Li: It has become my home. I live in it.
Hou: Why?
[Mistress Li remains silent.]
Su: She was driven out of T’ien’s house by his shrewish wife. Now she is married to an officer, whose boat this is.
Hou: How cruel that she should endure so many misfortunes. [To Su]: And why are you here?
Su: Fragrant Princess has been pining for you day after day. Finally she begged me to trace you. I have brought you a message from her.
Hou: Where is it, where is it?
Su [opening his knapsack, sings]:
The message is not in the form of a letter;
It is of silk folded between sticks of bamboo,
A love poem written at her dressing table.
Hou: But this is the fan I gave her.
Su [sings]:
Look at the side which is red with peach blossoms —
A thousand emotions more eloquent than words.
Hou: Who painted these?
Su: Fragrant Princess wounded herself, and the fan was stained with her blood. Master Yang transfigured it by adding leaves and branches.
Hou [examining it]: Now I see they are bloodstains. Master Yang has shown great artistry in concealing them. Henceforth this fan will be my most treasured possession. Yet I fail to understand why you brought it.
Su: When I took leave of her, Fragrant Princess said that all her sorrows were linked to this fan. Therefore she sent it to you instead of a letter.
Hou [weeping]: Fragrant Princess, my true love. How shall I ever be able to reward you? [To Su]; And how did you happen to find Mistress Li?
Su [sings]:
My donkey and I were toiling along the dyke
When soldiers pushed me into the icy torrent.
Hou: How frightful! But I am amazed that the fan was not ruined. It is not even wet.
Su [sings]:
The river rose up to my shoulders,
But I held the fan over my head
To save the precious message.
Hou [bowing]: You risked your life for it. How can I express my gratitude? What happened after that?
Su: Mistress Li braved the wind and waves to rescue me. [Sings]:
To jump into a well to save a drowning man:
Who else in the world would have done so?
Hou: Yes, only Mistress Li would have shown such courage.
Li: At first I had no idea who it was. Eventually I recognised Master Su.
Hou: This was all the will of Heaven.
Su: But I have not asked why you are here, Master Hou.
Hou: Since last autumn I have been with Kao Chieh, who was sent to defend the river. He proved so stubborn and deaf to my advice that he was tricked by Hsu Ting-kuo and killed at a banquet. I hired a boat and fled. Now you can see his soldiers running wild about the roads. I am too mortified to face my master, Minister Shih.
Su: Why not go to Nanking and find Fragrant Princess? You may then decide on your future course of action.
Hou: Yes, that is what I shall do. When I have taken farewell of Mistress Li, I’ll continue my journey.
Li: I shall never forget when the four of us were together at the Old House. If only Fragrant Princess were with us now! I wonder if I shall ever see her again in this world! [Sings]:
A household scattered,
To meet again amid clouds and waters.
Speech has an end,
But not the sorrows of separation.
Daughter whom I cherished,
When shall we exchange our tales of suffering?
Hou: We may still be pursued by our enemies, Master Su. Please change your clothes and we’ll say goodbye.
[Su changes; then he and Hou step into the latter’s boat. Both shed tears.]
Su: The homeward voyage is full of vicissitudes.
Hou: When old friends meet, their sorrows often swell.
[Hou’s boatman rows them off the stage. Mistress Li remains.]
Li: I had long grown tired of my profession, and had resigned myself to living with an old soldier. This meeting today was completely unexpected. My friends have reminded me of anguish best forgotten. How loud the waves are roaring! Tonight I shall get no sleep. [Sings]:
Old friends who meet and part like drifting duckweed;
Past sorrows, new regrets: how many words?
But say not this floating life holds nothing certain:
Even on the Yellow River men find a home.
Illustration: Hou Fang-yü: “The man’s voice reminds me of Su K’un-sheng, and the woman’s sounds vaguely familiar.”
SCENE 28
THE PAINTING INSCRIBED
1645, THIRD MONTH
[Enter Lan Ying in the garb of a mountain hermit.]
Lan [recites]:
Listless she sits, the incense cold, her embroidery neglected,
The peach-flowers open, but the garden gate is shut.
In the limitless mists and rain of the rising spring,
All that’s left of the Southern courts are these painted hills.
