by C. T. Hsia
How can he be deemed a real man in essence?
CHENG BO: You’ve been talking for so long, but I still don’t understand. It’s just as if I were having a dream.
CHENG YING: So you still don’t understand. The one in red is none other than the treacherous Tu Angu. Zhao Dun was your grandfather, Zhao Shuo was your father, and the princess was your mother. (Recites:)
I’ve got to the bottom of the story—
Are they still topsy-turvy, your assumptions a priori?
The old Cheng Ying who saved the orphan by giving up his son was me,
Indeed the Zhao Orphan is none other than thee.
CHENG BO: So I am the Zhao Orphan! Alas! Unbearable anguish! (CHENG BO falls, CHENG YING steadies him.)
CHENG YING: Young Master, wake up.
CHENG BO: Alas! Unbearable pain! (Sings:)
[The Whole World Rejoices]
Having heard the story from the start,
Only now is the truth there to impart.
Twenty years I have lived, moons that wax and wane,
I have grown to full stature, all in vain.
So he who cut his own throat was my father,
And she who hanged herself was my mother.
When the story is told to its heartbreaking point,
Even a man of iron or stone would wail in lamentation.
I’ll risk all to capture that villain alive
And demand of him the ministers that once filled the court,
As well as the lost lives of my entire clan. (Speaks:)
How could I have known if you had not told me! Please sit here, Father, and let me make obeisance to you.58
(CHENG BO makes obeisance to CHENG YING.)
CHENG YING: Now the survival of the Zhao lineage is ensured; for this my own line has long been cut down, just like grass whose roots are eradicated.
CHENG BO (sings:)
[Ascending a Small Tower]
If you, Father, had not looked after me,
And brought me up,
I would have, twenty years earlier, fallen victim to the blade,
I would have been in the ditch laid.
How I loathe this villain Tu Angu!
He searched for the roots as he pulled up the tree.
He had my entire clan slain and almost none could flee!
[Same tune as above]
He, he, he had my entire clan slain,
To pay back, I, I, I shall have his clan suffer the same pain.
CHENG YING: Young Master, try not to raise so much commotion lest the villain should hear.
CHENG BO: I’ll not stop until I’ve made him pay for what he did— (Sings:)
So what if the Divine Ao he leads,
And on the strength of his clan troops he proceeds!
So what if schemes and conspiracies he breeds!
Just think: for whom did this and that person die?
Why should I, the son, death not defy? (Speaks:)
Don’t worry, Father, tomorrow I’ll first go see the lord and the officials at court. I’ll then set out to kill the villain myself. (Sings:)
[Teasing Children]
By tomorrow, should I encounter my foe,
I’ll block his way squarely on the road.
No need to put soldiers and guards to special use.
With my long arms I will reach out,
His horse with its jade bit and carved saddle I will put to rout.
From his black-canopied carriage with golden flowers he will fall,
Dragged away like a dead dog that couldn’t crawl.
I’ll just ask him: Is there a place for the human heart?
Is heavenly justice going to play its part?
[Penultimate Coda]
You have overplayed the hero betimes,
Your vindictiveness knows no bounds.
It cannot be helped: one by one you’ll have to pay for all your crimes.
Back then old Gongsun you wrongly accused,
Today the Zhao Orphan cannot be refused!
Don’t ever think I’ll forgive you!
I’ll easily cast him down
And take my time to finish him off.
[Ultimate Coda]
I will take away his dipper-sized official seal,
Strip off his robes that by bright embroidery appeal.
With a hempen rope, tie him with his back to the execution stake.
With a pincer, pull out his slandering tongue;
With an awl, poke into his villainous eyes;
With a sharp knife, strip the flesh piecemeal from his body;
With a steel hammer, break his bones to their very marrow;
With a bronze sword, cut his head off.
[Coda]
Even then my seething wrath will not diminish,
Nor will deep, dark rancor its vengeful course finish.
All because I’ve been an unfilial son for twenty years—I took the enemy for my father,
For the three hundred wronged souls—
Only now have they found their avenger. (Exits.)
CHENG YING: Tomorrow the young master will surely go seize the old villain. I shall follow to see if I can help.
ACT 5
(EXTRA MALE dressed as WEI JIANG enters, leading ZHANG QIAN.)
WEI JIANG: I am Wei Jiang, high minister at the Jin court. This is Lord Dao’s reign.59 Tu Angu had usurped power and eradicated the entire clan of Zhao Dun. But Zhao Shuo had a retainer, Cheng Ying, who hid the Zhao Orphan. Twenty years have passed since then and the orphan’s name has been changed to Cheng Bo. This morning he submitted a memorial to the lord and requested permission to arrest Tu Angu to avenge his father’s death. Our lord has decreed that, in view of Tu Angu’s overwhelming military power, there is the danger of revolt, and Cheng Bo is to act on his own discretion and secretly arrest him. He will then have everyone in the culprit’s clan put to the sword, sparing not even the youngest. Our lord will bestow further honors on Cheng Bo after he succeeds. I must convey this order to Cheng Bo myself to avoid word getting out. (Recites:)
Loyal officials were slaughtered, justice they did repress.
