and peaceful there.’
Bao-yu clapped his hands delightedly:
‘Just what I would have chosen for you! I was hoping you would want to live there, because I want to live in the House of Green Delights – which means that we should be neighbours. And both places are quiet and tucked away.’
They were still discussing their plans when a servant arrived from Jia Zheng with a message for Grandmother Jia. It was to say that the twenty-second of the second month being a Lucky Day was the date on which Bao-yu and the girls were to move into the garden. Servants were to be allowed inside in the interim in order to make the rooms ready for them. It was finally settled that Bao-chai should have All-spice Court, Dai-yu the Naiad’s House, Ying-chun the building on Amaryllis Eyot, Tan-chun the Autumn Studio, Xi-chun the Lotus Pavilion, Li Wan Sweet-rice Village, and Bao-yu the House of Green Delights. Each set of rooms was allotted two old women and four maids in addition to the occupant’s existing maids and nannies, and there were other servants whose sole duty was sweeping and cleaning. On the twenty-second of the second month everyone moved in. The silent, deserted garden suddenly came to life –
Live flowers on silk-embroidered flowers up-glanced,
And unguent scents the scents of spring enhanced
as the bevy of gaily-dressed, chattering girls spread themselves through its quiet walks.
But to return to our hero.
Life for Bao-yu after his removal into the garden became utterly and completely satisfying. Every day was spent in the company of his maids and cousins in the most amiable and delightful occupations, such as
reading,
practising calligraphy,
strumming on the qin,
playing Go,
painting,
composing verses,
embroidering in coloured silks,
competitive flower-collecting,
making flower-sprays,
singing,
word games and
guess-fingers.
In a word, he was blissfully happy.
One product of this period was a set of four Garden Nights poems which, though they have little claim to poetic merit, give a fairly accurate impression of the mood and setting of those carefree days:
I. Spring
Behind silk hangings, in warm quilts cocooned,
His ears half doubt the frogs’ first muted sound.
Rain at his window strikes, the pillow’s cold;
Yet to the sleeper’s eyes spring dreams unfold.
Why does the candle shed its waxen tear?
Why on each flower do angry drops appear?
By uncouth din of giggling maids distressed
He burrows deeper in his silken nest.
II. Summer
A tired maid sleeps at her embroidery.
A parrot in its gilt cage calls for tea.
Pale moonbeams on an opened mirror fall,
And burning sandal makes a fragrant pall.
From amber cups thirst-quenching nectar flows.
A willow-breeze through crystal curtains blows.
In pool-side kiosks light-clad maidens flit,
Or, dressed for bed, by open casements sit.
III. Autumn
In Red Rue Study, far from worldly din,
Through rosy gauze moonlight comes flooding in.
Outside, a stork sleeps on moss-wrinkled rocks,
And dew from well-side trees the crow’s wings soaks.
A maid the great quilt’s golden bird has spread;
Her languid master droops his raven head.
Wine-parched and sleepless, in the still night he cries
For tea, and soon thick smoke and steam arise.
IV. Winter
Midnight and winter: plum with bamboo sleeps,
While one midst Indian rugs his vigil keeps.
Only a crane outside is to be found –
No orioles now, though white flowers mask the ground.
Chill strikes the maid’s bones through her garments fine;
Her fur-clad master’s somewhat worse for wine;
But, in tea-making mysteries deep-skilled,
She has with new-swept snow the kettle filled.
The indifferent quality of these poems did not prevent members of that class of worldlings who see merit in a name and excellence in a title from copying them out and proclaiming them everywhere as miracles of precocious talent when they discovered that their author was the thirteen-year-old heir apparent of Sir Jia of Rong-guo House. There were also a number of bright young things who professed an extravagant liking for the deliciousness of the poems, and who copied them on to fans and wall-spaces and recited them on the least provocation (or none at all) at social gatherings. Soon Bao-yu was being besieged with requests for more poems, for specimens of his calligraphy, for paintings, for inscriptions. He began to feel himself a lion and was kept constantly busy with these dilettantish ‘duties’.
