by Tang Xianzu
HUO XIAOYU (Smiles):
Then you say I’ll make the pair.
BAO SINIANG:
So that’s it! But let me ask you how your hairpin fell into the scholar’s hands?
HUO XIAOYU (To the tune of Xueshizi):
In the Lantern Festival on the moonlit street,
The moon shone through the plum trees.
I tarried outside the corridor smelling the fragrance of the plums.
Then the plum branch shivered,
The plum branch shivered and caught the hairpin.
It’s Heaven that bestowed it on the scholar.
HUO XIAOYU, BAO SINIANG:
A single swallow hairpin now, and a pair of swallow hairpins then;
One is missing from the pair, and is now returning to make the pair.
Can it fly back to my dressing-table
Like spring entering the curtains?
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
Lanterns bright as day and crowds huge as the sea,
It’s a wonder that he should have picked up the hairpin!
Nobody else saw it on the Lantern Festival Eve.
Plum blossoms were falling,
Plum blossoms were falling,
But they could only be picked up by those who keep an eye.
The scholar is the one who keeps an eye on them.
HUO XIAOYU, BAO SINIANG:
The hairpins are mentioned directly, and then indirectly;
One is missing directly, and is now returning indirectly,
Can it fly back to my dressing-table
Like spring entering the curtains?
BAO SINIANG:
As you mention the dressing-table, I’d like to tell you that Mr. Li is taking the hairpin as a token for the marital tie.
HUO XIAOYU:
But what family is he from? How talented is he? How come that he is still single at the age over twenty?
BAO SINIANG:
As to the scholar, he is from a distinguished family and is exceptionally talented. He has no rivals in poetry and prose. The sages strongly recommend him for his talent. He prides himself for elegant manners. He has been looking for an ideal mate from prestigious families, but hasn’t found one yet.
HUO XIAOYU:
I see. As for this matter, you need to consult my mother.
(To the tune of Gewei)
As you talk about the dressing-table,
How could the poor scholar put the hairpin on my hair?
I’m afraid
My dear mom might not recognize his talent!
(Exit)
BAO SINIANG (Remains on the stage):
May I talk with Your Ladyship?
(Enter Lady Zheng)
LADY ZHENG (To the tune of Yijianmei):
Outside the red gauze appear the greens in fog and mist;
Flowers wave to the window gauze,
And the sun shines through the window gauze.
Who has brought luck to my door?
Spring makes me old
And makes my daughter thin.
(Greets Bao Siniang)
So it’s Bao Siniang.
“With one third of spring gone,
The day is getting longer.
BAO SINIANG:
To make a match,
I’ve come to talk in details.”
Your Ladyship, guess why I’ve come here today! It’s for your daughter’s marriage.
LADY ZHENG:
My daughter is too young to marry. Now let me tell you,
(To the tune of Yichunling)
To be born a fairy,
My daughter always stays by my side.
Behind the layers of curtains,
How could she bare her heart?
Incense smoke curls upward from the burner;
Flowers exhibit charm in the jade vase.
Like other maidens she has hidden her heart.
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
She’s growing up,
And you’re getting old.
She’ll not take your words seriously.
She’s been so touched in her heart
That she is growing too slender for her spring dress.
Nobody from the marriage list would remain single;
Belles are eager to express their affections.
You’d like to stay with her,
But she burns the incense sticks so as to find her ideal groom.
LADY ZHENG (To the previous tune):
Time and tide await no one;
It’s true that a lady must marry a man.
Yet how could I let her marry outside my house;
I might invite the groom to marry inside my house.
So I may prepare the west room as their hall,
And the east room as their chamber.
Who is so concerned like me for the daughter’s happiness?
Then how’s the man?
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
Young, handsome and talented,
Mr. Li is from a distinguished family in Longxi.
By relying on him,
You’ll be surely secure and stable.
The Jiangchu Tune will lead to their union;
The Qiufeng Tune will bring him here.
(Takes out the hairpin)
So you must accept the swallow jade hairpin.
LADY ZHENG (Looks at the hairpin):
Well! This hairpin looks like the one Xiaoyu wears. How can the scholar have it? Marriage must be based on my daughter’s will. Huansha, please call your young mistress.
(Huansha calls)
(Enter Huo Xiaoyu)
HUO XIAOYU (To the tune of Yijianmei):
I wake up to find the spring breeze fondling the flowers;
I pity my youth
And I pity the spring flowers.
Showers of rain brought the flowers to blossom;
I saw lanterns last night,
And I see plum blossoms today.
(Greets Lady Zheng and Bao Siniang)
LADY ZHENG:
My dear daughter, Bao Siniang has come to arrange Mr. Li’s marriage with you. What’s your opinion?
