第一二○回

第一二○回 甄士隐详说太虚情 贾雨村归结红楼梦

话说宝钗听秋纹说袭人不好，连忙进去瞧看。巧姐儿同平儿也随着走到袭人炕前。只见袭人心痛难禁，一时气厥。宝钗等用开水灌了过来，仍旧扶他睡下，一面传请大夫。巧姐儿问宝钗道：“袭人姐姐怎么病到这个样？”宝钗道：“大前儿晚上哭伤了心了，一时发晕栽倒了。太太叫人扶他回来，他就睡倒了。因外头有事，没有请大夫瞧他，所以致此。”说着，大夫来了，宝钗等略避。大夫看了脉，说是急怒所致，开了方子去了。

原来袭人模糊听见说宝玉若不回来，便要打发屋里的人都出去，一急越发不好了。到大夫瞧后，秋纹给他煎药。他各自一人躺着，神魂未定，好像宝玉在他面前，恍惚又像是见个和尚，手里拿着一本册子揭着看，还说道：“你别错了主意，我是不认得你们的了。”袭人似要和他说话，秋纹走来说：“药好了，姐姐吃罢。”袭人睁眼一瞧，知是个梦，也不告诉人。吃了药，便自己细细的想：“宝玉必是跟了和尚去。上回他要拿玉出去，便是要脱身的样子，被我揪住，看他竟不像往常，把我混推混搡的，一点情意都没有。后来待二奶奶更生厌烦。在别的姊妹跟前，也是没有一点情意。这就是悟道的样子。但是你悟了道，抛了二奶奶怎么好！我是太太派我服侍你，虽是月钱照着那样的分例，其实我究竟没有在老爷太太跟前回明就算了你的屋里人。若是老爷太太打发我出去，我若死守着，又叫人笑话；若是我出去，心想宝玉待我的情分，实在不忍。”左思右想，实在难处。想到刚才的梦“好像和我无缘”的话，“倒不如死了干净”。岂知吃药以后，心痛减了好些，也难躺着，只好勉强支持。过了几日，起来服侍宝钗。宝钗想念宝玉，暗中垂泪，自叹命苦。又知他母亲打算给哥哥赎罪，很费张罗，不能不帮着打算。暂且不表。

且说贾政扶贾母灵柩，贾蓉送了秦氏凤姐鸳鸯的棺木，到了金陵，先安了葬。贾蓉自送黛玉的灵也去安葬。贾政料理坟基的事。一日接到家书，一行一行的看到宝玉贾兰得中，心里自是喜欢。后来看到宝玉走失，复又烦恼，只得赶忙回来。在道儿上又闻得有恩赦的旨意，又接家书，果然赦罪复职，更是喜欢，便日夜趱行。

一日，行到毘陵〔一〕[2]驿地方，那天乍寒下雪，泊在一个清净去处。贾政打发众人上岸投帖辞谢朋友，总说即刻开船，都不敢劳动。船中只留一个小厮伺候，自己在船中写家书，先要打发人起早到家。写到宝玉的事，便停笔。抬头忽见船头上微微的雪影里面一个人，光着头，赤着脚，身上披着一领大红猩猩毡的斗篷，向贾政倒身下拜。贾政尚未认清，急忙出船，欲待扶住问他是谁。那人已拜了四拜，站起来打了个问讯[3]。贾政才要还揖，迎面一看，不是别人，却是宝玉。贾政吃一大惊，忙问道：“可是宝玉么？”那人只不言语，似喜似悲。贾政又问道：“你若是宝玉，如何这样打扮，跑到这里？”宝玉未及回言，只见舡头上来了两人，一僧一道，夹住宝玉说道：“俗缘已毕，还不快走。”说着，三个人飘然登岸而去。贾政不顾地滑，疾忙来赶。见那三人在前，那里赶得上。只听得他们三人口中不知是那个作歌曰：

我所居兮，青埂之峰。我所游兮，鸿蒙太空。谁与我游兮，吾谁与从。渺渺茫茫兮，归彼大荒。

贾政一面听着，一面赶去，转过一小坡，倏然不见。贾政已赶得心虚气喘，惊疑不定，回过头来，见自己的小厮也是随后赶来。贾政问道：“你看见方才那三个人么？”小厮道：“看见的。奴才为老爷追赶，故也赶来。后来只见老爷，不见那三个人了。”贾政还欲前走，只见白茫茫一片旷野，并无一人。贾政知是古怪，只得回来。

众家人回舡，见贾政不在舱中，问了舡夫，说是“老爷上岸追赶两个和尚一个道士去了。”众人也从雪地里寻踪迎去，远远见贾政来了，迎上去接着，一同回船。贾政坐下，喘息方定，将见宝玉的话说了一遍。众人回禀，便要在这地方寻觅。贾政叹道：“你们不知道，这是我亲眼见的，并非鬼怪。况听得歌声大有元妙。那宝玉生下时衔了玉来，便也古怪，我早知不祥之兆，为的是老太太疼爱，所以养育到今。便是那和尚道士，我也见了三次：头一次是那僧道来说玉的好处；第二次便是宝玉病重，他来了将那玉持诵了一番，宝玉便好了；第三次送那玉来，坐在前厅，我一转眼就不见了。我心里便有些诧异，只道宝玉果真有造化，高僧仙道来护佑他的。岂知宝玉是下凡历劫的，竟哄了老太太十九年！如今叫我才明白。”说到那里，掉下泪来。众人道：“宝二爷果然是下凡的和尚，就不该中举人了。怎么中了才去？”贾政道：“你们那里知道，大凡天上星宿，山中老僧，洞里的精灵，他自具一种性情。你看宝玉何尝肯念书，他若略一经心，无有不能的。他那一种脾气也是各别另样。”说着，又叹了几声。众人便拿“兰哥得中，家道复兴”的话解了一番。贾政仍旧写家书，便把这事写上，劝谕合家不必想念了。写完封好，即着家人回去。贾政随后赶回。暂且不题。

且说薛姨妈得了赦罪的信，便命薛蝌去各处借贷，并自己凑齐了赎罪银两。刑部准了，收兑了银子，一角文书将薛蟠放出。他们母子姊妹弟兄见面，不必细述，自然是悲喜交集了。薛蟠自己立誓说道：“若是再犯前病，必定犯杀犯剐！”薛姨妈见他这样，便要握他嘴说：“只要自己拿定主意，必定还要妄口巴舌血淋淋的起这样恶誓么！只香菱跟了你受了多少的苦处，你媳妇已经自己治死自己了，如今虽说穷了，这碗饭还有得吃，据我的主意，我便算他是媳妇了，你心里怎么样？”薛蟠点头愿意。宝钗等也说：“很该这样。”倒把香菱急得脸涨通红，说是：“服侍大爷一样的，何必如此。”众人便称起大奶奶来，无人不服。薛蟠便要去拜谢贾家，薛姨妈宝钗也都过来。见了众人，彼此聚首，又说了一番的话。

