“You silly slave,” Ximen said. “Why should I cry?”
“You have been thinking of someone who is still dear to you.”
“Don’t talk nonsense about people dear to me or not dear to me,” Ximen Qing said.
“You were thinking about Li Ping’er,” Jinlian said. “And the nurse, Ruyi’er, is in your mind too. As for us, we find no place there. We don’t count at all.”
“Don’t be so silly, you little strumpet,” Ximen said. “I want to ask you something. That day when the Sixth Lady was put into her coffin, what clothes did you wear?”
“Why do you wish to know?”
“No particular reason,” said Ximen, “I just wish to know.”
“There must be some reason,” Jinlian said. “Well, I wore silk, a white silk coat and a yellow silk skirt. And underneath, I wore a purple jacket, a white skirt and red vests.” Ximen Qing nodded. “I have been an animal’s doctor for twenty years,” Jinlian continued, “but what is the matter with your donkey’s stomach, I can’t for the life of me make out. If you are not thinking about Li Ping’er, of whom are you thinking?”
“I have seen her in a dream,” Ximen Qing said.
“Yes,” Jinlian said, “that’s just what you would do. When my nose tickles, it is a sign that I am going to sneeze. Now, even though she is dead, you still think of her warmly. It is a clear sign that you care nothing for the rest of us. When we die, nobody will bother about us.”
Ximen Qing put his arms around her and kissed her. “Little oily mouth,” he said, “you always think of something nasty to say.”
“My son,” Jinlian said, “I can see through you as clearly as I can see a cat with a black tail.”
Their tongues met, and soon the sweetness softened their hearts. There was fragrance upon her lips, and the room in which they were was exquisitely perfumed. Ximen Qing was stirred. He kissed her. Then, lying on the bed, he displayed his penis and asked her to play with it. She bent her head and fondled it with her lips. She was wearing a gold tiger-headed pin. There were many pearls and plum flowers in her hair, and jewels and ornaments of all kinds on her head.
Suddenly, as they were sporting very pleasantly together, they heard Laian’s voice saying that Ying Bojue had come. Ximen Qing told him to bring Bojue in, but Jinlian, greatly excited, cursed Laian. “Don’t let him come until I am up,” she cried.
“He is already in the courtyard,” Laian said.
“Then tell him to keep out of the way.”
Laian went to Ying Bojue. “Please wait outside a moment,” he said. “There is someone in the study.” Bojue went towards the pine hedges and looked at the bamboos, some of which were still covered with snow. Wang Jing pulled aside the lattice, and there was a rustle of skirts as Jinlian ran away like a wisp of mist.
Bojue came in and made a reverence to Ximen Qing. Then he sat down.
“It is several days since you were here,” Ximen said. “Why is that?”
“Brother,” Bojue said, “I am absolutely tired of life.”
“Why?” Ximen asked.
“Lately,” said Bojue, “I have been hard pressed for money, and, yesterday, without the slightest excuse, Chunhua went and had a baby. It would not have been so bad if it had been in the daytime, but it was in the middle of the night. She was in a bad way and I had to jump out of bed, get ready papers and bedclothes, and go out for the midwife. Ying Bao had gone with my brother to get some fodder, and there was I, as busy as could be, and not a soul to help me. I got a lantern and went down the street for old woman Feng. When she got there, the baby was born.”
“A boy or a girl?” Ximen asked.
“A boy,” Ying Bojue said.
“Well, you silly fellow, are you sorry to have a son? So that slave Chunhua has presented you with a son.”
“Aunt Chun to you,” said Bojue, laughing.
“Why did you marry her, you dog, if it is too much trouble for you to go for the midwife?”
