by Tang Xianzu
(Greets Huo Xiaoyu)
Your darling will be arriving soon. My young mistress, let’s climb to the Phoenix & Flute Mansion to take a look. (Looks) The Shengyefang Lane is over there, that is the end of the street, and this is your residence hall.
HUO XIAOYU:
Ah, look, Siniang! A man is riding this way.
BAO SINIANG:
Right! He’s coming to the south.
(Enter Li Yi riding a horse, followed by the Tartar servant, Qiuhong and a few other servants)
LI YI (To the tune of Sudijindang):
Intoxicated by spring flowers, I hold a whip in my sleeve,
Riding a horse along the lush foliage by the river.
I’m a fabulous man more attractive than the Lantian jade,
Looking from afar at my bride’s house in the mist.
(Exit)
HUO XIAOYU (Delightfully surprised):
Siniang, look at him riding along the river! He’s as elegant as the willow, like Zhang Xu in his young days! How freely he’s whirling his whip backwards, with the horsemanship of Wang Zhan in the past! He’s indeed the man of men!
(To the tune of Diaojiao’er)
Who’s that handsome man by the river?
He’s riding a horse like dancing peach blossoms.
He seems to sit on the clouds, soaring to the sky,
With glamour and grandeur along the way.
With my image in his heart,
He gazes, casts the spring wind of his eyes,
Greets the morning sun, and sways before the blossoms.
Clothed in blue and glowing on the face,
There comes such an adorable young man,
Far surpassing Song Yu,
And Sima Xiangru as well.
BAO SINIANG:
This mansion has become the platform to look forward to her man. Let’s go downstairs and ask Her Ladyship to greet the bridegroom.
(Goes downstairs)
“The bridegroom must listen to the mother-in-law,
And the pair of mandarin ducks must meet on the magpie bridge.”
(Enter Lady Zheng)
LADY ZHENG (To the tune of Ruihexian):
My daughter in the prime of her youth
Is committed in marriage by a red thread.
In deep spring with a radiant scene
Where flowers blossom with time,
Good luck brings happy marriage.
Swallows send the good news
That the pair of swallow hairpins have been matched.
My sole concern goes with my daughter
For her to get happily married,
And for the couple to love and respect each other forever.
Mr. Li has arrived. Huansha, where’s the Wedding Master of Ceremony?
(Enter the Wedding Master of Ceremony)
MASTER:
Here I am. Here I am.
“Appearance and rite, which is more important?
So come on, bridegroom, dress yourself up.
Rite and food, which is more important?
So come on, waiters, prepare the best food.
The rites intoned at the hall are to be watched;
Yet the rites intoned on the bed are only to be listened to.”
BAO SINIANG:
How can the rites be intoned on the bed?
MASTER:
“They just prostrate themselves, bow and kowtow to each other;
In fact, they don’t intone anything, but act.”
BAO SINIANG:
Why don’t they intone the rites on the bed?
MASTER:
“The bridegroom nods to perform the rites on the bed.
If he intones out of the tune, it will surely ruin the pleasure.”
(Enter Li Yi)
LI YI (To the tune of Baodinger):
When I ride on my horse holding my whip,
I see the decorated house before my eyes,
And hear the flute music from the court.
Candle smoke slowly curls up from the crimson stand,
While the embroidered gauze is stirred by the wind.
(Enter Huo Xiaoyu)
HUO XIAOYU:
The swallows on the pair of jade hairpins are delightfully matched,
Remaining affectionate as they first met before the plum blossoms.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
Facing the dense incense smoke from the tripod,
We pray from the bottom of our hearts
That our marital ties will last forever.
MASTER (Gives the blessing):
“First bow to Heaven and Earth.
When Heaven and Earth meet, they bring happiness to man and wife,
Because everything goes well now that the water goes above the fire.
You are to have a son this year
And a daughter next year.
Next bow to your mother.
When you bow to the Mother Goddess,
You receive the blessing of the Mother Goddess.
The Mother Goddess marries her daughter this year
And will see her grandson next year.
Then bow to each other between man and wife.
When you are married today,
You’ll share whatever wealth and prosperity.
One aims at high position and fame,
While the other gives birth to offspring.”
BAO SINIANG (Cuts in jokingly):
What a wife from a grand family!
MASTER:
Now the rites are over. The bride and bridegroom, please be seated. Now it’s time for the
servants to kowtow.
(Qiuhong and the Tartar servant come to the fore)
QIUHONG:
Your closest servant little Qiuhong kowtows to you.
LADY ZHENG:
Are those servants all from the Li family?
QIUHONG:
Not the Li family of plums, but the Tao family of peaches.
LADY ZHENG:
Which Tao family?
TARTAR SERVANT:
The grand Hao family.
LADY ZHENG:
Which Hao family?
TARTAR SERVANT:
Now the Li family has become rich, so it’s called the Hao family of grand status.