Then, quite suddenly, in the midst of this placid, agreeable existence, he was discontented. He got up one day feeling out of sorts. Nothing he did brought any relief. Whether he stayed indoors or went out into the garden, he remained bored and miserable. The garden’s female population were mostly still in that age of innocence when freedom from inhibition is the fruit of ignorance. Waking and sleeping they surrounded him, and their mindless giggling was constantly in his ears. How could they understand the restless feelings that now consumed him? In his present mood of discontent he was bored with the garden and its inmates; yet his attempts to find distraction outside it ended in the same emptiness and ennui.
Tealeaf saw how it was with him and racked his brains for a remedy. Unfortunately all the things he could think of seemed to be things that Bao-yu had already tried and grown tired of. But no, there was something he had not yet tried. As soon as Tealeaf thought of it, he set off to the bookstalls and bought a pile of books – books of a kind Bao-yu had never heard about – to give as a present to his young master. His purchases included
Old Inklubber’s Stories Old and New
The Secret History of Flying Swallow
Sister of Flying Swallow
The Infamous Loves of Empress Wu
The Jade Ring Concubine, or Peeps in the Inner Palace
and a heap of playbooks – mostly romantic comedies and the like.
Bao-yu took one look at this gift and was enraptured; but Tealeaf uttered a warning:
‘Don’t take these into the garden! If you do, and anyone finds out about them, I’ll be in real trouble – more than just a bellyful!’
The injunction was one with which Bao-yu was most unwilling to comply. After a good deal of hesitation he picked out a few of the chaster volumes to keep by his bed and read when no one was about, and left the cruder, more forthright ones behind, hidden somewhere in his outer study.
One day after lunch – it was round about the Midwash of the third month, as our forefathers, who measured the passage of time by their infrequent ablutions, were wont to say – Bao-yu set off for Drenched Blossoms Weir with the volumes of Western Chamber under his arm, and sitting down on a rock underneath the peach-tree which grew there beside the bridge, he took up the first volume and began, very attentively, to read the play. He had just reached the line
The red flowers in their hosts are falling
when a little gust of wind blew over and a shower of petals suddenly rained down from the tree above, covering his clothes, his book and all the ground about him. He did not like to shake them off for fear they got trodden underfoot, so collecting as many of them as he could in the lap of his gown, he carried them to the water’s edge and shook them in. The petals bobbed and circled for a while on the surface of the water before finally disappearing over the weir. When he got back he found that a lot more of them had fallen while he was away. As he hesitated, a voice behind him said,
‘What are you doing here?’
He looked round and saw that it was Dai-yu. She was carrying a garden hoe with a muslin bag hanging from the end of it on her shoulder and a garden broom in her hand.
‘You’ve come just at the right moment,’ said Bao-yu, smiling at her. ‘Here, sweep these petals up and tip them in the water for me! I’ve just tipped one lot in myself.’
‘It isn’t a good idea to tip them in the water,’ said Dai-yu. ‘The water you see here is clean, but farther on beyond the weir, where it flows past people’s houses, there are all sorts of muck and impurity, and in the end they get spoiled just the same. In that corner over there I’ve got a grave for the flowers, and what I’m doing now is sweeping them up and putting them in this silk bag to bury them there, so that they can gradually turn back into earth. Isn’t that a cleaner way of disposing of them?’
Bao-yu was full of admiration for this idea.
‘Just let me put this book somewhere and I’ll give you a hand.’
‘What book?’ said Dai-yu.
‘Oh … The Doctrine of the Mean and The Greater Learning,’ he said, hastily concealing it.
‘Don’t try to fool me!’ said Dai-yu. ‘You would have done much better to let me look at it in the first place, instead of hiding it so guiltily.’
‘In your case, coz, I have nothing to be afraid of,’ said Bao-yu; ‘but if I do let you look, you must promise not to tell anyone. It’s marvellous stuff. Once you start reading it, you’ll even stop wanting to eat!’
He handed the book to her, and Dai-yu put down her things and looked. The more she read, the more she liked it, and before very long she had read several acts. She felt the power of the words and their lingering fragrance. Long after she had finished reading, when she had laid down the book and was sitting there rapt and silent, the lines continued to ring on in her head.
‘Well,’ said Bao-yu, ‘is it good?’
Dai-yu smiled and nodded.
Bao-yu laughed:
‘How can I, full of sickness and of woe,
Withstand that face which kingdoms could o’erthrow?’
