by Tang Xianzu
DU LINIANG (Aside):
This lady looks like my mother and her maid looks like Chunxiang.
(To Lady Zhen)
May I ask where you are from?
LADY ZHEN (Sighs):
I’m from Huai’an;
My husband is the Envoy of Huai’an.
To escape from the war,
I’ve travelled a long way and come to your door.
DU LINIANG (Aside):
She must be my mother, but how shall I present myself?
(Enter Chunxiang in a panic)
CHUNXIANG (Aside, to Lady Zhen):
It’s an empty house with no one around. She must be a ghost, a ghost!
(Lady Zhen trembles with fear)
DU LINIANG:
From what she’s said, she must be my mother.
(Throws herself in Lady Zhen’s bosom and cries)
Mom, Mom!
LADY ZHEN (Tries to move away):
Are you my daughter? I must have neglected your offerings and you appear before me in the human form! Chunxiang, get some sacrificial money and scatter it! Scatter the money!
(Chunxiang scatters the sacrificial money)
DU LINIANG:
I’m not a ghost.
LADY ZHEN:
If you are not a ghost, answer my three calls with increasing voice!
(Calls three times and Du Liniang answers three times, but each time in a weaker voice)
You must be a ghost!
DU LINIANG:
Mom, please listen to me.
LADY ZHEN:
Please keep away,
For a chilly wind does blow
From where you stay.
DU LINIANG:
What comes from where I stay?
(Pulls at Lady Zhen)
LADY ZHEN (In fear):
Your hands are cold, my child.
CHUNXIANG (Kowtows):
Please don’t hurt me, Mistress.
LADY ZHEN:
We should have held a ceremony to transcend your soul but for the objection from your father.
DU LINIANG (Wails):
Why should you be in such fear, Mom? I won’t let you go at any event.
(Enter Sister Stone)
SISTER STONE (To the previous tune):
Before I left, I closed the door,
But how come from the yard all the roar?
(Lowers the lamp to light the ground)
How is it that I’ve found
Sacrificial money on the ground?
CHUNXIANG:
Isn’t it Sister Stone coming, Madam?
LADY ZHEN:
Yes, it is.
SISTER STONE (Surprised):
Where are you from, Madam and Chunxiang? Why are you making such a fuss? Look,
How they move about in fear —
The old mistress
Would like to leave a ghost from the grave;
The young mistress
Would like to get the light and draw near.
DU LINIANG:
Come over quickly, Sister Stone! My mom is greatly terrified.
CHUNXIANG:
Isn’t the nun also a ghost?
SISTER STONE (Grasps Lady Zhen by the sleeve and holds up the lamp to Du Liniang):
Too much of your ado!
Have a close look in the light.
Isn’t this the face you knew?
LADY ZHEN, CHUNXIANG:
This is the face we knew.
LADY ZHEN (Embraces Du Liniang and weeps):
I won’t tear myself away from you, my child, even if you are a ghost.
(To the previous tune)
My heart has been broken for three years,
But how did you leave the netherworld spheres?
DU LINIANG:
Out of respect for Dad and Mom,
The nether judge released me from the hell.
CHUNXIANG:
How did you manage to get out of your grave, young mistress?
DU LINIANG:
It’s a story hard to tell.
LADY ZHEN:
How did you manage it?
DU LINIANG:
Thanks to the Goddess of Mount Tai,
A scholar got the inspiration from a dream to dig my grave.
LADY ZHEN:
Where is the scholar’s native place?
DU LINIANG:
The scholar Liu Mengmei is from Lingnan.
CHUNXIANG:
What a coincidence! His name indeed carries “willow” liu and “plum” mei!
LADY ZHEN:
Why did he bring you here?
DU LINIANG:
He’s here to take the imperial examination.
LADY ZHEN:
Then he must be a nice scholar. Ask him to meet us.
DU LINIANG:
I asked him to meet you in Huaiyang.
Therefore,
Here I stay alone;
Here I stay alone.
LADY ZHEN (Aside, to Chunxiang):
How is it possible!
CHUNXIANG:
I think so, for how can there be such a pretty ghost?
LADY ZHEN (Turns back to Du Liniang and weeps):
(To the tune of Fanshanhu)
I thought that you had soared to the sky,
Seated on the lotus in the western spheres,
But I didn’t expect to meet you again in three years.
I cried till my limbs were numb
And my eyes were dry.
My dreams would be haunted;
My thoughts would fly.
I was afraid that
You would lack food and drink;
In your graveyard cattle would saunter by.
ALL:
What night indeed is this?
What night indeed is this?
Oh,
We fear that this reunion is a lie.
DU LINIANG (Weeps):
(To the previous tune)
You put me in a grave that was shallow,
Where bones lay cold and sleep came slow.
I got your food and drink,
Offered on Festival for the Ghost.
I had no hope for the future;
The past terrified me the most.
This is a confounding puzzle,
Only heavens will ever know.
I’m no longer a ghost;
I’ve come back from down below.