“You don’t seem to understand,” Bojue said. “I am not like you, and, in this cold weather, I know it only too well. You are a rich man and a person of importance. When one of your ladies has a baby, it is as though fresh flowers were added to a piece of embroidered satin. Of course you are pleased. But poor people like us can’t even bear the sight of our own shadows. What point is there in adding to our number? Each member of the household has to be fed and clothed. No! I feel as hard as hard can be. There’s Ying Bao goes out to work every day. My brother never gives a thought to me. My eldest daughter has gone and got married, and now, Heaven be my witness! the second one is all ready to be. She will be thirteen years old at the end of this year. The other day some old woman came to ask about her. I said: ‘There is no hurry. She is young enough yet. Don’t worry me any more.’ Then, if you please, this disgusting creature must choose to be born in the middle of the night. Heaven and earth seem dark to me. Where am I to turn for money? My wife saw me worrying, gave the old woman a silver pin, and sent her off. Tomorrow will be the baby’s third day. A host of people know this and they are sure to come. And what about the ceremony when the child is a month old? When that day comes, the best thing I can do is to disappear and spend a few days at a temple.”
Ximen Qing laughed. “If you do go,” he said, “one of the priests will come and take your place in the bed. You seem to have some sense, you dog.” He laughed again, but Bojue looked sulky and would not speak.
“Cheer up, my son,” Ximen Qing said. “How much money do you need? You have only to say and you shall have it.”
“Not very much,” Bojue said.
“You must have enough to cover the expenses, or you will have to pawn your clothes again.”
“Since you are so kind, Brother,” Bojue said, “I think twenty taels will be sufficient. I did, in fact, write out a note, but I was ashamed to mention the matter, for I have troubled you so many times. I did not fill in the amount. Give me what you think fit, Brother.”
“What are you talking about?” Ximen said. “We are friends, and I don’t require any note from you.”
As they were talking, Laian came in with tea. Ximen Qing told him to put down the cups and go for Wang Jing. When Wang Jing came, Ximen said to him: “Go to the inner court, and tell your mistress that, in the cabinet behind the bed, there are two packets of silver that came to me from his Excellency Song. Ask her to give you one of them.”
The boy went away. He was soon back with the silver.
“Here are fifty taels,” Ximen said, handing the packet to Ying Bojue. “Take them. I haven’t opened the packet. You’d better open it yourself and see what is in it.”
“But this is too much,” Bojue said.
“You say your second daughter is growing up,” said Ximen; “buy her some new clothes, and, later on, she will be glad of them.”
“That is a good idea, Brother,” Bojue said. He opened the packet. It was some of the silver that the officers had sent, divided into pieces of three taels each, of very fine quality. He was delighted and bowed to Ximen Qing. “Brother,” he said, “how generous you are. No one else would help me as you do. But you will take this note, won’t you?”
“You foolish lad,” Ximen said, “why should I trouble about that? This is your parents’ house or you would not come here to ask help so often. The baby does not belong only to you, he belongs to me too. It is my duty to help you rear him. When the ceremony of the first month is over, I will send for your wife. She will do for the interest on the money I have just given you.”
“These last few days,” Bojue said, “your aunt has been as thin as your mother.”
They laughed and joked together. Then Bojue asked what had happened to Huang’s relations.
“Qian wrote to Li,” Ximen told him, “and Li sent for the accused and examined them himself. Both Sun Wen and his father were set free, with only ten taels to pay towards the funeral expenses.”
“What luck for them!” Bojue exclaimed. “They would never find a
nybody else like you. No, not even if they took a lantern to look. And you wouldn’t take anything from them, either dry or wet. But though you would not accept a present from them, you must take the money you had to spend on Qian. And don’t forget to tell Huang he must give us a feast. If you won’t tell him, I will. We have saved his brother-in-law’s life, and that is no small matter.”
Wu Yueniang was sitting in her room when Meng Yulou came. “My brother, Meng Rui, will soon be leaving for Sichuan and Guangtong,” Yulou said. “He is going to buy stock. He has come to say good-bye and would like to see his Lordship. My brother is in my room. I don’t know where his Lordship is. Will you send a boy for him?”
“He is with Ying the Second, in the garden,” Yueniang said. “But, talking about asking him to come, Jinlian went to speak to him about the invitation Mistress Qiao sent us. Qiao Tong was here, waiting for the answer. I gave him tea, and we waited and waited, but she never came back. Qiao Tong lost patience and went off. A long time afterwards, I saw her and asked her if she had spoken to him about it. It was hard to get an answer out of her, but at last she said she had forgotten all about it. The card was still in her sleeve. She is like a donkey that has lost its tail. I don’t know what she was doing with him, but she was there a very long time. She would tell me nothing, and I gave her a scolding. Then she went away.”