Dai-yu reddened to the tips of her ears. The eyebrows that seemed to frown yet somehow didn’t were raised now in anger and the lovely eyes flashed. There was rage in her crimson cheeks and resentment in all her looks.
‘You’re hateful!’ – she pointed a finger at him in angry accusal – ‘deliberately using that horrid play to take advantage of me. I’m going straight off to tell Uncle and Aunt!’
At the words ‘take advantage of me’ her eyes filled with tears, and as she finished speaking she turned from him and began to go. Bao-yu rushed after her and held her back:
‘Please, please forgive me! Dearest coz! If I had the slightest intention of taking advantage of you, may I fall into the water and be eaten up by an old bald-headed turtle! When you have become a great lady and gone at last to your final resting-place, I shall become the stone turtle that stands in front of your grave and spend the rest of eternity carrying your tombstone on my back as a punishment!’
His ridiculous declamation provoked a sudden explosion of mirth. She laughed and simultaneously wiped the tears away with her knuckles:
‘Look at you – the same as ever! Scared as anything, but you still have to go on talking nonsense. Well, I know you now for what you are:
“Of silver spear the leaden counterfeit”!’
‘Well! You can talk!’ said Bao-yu laughing. ‘Listen to you! Now I’m going off to tell on you!’
‘You needn’t imagine you’re the only one with a good memory,’ said Dai-yu haughtily. ‘I suppose I’m allowed to remember lines too if I like.’
Bao-yu took back the book from her with a good-natured laugh:
‘Never mind about all that now! Let’s get on with this flower-burying!’
And the two of them set about sweeping together the fallen flower-petals and putting them into the bag. They had just finished burying it when Aroma came hurrying up to them:
‘So there you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere. Your Uncle She isn’t well and the young ladies have all gone over to visit him. Her Old Ladyship says you are to go as well. You’d better come back straight away and get changed!’
Bao-yu picked up his book, took leave of Dai-yu, and accompanied Aroma back to his room.
And there, for the moment, we shall leave him.
With Bao-yu gone and the girls evidently all out, Dai-yu began to feel lonely and depressed. She was on her way back to her own room and was just passing by the corner of Pear Tree Court when she heard the languorous meanderings of a flute and the sweet modulation of a girlish voice coming from the other side of the wall, and knew that the twelve little actresses were at their rehearsal inside. Although she was paying no particular attention to the singing, a snatch of it chanced suddenly to fall with very great clarity on her ear, so that she was able to make out quite distinctly the words of two whole lines of the aria being sung:
‘Here multiflorate splendour blooms forlorn
Midst broken fountains, mouldering walls –’
They moved her strangely, and she stopped to listen. The voice went on:
‘And the bright air, the brilliant morn
Feed my despair.
Joy and gladness have withdrawn
To other gardens, other halls –’
At this point the listener unconsciously nodded her head and sighed.
‘It’s true,’ she thought, ‘there is good poetry even in plays. What a pity most people think of them only as entertainment. A lot of the real beauty in them must go unappreciated.’
She suddenly became aware that her mind was wandering and regretted that her inattention had caused her to miss some of the singing. She listened again. This time it was another voice:
‘Because for you, my flowerlike fair,
The swift years like the waters flow –’
The words moved her to the depth of her being.
‘I have sought you everywhere,
And at last I find you here.
In a dark room full of woe –’
It was like intoxication, a sort of delirium. Her legs would no longer support her. She collapsed on to a near-by rockery and crouched there, the words turning over and over in her mind:
Because for you, my flowerlike fair,
The swift years like the waters flow …
Suddenly she thought of a line from an old poem she had read quite recently:
Relentlessly the waters flow, the flowers fade.
From that her mind turned to those famous lines written in his captivity by the tragic poet-emperor of Later Tang:
The blossoms fall, the water flows,
The glory of the spring is gone
In nature’s world as in the human one –
and to some lines from The Western Chamber which she had just been reading:
As flowers fall and the flowing stream runs red,
A thousand sickly fancies crowd the mind.
All these different lines and verses combined into a single overpowering impression, riving her soul with a pang of such keen anguish that the tears started from her eyes. She might have remained there indefinitely, weeping and comfortless, had not someone just at that moment come up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to look and saw that it was –
But if you wish to know who it was, you must read the next chapter!