If I had not cut off the nether tie,
How can I have you close by?
ALL:
What night indeed is this?
What night indeed is this?
Oh,
We fear that this reunion is a lie.
LADY ZHEN:
Sister Stone, thank you for watching over my child.
SISTER STONE (To the previous tune):
Never mention the past three years,
For they make me shudder all the time.
I observed all the rites for her;
Who knows she had a love affair sublime!
(Whispers to Lady Zhen)
I tried to find out about the love affair,
But she played tricks on me all the time.
ALL:
Miraculous love!
Miraculous love!
Her soul made love on earth above!
CHUNXIANG (To the previous tune):
I’ve heard about souls that stroll,
Who cannot keep their bodies whole.
A pity that they had no tomb-mates
To love them heart and soul.
My mistress alone has attained her goal.
Young mistress,
Your love is obstinate,
And now you’ve had your mate.
I offered food and drink for you every day;
Your mom never forgot the memorial date.
Who knows that you have changed your fate
And is sailing with your mate!
ALL:
Miraculous love!
Miraculous love!
Her soul made love on e
arth above!
LADY ZHEN (To the tune of Coda):
Thank heavens that you’ve come back to life,
But your dad is still entangled in the military strife.
DU LINIANG:
Don’t worry, Mom. My faithful man will
Probe high and low
To find the news for his wife.
Imaginary sprites are hard to meet;
Where in the heaven flies the blossom sweet?
Don’t say that only mortals have some warmth;
The morning mirror is like a chilly sheet.
Scene Forty-Nine
Sojourn near the Huai River
(Enter Liu Mengmei with a bundle and an umbrella)
LIU MENGMEI (To the tune of Sandengle):
There is no easy road
In times of war.
At the sight of fallen leaves,
The traveller senses the coming fall.
As my wife worries about her father,
I’m on my way to Yangzhou.
When I know he’s besieged in Huai’an,
To his rescue I must go.
“How can I go and see my kin?
I have to go through thick and thin.
For a scholar in times of distress,
Poverty will throw him in a mess.”
As I, Liu Mengmei in the human world, was loved by Du Liniang in the netherworld, we became man and wife. We went together to Lin’an to enter the imperial examination. I was lucky enough to have my belated paper accepted, but the border conflict delayed the announcement of the results. As soon as my wife heard that her father was besieged in Huaiyang, she asked me to seek information on the way. Therefore, I set off with her self-portrait to report the news of her resurrection. My only means to cover the travel expenses is the jewellery unearthed from her tomb. Some little articles are not easy to sell or pawn on the spot, and some vessels of precious metal are of little weight. What’s more, I’m a scholar who does not know much about the scales. The little cash I have is spent on my daily expenses on the way. Now that I have reached Yangzhou, I hear that my father-in-law has been transferred to defend the city of Huai’an. As the bandit troops have blocked the way, I dare not move on. However, the bandit troops seem to be dispersing and so I’m moving forward again.
(To the tune of Jinchandao)
I cherished the hope that in Yangzhou
I would drink as much as I can
And relish in the song and dance,
But who knows that Envoy Du has gone to Huai’an.
I have no fortune
To take a pleasure ride on a crane.
I have to live with the rustic folk,
With sight of decayed lotus and willow
Scattered on the autumn plain.
What melancholy thoughts when I roam!
I have to wait for my fame and name,
And leave my dear wife at home.
Well, forget about it!
Woeful thoughts are a shame!
After a long journey, the towering city wall of Huai’an comes in sight at last! Around the city wall flows the clear Huai River; above the wall-tower floats the sixteen-feet military streamer. Amid drums and bugles, the city gate is closed. I’ll try to find an inn to put up for the night.
(Enter the innkeeper)
INNKEEPER:
“Add a lot of water to the wine;
Don’t earn money in indecent line.”
Do you need a room for the night, sir?
(Liu Mengmei enters the inn)
Will you have wine with nuts and fruits or with dishes?
LIU MENGMEI:
I never drink wine.
INNKEEPER:
Will you have some food?
LIU MENGMEI:
I’ll pay after I eat.
INNKEEPER:
No, you’ll pay before you eat.
LIU MENGMEI:
Here are some scraps of silver.
INNKEEPER:
What scraps! I’d better weigh them.
(Weighs and calls out in surprise)
The silver’s gone.
LIU MENGMEI:
Why all the fuss?
INNKEEPER:
Sir, your silver has disappeared in the floor cracks. Look at the tiny drops!
LIU MENGMEI:
I’ve some more for you.
INNKEEPER (Takes the silver and it vanishes again. The same happens a third time):
Oh, you’re giving me quicksilver!
LIU MENGMEI:
Why do you call it quicksilver?
(Aside)
I’ve got it. It must be the quicksilver my love held in her mouth at the burial. “The dragon soars to the sky when the earth in its mouth turns into pearls; the ghost resurrects to the human world when the quicksilver in its mouth turns into pellets.” It conforms to the natural course of events that these things are gone with the wind. When my love died, the quicksilver was dead; when my love comes to life again, the quicksilver becomes alive. It’s a pity that the common people do not understand these miraculous things.
