The Golden Days

by Cao Xueqin

  ‘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  Joy and gladness have withdrawn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 !

  Chapter 24

  The Drunken Diamond shows nobility of character

  in handling his money

  And the Quiet-voiced Girl provides material for

  fantasy by losing her handkerchief

  As Dai-yu continued to crouch there, a prisoner of her own sorrowful thoughts and emotions, someone suddenly came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder:

  ‘What are you doing here all on your own?’

  She looked round with a start. It was Caltrop.

  ‘You silly girl!’ said Dai-yu. ‘You gave me quite a shock, creeping up on me like that. Where have you just come from ?’

  Caltrop laughed mischievously:

  ‘I’ve been looking for our young lady, but I can’t find her anywhere. Your Nightingale is looking for you too, by the way. She says Mrs Lian has sent you – I think it’s some kind of tea. Shall I go with you?’

  She took her by the hand and accompanied her back to the Naiad’s House. The present from Xi-feng she had mentioned was waiting there when they arrived: two little cylindrical containers of a new tea supplied to the Palace for the Emperor’s own use. The two girls sat down and discussed the relative merits of various pieces of embroidery, played a little Go, and looked at one or two books. Then Caltrop went off again.

  Our narrative leaves them at this point and passes to other matters.

  Recalled to his own apartment by Aroma, Bao-yu arrived back to find his grandmother’s maid Faithful reclining on the couch examining Aroma’s needlework.

  ‘Where have you been?’ she said, as soon as she saw him enter. ‘Her Old Ladyship is waiting for you. She wants you to go next door to see how your Uncle She is getting on. You’d better hurry up and get changed!’

  Aroma went into the next room to get his clothes. Bao-yu sat on the edge of the couch and kicked his shoes off. While he was waiting for his boots to come, he turned and scrutinized Faithful. She was wearing a pale strawberry-coloured dress of silk damask, a sleeveless black satin jacket, stockings of eggshell blue, and dark-red embroidered slippers. Her neck, which was towards him as she bent down once more to inspect the needlework, was encircled at its base by a reddish-purple silk scarf. A fascinating neck. He bent down over it to sniff its perfume and stroked it softly with his hand. It was as smooth and white as Aroma’s. With an impish chuckle he threw himself upon her and clung like sticky toffee about her person:

  ‘Come on, Faithful darling, give us a taste of your lipstick I’

  Faithful called out to Aroma in the next room:

  ‘Aroma, come in and look at this 1 All the years you’ve been with him now – haven’t you managed to cure him yet?’

  Aroma came in with her arms full of clothes.

  ‘I don’t know what’s the matter with you,’ she said to Bao-yu. ‘Heaven knows, I’ve tried hard enough to cure you! If you go on much longer like this, you’re just going to make it impossible to go on living here any longer.’

  She hurried him on with his dressing. When he was ready, he accompanied Faithful to the front apartment to see Grandmother Jia. Going outside again, he found horse and servants ready waiting and was about to get into the saddle, when he noticed Jia Lian dismounting opposite, having just returned from bis visit. The two cousins went up to each other and exchanged a few words. Just at that moment a figure emerged from the side of the courtyard and greeted Bao-yu:

  ‘Uncle Baol How are you?’

  Bao-yu turned. It was a tall, thin youth of eighteen or nineteen who had spoken, with a thin, handsome face and an air of great natural refinement. Although his face was familiar, Bao-yu could not for the moment remember his name or which part of the clan he belonged to.

  ‘You look very puzzled!’ said Jia lian amusedly. ‘Surely you know who this is ? This is Jia Yun – Cousin Bu-shi’s boy, who lives in West Lane.’

  ‘Yes, of course,’ said Bao-yu. ‘I can’t think what made me forget! – How’s your mother?’ he asked Jia Yun. ‘What business brings you here today?’

  Jia Yun pointed to Jia Lian:

  ‘I came here to have a word with Uncle Lian.’

  ‘You’ve grown very good-looking since I saw you last,’ said Bao-yu with a grin. ‘You could almost be my son.’

  ‘You’ve got a nerve I’ said Jia Lian laughing. ‘Your son? He’s five or six years older than you.’

  ‘How old are you then?’ Bao-yu asked him.

  ‘Eighteen.’

  Being a sharp-witted young man who knew how to make the most of an opportunity, Jia Yun was quick to turn Bao-yu’s jest to good account.

  ‘There’s a saying about “grandsires in cradles and babbies with beards”, you know; and even if I am older than you, “the highest mountain can’t shut out the sun”! I’ve had no one to care for me during these last few years since my father died, and if you don’t mind having so stupid a person for your son, I should certainly be very happy to have you for a father.’

  ‘You hear that?’ said Jia Lian. ‘Now you’ve got yourself a son! You’ll find that parenthood is no laughing matter, I can tell you!’