After a while, Laian came in. Yueniang said to him: “Go and tell your father Uncle Meng is here.”
When he heard this, Ximen Qing got up. He asked Bojue not to go away, saying he would be back in a moment. Then he went to the inner court. Yueniang told him about the invitation.
“Yes,” Ximen Qing said, “but you must go alone. We are still in mourning, and it would not look well for a crowd to go.”
Yueniang told him that Meng Rui was waiting to see him in Yulou’s room. “He has come to say goodbye before he sets out to Sichuan and Guangtong,” she said. She asked why he had sent for the silver.
“Last night Brother Ying’s wife had a baby,” Ximen said. “He needs some money. And he says that his second daughter is coming to a marriageable age. He is anxious about it.”
“Brother Ying is getting on in years,” Yueniang said. “Now that he has this child, his wife will be pleased. We must send her some rice to make gruel.”
“Yes, indeed,” Ximen said, “and we will ask Beggar Ying to send us an invitation to the ceremony of the first month. Then we shall see what Chunhua looks like.”
“I don’t suppose she’s any different from any other woman,” Yueniang said, laughing. “She has eyes and a nose, just like everybody else.”
They sent Laian to ask Meng Rui to come. Meng Yulou came with her brother. When they had greeted one another and talked for a while, Ximen Qing took Uncle Meng to the study where Ying Bojue was. He told the boys to bring something to eat. The table was set and they sat down to drink. Ximen Qing told them to set an extra cover and sent Laian for Master Wen. But the boy came back and said the scholar had gone to call on Scholar Ni. Then Ximen said: “Go and fetch your brother-in-law.” After a little while, Chen Jingji came. He greeted Meng Rui and sat down on the other side of the table.
“When are you starting?” Ximen Qing asked Meng Rui, “and how long do you expect to be away?”
“I am leaving on the second of next month,” Meng Rui said, “but how long I shall be away I cannot tell. I am going to Jingzhou to buy paper, then to Sichuan and Guangtong for incense and wax. That will take me a year or two. When I have finished buying, I shall come back. I propose to go through Henan and Shaanxi by land but, when I come back, I shall come by water. That means taking the river to Jingzhou. I suppose, all together, it will be a journey of seven or eight thousand li.”
Bojue asked how old he was. “I am twenty-six,” the young man told him.
“You are a young man,” Bojue said, “but you seem to know all there is to know about traveling and business. I myself have wasted my life at home.”
More food was brought. Plates and dishes filled up the whole table. It was evening when Meng Rui went away. Ximen Qing took him to the gate and returned to Bojue. He happened to see two paper chests and told Jingji to fill them up. He asked Yueniang to get some of the clothes that had belonged to Li Ping’er and put them into the chests with some paper money. He said to Ying Bojue: “It is forty-two days now since she died. We haven’t sent for any priests, but we are going to burn these chests.”
“How quickly time passes,” Bojue said. “It is more than a month since my sister-in-law died.”
“Yes,” Ximen Qing said, “the fifth of next month will be her last week’s mind, and I must ask some priests to come and hold a service for her.”
“This time, you ought to have the Buddhist priests,” Bojue said.
“My wife tells me,” Ximen said, “that when the sixth lady was alive, when her child was born and she suffered from continually flowing blood, she promised that our two nuns and some others should come and read prayers for her.”
Bojue saw that it was getting late. “I must go,” he said, “and you will have to be burning these papers for my sister-in-law.” He bowed low and added: “Brother, you have been very kind to me and I will never forget it.”
“Forget it or not,” Ximen said, “don’t try and make out that you are dreaming. When the time comes for the ceremony of the first month, all my ladies are going to take presents and congratulate you.”
“There is no need for them to bring presents,” Bojue said. “It will be good enough of them to come to my poor house.”
“I tell you what,” Ximen said; “you must dress up old Chunhua and fetch her along here for me to see.”