正说着，恰好那日贾政的家人回家，呈上书子，说：“老爷不日到了。”王夫人叫贾兰将书子念给听。贾兰念到贾政亲见宝玉的一段，众人听了都痛哭起来，王夫人宝钗袭人等更甚。大家又将贾政书内叫家内“不必悲伤，原是借胎”的话解说了一番。“与其作了官，倘或命运不好，犯了事坏家败产，那时倒不好了。宁可咱们家出一位佛爷，倒是老爷太太的积德，所以才投到咱们家来。不是说句不顾前后的话，当初东府里太爷倒是修炼了十几年，也没有成了仙。这佛是更难成的。太太这么一想，心里便开豁了。”王夫人哭着和薛姨妈道：“宝玉抛了我，我还恨他呢。我叹的是媳妇的命苦，才成了一二年的亲，怎么他就硬着肠子都撂下了走了呢！”薛姨妈听了也甚伤心。宝钗哭得人事不知。所有爷们都在外头，王夫人便说道：“我为他担了一辈子的惊，刚刚儿的娶了亲，中了举人，又知道媳妇作了胎，我才喜欢些，不想弄到这样结局！早知这样，就不该娶亲害了人家的姑娘！”薛姨妈道：“这是自己一定的，咱们这样人家，还有什么别的说的吗？幸喜有了胎，将来生个外孙子必定是有成立的，后来就有了结果了。你看大奶奶，如今兰哥儿中了举人，明年成了进士，可不是就做了官了么。他头里的苦也算吃尽的了，如今的甜来，也是他为人的好处。我们姑娘的心肠儿姊姊是知道的，并不是刻薄轻佻的人，姊姊倒不必耽忧。”王夫人被薛姨妈一番言语说得极有理，心想：“宝钗小时候更是廉静寡欲极爱素淡的，他所以才有这个事，想人生在世真有一定数的。看着宝钗虽是痛哭，他端庄样儿一点不走，却倒来劝我，这是真真难得的！不想宝玉这样一个人，红尘中福分竟没有一点儿！”想了一回，也觉解了好些。又想到袭人身上：“若说别的丫头呢，没有什么难处的，大的配了出去，小的服侍二奶奶就是了。独有袭人可怎么处呢？”此时人多，也不好说，且等晚上和薛姨妈商量。

那日薛姨妈并未回家，因恐宝钗痛哭，所以在宝钗房中解劝。那宝钗却是极明理，思前想后，“宝玉原是一种奇异的人。夙世前因，自有一定，原无可怨天尤人。”更将大道理的话告诉他母亲了。薛姨妈心里反倒安了，便到王夫人那里先把宝钗的话说了。王夫人点头叹道：“若说我无德，不该有这样好媳妇了。”说着，更又伤心起来。薛姨妈倒又劝了一会子，因又提起袭人来，说：“我见袭人近来瘦的了不得，他是一心想着宝哥儿。但是正配呢理应守的，屋里人愿守也是有的。惟有这袭人，虽说是算个屋里人，到底他和宝哥儿并没有过明路儿的。”王夫人道：“我才刚想着，正要等妹妹商量商量。若说放他出去，恐怕他不愿意，又要寻死觅活的；若要留着他也罢，又恐老爷不依。所以难处。”薛姨妈道：“我看姨老爷是再不肯叫守着的。再者姨老爷并不知道袭人的事，想来不过是个丫头，那有留的理呢？只要姊姊叫他本家的人来，狠狠的吩咐他，叫他配一门正经亲事，再多多的陪送他些东西。那孩子心肠儿也好，年纪儿又轻，也不枉跟了姐姐会子，也算姐姐待他不薄了。袭人那里还得我细细劝他。就是叫他家的人来也不用告诉他，只等他家里果然说定了好人家儿，我们还打听打听，若果然足衣足食，女婿长的像个人儿，然后叫他出去。”王夫人听了道：“这个主意很是。不然叫老爷冒冒失失的一办，我可不是又害了一个人了么！”薛姨妈听了点头道：“可不是么！”又说了几句，便辞了王夫人，仍到宝钗房中去了。

看见袭人泪痕满面，薛姨妈便劝解譬喻了一会。袭人本来老实，不是伶牙俐齿的人，薛姨妈说一句，他应一句，回来说道：“我是做下人的人，姨太太瞧得起我，才和我说这些话，我是从不敢违拗太太的。”薛姨妈听他的话，“好一个柔顺的孩子！”心里更加喜欢。宝钗又将大义的话说了一遍，大家各自相安。

过了几日，贾政回家，众人迎接。贾政见贾赦贾珍已都回家，弟兄叔侄相见，大家历叙别来的景况。然后内眷们见了，不免想起宝玉来，又大家伤了一会子心。贾政喝住道：“这是一定的道理。如今只要我们在外把持家事，你们在内相助，断不可仍是从前这样的散慢。别房的事，各有各家料理，也不用承总。我们本房的事，里头全归于你，都要按理而行。”王夫人便将宝钗有孕的话也告诉了，将来丫头们都放出去。贾政听了，点头无语。

次日贾政进内，请示大臣们，说是：“蒙恩感激，但未服阕[4]，应该怎么谢恩之处，望乞大人们指教。”众朝臣说是代奏请旨。于是圣恩浩荡，即命陛见。贾政进内谢了恩，圣上又降了好些旨意，又问起宝玉的事来。贾政据实回奏。圣上称奇，旨意说，宝玉的文章固是清奇，想他必是过来人，所以如此。若在朝中，可以进用。他既不敢受圣朝的爵位，便赏了一个“文妙真人”的道号。贾政又叩头谢恩而出。

回到家中，贾琏贾珍接着，贾政将朝内的话述了一遍，众人喜欢。贾珍便回说：“宁国府第收拾齐全，回明了要搬过去。栊翠庵圈在园内，给四妹妹静养。”贾政并不言语，隔了半日，却吩咐了一番仰报天恩的话。贾琏也趁便回说：“巧姐亲事，父亲太太都愿意给周家为媳。”贾政昨晚也知巧姐的始末，便说：“大老爷大太太作主就是了。莫说村居不好，只要人家清白，孩子肯念书，能够上进。朝里那些官儿难道都是城里的人么？”贾琏答应了“是”，又说：“父亲有了年纪，况且又有痰症的根子，静养几年，诸事原仗二老爷为主。”贾政道：“提起村居养静，甚合我意。只是我受恩深重，尚未酬报耳。”贾政说毕进内。贾琏打发请了刘姥姥来，应了这件事。刘姥姥见了王夫人等，便说些将来怎样升官，怎样起家，怎样子孙昌盛。

正说着，丫头回道：“花自芳的女人进来请安。”王夫人问几句话，花自芳的女人将亲戚作媒，说的是城南蒋家的，现在有房有地，又有铺面，姑爷年纪略大几岁，并没有娶过的，况且人物儿长的是百里挑一的。王夫人听了愿意，说道：“你去应了，隔几日进来再接你妹子罢。”王夫人又命人打听，都说是好。王夫人便告诉了宝钗，仍请了薛姨妈细细的告诉了袭人。袭人悲伤不已，又不敢违命的，心里想起宝玉那年到他家去，回来说的死也不回去的话，“如今太太硬作主张。若说我守着，又叫人说我不害臊；若是去了，实不是我的心愿”，便哭得咽哽难鸣，又被薛姨妈宝钗等苦劝，回过念头想道：“我若是死在这里，倒把太太的好心弄坏了。我该死在家里才是。”

于是，袭人含悲叩辞了众人，那姐妹分手时自然更有一番不忍说。袭人怀着必死的心肠上车回去，见了哥哥嫂子，也是哭泣，但只说不出来。那花自芳悉把蒋家的聘礼送给他看，又把自己所办妆奁一一指给他瞧，说那是太太赏的，那是置办的。袭人此时更难开口，住了两天，细想起来：“哥哥办事不错，若是死在哥哥家里，岂不又害了哥哥呢。”千思万想，左右为难，真是一缕柔肠，几乎牵断，只得忍住。

那日已是迎娶吉期，袭人本不是那一种泼辣人，委委屈屈的上轿而去，心里另想到那里再作打算。岂知过了门，见那蒋家办事极其认真，全都按着正配的规矩。一进了门，丫头仆妇都称奶奶。袭人此时欲要死在这里，又恐害了人家，辜负了一番好意。那夜原是哭着不肯俯就的，那姑爷却极柔情曲意的承顺。到了第二天开箱[5]，这姑爷看见一条猩红汗巾，方知是宝玉的丫头。原来当初只知是贾母的侍儿，益想不到是袭人。此时蒋玉菡念着宝玉待他的旧情，倒觉满心惶愧，更加周旋，又故意将宝玉所换那条松花绿的汗巾拿出来。袭人看了，方知这姓蒋的原来就是蒋玉菡，始信姻缘前定。袭人才将心事说出，蒋玉菡也深为叹息敬服，不敢勉强，并越发温柔体贴，弄得个袭人真无死所了。看官听说：虽然事有前定，无可奈何。但孽子孤臣，义夫节妇，这“不得已”三字也不是一概推委得的。此袭人所以在又副册也。正是前人过那桃花庙的诗上说道：