  He left them and went inside, chuckling to himself.

  Bao-yu smiled at his new ‘son’:

  ‘Next time you’re free, come and see me. Don’t waste your time trying to join in their little intrigues! I’m afraid I’m not free at the moment, but if you will come round to my study tomorrow, we can spend all day together, and I shall be able to show you round the garden.’

  With these words he mounted his horse and set off, his pages at his back, for
Jia She’s.

  Bao-yu found that his uncle was suffering from nothing more serious than a chill. He delivered his grandmother’s message first and then asked after his uncle on his own behalf. Jia She stood up to hear what his mother had to say, and when Bao-yu had finished, ordered a servant to take him to his Aunt Xing’s room. Bao-yu withdrew and followed the

  servant through the back and across the courtyard to the main reception room. Seeing him enter, Lady Xing rose to her feet to ask after Grandmother Jia, then sat down again to be asked after in turn by Bao-yu. Then she drew him up to sit beside her on the kang and asked him about the others, at the same time giving orders for tea to be served.

  While they were still sipping the tea, little Jia Cong, the son of one of Jia She’s concubines, came in to say ‘hullo’ to his Cousin Bao.

  ‘Where did this little ragamuffin come from?’ Lady Xing scolded. ‘I don’t know what that Nannie of yours can be thinking of to let you get in such a state! I declare, your face is as black as a crow! No one would ever think to look at you that you were an educated little boy and came from a good family!’

  While she scolded, Jia Huan and Jia Lan arrived, their duty call on Jia She evidently just completed. Lady Xing made them sit on chairs below the kang. Seeing Bao-yu up on the kang with Lady Xing and sharing her cushion, and observing how she fondled and petted him, Jia Huan soon began to feel uncomfortable and made a sign to Jia Lan ind-cating that they should go. As Jia Huan was his uncle, Jia Lan had to do as he said,- so the little boy and the big one rose together to take their leave. Bao-yu said he would go with them, but Lady Xing stopped him with a gracious smile:

  ‘You sit where you are! I’ve got something else to say to you.’

  He was obliged to stay. Lady Xing-turned to the other two:

  ‘When you get back, do each of you give my regards to your mothers. I won’t ask you to stay to dinner because I’ve already got the girls here and they are making so much rumpus that it’s given me a headache.’

  Jia Huan and Jia Lan promised to convey her greetings and went out.

  ‘Where are the girls, then?’ Bao-yu asked after they had gone, ‘/haven’t seen them.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t know,’ said Lady Xing nonchalantly. ‘They only sat here for a few moments, then they went round to the back. They’re round the back somewhere or other.’

  ‘You said there was something you wanted to talk to me about, Aunt. What was it you wanted to tell me?’

  ‘Oh, nothing at all!’ said Lady Xing gaily. ‘I only said that because I wanted you to stay and have dinner here with me and the girls. And I’ve got something nice for you to take back with you afterwards.’

  Bao-yu and his aunt chatted away, and before long it was time for dinner and the three girls were called in. A table and chairs were arranged, the table was laid, and Lady Xing, her daughter Ying-chun, her two nieces and her nephew sat down to their meal. When it was over, Bao-yu went in to take his leave of Jia She, after which he and the girls returned to their own side of the mansion. There they first went in to see Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang and then returned to their own apartments for the night.

  So much for Bao-yu and the girls.

  Let us return to Jia Yun who, after his encounter with Bao-yu, had gone in to see Jia Lian and ask him if there was any prospect of a job.

  ‘A job turned up only the other day,’ said Jia Lian, ‘but unfortunately your Aunt Feng was very anxious that I should give it to Jia Qin and I’m afraid I let him have it. However, she did mention that there will soon be a lot of planting to do in the garden, and she promised that as soon as that work turns up we shall definitely hand it over to you.’

  Jia Yun was silent for some moments, then he said:

  ‘All right. I’ll just have to go on waiting, then. But would you mind not mentioning this visit to Auntie? I can tell her about it myself, if need be, next time I see her.’

  ‘I shan’t mention it,’ said Jia Lian. ‘I’ve got better things to do with my time than go running after her to talk about things like this! Tomorrow I have to go to Xing-yi, by the way. I have to get back on the same day – but perhaps you’d better wait until the day after tomorrow before coming round again. In fact, you’d better wait until the evening of the day after tomorrow – some time after the beginning of the first watch. Any time before that I shall be busy.’

  He terminated the interview by going into the inner room to change his clothes.

  Jia Yun went out of the Rong-guo mansion and set off for home, ruminating as he went. A plan at last formed in his mind. Instead of returning home, he struck off for the house of his maternal uncle.

  His uncle’s name was Bu Shi-ren. He was the proprietor of a perfumery, and when Jia Yun arrived had only just got back from the shop. Seeing his nephew enter, he asked him what he had come about.