“Your aunt tells me that, now she has a son, she won’t require your services any more,” Bojue said.
“Wait!” Ximen said. “I shall know how to deal with her when I see her.”
Bojue laughed and went away. Ximen Qing told the boys to clear away. Then he went to the room of Li Ping’er. Chen Jingji and Laian had packed the paper chests. That day, offerings of paper things had been sent from all the neighboring temples. Ximen Qing watched Yingchun prepare the table and offer cakes, food, and soup to the dead lady. Incense was burned and candles lighted. Then he told Xiuchun to bid the ladies come and he, with them, burned paper offerings before the tablet. Chen Jingji took out the paper chests and burned them out of doors.
Footnote
* This means, literally, “pouring at the south.”
CHAPTER 68
The Party at Zheng Aiyue’s House
So deep is her passion, even when she is old
She cannot restrain it.
The moon, the dew, the mist, the cloud,
In all of them is something to incite her love.
When a real man stands before her
How shall she control her yearning?
They whisper softly, one to the other,
Then love weaves its chains about them.
Even if their bowels were made of iron
They must melt.
It is time to say farewell
The water runs onward, but the flowers are faded.
When Ximen Qing had burned the paper offerings for Li Ping’er, he went to spend the night with Pan Jinlian. The next day, Ying Bojue sent him a present of lucky noodles. Then Huang the Fourth came with his brother-in-law, Sun Wenxiang. They kowtowed to Ximen Qing and offered a pig, a jar of wine, two roast geese, and two boxes of fruits. Ximen showed great reluctance to accept them, but Huang the Fourth fell on his knees and begged him to do so. “My Lord,” he said, “you have saved our lives, and we and all our households feel that we must do something to show our gratitude. We can’t think what to do. These are only trifles that you may care to give your servants.” After much argument, Ximen Qing agreed to accept the pig and the wine, though only on the understanding that he would send them on to Qian.
“Well,” Huang the Fourth said, “it would seem that since I cannot make you accept them, we shall have to
take the rest away.” Then he said: “When you are at liberty, we should very much like to give a little entertainment to Brother Ying and yourself.”
“Oh, you mustn’t pay attention to anything he suggests,” Ximen Qing said. “He plays the fool too much. You have been good enough to offer me these presents, and there is no reason why you should go to all the trouble of entertaining me.” Huang the Fourth and his brother-in-law thanked him repeatedly and went away.
On the first day of the eleventh month, when Ximen Qing had returned from the office, he set out again to take wine with Magistrate Li. Wu Yueniang, dressed in white, went alone to the Qiaos’ to celebrate the birthday of Zhangjie. The same afternoon, Nun Xue came with two boxes of presents. She had heard that Yueniang wished to have a service on the fifth, and she slipped out quietly, without any of the other nuns knowing what she was about. As Yueniang was not at home, Li Jiao’er and Meng Yulou took tea with her. “The Great Lady,” they said, “has gone to a birthday party at the Qiaos’, but you must not go away, for she has something to say to you.” The nun stayed.
Jinlian had not forgotten what Yuxiao had told her. She had said that Yueniang had conceived after taking some medicine the nuns had brought her. Ximen Qing had taken a fancy to the nurse, Ruyi’er, and Jinlian feared that the nurse might have a child, and win Ximen’s favor for herself. So, secretly, she invited Nun Xue to go to her room, and gave her a tael of silver to get some medicine for her.
In the evening Yueniang returned and invited Xue to stay. The next day she asked Ximen Qing to give the nun five taels of silver. Xue, ignoring her sister in religion, Wang, arranged with eight other nuns to come to Ximen’s house on the morning of the fifth. An altar was set up in the garden house. There they recited Dhāranï¯s from the Avatamsaka and Diamond Sutras and fulfilled the ceremonies of the Blood Vessel Sutra In the evening there was the ceremony of feeding the Hungry Ghosts. Aunt Wu, Aunt Hua, Uncle Wu, Ying Bojue and Scholar Wen were invited to eat monastic fare. The nuns chanted their liturgy, but used no musical instruments except the wooden fish and the sounding stone.
The Golden Lotus, Volume 2 Page 26