千古艰难惟一死，伤心岂独息夫人[6]！

不言袭人从此又是一番天地。且说那贾雨村犯了婪索的案件，审明定罪，今遇大赦，褫籍为民[7]。雨村因叫家眷先行，自己带了一个小厮，一车行李，来到急流津觉迷渡口。只见一个道者从那渡头草棚里出来，执手相迎。雨村认得是甄士隐，也连忙打恭。士隐道：“贾老先生别来无恙？”雨村道：“老仙长到底是甄老先生！何前次相逢觌面不认？后知火焚草亭，下鄙深为惶恐。今日幸得相逢，益叹老仙翁道德高深。奈鄙人下愚不移，致有今日。”甄士隐道：“前者老大人高官显爵，贫道怎敢相认！原因故交，敢赠片言，不意老大人相弃之深。然而富贵穷通，亦非偶然，今日复得相逢，也是一桩奇事。这里离草庵不远，暂请膝谈，未知可否？”

雨村欣然领命，两人携手而行，小厮驱车随后，到了一座茅庵。士隐让进雨村坐下，小童献上茶来。雨村便请教仙长超尘的始末。士隐笑道：“一念之间，尘凡顿易。老先生从繁华境中来，岂不知温柔富贵乡中有一宝玉乎？”雨村道：“怎么不知。近闻纷纷传述，说他也遁入空门。下愚当时也曾与他往来过数次，再不想此人竟有如是之决绝。”士隐道：“非也。这一段奇缘，我先知之。昔年我与先生在仁清巷旧宅门口叙话之前，我已会过他一面。”雨村惊讶道：“京城离贵乡甚远，何以能见？”士隐道：“神交久矣。”雨村道：“既然如此，现今宝玉的下落，仙长定能知之。”士隐道：“宝玉，即宝玉也。那年荣宁查抄之前，钗黛分离之日，此玉早已离世。一为避祸，二为撮合，从此夙缘一了，形质归一。又复稍示神灵，高魁贵子，方显得此玉那天奇地灵煅炼之宝，非凡间可比。前经茫茫大士渺渺真人携带下凡，如今尘缘已满，仍是此二人携归本处，这便是宝玉的下落。”雨村听了，虽不能全然明白，却也十知四五，便点头叹道：“原来如此，下愚不知。但那宝玉既有如此的来历，又何以情迷至此，复又豁悟如此？还要请教。”士隐笑道：“此事说来，老先生未必尽解。太虚幻境即是真如福地。一番阅册，原始要终之道，历历生平，如何不悟？仙草归真，焉有通灵不复原之理呢！”雨村听着，却不明白了。知仙机也不便更问，因又说道：“宝玉之事既得闻命，但是敝族闺秀如此之多，何元妃以下算来结局俱属平常呢？”士隐叹息道：“老先生莫怪拙言，贵族之女俱属从情天孽海而来。大凡古今女子，那‘淫’字固不可犯，只这‘情’字也是沾染不得的。所以崔莺苏小[8]，无非仙子尘心；宋玉相如，大是文人口孽[9]。凡是情思缠绵的，那结果就不可问了。”雨村听到这里，不觉拈须长叹，因又问道：“请教老仙翁，那荣宁两府，尚可如前否？”士隐道：“福善祸淫，古今定理。现今荣宁两府，善者修缘，恶者悔祸，将来兰桂齐芳，家道复初，也是自然的道理。”雨村低了半日头，忽然笑道：“是了，是了。现在他府中有一个名兰的已中乡榜，恰好应着‘兰’字。适间老仙翁说‘兰桂齐芳’，又道宝玉‘高魁子贵’，莫非他有遗腹之子，可以飞黄腾达的么？”士隐微微笑道：“此系后事，未便预说。”雨村还要再问，士隐不答，便命人设具盘飧，邀雨村共食。

食毕，雨村还要问自己的终身，士隐便道：“老先生草庵暂歇，我还有一段俗缘未了，正当今日完结。”雨村惊讶道：“仙长纯修若此，不知尚有何俗缘？”士隐道：“也不过是儿女私情罢了。”雨村听了益发惊异：“请问仙长，何出此言？”士隐道：“老先生有所不知，小女英莲幼遭尘劫，老先生初任之时曾经判断。今归薛姓，产难完劫，遗一子于薛家以承宗祧[10]。此时正是尘缘脱尽之时，只好接引接引。”士隐说着拂袖而起。雨村心中恍恍惚惚，就在这急流津觉迷渡口草庵中睡着了。

这士隐自去度脱了香菱，送到太虚幻境，交那警幻仙子对册。刚过牌坊，见那一僧一道，缥缈而来。士隐接着说道：“大士、真人，恭喜，贺喜！情缘完结，都交割清楚了么？”那僧道说：“情缘尚未全结，倒是那蠢物已经回来了。还得把他送还原所，将他的后事叙明，不枉他下世一回。”士隐听了，便拱手而别。那僧道仍携了玉到青埂峰下，将宝玉安放在女娲炼石补天之处，各自云游而去。从此后，“天外书传天外事，两番人作一番人。”

这一日空空道人又从青埂峰前经过，见那补天未用之石仍在那里，上面字迹依然如旧，又从头的细细看了一遍，见后面偈文后又历叙了多少收缘结果的话头，便点头叹道：“我从前见石兄这段奇文，原说可以闻世传奇，所以曾经抄录，但未见返本还原。不知何时复有此一佳话，方知石兄下凡一次，磨出光明，修成圆觉[11]，也可谓无复遗憾了。只怕年深日久，字迹模糊，反有舛错，不如我再抄录一番，寻个世上清闲无事的人，托他传遍，知道奇而不奇，俗而不俗，真而不真，假而不假。或者尘梦劳人，聊倩鸟呼归去[12]；山灵好客，更从石化飞来[13]，亦未可知。”想毕，便又抄了，仍袖至那繁华昌盛的地方，遍寻了一番，不是建功立业之人，即系口谋衣之辈，那有闲情更去和石头饶舌。直寻到急流津觉迷渡口，草庵中睡着一个人，因想他必是闲人，便要将这抄录的《石头记》给他看看。那知那人再叫不醒。空空道人复又使劲拉他，才慢慢的开眼坐起，便接来草草一看，仍旧掷下道：“这事我已亲见尽知。你这抄录的尚无舛错，我只指与你一个人，托他传去，便可归结这一新鲜公案了。”空空道人〔二〕忙问何人，那人道：“你须待某年某月某日某时到一个悼红轩中，有个曹雪芹先生，只说贾雨村言托他如此如此。”说毕，仍旧睡下了。

那空空道人牢牢记着此言，又不知过了几世几劫，果然有个悼红轩，见那曹雪芹先生正在那里翻阅历来的古史。空空道人便将贾雨村言了，方把这《石头记》示看。那雪芹先生笑道：“果然是‘贾雨村言’了！”空空道人便问：“先生何以认得此人，便肯替他传述？”曹雪芹先生笑道：“说你空，原来你肚里果然空空。既是假语村言，但无鲁鱼亥豕[15]以及背谬矛盾之处，乐得与二三同志，酒馀饭饱，雨夕灯窗之下，同消寂寞，又不必大人先生品题传世。似你这样寻根究底，便是刻舟求剑[16]，胶柱鼓瑟了。”那空空道人听了，仰天大笑，掷下抄本，飘然而去。一面走着，口中说道：“果然是敷衍荒唐！不但作者不知，抄者不知，并阅者也不知。不过游戏笔墨，陶情适性而已！”后人见了这本奇传，亦曾题过四句为作者缘起之言更转一竿头[17]云：