[Speaks]: From early youth I have won fame as a painter. I heard that my old friend Yang Wen-ts’ung has recently been appointed to a post in the Ministry of War, and I bought a boat and came to visit him. He has persuaded me to lodge in this Tower of Enchanted Fragrance, which used to be the home of the celebrated singing-girl Fragrant Princess. Since her departure the house has been empty, but it is quiet enough to suit me. I shall now return to my painting. [He washes his ink-stone and painting-brush, and mixes the pigment.] But where can I find pure water? Ah, I had almost forgotten that the morning dew on leaves and flowers is the purest for mixing colours. I’ll gather some in the garden. [Exits with a cup.]
Hou [enters and sings]:
I have roamed between earth below and Heaven above,
My heart ever bound by a thread of perfect love.
Now the lanes are full of willow catkins; lo,
They float while swallows flutter to and fro.
Seeing the familiar house, the crimson tower,
My tenderest feelings like green meadows flower,
Fresh longings rise and fall in a misty shower.
[Speaks]: After meeting Su K’un-sheng on the Yellow River, I curbed my excitement and travelled with him to Nanking. This morning I left him at an inn, and came alone to look for Fragrant Princess. How wonderful to see the Old House again! [Sings]:
So little trace of human habitation,
The birds are twittering in consternation.
The walls are crumbling among weeds in piles,
And green moss gathers on the lustrous tiles
Beside the blossoms which should harmonize
With her fair features. Now my spirit flies
To meet my love and gaze into her eyes.
[Pushing the door, he says]: Oh, the doors are not locked! I’ll walk in and see who is there. [Sings]:
My footsteps startle the birds and raise a squall,
While mud from nests drops down into the hall;
It seems this empty hall, where no man follows,
Provides the perfect mating-place for swallows.
I’ll steal on tiptoe till I reach her room . . .
[Speaks]: Here is the Tower of Enchanted Fragrance — but oh, how desolate! Though it is daytime, the curtains are drawn. Perhaps she is still asleep. Instead of rousing her, I shall creep up the Tower and stand beside her bed. When she wakes up and recognizes me, what rapture we shall share! [Sings]:
Clutching my gown, I part the drooping branches,
And climb the crumbling staircase step by step,
Among the dust and cobwebs. Out-of-doors
The spring is all-pervading.
Why does my love retire behind her curtains?
[Seeing the bare table, he sings]:
Since when has she banished her lute?
And all these pigments in boxes and jars:
Has she become a recluse who paints for a living?
[Speaks]: T
he tower of song and dance has been turned into a studio. How strange! I wonder why. . . . Perhaps to protect her virtue, she wished to forget the arts of her vocation. Perhaps she hoped to express her lonely thoughts with her brush. Here is her bedroom. I’ll open the door gently. Why is it barred? It seems to have been so for ages. This is very strange. Is there no caretaker in the house? [Sings]:
The room is forlorn; my beauty’s far away,
Where has she fled beyond the myriad hills,
Locking her door? Maybe the birds can tell.
Light-heartedly they frolic in the air,
Heedless of my fond question. In despair
I turn; by yonder hedge the twigs are stirring,
A curtain rustles: do I hear her breathe?
[Lan enters with a jar. Seeing Hou, he starts with surprise.]
Lan: Who are you, sir? And why do you come to my tower?
Hou: It belongs to my beloved Fragrant Princess. I was about to ask you the same question.
Lan: I am an artist, and my name is Lan Ying. My friend Yang Wen-ts’ung invited me to stay here.
Hou: So you are the eminent painter! I have long been your distant admirer. [Lan asks his name, and Hou answers]: I am also acquainted with Master Yang, and my name is Hou Fang-yü.
Lan: Your literary fame has even reached my ears. What good fortune has brought us together? Pray sit down.
Hou: First of all, please tell me where is my Fragrant Princess?
Lan: I have heard that she has been removed to the Inner Palace.
Hou [in amazement]: But how and when did that happen?
Lan: I’m afraid I do not know.
Hou [wiping away tears, sings]:
After searching everywhere,
I stand alone in the east wind.
It is clear noon,
But she is not to be seen.
[Looking round]:
The window-paper and the curtain-gauze are torn.
No relic of her remains;
Neither an old scarf or hairpin,
Nor the familiar flute.
Her mandarin-duck quilts are put away;
The mirrors are turned face down.
There is no beauty left for the flowers to compete with.
[Speaks]: The peach trees were in full blossom on our marriage day. This tower had been newly decorated; now, no sooner has she left than it looks desolate again. I return to find the peach trees again in flower. How can I check my tears at the sight of them? [Sings]:
Their petals flutter in the light spring breeze.
Gossamer fills the air like snowflakes,
Petals fall and scatter.
[Speaks]: I’ll look at the peach blossoms on my fan. [Sings]:
Painted in blood,
Brighter petals are here than on the trees.