LADY ZHENG:
I see. So Mr. Li comes from a rich and grand family. Is the horse also from the Li family?
QIUHONG:
Not from the Li family of plums, but the Tao family of peaches.
LADY ZHENG:
How come it’s from the Tao family again?
LI YI:
It’s not the horse from the Tao family of peaches, but it’s the peach-flowered horse, you know.
LADY ZHENG:
Mr. Li, so your horse is as fine as the peach flower or your horse is simply gone? Huansha, show our guests to the banquet at the other hall.
TARTAR SERVANT:
Great! Let’s go and have a drink.
“The horse bathes in the spring pond outside the door,
And the red candles greet guests before the house.”
(Exit)
LADY ZHENG:
Fetch the wine.
LI YI:
Please wait a moment. I have a pair of Lantian white jade pendants and ten bolts of patterned brocade to present to you with my humble respect.
LADY ZHENG:
Please accept them, my daughter. Mr. Li, I’ve often heard about your talent and manners. Now that I see your elegant bearing in person, you are truly remarkable. Though my daughter needs more cultivation, she is above the plain looks. So she is lucky to match you perfectly.
LI YI (Gratefully):
I’m far from satisfactory, and I don’t aspire too highly. I feel most lucky to be chosen as your son-in-law. It’s my great honour in this life or after.
(To the tune of Jintangyue)
(Raises the wine cup)
With embroidered curtains linked by red drapes,
With doors and gates surrounded by verdant trees
,
The spring scene spreads over the courtyard of tradition.
Fragrance lingers and mist floats;
The couple hold fans and laugh as if in a fairyland.
The new beauty shuns the morning sun with her dress,
And saunters along the Luo River to exhibit her charm.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
What a fairylike couple!
Coming together from afar for the marriage,
We are sure to enjoy the happiness for a hundred years.
HUO XIAOYU (To the previous tune):
Luckily, by the fairy pond
And at the Lantern Festival Eve,
The phoenixes appeared in the dreamland.
Once we drink the nectar,
We’ll be married as if in the Lanqiao legend.
We’ll soar to the clouds
And dance around like the fairies.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
What a fairylike couple!
Coming together from afar for the marriage,
We are sure to enjoy the happiness for a hundred years.
LADY ZHENG (To the previous tune):
Pitifully, my daughter’s been pretty
And shy since she was small,
And she has never met a young man before.
Now that she’s married,
There’ll be harmony in the family.
She dresses herself up before the fancy mirror
And she is lucky to find her ideal man.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
What a fairylike couple!
Coming together from afar for the marriage,
We are sure to enjoy the happiness for a hundred years.
ALL (To the previous tune):
Warmly, mist comes up from the green,
The red dress shines in the sun,
And people sing together all the time.
Congratulations to the talent and beauty,
Who are married in the prime of their youth.
The starlight mingling with the candlelight
Seems to enter the spring scene of the fairyland.
LI Yi, HUO XIAOYU:
What a fairylike couple!
Coming together from afar for the marriage,
We are sure to enjoy the happiness for a hundred years.
LADY ZHENG (To the tune of Zuiwengzi):
Enviably, the happy marriage dwells in the prime of youth,
Yet laurels of success hang up cold on the moon,
And the peonies in Luoyang may be devalued.
LI YI:
I’m fortunate enough
To have such kindness and mercy.
Where could I find the riches to repay?
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
So treasure the happiness together,
And remember the vows under the moon
And the swallows on the pair of jade hairpins.
HUO XIAOYU (To the previous tune):
Stop the chat, time for my man to paint my eyebrows,
When the three stars still twinkle,
And the lucky clouds hang over our bridal house.
LI YI:
To our will, I’m sure to win His Majesty’s conferment,
And then return home for reunion with wealth and fame.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
So treasure the happiness together,
And remember the vows under the moon
And the swallows on the pair of jade hairpins.
LI YI (To the tune of Xingxingling):
On the high lotus-shaped stand,
The red candlelight flickers.
In the stillness of the night,
She holds fragrant breath,
And wears sparkling jewelry,
Expecting her young man.
HUO XIAOYU (To the previous tune):
Flushed with intoxication
I can’t fall asleep at the enchanting night.
Yet the stars move,
And time passes by.
Dressed in my best
I wait for the daybreak.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU (To the tune of Coda):
With the brocade curtains fragrant for a hundred years,
Man and wife will live together forever,
As the talent matches the beauty perfectly well.
When the spring moonlight reflects the spring flowers,
The marital ties are linked across a thousand miles.
Blissful is the time when candles are lit in the bridal chamber;
Fortunate is the time when one succeeds in the imperial exam.
Scene Fourteen
The Chivalrous Friends’ Congratulations
(Enter Huansha)
HUANSHA:
“Spring lingers in the bed-curtain with tassels in the morn;
Flowers toss their buds and spread fragrance after fresh rain.