(Turns to the innkeeper)
Well, sir, you’ve squandered all my silver and I have no more left. Here is a book I read every day. It’s worth a flask of wine.
INNKEEPER:
The book is too worn and torn.
LIU MENGMEI:
Here is a brush-pen to go with it.
INNKEEPER:
The pen is battered.
LIU MENGMEI:
From your numerous customers, haven’t you ever heard of Du Fu’s line “Wear out ten thousand books”?
INNKEEPER:
No, I haven’t.
LIU MENGMEI:
Haven’t you ever heard of Li Bai’s line “Dream of a pen that bears a thousand blooms”?
INNKEEPER:
No, I haven’t.
LIU MENGMEI (With a giggle):
(To the tune of Zaoluopao)
It would be fun that he assumes
He’ll “wear out ten thousand books”
And “dream of a pen that bears a thousand blooms”.
I’m wrong to swap these things for wine.
INNKEEPER (Smiles):
“An immortal leaves his jade pendant;
A minister gives his golden plate.”
LIU MENGMEI:
Where do you think these jade pendants and golden plates come from?
When a scholar serves the royal court,
His intelligence will be considered great.
You probably don’t know that
A maid of noble birth
Will marry him;
A minister of lofty worth
Will visit him.
INNKEEPER:
What do they want of him?
LIU MENGMEI:
With his pen, a scholar quells the earth.
If you don’t want my book or brush-pen, how about the umbrella?
INNKEEPER:
You’re asking for rain!
LIU MENGMEI:
I won’t leave tomorrow.
INNKEEPER:
Do you want to starve yourself to death here?
LIU MENGMEI (Smiles):
Do you know Envoy Du in this Huaiyang area?
INNKEEPER:
Oh, who doesn’t know him? A Banquet of Peace will be held tomorrow.
LIU MENGMEI:
I’m his son-in-law to pay a visit to him.
INNKEEPER (Startled):
I’m lucky that you mention this early. Envoy Du has sent you a letter of invitation.
LIU MENGMEI:
Where’s the letter?
INNKEEPER:
We’ll go and read it.
(Shows the way for Liu Mengmei)
I’ll carry the bundle and umbrella for you.
(Goes with Liu Mengmei)
LIU MENGMEI:
Where’s the letter?
INNKEEPER:
There it is!
LIU MENGMEI:
This is an official notice.
; INNKEEPER:
So it is. Just look!
(To the previous tune)
“Prohibition on Vagabonds and Impostors”.
Envoy Du is from Sichuan:
“I came here from Sichuan,
Ten thousand li away from my hometown.
I have neither kin by my side
Nor son-in-law around.”
This sentence is meant for you, sir:
“Put him to jail
If any swindler should be found.”
The next sentence is for me:
“The host will also be published
If he takes in the swindler within his door.
Let this notice be known to all.”
“That’s all for the notice. The fifth day of the fifth month, the thirty-second year of Jianyan, Song Dynasty.” Look at the signature of Envoy Du at the end, with the glaring seal of “Imperial Envoy and Commander-in-Chief to the Huaiyang Region”. Take your time, sir, and I’ll be off now.
“Each one sweeps the snow from his own doorstep
And heeds not the frost on his neighbour’s roof.”
(Exit)
LIU MENGMEI (Weeps):
My dear wife, do you know that I’m in such a wretched state here?
(Looks around)
Well, there’s a house ahead with big golden characters. I’ll try to find shelter there.
(Looks)
The characters read: “Memorial Hall to Mother Washer”. Why is this called “Memorial Hall to Mother Washer”?
(Looks)
There is an inscription on the wall:
“The ancient sage keeps a meal in heart;
For a thousand years it lives in works of art.”
Yes, I see. This memorial hall was built in honour of Marquis of Huaiyin Han Xin’s benefactress, Mother Washer. Just think that Han Xin was a sham-king of Qi and could still be fed by a woman; I am a genuine scholar but no one will provide me with a cup of cold wine. I’ll bow a thousand times to Mother Washer.
(Bows)
(To the tune of Yingzaopao)
When he fished in the land of Chu,
Han Xin, the hungry gentleman, met Mother Washer.
Compared with her,
Xiang Yu the Conqueror was blind to virtue.
She was praised by the great historian Sima Qian
And honoured in the Prefecture of Huai’an.
Therefore, a meal is of immense value.
It seems that women always have better vision.
When Duke Wen of Jin went begging,
Lady Xi gave him food.
When Wu Zixu went begging,
A washing woman did all she could.
I’ll give three thousand kowtows to those who did good.
Now goes the first night watch-beat. I’ll put up for the night in the corridor and get up early tomorrow morning to enter the city gate. But there’s no water to wash my face ...
(Looks around)
Wonderful, it’s raining now.
None in the past could be compared
To Mother Washer with discerning eyes.