说到辛酸处，荒唐愈可悲。

由来同一梦，休笑世人痴！

〔一〕 “毘陵”，原作“昆陆”，从藤本、程乙本改。

[2] 毘（pí皮）陵——地名。汉置县，晋置郡改称晋陵。治所在今江苏省常州市。

[3] 问讯——僧尼向人合掌问安叫问讯。

[4] 服阕——父母死后守丧三年，期满除服称为“服阕”。服：丧服；阕：终了的意思。

[5] 开箱——女子嫁后第一次打开陪嫁的箱柜妆奁谓之开箱。

[6] 息夫人——春秋时息国君主的夫人，姓妫。楚灭息，她被楚文王掳而为妾，生二子，却始终不同楚王说话，问其故，答道：“吾一妇人而事二夫，纵弗能死，其又奚言？”事见《左传》庄公十四年。汉代刘向《列女传》说她后来又见到息君，终于自杀，与《左传》所载不同。后代文人多有题咏，这里所引的诗句见清初邓汉仪《题息夫人庙》。息夫人又称桃花夫人，“桃花庙”也即息夫人庙。

[7] 褫（chǐ耻）籍为民——革去官职禄籍，贬为平民百姓。褫：黜革；剥夺。

[8] 苏小——即苏小小，六朝南齐时钱塘名妓。《乐府诗集》有《苏小小歌》，后代多有以苏小小为题材的诗词散曲话本等，成为文学作品中一个常见的人物。

[9] 大是、口孽——大是，都是。口孽，佛教用语，即口业，指妄言、恶口、绮语等。

[10] 以承宗祧（tiāo挑）——宗祧即宗庙。传宗接代叫承祧。

[11] 圆觉——佛家语，所谓圆满之灵觉，或称无上觉，指智慧和功行都已达到最高最圆满的境地，即悟道成佛的意思。

[12] 尘梦劳人，聊倩鸟呼归去——尘梦，尘世的幻梦。见唐代曹唐《仙子洞中有怀刘阮》。劳，烦恼、纷扰。鸟呼归去，传说杜鹃的鸣声像“不如归去”。这句意为，尘世的梦幻使人烦恼，不如借助杜鹃的鸣声唤醒迷梦，寻找归宿。

[13] 山灵好客，更从石化飞来——山灵：山神。飞来：寓飞来峰故事。飞来峰在浙江杭州灵隐山东南，相传东晋时印度僧人慧理登此山叹道，此是中天竺国灵鹫山之小岭，“不知何年飞来”，因名飞来峰，亦称灵鹫峰（见《舆地志》）。与上句相连，这句包含使顽石归化的意思。

〔二〕 “空空道人”，原作“定道有”，从藤本改。

[15] 鲁鱼亥豕——古代篆书，“鲁”与“鱼”、“亥”与“豕”字形相近，抄写易误，后人因称文字形近而传写讹误为“鲁鱼亥豕”。鲁鱼：《抱朴子·遐览》：“书字人知之，犹尚写之多误，故谚曰，书三写，鱼成鲁，虚成虎。”亥豕：《吕氏春秋·察传》：“有读史记者曰：‘晋师三豕涉河’，子夏曰：‘非也，是己亥也’，夫己与三相近，豕与亥相似。至于晋而问之，则曰，晋师己亥涉河也。”

[16] 刻舟求剑——《吕氏春秋·察今》载：楚国有人过江时，剑掉在水里，他就在船帮上刻下记号，船至岸停泊，他还从所刻的记号处入水去找剑，当然没有找到。后以“刻舟求剑”喻固守成式不知变通。

[17] 更转一竿头——即“百尺竿头更进一步”。这里是说结语比缘起之言意思更进一层。

CHAPTER 120. Zhen Shi-yin expounds the Nature of Passion and Illusion And Jia Yu-cun concludes the Dream of Golden Days

As soon as she heard from Ripple that Aroma had been taken seriously ill, Bao-chai hurried in with Qiao-jie and Patience to see her. They found her lying unconscious on the kang, having had what seemed to be a heart seizure. They forced some cool boiled water through her lips and eventually she came round, whereupon they settled her down to sleep and sent for the doctor.

‘How could Aroma have been taken like this so suddenly?’ asked Qiao-jie.

‘The other evening,’ replied Bao-chai, ‘she wept herself into a terrible state and had a sudden giddy spell. Mother told one of the maids to help her up from the ground and in the end she went to sleep. There was so much else happening at the time that we never sent for a doctor. That must be what has brought this on.’

The doctor arrived presently, and the ladies withdrew. When he had taken Aroma’s pulses, he diagnosed her condition as the consequence of undue excitement and anger, wrote out a prescription accordingly and took his leave.

Aroma had in fact overheard (or thought she had overheard) someone saying that if Bao-yu failed to return all of his maids would be dismissed. It was the shock of hearing this that had upset her and aggravated her illness. When the doctor had departed, and when Ripple went out to prepare her medicine, Aroma was left lying alone on her bed, and in her confusion she thought she could see Bao-yu standing before her. Then the dim figure of a monk appeared before her eyes, holding the pages of an album open in his hand and saying:

‘You are not destined to be mine. In days to come another will claim you for his own.’

Aroma was about to speak to him, when Ripple returned.

‘Your medicine’s ready,’ she said. ‘You’d better take it now.’

Aroma opened her eyes and knew that it had all been a dream. She did not confide in Ripple, but swallowed her medicine and lay there brooding to herself:

‘Bao-yu must have gone away with that monk. I remember that day when he tried to take the jade out and give it to the monk, he seemed bent on escaping. When I tried to stop him he wasn’t his normal self, pushing and shoving me off like that. He didn’t seem to care about me any more. And ever since then, he has been so cool with Mrs Bao, and quite indifferent towards the rest of us.

‘I suppose you think this is enlightenment. But what sort of enlightenment is it, for you to abandon your own wife? Her Ladyship asked me to serve you, but although my monthly pay has been that of a chamber-wife, I have never been officially recognized as one. Now if the Master and Her Ladyship dismiss me and I insist on staying, out of respect to your memory, people will think me ridiculous. But how can I bear to leave, remembering how things were between us?’

She agonized over her dilemma, and recalling the ominous words Bao-yu had spoken to her in her dream she vowed to herself that if her destiny could not be shared with Bao-yu she would rather not live at all.

With the medicine, however, the pain in her heart gradually subsided. She felt guilty to be lying down all the time, but forced herself to rest and struggled through the next few days until she was able to get up and about again and wait on her mistress. Bao-chai herself, although she was constantly thinking of Bao-yu and shed many a tear in private over her own unhappy fate, was kept busy helping her own mother to arrange for the payment of Xue Pan’s commutation fine, by no means an easy task. But of this no more.

Jia Zheng had arrived in Nanking with Grandmother Jia’s coffin, accompanied by Jia Rong and the coffins of Qin-shi, Xi-feng, Dai-yu and Faithful. They made arrangements for the Jia family members to be interred, and then Jia Rong took Dai-yu’s coffin to her own family graveyard to be buried there, while Jia Zheng saw to the construction of the tombs. Then one day a letter arrived from home, in which he read of the success achieved by Bao-yu and Jia Lan in their examinations – which gave him great pleasure – and of Bao-yu’s disappearance, which disturbed him greatly and made him decide to cut short his stay and hurry home. On his return journey he learned of the amnesty decreed by the Emperor, and received another letter from home telling him that Jia She and Cousin Zhen had been pardoned, and their titles restored. Much cheered by this news, he pressed on towards home, travelling by day and night.

On the day when his boat reached the post-station at Piling, there was a sudden cold turn in the weather and it began to snow. He moored in a quiet, lonely stretch of the canal and sent his servants ashore to deliver a few visiting-cards and to apologize to his friends in the locality, saying that since his boat was due to set off again at any moment he would not be able to call on them in person or entertain them aboard. Only one page-boy remained to wait on him while he sat in the cabin writing a letter home (to be sent on ahead by land). When he came to write about Bao-yu, he paused for a moment and looked up. There, up on deck, standing in the very entrance to his cabin and silhouetted dimly against the snow, was the figure of a man with shaven head and bare feet, wrapped in a large cape made of crimson felt. The figure knelt down and bowed to Jia Zheng, who did not recognize the features and hurried out on deck, intending to raise him up and ask him his name. The man bowed four times, and now stood upright, pressing his palms together in monkish greeting. Jia Zheng was about to reciprocate with a respectful bow of the head when he looked into the man’s eyes and with a sudden shock recognized him as Bao-yu.