HUO XIAOYU:
Why should you mention his name?
(To the tune of Xioudai’er)
Content to sit on my chair and bed,
I feel shy to be called a man’s wife.
I’m not the fairy Lanxiang eager for a man;
And this isn’t the Peach Blossom Valley for a fisherman to visit.
Without exaggeration, I’m determined to remain chaste
And to stay in my own boudoir.
(Sobs)
I’ve been living with you for so many years,
Staying together all the time.
How could I ever leave you?
LADY ZHENG (To the previous tune):
Oh, with the passage of time,
Like the frosty clouds and the solitary moon,
How can I keep my pretty daughter all to myself?
My dear daughter, even the fairy Minggu has human feelings.
I wish you a happy marriage,
So that you won’t live alone all the time.
Even the fairy weaver would arrange her marriage,
And meet her lover on the magpie bridge across the Milky Way.
So today,
When you have your spouse
With the help of a matchmaker,
I won’t be worrying for you any more.
HUANSHA (To the previous tune):
Please don’t sigh.
As a most adorable miss,
You will soon be married to your ideal man.
You are caring too much for your mom.
If you hesitate between the two,
None of them will be happy in the end.
(Aside)
I won’t be coaxed.
She has reached the age of sixteen,
An age with undisciplined impulses of a youthful heart.
It’s high time for
her to get married;
A flawless jade as she is,
She will soon pass her prime.
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
With your glib tongue,
You are slashing me the matchmaker.
Eager to win your hand,
Why should the talented scholar
Do without a perfect mate?
The miss longs for love but gives no reply
While the mother chatters all in vain.
To tell whether their love is true or not,
You may look at the swallow jade hairpin,
And recall what happened before the plum blossoms.
LADY ZHENG:
That’s right. It’s the hairpin on my daughter’s dressing-table. How did it fall into the hands of a young man?
(Huo Xiaoyu blushes)
(Asks Huansha)
What happened last night?
HUANSHA (To the tune of Taishiyin):
On our leave for the lanterns on the Festival Eve,
We turned to the winding corridor in front of the moonlit plums.
We were about to leave when her hairpin got caught on the twigs;
As we were searching for it, he put it into his sleeve.
LADY ZHENG:
Was he Mr. Li the scholar?
HUANSHA:
While the scholar was bold enough,
My young mistress appeared a bit shy and timid.
LADY ZHENG:
What did the scholar say?
HUANSHA:
He said that as he was still single at his age,
He kept the hairpin so as to have access to the miss.
LADY ZHENG:
What did your young mistress say?
HUANSHA (To the previous tune):
She has heard of his talent and grace,
But chanced to meet him on the Festival Eve.
I stood by the lanterns in the moonlight,
Overhearing the dialogue between the scholar and belle.
How happy he was when he held the hairpin!
How shy she was behind the plum blossoms!
LADY ZHENG:
Then what?
HUANSHA:
She looked with a charming smile,
For she was much enticed.
LADY ZHENG:
Why?
HUANSHA:
As we know, a smile often predestines a happy marriage.
LADY ZHENG (Asks with a smile):
Is that true, Xiaoyu?
HUO XIAOYU (In a low voice):
(To the tune of Sanxueshi)
As I tarried by the plum blossoms at spring dusk,
I saw him sigh and sigh.
He was watching my face behind the lantern
When I asked him to return the exquisite hairpin.
Suddenly we seemed to make a vow for marriage
And smiled to each other at the encounter.
LADY ZHENG (To the previous tune):
Marriage is no joking for you,
But he might be too rash about it.
Is he ready to settle down in Chang’an?
I’m afraid that he might discard you in the future.
So lightly you made your vow under the moonlit plums
That I fear your encounter might be a mistake.
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
Xiaoyu,
You are in the prime of your life,
And the scholar is from a prestigious family.
When he took your swallow hairpin,
Does it mean that the swallow flew into an ordinary family?
As I also made my vow under the moonlit plums,
I can assure you of a happy marriage.
HUANSHA:
Your Ladyship, please give your consent!
(To the previous tune)
Spring night in a fairyland
Foretells the best luck for a joyful life.
Oh, talented scholar,
Do you have a fine steed
To match the swallows on the belle’s hairpins?
Your vow under the moonlit plums
Will bring about the happiest marriage.
LADY ZHENG:
They talked heart to heart and took the hairpin as the token of engagement. It’s all arranged by Heaven! It’s all arranged by Heaven!
(To the tune of Coda)
Please ask the would-be son-in-law to fix the date;
I’ll prepare the ceremony for the wedding day.
BAO SINIANG:
He has a pair of white jade pendants to highlight the best day.
A chance encounter ends with a smile,
With the hairpin as a token of engagement.