For twenty years the wronged found no redress.
Today the villain will be seized.
Only now do we know that carnage is by carnage appeased. (Exits.)
(CHENG BO enters, mimes riding and holding a sword.)
CHENG BO: I am Cheng Bo. I’ve submitted a memorial to our lord this morning, stating that I am to arrest Tu Angu and avenge my grandfather and father. How impudent is this old villain! (Sings:)
[Zhenggong mode: Proper Decorum]
No need to dispatch officers and soldiers
Brandishing broad swords and long spears.
Today I’ll take revenge, kill him and his kind, I’ll death defy,
This must be the day he is doomed to die.
[Rolling Silken Ball]
Right in this noisy marketplace,
I will enact high drama.
Between him and me there can be no easy sweep,
It will be like a tiger pouncing on a sheep.
I’m not nervous,
I’m not anxious;
My limbs have long been prepared for the task.
Let’s see for what precautions the villain would ask.
If I can avenge the wrongs that had simmered for twenty years,
And make him pay for the lives of the three hundred,
I’ll have no regrets even if I have to die. (Speaks:)
I shall wait here in this busy marketplace. The old villain should come anytime now.
(TU ANGU enters leading some SOLDIERS.)
TU ANGU: I’m heading home from the marshal’s headquarters. Guards! Set forth the vanguard formation and proceed slowly!
CHENG BO: Is that not the old villain coming? (Sings:)
[If a Scholar]
Look at the vanguard he puts in imposing rows
And the strident attendants on both sides that he does dispose!
&
nbsp; Look how he thrusts out his chest,
Which to his airs does attest!
My horse gallops fast as flowing water,
The sword in my hand gleams like autumn frost.
Forward I step, him I will accost.
TU ANGU: Tu Cheng, what are you here for?
CHENG BO: You old villain! I am not Tu Cheng. I’m the Zhao Orphan. You killed all three hundred members of my clan twenty years ago. Today I shall arrest you, old wretch, to avenge the wrong you did them.
TU ANGU: Who told you all this?
CHENG BO: Cheng Ying did.
TU ANGU: This boy has the limbs for martial prowess. I am no match for him. I’d better get away quickly.
CHENG BO: You scoundrel! Where are you going? (Sings:)
[Little Monk]
From all sides revealed is my, my, my might,
How can you, you, you put up a fight!
Already so, so, so very frightened, as if his soul has taken flight!
Don’t, don’t, don’t even try to use words to ease your plight!
No, no, no words can serve quite,
Come, come, come—in a trice you are toppled from your height!
(CHENG BO captures TU ANGU.)
(CHENG YING enters in a hurry, flustered.)
CHENG YING: I was just afraid the young master might meet with some mishap, so I have come to do what I can. Thank heavens! My young master has caught Tu Angu.
CHENG BO: Guards! Tie up this old wretch! We shall go report to our lord. (Exit.)
WEI JIANG (accompanied by ZHANG QIAN:) I am Wei Jiang. Now Cheng Bo has gone to arrest Tu Angu. Guards! Keep watch at the gate and report to me when they come back.
(CHENG BO and CHENG YING enter, with TU ANGU under arrest.)
CHENG BO: Father, let us go then, you and I, to see our lord. (Present themselves to WEI JIANG.) Your Honor, heaven takes pity on the wrong done to the three hundred in our clan. We have taken Tu Angu captive.
WEI JIANG: Bring him over here. Tu Angu, you murderer of the loyal and virtuous! Now that you have been arrested by Cheng Bo, what have you to say?
TU ANGU: He who succeeds is the king; he who fails, a sorry thing. Since things have come to this, all I ask for is a speedy death.
CHENG BO (to WEI JIANG:) Your Honor, give me justice!
WEI JIANG: Tu Angu, you may want a speedy death, but I must make you suffer a lingering one. Guards! Nail this villain to the wooden donkey,60 let him suffer three thousand wounds by fine slicing. Only when all his skin and flesh are gone can you chop off his head and open up his chest. Make sure that he does not die too soon.
CHENG BO (sings:)
[Taking Off the Plain Robe]
Nail this wretch to the wooden donkey,
And take him to the Yunyang execution ground.
Do not yet behead him or cut open his chest,
Even grinding him into a pot of pulp, with naught to wrest,
Cannot my soul of deep, dark rancor divest.
CHENG YING: Young Master, today you have taken revenge and restored your family name. But for my family and me—pitiful indeed—there is nothing we can fall back on.
CHENG BO (sings:)
[Little Liangzhou]
Who would part with his own child to protect the son of another line?
Beneficence like yours cannot be forgotten.
A master portraitist I shall find
To record your true likeness so kind.
In our ancestral temple it’ll be enshrined.
CHENG YING: Young Master, what beneficence could I claim, that I should cause you to go to such lengths!
CHENG BO (sings:)
[Same tune as above]
You had me suckled for three years on end—
A charge more exacting than ten months in the womb!
What good fortune that I should escape ten thousand deadly traps unscathed!
Even if I were to honor you with incense morning and night,
I can never repay enough your kindness as my foster parent.