‘Are you not my son?’ he asked.

The man was silent and an expression that seemed to contain both joy and sorrow played on his face. Jia Zheng asked again:

‘If you are Bao-yu, why are you dressed like this? And what brings you to this place?’

Before Bao-yu could reply two other men appeared on the deck, a Buddhist monk and a Taoist, and holding him between them they said:

‘Come, your earthly karma is complete. Tarry no longer.’

The three of them mounted the bank and strode off into the snow. Jia Zheng went chasing after them along the slippery track, but although he could spy them ahead of him, somehow they always remained just out of reach. He could hear all three of them singing some sort of a song:

‘On Greensickness Peak I dwell; In the Cosmic Void I roam. Who will pass over, Who will go with me, Who will explore The supremely ineffable Vastly mysterious Wilderness To which I return!’

Jia Zheng listened to the song and continued to follow them until they rounded the slope of a small hill and suddenly vanished from sight. He was weak and out of breath by now with the exertion of the chase, and greatly mystified by what he had seen. Looking back he saw his page-boy, hurrying up behind him.

‘Did you see those three men just now?’ he questioned him.

‘Yes, sir, I did,’ replied the page. ‘I saw you following them, so I came too. Then they disappeared and I could see no one but you.’

Jia Zheng wanted to continue, but all he could see before him was a vast expanse of white, with not a soul anywhere. He knew there was more to this strange occurrence than he could understand, and reluctantly he turned back and began to retrace his steps.

The other servants had returned to their master’s boat to find the cabin empty and were told by the boatman that Jia Zheng had gone on shore in pursuit of two monks and a Taoist. They followed his footsteps through the snow and when they saw him coming towards them in the distance hurried forward to meet him, and then all returned to the boat together. Jia Zheng sat down to regain his breath and told them what had happened. They sought his authority to mount a search for Bao-yu in the area, but Jia Zheng dismissed the idea.

‘You do not understand,’ he said with a sigh. ‘This was indeed no supernatural apparition; I saw these men with my own eyes. I heard them singing, and the words of their song held a most profound and mysterious meaning. Bao-yu came into the world with his jade, and there was always something strange about it. I knew it for an ill omen. But because his grandmother doted on him so, we nurtured him and brought him up until now. That monk and that Taoist I have seen before, three times altogether. The first time was when they came to extol the virtues of the jade; the second was when Bao-yu was seriously ill and the monk came and said a prayer over the jade, which seemed to cure Bao-yu at once; the third time was when he restored the jade to us after it had been lost. He was sitting in the hall one minute, and the next he had vanished completely. I thought it strange at the time and could only conclude that perhaps Bao-yu was in some way blessed and that these two holy men had come to protect him. But the truth of the matter must be that he himself is a being from a higher realm who has descended into the world to experience the trials of this human life. For these past nineteen years he has been doted on in vain by his poor grandmother! Now at last I understand!’

As he said these words, tears came to his eyes.

‘But surely,’ protested one of the servants, ‘if Mr Bao was really a Buddhist Immortal, what need was there for him to bother with passing his exams before disappearing?’

‘How can you ever hope to understand these things?’ replied Jia Zheng with a sigh. ‘The constellations in the heavens, the hermits in their hills, the spirits in their caves, each has a particular configuration, a unique temperament. When did you ever see Bao-yu willingly work at his books? And yet if once he applied himself, nothing was beyond his reach. His temperament was certainly unique.’

In an effort to restore his spirits, the servants turned the conversation to Jia Lan’s success in the exams and the revival of the family fortunes. Then Jia Zheng completed and sealed his letter, in which he related his encounter with Bao-yu and instructed the family not to brood over their loss too much, and despatched one of the servants to deliver it to Rong-guo House while he himself continued his journey by boat. But of this no more.

When Aunt Xue heard of the general amnesty pronounced by the Emperor she sent Xue Ke to borrow money from wherever he could, to add to what she herself had collected for Xue Pan’s commutation fine. The Board of Justice finally gave its approval and agreed to receive the money in settlement, whereupon an official document was issued authorizing Xue Pan’s release. When he was reunited with his family, there was a great deal of news for him to catch up on, some of it sad, some more cheerful. But this we can safely leave to the reader’s imagination. Xue Pan for his part uttered a solemn vow:

‘If I ever behave like that again, may I be hacked to death piece by piece!’

Aunt Xue held her hand over his mouth:

‘Just make your mind up to mend your ways! There’s no need for all these blood-curdling oaths! But what are you going to do about Caltrop? Jin-gui died by her own hand, and though we may be poor, you can still afford to fill her place. After all Caltrop has been through on your account, I think you owe it to her to make her your proper wife. What do you think?’

Xue Pan nodded his head in consent, while Bao-chai gave Aunt Xue’s suggestion her full support. Caltrop herself seemed overwhelmed and flushed a deep crimson:

‘It’s the same to me if I continue to serve Mr Pan,’ she said. ‘There’s no need to change things.’

From then on all the servants began calling her Mrs Pan, and looked up to her with great respect.

Xue Pan next went to call on the Jias and offered them his thanks for all that they had done. He was accompanied by his mother and Bao-chai, and there was quite a family gathering at Rong-guo House. Greetings were exchanged, and they were still chatting when a messenger arrived and presented the letter which Jia Zheng had written on the boat.

‘The Master will be arriving in a matter of days,’ he reported.

Lady Wang told Jia Lan to read the letter out aloud. When he reached the passage where Jia Zheng described his encounter with Bao-yu, they all wept bitterly, Lady Wang, Bao-chai and Aroma most bitterly of all. Then they listened as Jia Lan read out Jia Zheng’s words of advice, that they were not to grieve but to understand that this was Bao-yu’s destiny, that he was the reincarnation of a Buddhist Immortal.

‘If he had ever risen to become an official and his career had then ended in disaster, it would have been much worse,’ they consoled themselves. ‘That would have meant public condemnation and ruin. Better that we should at least enjoy the honour of having had a holy man in the family. After all, it was his own father’s and mother’s karma, their virtue, that enabled him to be born into this family. Without wishing to be disrespectful, even Sir Jing from Ning-guo House who practised yoga all those years failed to become an Immortal. Bao-yu’s is no mean achievement. If you think of it in this light, Auntie’ (referring to Lady Wang), ‘it should be possible to have an easier mind.’

‘Do you think I hold it against Bao-yu that he has abandoned me?’ sobbed Lady Wang to Aunt Xue. ‘No, what grieves me is the thought of his wife’s unhappy fate. After little more than a year of marriage, how could he be so unfeeling as to desert her like this?’

Aunt Xue found this quite heart-rending, while Bao-chai had already wept herself into a faint. Since all the menfolk had adjourned to the front hall, Lady Wang continued to pour her heart out to her sister:

‘After all the alarms and excursions I had to endure on his behalf, I finally had the comfort of seeing him marry and pass his exams, and could even look forward to the birth of a grandchild. And now this! If I’d known it would end like this I would never have let him marry in the first place! I would never have let him bring such unhappiness on the poor girl!’

‘These things are all decreed by fate,’ Aunt Xue consoled her. ‘What else could we possibly have said or done in the circumstances? We must count ourselves blessed that my daughter is with child, and that you will have a grandchild. I am sure that he at least will do well and bring some good out of all this. Look at Li Wan: her son has passed his Provincial examination, and no doubt next year young Lan will go on to become a Palace Graduate and an official. After all that his mother has suffered, now at last she can reap her reward. As for my daughter, you know that she is not a fickle or flighty girl. You have no cause to worry on her account.’

Lady Wang found her sister’s words convincing and reassuring.

