by Tang Xianzu
Oh, Mr. Li, how we suffer from your departure! Oh, it’s killing your mother-in-law!
LI YI:
So you are here too, Siniang.
LADY ZHENG (To the tune of Gu’nüguanzi):
Looking at my son-in-law, the new Number One Scholar,
We’re celebrating our happy gathering.
I propose a spring toast to the scholar’s journey,
But how could I let him go when I haven’t seen enough of him?
LI YI:
I’ll be returning soon. Please take good care of everything at home.
LADY ZHENG:
Ladies stay deep in the chamber,
So what are you worrying about?
We’ll wait till you are entitled the hero on the frontier,
And I’ll shoulder the responsibility of our home.
ALL:
No matter how long he is away from home,
He will not forget his love and his home.
LI YI (To the previous tune):
My dear wife,
You need not roll up the curtain, just stay deep in the house
And follow the steps of your mother.
Your Ladyship,
I feel sorry for not staying with you
Neglecting my care for both of you.
LADY ZHENG:
Mr. Li, please return home soon. I’m already in my old age.
LI YI:
You are like the Queen Mother of the West,
Taking good care of Xiaoyu as the celestial crimson peach.
I’d pray to Heaven for your longevity,
And call my dear from the frontier far away.
ALL:
No matter how long he is away from home,
He will not forget his love and his home.
HUO XIAOYU (To the previous tune):
He must hate the separation too as he departs,
While I’ll shed tears in the chamber for our transient joys.
Man and wife look at each other without a word;
My old mother also suffers great sorrows.
She sees her daughter married,
And soon to be separated.
As man and wife have to part,
Mother and daughter can only weep to the moon in vain.
ALL:
No matter how long he is away from home,
He will not forget his love and his home.
BAO SINIANG (To the previous tune):
The couple complain about the lack of care for the flowers,
For they’ll be parted like a pair of swallows.
Nothing can stop him from his grand career,
And we can’t delay him for the bright future.
Then what will happen when he departs?
How can we ask him to stay?
The traveller will be heart-broken at the apes’ cries on his way,
But must strive for his career, even if it’s trivial as ants.
ALL:
No matter how long he is away from home,
He will not forget his love and his home.
(Enter the military officer)
OFFICER:
“As time is urgent,
We can’t stay long at Baling.”
So please hurry up, military consultant.
LI YI (Kowtows for departure):
Ah, Your Ladyship,
(To the tune of Yicuozhao)
Though it’s cold in your own chamber,
You must show warm care for your solitary daughter.
LADY ZHENG:
Mr. Li,
As life is hard on the frontier,
You must cherish your own health.
LI YI:
Siniang,
Please take care
Of the mother and daughter when I’m away.
BAO SINIANG:
I’ll surely do,
But you must return soon.
HUO XIAOYU:
As I see my man leaving,
How much more I’d express for his departure!
LADY ZHENG, HUO XIAOYU, BAO SINIANG:
As you are departing,
We expect to receive your letters soon.
LADY ZHENG:
Mr. Li, when are you to return?
LI YI:
No more than a year.
(To the tune of Kuxiangsi)
How a bamboo-shoot of a son-in-law suffers upon departure,
And how the mother and daughter have to endure the sorrow!
(Lady Zheng faints)
(Exeunt Li Yi and Huo Xiaoyu)
BAO SINIANG:
Your Ladyship, stop worrying. He goes to the frontier for a grand career, and will return in glory.
When the man is to leave for the western frontier,
The adorable wife behind hides her knit brows.
With tears rolling down her cheeks,
The broken-hearted wife is to break weeping willows.
Scene Twenty-Five
Breaking Willow Twigs upon Departure
(Enter Huo Xiaoyu and Huansha)
HUO XIAOYU (To the tune of Jinlongcong):
With thin and tender fingers
I embroider coats for my man to the frontier.
When my carriage stops beside the Baling Bridge,
I see the fine horses marching on the road.
The guards of honour play reed pipes in the woods,
But none of them is in a joyful tune.
(In the pattern of Haoshijin)
“I rest my head on my wrist for fear of dreaming of my man,
For we parted when rain and clouds stop.
HUANSHA:
Hearing the dripping of time from the imperial river,
We can’t help giving out a choked cry.
HUO XIAOYU:
I dare not look westward in my carriage,
Finding it hard to describe how we’ll part.
HUO XIAOYU, HUANSHA:
When do cuckoos cry in the flowers?
Just look at the old blood stains!”
HUO XIAOYU:
Huansha, this Baling Bridge is truly a heart-breaking bridge!
(Enter Li Yi with his attendants)
LI YI (To the tune of Northern Dianjiangchun):
In the solemn military style I depart for the frontier in glory;
I stop at the solid Baling Bridge to bid farewell to my kinsfolk,
And then I tread on the road to the Yangguan Pass.