WEI JIANG: Cheng Ying and Cheng Bo: Face the palace and kneel down. Hear the lord’s decree:
Tu Angu decimated the loyal and just,
Corrupted the court, and destroyed all trust.
The Zhao clan he entirely wiped out,
Though rules and laws they did not flout.
At that time many intervened to uphold justice.
Who can say the way of heaven lacks compass?
Fortunately the orphan was able to exact vengeance
And severed the traitor’s head as sentence.
Let him resume his original surname and be called Zhao Wu.
He shall also inherit the titles and positions of his father and grandfather.
Let the son of Han Jue continue to be commander of the upper army.61
Cheng Ying is to be given an estate of ten qing.
A tomb and monument will be built to honor Old Gongsun’s memory,
And Ti Miming and others will be duly praised.
Let this day mark a new beginning for Jin,
Let us all rejoice in our ruler’s boundless benevolence.
(CHENG YING and CHENG BO offer thanks to the lord.)
CHENG BO (sings:)
[Huangzhong Coda]
We thank the lord for his beneficence by which Jin will flourish.
The villain and his line did totally perish.
The orphan is given a new name
And will inherit his forebears’ titles selfsame.
The loyal and dutiful got the reward that is their due,
Military officers are restored to their ranks anew,
And the poor can now sustenance pursue.
The dead are posthumously buried and honored,
And the living have titles and awards garnered.
Our ruler’s beneficence, like heaven, encompasses all,
Who would dare not heed the call!
I pledge to brave death on the battlefield,
And make all neighboring domains yield.
For all that I will leave my name in historical records
That will endure as topics for posterity.
Topic: Gongsun Chujiu Is Shamed By the Interrogation
Title: The Zhao Orphan Achieved His Great Revenge62
THE ZHAO ORPHAN IN YUAN EDITIONS
TRANSLATED BY WAI-YEE LI
KEY:
*Arias that do not exist in the Anthology edition
†Arias that share tune titles with the Anthology edition but have completely different words
§Arias that share tune titles with the Anthology edition but have fewer than three lines in common with them
~Arias that exist in the Anthology edition but not in the Yuan Editions
[WEDGE]
[Xianlü mode: Time for Appreciating Flowers]§
The rule of Lord Ling of Jin is doomed to end!
Tu Angu, subject most foul, holds power in his hands.
Manipulating the ruler to command the nobles,63
He has me cut down at the Yunyang execution ground.
Is this then how loyal exertion should come to its final round!
[Same tune as above]
I will not even get to be buried in any earthen mound!
I have given final counsel, and tears stream down my cheeks like rain.
Only this, and from other words I refrain:
Would that after the child is grown,
The task of avenging his parents’ unjust deaths should to him be shown!
[ACT 1]
[Xianlü mode: Touching Up Red Lips]§
Resisting the enemy in the west, Qin,
We establish in the east Jin.
Peace and order we have enjoyed.
By the treacherous Tu Angu
Are the ministers below the golden steps destroyed!
[River Churning Dragon]§
Lord Ling of Jin is a perversely compliant type—
The court is giving all the power to people of this stripe!
The loyal and righteous are beheaded in the marketplace,
While slanderers and flatterers are secure in their official base.
Those accomplishing great things for the ruler submit to grievous malevolence,
Those bringing no benefit to the people receive the lord’s beneficence.
He gets to browbeat the Son of Heaven,
Intimidate the lords.
All who oppose him have been eradicated.
Eradicated are the highest ministers of the realm
And the generals at the helm.
[Oily Gourd]†
And for now: there is furor all under heaven as the dust of battles rises,
As each draws borders and cuts the realm into slices.
Yielding to slander, he has plunged Jin into a woeful crisis!64
Now with the world in chaos and heroes in dire straits,
Let’s see when the law rectifies, when heaven justice elevates!
That scoundrel abuses heaven above
And tyrannizes the people below.
Try asking the endless, azure, blessed heaven on high:
Preening with a blue face, it’s unforgiving!
[Joy for All Under Heaven]§
Have no fear: retribution will come sooner or later, befalling you or your progeny!
He is about to swallow the realm, mountains and rivers all,
Filled with rancor because Zhao Dun would not heed his call.
His heart plots, his heart goodness blots,
Branding a minister most worthy a traitor.
Brewing benighted stupor, he swindled approval for his course from the ruler.
[Song of the God Nezha]*
Just think: Zhao Dun acted for the people’s weal.
To treat his guest he once shared his meal.
Chu Ni, shamed by his generosity,
Gave up his life and smashed himself against a tree.
Ling Zhe, whom he saved from despair,
Held on to his wheel to repay his care.65
Governing the people, great accomplishments he did enact,
Assisting the ruler, he sought no private gains to exact.
Yet he did not even manage to keep his corpse intact!
[Sparrow on a Branch]*
In vain did he peace from the dust of battle wrest,
And established the meritorious bequest.
He could not be where the stone qilin finds rest66—
In an ancient grave, a neglected tomb.
Decapitated and torn asunder was the father,
And persecuted with the same venom was his progeny.