With the swallow on the hairpin in his sleeves,
The scholar will meet the belle in her boudoir.
Scene Nine
Receiving Good News
(Enter Li Yi)
LI YI (In the pattern of Siyueren):
“Ambling through the capital to view the lanterns,
I saw a jade swallow as if in a dream.
Tarrying in the street and listening to the flute music,
I seemed to hear her voice ringing around.
The spring is early and the jade is real;
When can I fly with her as a floating cloud?
I try my luck of love for the belle,
And eagerly expect news from the matchmaker.”
I’ve asked Bao Siniang to make the match, but I fear that my love’s mother might not agree.
(To the tune of Yingjilinchun)
We met and chatted before the lanterns for a while,
And walked quietly along the corridor in the moonlight.
I felt it a pity that time passed so quickly,
For she seemed to regret dropping the hairpin under the trees.
Walking back and forth among the flowers,
I thought of her slim and slender charm.
As spring chill still pervaded the air,
I sank into a melancholy mood.
I could only reveal my gloom
To the clear and bright moon.
(To the previous tune)
I’m still uncertain about the depth of her feeling;
How she smiled when I met her by chance!
Faintly I heard the oriole leaving in the moonlight;
The morning breeze blew here and there at daybreak.
I reckon that as she is so rarely smart,
It’d take some time to truly understand her.
So close by, yet so far away,
There’s still some distance to get near her,
But much easier than to enter the Peach Blossom Valley.
(To the tune of Sifanying’er)
What I love is her sweet and charming manners;
What I fear is her mother’s stubborn attitude,
As scholars are not esteemed in society these days.
I have no chance to explain to her again,
And this is a most unfortunate matter,
As we just met and then had to part.
I neither have lust for her beauty,
Nor have greed for her wealth.
From the bottom of my heart,
I must feel sure and secure.
(To the previous tune)
For all my talent and knowledge,
So many maidens crave for me.
She loves me fine though without words.
The hairpin on the plum twigs
Is to be used as a token by the matchmaker,
Who is as glib as the oriole warbling in spring.
I wear out my eyes waiting for the outcome
In a melancholy and longing mood,
But the matchmaker is yet to come.
(Enter Bao Siniang)
BAO SINIANG (To the tune of Lanhuamei):
The day is getting fine with bluish clouds and azure sky;
After the Lantern Festival, the spring scene quiets down
When I slipped out of bed with my hair dishevelled.
&nb
sp; (Greets Li Yi)
LI YI:
Sorry to have troubled you! But did she give consent?
BAO SINIANG:
She agreed not by words, but by heart.
As the saying goes, “Spring breeze brings good luck.”
LI YI:
So what did she say?
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
She said that as you were a talented scholar
With fine manners and a grand style,
As you were from a distinguished family,
Your marriage was predestined by Heaven,
For you to pencil her eyebrows at the dressing-table.
LI YI:
What was the young mistress doing then?
BAO SINIANG:
When I arrived there, she had just got out of bed.
(To the tune of Zuiluoge)
She was charming after a night’s sleep,
And she was fresh after careful make-up.
She removed the extra powder with delicate fingers,
And fondled her drooping spring gown.
She rinsed her mouth with fragrant water,
And wiped her dainty lips clean.
Even the lotus smiled to her stealthily,
And the azure clouds stole a look at her,
Only to find her spring affection by her eyebrows.
But don’t be hasty.
As she’s so supple and charming,
Do you have the luck to marry her?
LI YI (To the previous tune):
Surely, surely, it’s been settled down;
Happily, happily, we’ve become one.
It’ll take a fortune to trade for the spring night,
Which I enjoyed so much.
To drink alone in melancholy spring,
A single man may feel a bit cold;
To share the same pillow with your love,
You may feel warm in spring night.
She can wait with patience but I can’t wait any more.
After three days,
In the early morning,
I’ll thank my matchmaker with precious gifts.
BAO SINIANG:
Mr. Li, we’ll hold the wedding ceremony on the birthday of flowers, but you look so humble. A man from such a family as yours must ride a fine horse with a gilded saddle and be followed by some servants.
LI YI:
I see.
BAO SINIANG (To the tune of Coda):
As you are truly a first-rank scholar,
You must make your wife all the more charming.
Oh, yes, Mr. Li,
You also need some silk fabric for lovemaking.
(Exit)
(Li Yi remains on the stage)
LI YI:
Bao Siniang says that I look humble, so I’ll ask my brothers Wei Xiaqing and Cui Yunming to borrow some servants and horses for a grand show.
The jade hairpin is on the moon fairy’s head,
While the matchmaker arranges for the marriage.
The magpies spreading good news for the couple