‘Bao-chai was always so demure and restrained as a child,’ she reflected to herself. ‘Always fond of plain, simple things. Perhaps that is why she has ended up in this predicament. Perhaps everything in this world really is fated! Though Chai has wept a great deal, she has never lost her sense of dignity. In fact she has even on occasion tried to comfort me. What a rare girl she is! So unlike her poor husband, who clearly was not meant for any joy in this world.’

Comforted somewhat by these thoughts, Lady Wang turned her mind to Aroma:

‘None of the other maids presents much of a problem. The older ones can be married off, the younger ones can continue to wait on Bao-chai. But what am I to do with Aroma?’

She did not feel she could raise such a sensitive matter at a large family gathering, and decided to wait until the evening when she could discuss it privately with her sister.

Aunt Xue did not go home that night but stayed to comfort Bao-chai, afraid she might weep to excess. But in the end, as it turned out, Bao-chai was extremely reasonable. She reflected stoically on the whole course of events and concluded that since Bao-yu had always been a very strange creature, and since no doubt all that had happened had been preordained, there was little point in fighting against it. She expressed this in a very level-headed way to her mother, who was most relieved to hear her adopt this attitude and communicated it to Lady Wang when she next saw her. Lady Wang nodded and sighed:

‘If I really were a wicked woman, fate would never have given me such a wonderful daughter-in-law!’

She started to become tearful again, and Aunt Xue tried to calm her down. She brought up the subject of Aroma:

‘She has grown so terribly thin of late. All she ever does is brood about Bao-yu. It’s right and proper for a wife to exhibit loyalty to her husband, even when he is a true husband to her no longer. And a chamber-wife may do the same if she wishes. But Aroma was never formally declared to be Bao-yu’s chamber-wife, even though in fact we know that she was.’

‘Yes, I was thinking about this only a short while ago,’ said Lady Wang. ‘I was waiting for a chance to talk it over with you in private. If we simply dismiss her from service, I’m afraid she won’t want to go, and may even try to take her own life. We could keep her on, but I am afraid Sir Zheng would not approve. It is a tricky problem.’

‘I hardly think Sir Zheng would want her to remain single and make a show of faithfulness to Bao-yu,’ said Aunt Xue. ‘He doesn’t even know that she was Bao-yu’s chamber-wife. He has always thought of her as just an ordinary maid, so it would seem rather absurd to him to want to keep her on. The only solution is for you to send for a member of her own family and impress upon them the importance of arranging a decent marriage for her. We can give her a generous send-off. She is a good-natured girl and still quite young. You should do what you can for her after all the years she has worked for you. Let me explain things carefully to her. There’s no need to let her know straight away. First we should get in touch with her family and let them arrange a match; next we should make some enquiries ourselves; and then if it seems that the prospective husband’s family are in a position to support her properly, and if the young man himself seems suitable, we can let her leave and get married.’

‘That’s a very good idea. You’ve thought it all out very well,’ replied Lady Wang. ‘If we do not take the initiative, Sir Zheng may go ahead himself and deal with her in a very tactless way, and then I will be responsible for yet another misfortune.’

‘Exactly the same thought had occurred to me,’ said Aunt Xue nodding her head.

After they had chatted a while longer, Aunt Xue took her leave and went to Bao-chai’s apartment. She found Aroma in floods of tears and did her best to console her, speaking so far as possible in vague generalities. Aroma was at heart a simple girl and not much of a talker, and she merely gave the appropriate responses to whatever Aunt Xue said.

‘I am only a servant,’ she said in the end, ‘and it is very kind of you to think to speak to me like this, ma’am. I have never dared to go against any wish of Her Ladyship’s.’

‘There’s a good girl!’ said Aunt Xue, more pleased than ever with her. Bao-chai added a few high-sounding words of her own and when she and Aunt Xue parted from Aroma their minds were considerably more at ease.

A few days later Jia Zheng came home and was greeted on his arrival by all the family. Jia She and Cousin Zhen had also returned from their exile by now, and they spent some time with Jia Zheng, catching up on each other’s news. Then Jia Zheng went in to see the womenfolk. Bao-yu’s absence cast a shadow of gloom over the gathering, which Jia Zheng tried to dispel as best he could.

‘There was a reason behind all this!’ he said. ‘It is up to us men now to maintain a high standard of public life, and I hope that all of you meanwhile will lend us your support here at home. There must be no hint of any slipping back into the lax old ways. Each apartment can look after its own affairs, and we’ve no need of a general manager. Everything in our own apartment I leave to you’ (this was addressed to Lady Wang), ‘to deal with in a fitting manner.’

Lady Wang informed him that Bao-chai was with child, and that all Bao-yu’s maids would be dismissed. Jia Zheng nodded in silence.

The following day he attended court to receive his instructions from the chief ministers.

‘I am extremely grateful for His Majesty’s gracious favour,’ he said. ‘But since this is still within my period of mourning, I beg you to instruct me how I should express my gratitude.’

The ministers offered to present a memorial on his behalf. The Emperor most magnanimously granted Jia Zheng a special audience, and after listening to his formal expression of thanks favoured him with several Imperial instructions and enquired after his son, the successful Provincial Graduate. Jia Zheng told him the full story of Bao-yu’s disppearance. The Emperor marvelled at it and declared that Bao-yu’s compositions had indeed manifested a remarkable originality, the very quality one would expect of a soul from another plane. Such a person could have excelled at court if such had been his destiny; but since he had not deigned to earn honours of a worldly nature, it was His Majesty’s pleasure to confer upon him the religious title Magister Verbi Profundi – Master of the Profound Word.

Jia Zheng kowtowed again to express his thanks for this great honour, and took his leave. On his return home he was received by Jia Lian and Cousin Zhen, who were delighted to hear the latest news from court.

‘Ning-guo House has been set in order,’ said Cousin Zhen, ‘and with your consent we intend to take up residence there again. Green Bower Hermitage in the Garden has been set aside for my sister Xi-chun’s devotions.’

After a pause for reflection Jia Zheng gave them a long homily on their debt of gratitude to the throne for all these favours. Jia Lian took the opportunity of raising the issue of his daughter’s marriage:

‘Both Mother and Father are willing that Qiao-jie should be married to this Master Zhou.’

Jia Zheng had heard the full details of Qiao-jie’s story the previous evening, and replied:

‘If that is their decision, then so be it. There is nothing against a country life. What matters is that the family should be an honest one and the lad should be prepared to study and make his way in the world. Not every official at court is from a city family, after all.’

Jia Lian replied appropriately and continued:

‘Father is advanced in years, and is moreover afflicted with a chronic phlegmatic condition. He plans to retire for a few years and leave everything in your hands, Uncle.’

‘A quiet retirement in the country would suit me well enough,’ commented Jia Zheng. ‘But alas my obligations to the throne do not permit it.’

Jia Zheng went in to see Lady Wang, while Jia Lian sent someone to invite Grannie Liu over. When she was informed that the match had been approved by the Master, she proceeded to favour Lady Wang and the other ladies with a long speech on the certain future success of the young man, how his family was sure to come up in the world, and what a prosperous multitude of sons and grandsons the couple were sure to breed.

While she was talking one of the maids came in to announce that Hua Zi-fang, Aroma’s brother, had sent his wife to convey his respects. Lady Wang spoke to the woman and ascertained from her that a match had been proposed by the Hua family to a certain Mr Jiang living south of the city, a young man with property and land and a pawnshop business of his own. He was a few years older than Aroma but had never married and was exceptionally good-looking. Lady Wang was satisfied with this description of the match.

‘Tell them I agree,’ she said. ‘In a few days’ time your husband can come and fetch his sister and take her away to be married.’

She also sent some of her own people to make discreet enquiries, and received confirmation of the man’s character, whereupon she informed Bao-chai, and asked Aunt Xue to break the news gently to Aroma. Poor Aroma was inconsolable at the prospect of leaving Rong-guo House, but she could not offer any resistance. She remembered the visit Bao-yu had paid her at home many years previously, and the oath she had sworn afterwards, never to leave him even in death. ‘Now Her Ladyship is making me do this against my will, and if I insist on remaining single and faithful to his memory, people will call me shameless. But if I do go, it is not of my own wishing.’