  ‘I’m on to something which needs your help,’ said Jia Yun. ‘Please Uncle, could you possibly let me have four ounces of Barus camphor and four ounces of musk on credit ? I promise faithfully that you shall have the money by Autumn Quarter-day.’

  Bu Shi-ren ‘humph-ed’ scornfully:

  ‘Don’t talk to me about credit! A while ago we let one of the assistants have several taels’ worth of goods on credit for one of his relations, and we haven’t seen the money for it yet. We had to share the loss between us. We’ve got a written agreement now that in future if any of us gives credit to a friend or relation, he is liable to a fine of twenty taels of silver to be shared out among the rest.

  ‘In any case, we’re short of stock on those two items. I doubt we’ve got that much in the shop, even if you could pay cash down for it. We’d have to try to raise it for you elsewhere.

  ‘And for another thing: what do you want it for, anyway ? I don’t expect it’s for any serious purpose. Even if I let you have it on credit, I expect it would only get thrown away on some foolishness or other.

  ‘And don’t you go saying that your Uncle’s always on at you when you come to see him! You young people just don’t know what’s good for you. If only you could pull yourself together and earn a bit of money, no one would be happier for you than I should.’

  Jia Yun smiled:

  ‘What you say is no doubt perfectly true, Uncle. But when Father died I was too little to understand what was going on, and according to what Mother has since told me, it was you who stepped in and took care of everything. Now you know

  as well as I do that it wasn’t I who spent all the money that came from selling off our little bit of property, and I don’t see what I am supposed to do without any capital. Even the cleverest housewife can’t make bread without flour! You’re lucky you’ve only got me to contend with. Anyone else in my position would be pestering the life out of you. They’d be round here scrounging all the time: a pound of rice one day, a quart of beans the next. Then you would have something to grumble about!’

  ‘My dear boy,’ said Bu Shi-ren, ‘if I had it to give, you should have it and welcome! Your trouble is, though, as I’m always telling your Aunt, you won’t think ahead. If only you’d pull yourself together and go and have a word with your Father’s folk at the big house – or if you can’t get to see them, put your pride in your pocket and make yourself agreeable to some of the stewards there – get yourself a job of some kind! When I was on my way out of the city the other day, I ran into that cousin of yours from North Street riding on a donkey with four or five carriages behind him and fifty or sixty nuns on his way to your family temple out in the country. Now that’s a shrewd young fellow! You can’t tell me he got that job by doing nothing!’

  Exasperated by his uncle’s nagging, Jia Yun got up to go.

  ‘What’s the hurry?’ said Bu Shi-ren. ‘You can have something to eat before you go -’

  ‘Are you crazy?’ his wife’s voice cut in from the kitchen. ‘I told you we haven’t got any rice in the house. I’ve just bought this half a pound of noodles that I’m cooking for you now. I don’t know what you’re acti
ng so lordly about, asking people to dinner. The boy’ll only go hungry if he stays!’

  ‘Buy another half a pound, woman, and put it in with the rest!’ said Bu Shi-ren.

  ‘Goldie!’ Mrs Bu shouted to her daughter. ‘Go over to Mrs Wang’s house across the road and ask if she can lend us a few cash. Tell her we can pay her back tomorrow!’

  But before she had finished, Jia Yun, with a muttered ‘Don’t bother!’ had slipped quietly away.

  Angrily leaving his uncle’s house behind him, he was on his way back home, eyes fixed on the ground as he brooded miserably on his affairs, when he walked head-on into a drunkard. The man seized hold of him with a curse:

  ‘You sodding blind, bumping into me like that?’

  The voice was a familiar one. Looking closer he saw that it was his neighbour Ni Er, a racketeer who made most of his money from high-interest loans supplemented by what he took off other players in the gambling dens. He drank too much and was always getting into fights. At this particular moment he was on his way back from paying a little ‘call’ on one of his debtors – evidently a lucrative one, for he was already half-seas-over. He did not take kindly to being bumped into, and it would have gone badly with Jia Yun if he had not immediately identified himself:

  ‘Ni, old chap, don’t strike I It’s me! I wasn’t looking where I was going.’

  Hearing the voice, Ni Er opened his bleary eyes a little wider, saw that it was Jia Yun, released him – lurching heavily as he did so – and gave a crapulous laugh:

  ‘Oh,’ he said, ‘young Mist’ Jia. Parm me. Wherra you jus’ come from?’

  ‘Don’t ask me!’ said Jia Yun bitterly. ‘I’ve just been given the bird!’

  ‘Nemmind!’ said Ni Er. ‘Anyone been bothering you, Mist’ Jia, jus’ tell me and I’ll settle accounts with him for you! You know me. Ni Er. The Drunken Diamond. Old Dime’ll look after you. Anyone this part of the town troubling neighbour of Dime’s, don’t care who he is, guarantee put him out of business.’