Escorted at the front and back,
I hold the rein amid hustle and bustle.
“When fluttering banners and warm sun disperse the spring cold,
Wine drops on the western desert with tears that never dry.
After I watch my love in the flowers for a while,
She’ll stay in my memory on the journey tomorrow.
Attendants, stop the guards of honour beside the Baling Bridge, so that I’ll bid farewell to my wife.
(Meets Huo Xiaoyu)
Why should I have to head for the frontier?
HUO XIAOYU:
My man,
Tarry no more on your horse today.
LI YI:
When will my journey come to an end?
HUO XIAOYU:
All my heart-breaking music is meant for you.”
My dear man, although you’re setting off in a grand style, I can’t help feeling dreary and sad. The Baling Bridge is right ahead. I’ll go and break the willow twigs, in imitation of a tune for your departure. Fetch the wine, please!
(To the tune of Northern Jishengcao)
The Tune of the Yangguan Pass terrifies me,
And it even chills the Weishui River.
The ancient Peach Blossom Ferry still stands where lovers bid farewell;
The islets are green with grass where clouds and water meet;
The willows whisper gently to the breeze at the Baling Bridge.
(Breaks the willow twigs)
Ah, willows,
I wish you would bind my man with your threads,
Yet knowing they can’t st
op their own catkins from floating away.
LI YI:
Think of the bliss we had last night!
(To the previous tune)
Nothing can block our hearts for love;
Our joy goes beyond description.
Spring love fills our quilt;
Intoxication satisfies our souls.
Where do we find our momentary ecstasy?
But when we wake up, it’s time to depart.
Let me ask you, my dear, for whom spring ends so soon.
HUO XIAOYU:
How myriad tears drop upon your sleeves!
(To the previous tune)
Oh, the tears,
How they roll down my cheeks like red threads!
How my tender weep brings jade-beads of tears!
My tears splash like pure rose-dew from the jade pot,
Breaking into depressive pieces like falling pear-petals,
Soaking the red-gauze kerchiefs like pearls dropping on plates.
How the tears drop till the sea clouds dry!
Ah, the sleeves,
How they are stained like the spotted Xiaoxiang bamboos!
LI YI:
Oh, how bitterly you weep!
(To the previous tune)
You keep silent and dreary,
Knitting your eyebrows with a lonely heart.
Casually you make up your face with fine fingers,
Your bright eyes roll with restraint,
And your long wrinkled dress drags along as you walk.
A precious moment is worth a fortune — so what
For we can’t consummate our dream and love tonight.
HUO XIAOYU:
My man, in which direction is the Yumen Pass?
(To the previous tune)
My eyes will follow you till the road bends,
And my teardrops will float with the dust.
After you go,
My bed-curtain will be cold and desolate,
My belt will turn loose,
And the candlelight and incense smoke will fade.
Looking at the clouds and mountains on the screen,
I think of our meeting again but you may have new love then.
My man, is there anything you’d like to advise me?
LI YI (To the previous tune):
I’ll spend my leisure in boredom,
Keeping you in my mind to console my soul.
Please tie up the drooping button loops,
Fasten the soft and colourful bellybands,
And make your bed warm and comfortable.
You may have some dreams lingering in your mind,
So please try to ease your sorrow when you wake up.
HUO XIAOYU:
Hearing these remarks, I feel you are not a frivolous man. But at the moment,
(To the tune of Jiesancheng)
My pain fills the court flowers in the rain;
My sorrow covers the wild grass in the mist.
Forget about the separation of paired mandarin ducks
And their yearning for reunion.
I’ll knock the hairpins to call the parrot to talk
Or drowsily glance at the amorous picture-books after making the bed.
My bridegroom is gone,
Disappearing from my sight in no time,
Leaving the phoenix alone in the mirror.
LI YI:
How can I leave abruptly! Fetch more wine!
(To the previous tune)
For a scholar who’s just made some success,
I feel overwhelmed by your passionate love.
Swallows feed their young with sweet milk around the Cold Food Day,
While pelicans cry, “Don’t go darling!”
I tether my steed to a lovesick tree,
With homesick tears that can link the crooked beads.
When I’m lost in my soul,
It’s the time when I return drunk
And chant poems lamenting the passing spring.
HUO XIAOYU:
When you are gone, how am I to spend my time?
(To the previous tune)
How can I have the mood listening to orioles sing?
I don’t even care to do make-up any more.
From now on I’ll be in a melancholy mood all day long,
Expecting your horse clacking or your letters arriving.
With the master of the house gone from the bridal chamber,
The setting sun will find my man on the western frontier.
Along the road to the Baling Bridge,
What I see is only the callous painted boats,
With my carriage laden with sorrow.
LI YI:
My love, I’m afraid the wind and sand on the frontier will make me old!