She wept until she was choking with tears. Aunt Xue and Bao-chai did their utmost to talk her round, and eventually she thought to herself:

‘If I were to die here, it would be a poor return for all Her Ladyship’s kindness to me in the past. I had best die at home.’

So she bade farewell to them all, her heart heavy with sorrow. It was equally painful for her to part from the other maids. Resolved to end her own life at the first opportunity, she mounted a carriage and set off for home. When she saw her brother and his wife, there were more tears, but she could not bring herself to say what was on her mind. Her brother showed her one by one all the presents sent by the Jiang family, and the trousseau that he himself had made ready for her, a part of which, he explained, had been given by Lady Wang, while a part he had provided himself. This kindness made it harder than ever for Aroma to express her sorrow, and after spending two days at her brother’s home, she thought things over carefully again: ‘He has done everything so nicely for me. If I were to die here, wouldn’t I be hurting him?’ She turned it over and over in her mind, and no course of action seemed easy and right. Her heart was wound into a tight knot. She could only bear her fate stoically and bide her time.

The auspicious day in the almanac arrived for her to be taken to her husband’s home, and not wishing to make a scene she concealed her grief and let herself be helped into the bridal sedan. At her new home, she thought to herself, she would make plans afresh. But once she arrived at the Jiang household, she found them so sincere and respectful towards her, deferring to her in every way as a young married lady, with the maids and serving-women all calling her Mrs Jiang the minute she set foot in the house, that death seemed impossible again: to die there would be to do them a great injury, she thought to herself; it would be a poor return for all their kindness. On her wedding night she wept without ceasing and would not at first yield to her husband’s embrace, but gradually he won her over with gentle affection.

The next day, when they were unpacking her cases together, Jiang noticed among her things a crimson cummerbund. From this clue he deduced that his bride must have been one of the maids in attendance on Bao-yu, to whom he had once presented this cummerbund. Earlier he had thought that his bride was just one of Grandmother Jia’s maids; he had certainly never dreamed that he was marrying Aroma. Jiang Yu-han (for it was he, Bao-yu’s actor friend Bijou) was greatly moved when he remembered all the warmth shown him by Bao-yu in the past, and as a consequence he treated Aroma with still greater courtesy and consideration. He showed her the viridian sash that Bao-yu had given him in exchange for the cummerbund, and this visible proof of her husband’s friendship with her erstwhile master inspired Aroma to believe that her life too lay in the hands of fate, that this marriage was indeed predestined. This in turn gave her the courage to open her heart to her husband. Jian proved himself worthy of her trust and showed her a great depth of feeling and a sincere respect, never venturing to steer her forcibly into any new direction, but showing her an ever more gentle affection and regard. Aroma was finally deprived of her last opportunity to take her own life.

Gentle Reader, it is indeed true (as Aroma concluded) that life is predestined and that ‘there’s naught to be done’. But unfortunately this argument is too often adduced by sons and statesmen who find themselves out of favour, or by faithful widows and widowers, as an excuse for moral torpor. It was this very streak in her personality that relegated Aroma to the ‘Second Supplementary Register’. As a poet of former times once wrote, when passing by the temple built in memory of the Lady of the Peach Blossom:

Throughout the ages death has been the hardest choice; Lady Xi was not alone in lamenting her weakness.*

Aroma’s married life is the first chapter of another history. Our narrative returns to Jia Yu-cun, who, having been convicted of avarice and extortion, was also released under the general amnesty and allowed to return to his native city as a common citizen. He sent his family on ahead and himself travelled with a young page and a cartload of baggage. His journey brought him once more to Wake Ness Ferry at Rushford Hythe, and as he approached the river he saw a Taoist hermit emerging from a thatched hut by the water’s edge, clasping his hands in greeting. This time Yu-cun recognized him at once as Zhen Shi-yin and promptly bowed in response.

‘Esteemed Mr Jia,’ began the old hermit, ‘I trust you have been well since we last parted?’

‘So you, sir, are indeed my erstwhile patron Mr Zhen, in Immortal form!’ exclaimed Yu-cun. ‘Why did I not know you at our last encounter? Afterwards, when I heard that your hermitage had been destroyed by fire, I was most concerned for your safety. I am fortunate indeed to have been granted this second opportunity to marvel at the profundity of your spiritual attainments. Alas, I am as benighted as ever, as you can see from my present condition.’

‘On the previous occasion,’ replied Zhen Shi-yin, ‘your position was so exalted that I dared not presume an acquaintance. Because of our old friendship, I said a few words, which you ignored altogether. Wealth and poverty, success and failure, none of these are coincidental. Nor is our meeting again like this today a coincidence, but rather a meaningful and marvellous event. We are not far from my lodge and I would be delighted if you could stop by and pass the time of day with me.’

Jia Yu-cun consented with pleasure and the two men walked hand in hand, the page following them with the baggage-cart to the little thatched hermitage. Shi-yin ushered Yu-cun in, and he sat down and was brought tea by the old man’s acolyte. Yu-cun asked to hear the story of his mystical conversion, and Shi-yin smiled:

‘In an instant my world was transformed. You yourself, sir, hailing as you do from the realm of luxury and opulence, must surely have heard there of a person by the name of Bao-yu?’

‘Of course,’ replied Yu-cun. ‘Recently I heard a rumour to the effect that he too has taken refuge in the dharma. I saw something of him in the past and it certainly never occurred to me that he would take a step like this.’

‘There is nothing unexpected about it,’ said Shi-yin. ‘I have known of his strange destiny for many years. Ever since that day long ago, in fact, when I met you outside my abode in Carnal Lane and we had that little chat. I had already encountered him then.’

‘But the capital is a long way from your old home,’ said Yu-cun in great surprise. ‘How could you possibly have set eyes on him at that time?’

‘We had long enjoyed a spiritual communion,’ replied Shi-yin darkly.

‘In that case, sir, you must know of his present whereabouts?’

‘Bao-yu,’ replied the old man, ‘is the Stone, the Precious Jade. Before the two mansions of Rong and Ning were searched and their worldly goods impounded, on the very day when Bao-chai and Dai-yu were separated, the Stone had already quit the world. This was in part to avoid the impending calamity, in part to permit the consummation of the union. From that moment the Stone’s worldly karma was complete, its substance had returned to the Great Unity. All that remained was for it to demonstrate some small fraction of its spiritual powers by achieving academic distinction and by leaving behind an heir to bring honour to the family name. Thus its precious nature, its magical power, its capacity for spiritual transformation, these were made manifest, and all could know that it was no ordinary stone of this world. To this end the Buddhist mahāsattva Impervioso and the Taoist illuminate Mysterioso first brought it into the world, and now that its destiny is fulfilled it is they who will take it back once more to its place of origin. That is the sum of my knowledge concerning Bao-yu and, as you put it, his “present whereabouts”.’

Although Yu-cun could not take all of this in, he was able to follow about half. He nodded his head and sighed:

‘So that is the truth of the matter. And I never knew. But if Bao-yu is a person of such a remarkable spiritual pedigree, why did he first need to be blinded by human passion before he could reach enlightenment?’

Shi-yin smiled:

‘Even though I may seek to expound this, I fear you may never be able to understand it fully. The Land of Illusion and the Paradise of Truth are one and the same. Could two readings of the registers and a whole lifetime’s experience fail to bring enlightenment? Could he fail to see the Alpha and the Omega? If the Fairy Flower regained its true primordial state, then surely the Magic Stone should do likewise?’

This time the hermit’s words were truly beyond Yu-cun’s powers of comprehension. He knew only that they must contain some esoteric meaning, and did not venture to probe any further.

‘It is so kind of you to tell me all this about Bao-yu,’ he said. ‘But may I ask you another question: why is it that of all the ladies in these noble families, none, including Her Grace the Imperial Jia Concubine, has come to more than an undistinguished end?’