The window gauzes wave and the dainty eyebrows come in sight
As I bow in a tilting manner to my elegant master.”
Funny, really funny. As my young mistress is married to Mr. Li, I, as a maid, sleep at the back of the bed. So how would Mr. Li feel about it, and what would be my mistress’s grace and dignity? Anyway, I don’t have to care about these. Now that the sun rises up high and it’s almost noon, my young mistress is starting to dress up.
(Enter Huo Xiaoyu)
HUO XIAOYU (To the tune of Tanchunling):
We tasted our bliss in the couple’s quilt for the first time
With the spring breeze behind the curtain of our bed.
(Huansha supports Huo Xiaoyu)
Supported and frail as I am,
I smile, afraid that someone might ask:
What can I do with such an affectionate man?
(In the pattern of Heyebei)
“I offered my first love to my man last night,
My heart trembling, my hair messed up and my limbs most weakened.
With my adorable softness, how could I silently raise my head?
How embarrassing!
How embarrassing!”
HUANSHA (Laughs):
Ah, this is what you enjoy and what you suffer! The white and clean kerchief must have been stained.
(To the tune of Yingtixu)
The scarlet stain on the brocade kerchief has just faded;
Sweat was mixed with the powder on your tender face.
He could hardly wait to experience such passion of love,
And had already penetrated your delicate parts.
Oh, how you suffered!
Suddenly you gave out an oriole-like cry,
Folded up your soaked parts and became his wife.
Oh, what a dream-like spring!
How the rain matched the cloud with fragrance strong!
(Enter Li Yi)
LI YI (To the tune of Ruanlanggui):
When the morning light shines through the green window gauze,
My darling comes into sight like a goddess from a fairyland.
I gaze at her sitting and smiling by the screens,
So fresh and quiet in her new make-up.
(Greets Huo Xiaoyu)
“You pencil your eyebrows with proper dark and light shades,
As if the beauty of spring mountains were brought indoors.
Soon the sun will shed light on your rouged cheeks,
As if the red cream were starting to melt.”
Xiaoyu, when I took the first look at you in the chamber, you looked like a tree of jasper and jade, glimmering all over. When I took a second look at you, you were radiating with charm and grace. Your voice was soft and your expression was subtle. When you were undressing yourself, you showed the best glamour. As we turned intimate on our pillows in the curtain, how lovingly you attracted me! I thought to myself: Even the goddess of beauty could not compare with you!
HUO XIAOYU (Smiling):
You’re flattering me! You’re flattering me!
LI YI:
My friends Wei Xiaqing and Cui Yunming are coming to extend their congratul
ations. We must get wine and food ready.
HUO XIAOYU:
Certainly, we will.
(Enter Wei Xiaqing and Cui Yunming)
WEI XIAQING, CUI YUNMING (To the tune of Queqiaoxian):
Zhang Sheng peering through the red wall for Yingying,
Lady Yang bathing in the Huangqing Pond,
Both of them rouse youthful passions in spring.
Like Xiao Shi and Nongyu flying to the fairyland,
What colourful clouds we have today!
(They enter to greet the new couple)
Right on time, right on time. Congratulations on the bride and bridegroom! A talent matches a beauty, what a heavenly couple!
“The bridegroom shows new talent for loving his bride,
And the bride keeps the same tune with her bridegroom.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
Stars match each other in pairs in heaven;
Guests offer congratulates on earth.”
LI YI:
Fetch the wine.
HUANSHA (Presents the wine):
“Old wine smells more aromatic;
Familiar guests greet the new couple.”
Here is the wine.
(Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu hold up the wine cups)
LI YI (To the tune of Yushan’er):
On arriving at the painted hall,
The guests straighten up their silken robes with phoenixes and cranes.
The crimson candles on the silvery lotus-shaped stands flicker brightly,
While the fine incense smoke curls up slowly from the tripod burner.
HUO XIAOYU:
Before the old friends who come for the congratulations,
I can’t help blushing with my eyebrows half knit,
Holding up my sleeves to make toasts to our friends.
LI YI, HUO XIAOYU:
With the hairpins slanting down,
She slightly bows by the bridegroom,
Feeling most delicate and charming.
CUI YUNMING (To the previous tune):
Born in a noble family,
She’s a daughter that shines like jade and gold.
Her eyebrows are like the spring mountains,
Or like a thin and green line brightly lit.
WEI XIAQING:
When the morning sun shines brightly on the painted house,
The beauty sends her fragrance all over —
A true belle in the world!
WEI XIAQING, CUI YUNMING:
With the luckiest fate,
You wander under most usual circumstances
Yet to meet such a fairy!
LI YI (To the previous tune):
For years and years,
I’ve been searching for a plum flower under the moon.
Then I saw the belle loiter alone,
And won the chance to talk with her face to face.
HUO XIAOYU:
It must be the predestined fate
That blessed me with such charm