(To the previous tune)
I’m like Wang Can in the service in the north,
While you’re like Xiao Qiao married to the State of Wu.
The talent and belle should enjoy their time together,
So how can I waste my time on the long journey?
This departing sorrow can only be relieved by string music;
The void of time can only be filled by sighs before the mirror.
When time betrays your intentions for love,
Can you still recognize me when I return home?
What would happen on my journey to the frontier?
HUO XIAOYU:
My man, people admire you for your looks and fame. There must be many ladies who’d like to be married to you. As you are departing, it’s not certain when you’ll return. When you get official promotion, there may be other better proposals of marriage for you. By then our vows might be annulled. However, as your humble wife, I have a modest desire to discuss with you. If you will excuse me, please listen to me.
LI YI (Startled):
What’s wrong with me that makes you utter such a remark? Please tell me exactly, and I’ll certainly respond with all seriousness.
HUO XIAOYU:
I’m now eighteen, and you’re twenty-two. There are still eight years to go before you enter the prime of your life. Yet the cream of my life might have ended by then. At that time, you might have better choices for your marriage. That won’t be too late for you yet. By then I’ll leave the secular world, have my hair cut, wear the black robe and be a nun. All my past desire will be satisfied by then.
(To the previous tune)
The incense stick might be broken in my previous life;
Can the candle sparks bring any happiness?
Just remember that lovers will stick to each other till they’re thirty;
Don’t take the vows and oaths too seriously.
My man,
Belles are many who’d like to offer you silk whips for keepsake;
I’m just one lonely songster who cares for you.
I must take care
Neither to saturate my green handkerchief with tears
Nor to write palindrome poems to express my longings.
LI YI (Weeps):
“With my vow as clear as the sun,
I will stick to it alive or dead.”
To live and grow old with you is what I long for. How could I think of other choices? So please trust me, and we’ll love and respect each other all the time.
(To the previous tune)
Who can compare to you in the town of ladies?
Even the Queen’s Kingdom has no match with you.
So trust your man who pencils your eyebrows,
As no other beauty or wine has any charm for me.
Even if another belle can dance and sing on the palm,
I’ll never forget you, my dear wife, who sighs by the window.
What grief it is
To look at your raven eyebrows,
And cold dainty crimson lips!
(Enter Wei Xiaqing and Cui Yunming)
WEI XIAQING, CUI YUNMING (To the tune of Shengchazi):
The talent rides on his horse to the west,
While the wife
laments on her beauty.
Orioles warble on the grass fragrant and green;
Fallen petals urge the horse on its way.
We heard quite some time ago that Li Junyu would depart soon. Now it’s already noon but he’s still tarrying in a gloomy mood at the red pavilion.
(Greet Li Yi)
CUI YUNMING:
Li Junyu, with flutes and drums in the camp on this auspicious day, it’s high time to hit the road! It’s time for the departure!
LI YI:
To tell the truth, Xiaoyu has a lot to say, so it’s hard for me to say good-bye to her.
WEI XIAQING:
As Lu Guimeng’s poem goes,
“I carry my sword to fill the cup;
It’s a shame to make a fuss about departure.”
Li Junyu, you are a real man, yet how could you linger like this? Mistress, we will accompany Junyu for a few miles. When we return, we’ll bring back the news that all is well. The military mission is urgent, so he can’t be delayed. As the saying goes,
“The flapping banner shades away the setting sun,
And the dagger cuts off the sentiments upon departure.”
(Exeunt)
(Flutes and drums from within)
LI YI:
My love, listen to the reed pipes and drums. They’re urging me to hurry up. Our intimate love is beyond words. Now I really have to depart.
(To the tune of Zhegutian)
Hiding my tears I send you to your carriage,
Clinging to the dream where we may enjoy the reunion.
HUO XIAOYU:
My man, you don’t have to see me back.
I wish you would return in silken robes;
That wouldn’t bother my life of solitude.
(Exit Li Yi with his attendants)
Escorted by hundreds of horses
And supported by thousands of people,
He’s a wealthy, valiant and handsome man.
Huansha, send my words to my man,
Wherever he goes, be sure to bring the sword with him;
Whomever he meets at the post, ask them to bring letters home.
Once we part, we seem to live in two worlds;
Broken-hearted, I look back with weeping eyes.
As the Yumen Pass is three thousand miles away,
It is no easy matter to hear from him.
Scene Twenty-Six
Composing Poems on Mount Longshan
(Enter the attendants)
ATTENDANTS (To the tune of Jinqianhua):
The rain washes away the dust,
The dust over Weicheng;
The moon casts the yellow light,
The yellow light over Luntai.
The drumbeats urge us to join the army,
For us to bid farewell to our wives
And to achieve feats with our swords.
Hi, everyone! How heart-breaking it is when we saw the military consultant parting with his wife! There appears the red streamer, and there comes the military consultant.