On hearing this Shi-yin sighed:

‘Do not take my words amiss, sir! The fact of the matter is that all these noble ladies to whom you refer hail from the Skies of Passion and the Seas of Retribution. Since olden times their sex has been under a natural obligation to remain pure, pure from lust, pure even from the slightest taint of passion. Thus amorous beauties such as Cui Ying-ying and Su Xiao-xiao were fallen fairies, their celestial hearts polluted with the base desires of this world, while romantic poets such as Song Yu and Si-ma Xiang-ru sinned in like manner through the written word. Consider for a moment: how can any being ensnared in human attachment hope to “come to more than an undistinguished end”, as you put it?’

As he listened to the hermit’s words, Jia Yu-cun found himself stroking his beard meditatively and heaving a long sigh.

‘May I ask, sir,’ he ventured, ‘whether the Ning and Rong houses will ever rise again to their former heights of prosperity?’

‘It is preordained that prosperity comes with virtue, and calamity with evil,’ replied Shi-yin. ‘At present in these two houses the virtuous have turned to the true path, while the wicked have at least repented of their ways. In time to come, orchid and cassia will bloom, and the family fortunes will indeed prosper again. This is natural and right.’

Yu-cun lowered his head in thought for a while, then suddenly laughed:

‘Yes! Of course! There is one among them called Lan (Orchid), who has recently passed his examinations. As for the cassia you mention, could this be in some way connected with what you said earlier about Bao-yu achieving academic distinction and leaving behind a creditable heir? Is his posthumous son a Jia Gui (Cassia) destined for glory?’

Shi-yin gave an inscrutable smile:

‘Time will show. It would be wrong to make predictions about this now.’

Yu-cun had still more questions to ask, but Shi-yin was clearly unwilling to provide any further replies. He told his boy to lay the table and bring in the food, and invited Yu-cun to eat with him. When they had finished their meal, Yu-cun was still curious, this time wanting to know the secrets of his own future; but his luck had run out.

‘Rest awhile, sir,’ said Shi-yin, ‘in my humble hermitage. I still have a duty to perform, and today is the day for its completion.’

This took Yu-cun by surprise:

‘In view of the exalted spiritual state you have achieved, I cannot conceive what karma can remain for you to fulfil?’

‘It concerns the love between a man and a woman.’

This amazed Yu-cun even more.

‘Pray explain, sir.’

‘There is something of which you are ignorant, my respected friend,’ replied Shi-yin. ‘My daughter Ying-lian was, as you know, kidnapped when she was a little girl. You yourself gave judgement in the case when you first held office. Now she is married to a certain Mr Xue and is about to give birth to his child. In so doing she will die. She will leave behind her a son to continue the Xue family’s ancestral rites. Now is the moment for her earthly life to cease, and I must be at hand to receive her spirit.’

With a shake of his sleeve Shi-yin was gone. Yu-cun began to feel very dozy and had soon fallen asleep in the little hermitage at Wake Ness Ferry by Rushford Hythe.

Shi-yin went to receive Caltrop’s soul across the threshold of death and to escort her to the Land of Illusion, there to be handed over to the Fairy Disenchantment and to have her name entered on the register. As he passed through the great archway he saw the monk and the Taoist drifting towards him, and approaching them he said:

‘Mahāsattva! Illuminate! My felicitations! Is the love karma fulfilled? Have all those souls involved been duly returned and entered in the registers?’

‘The karma is not yet complete,’ they replied. ‘But that senseless Block has already returned. Now all that remains is to restore it to its place of origin and to record the last instalment of its story. Then its little trip into the world will not have been in vain.’

Shi-yin clasped both hands together in salutation and took his leave. The monk and the Taoist continued on their way bearing the jade, until finally they came to the foot of Greensickness Peak and there, in the very place where Nu-wa had once smelted her fiery amalgam to repair the vault of Heaven, they carefully deposited their burden and each drifted off on his way.

An otherworldy tome recounts an otherworldly tale, As Man and Stone become once more a single whole.

One day Vanitas the Taoist passed again by Greensickness Peak and saw the Stone ‘that had been found unfit to repair the heavens’, lying there still, with characters inscribed on it as before. He read the inscription through carefully again and noticed that a whole new section had been appended to the gātha with which the earlier version concluded. This new material provided several dénouements and tied up various loose ends in the plot, completing the overall design of fate that underlay the original story.

‘When I first saw this strange tale of Brother Stone’s I thought it worth publishing as a novel and copied it down for that purpose. But at the time it was unfinished; the cycle within it was incomplete. There was in the earlier version none of this material relating the Stone’s return to the source. I wonder when this rather admirable last instalment can have been added? From it the reader can indeed see that Brother Stone’s experience of life sharpened the edge of his spiritual perception, and brought him to a more complete awareness of the Tao. At the end he had no cause for remorse or regret. But with the passing of the years the characters of this new version of the inscription may wear away and be misread. I had better copy it down again in this complete form and find someone in the world with leisure on his hands to publish it and transmit its message: that things are not as they seem, that the extraordinary and the ordinary, truth and fiction, are all relative to each other. Perhaps my fellow humans whom the dream of life has ensnared may find in this tale an echo, may be summoned back by it to their true home; while free spirits of the high hills may find in the record of Brother Stone’s transformations, as in that older tale of the Migration of the Magic Mountain, a reflected light to quicken their own aspirations.’

So Vanitas copied it all down and slipping this new version into his sleeve took it off with him to the luxurious, opulent world of men, to seek out a suitable mortal for the task of publication. But all the men he encountered were either too busy establishing themselves in their careers, or else too preoccupied with their day-to-day survival, to have the leisure or inclination to prattle with a Stone. Then at last Vanitas came to the little hermitage at Wake Ness Ferry by Rushford Hythe; there he found a man asleep (from which he deduced him to be a man of leisure) and thought he would give him this Story of the Stone to read. But however many times he called out, he could not rouse him from his slumber. Eventually he heaved him up and gave him a good shake, and the man slowly opened his eyes. He skimmed through the book and let it fall from his hands, saying:

‘I have seen all this myself at first-hand. As far as I can see your record contains no errors. Allow me to tell you of a man who can transmit this story to the world or your behalf, and by so doing bring this strange affair to a proper conclusion.’

‘Whom do you mean?’ asked Vanitas eagerly.

‘You must wait until the year ___, the ___ day of the ___ month. At the ___ hour, you must go to a certain Nostalgia Studio, where you will find a certain Mr Cao Xue-qin. Just tell him: “Jia Yu-cun says …” and ask him to do such-and-such and so forth …’

Yu-cun dozed off again, and Vanitas made a careful note of his instructions. Sure enough, after an incalculable number of generations, an infinity of aeons, there was indeed a Nostalgia Studio and in it a Mr Cao Xue-qin, perusing the histories of bygone days. Vanitas did as he had been instructed; he repeated Yu-cun’s words and handed him the Story of the Stone to read. This Mr Cao smiled and said:

‘Rustic fiction indeed (Jia Yu Cun Yan) !’

‘How is it that you know the man, sir? May I deduce from this that you are willing to transmit this tale for him?’

‘You are aptly named Vanitas,’ exclaimed Cao. ‘You have a Nothing in your Belly, a very Vanity. These may be rustic words, but they contain no careless errors or nonsensical passages. It would be a pleasure to share this with a few like-minded friends, to help the wine down after a meal or to while away the solitude of a rainy evening by a lamplit window. No need for some self-important being to commend it or publish it. You in your insistence on ferreting out facts are like the man who dropped his sword in the water and thought to find it again by making a mark on the side of his boat; you are like a man playing a zither with the tuning-pegs glued fast.’

Vanitas lifted his head and guffawed at this, dropped the manuscript to the ground and went breezily on his way. As he went he said to himself:

‘So it was really all utter nonsense! Author, copyist and reader were alike in the dark! Just so much ink splashed for fun, a game, a diversion!’

A later reader of the manuscript added a four-line gātha, to expand a little on the author’s original envoi:

When grief for fiction’s idle words More real than human life appears, Reflect that life itself’s a dream And do not mock the reader’s tears.