[Speaks]: And I was responsible for them. [Sings]:
Opening this fan,
Here in the desolation of her boudoir,
I realize it was this very peach bloom
That joined her fate with mine, to live or die.
Lan: Who painted this fan of yours?
Hou: Your distinguished patron, Master Yang.
Lan: But why does it make you weep?
Hou: This fan is the tangible token of our vow. [Sings]:
Full of tenderness she held the ink-stone;
In the candlelight she asked me for a poem.
Thus line by line, I wrote a vow of love.
[Speaks]: But within less than a month, I had to escape my foes. Fragrant Princess segregated herself for my sake, and by doing so she offended the ruling powers. They sent bloodhounds after her and drove her from her tower, so that in despair she tried to destroy her beauty. Still clutching this fan, she stained it with her blood.
Lan: Your story has moved me deeply.
Hou: Our friend Yang painted in a few leaves and converted it into a peach blossom fan. It is my only keepsake of my beloved.
Lan: The brushwork is so skillful that one cannot detect the bloodstains. How did you recover it?
Hou: Fragrant Princess sent her teacher to search for me, taking it instead of a letter. Immediately upon receiving it, I made this journey, never dreaming that she would have been removed to the Imperial Palace. [Weeps.]
[Enter Yang Wen-ts’ung, with attendants to clear the way for him.]
Yang: The Beauty is long gone from her tower, but in her place is installed a famous painter.
Servant [comes in and announces]: His Honour Yang has come to visit Master Lan.
[Yang steps out of his sedan-chair. Lan advances to meet him and escorts him upstairs.]
Yang [seeing Hou]: When did you arrive, Brother Hou?
Hou: This very day, so I have not yet had time to visit you.
Yang: I heard that you were on the staff of His Excellency Shih, and also that you accompanied Kao Chieh to the Yellow River. This morning I read an official report that Kao was murdered last month by Hsu Ting-kuo. Where were you in the meantime?
Hou: At home in my native village. On hearing of that disaster, I had to escape with my father into the hills, and there we stayed a month. Then I was warned that Hsu might send soldiers in pursuit of me, so I hired a boat and came south. On the way I chanced to meet Su K’un-sheng, who was searching for me. So I hurried to Nanking to find Fragrant Princess, or rather to find her gone. Where is she now?[1]
Yang: She was taken to the palace on the eighth of the first month.
Hou: When will she be able to leave it?
Yang: I cannot tell.
Hou: Then I shall have to wait here until she is set free.
Yang: There is no sense in that. You should find some other beauty to replace her.
Hou: How could I break my vow? You do not understand. If I could only obtain a message from her I would have a grain of comfort. [Sings]:
Her dwelling, close at hand,
Seems as remote as the sky.
How can I find a fairy maiden
To smuggle a letter to her?
She has left the blossom-shaded tower,
The wine pavilions, shrouded in mist and rain,
And languishes unwilling in the palace;
While I, her husband, wait at the far horizon
Where each day seems a year.
Yang: Don’t distress yourself unduly, Brother Hou. Let us watch Brother Lan at his painting. [Yang and Hou sit beside Lan as he paints. Yang asks]: Is this a picture of the Peach Blossom Fountain?[2]
Lan: You are right.
Yang: For whom are you painting it?
Lan: For Chang Wei, the Commanding Officer of the Imperial Guard. The picture is to be mounted on a screen for the Pine Wind Pavilion he has recently finished building.
Hou: I congratulate you on its fine qualities. Both the color and the composition are extremely original, quite different from the traditional school of Nanking.
Lan: Thank you for taking so much notice of it. Would you kindly grace it with an inscription? That would increase its value considerably.
Hou: If you are not afraid of my spoiling such a work of art, I shall practice my lame calligraphy upon it. [He composes a quatrain for the inscription]:
“I dwelt in the hidden cave by Peach Blossom Fountain,
But on my way back I could not find the road.
For the fisherman had misled me over the mountain,
To keep this sanctuary for his own abode.”
[He signs his name to it.]
Yang: There are several recondite allusions in your poem. You appear to blame me somewhat.
Hou: No, there you are mistaken. [Points to the painting and sings]:
How lovely the rippling brook,
Where thousands of crimson petals fall,
And streaks of cloud drift over
Dense woods and far blue hills!
The place remains the same,
But no love is there to welcome me.
The cave at Peach Blossom Spring is desolate;
I turn back my b
oat as the sun sets.
[Hou rises.]
Yang: It is useless to repine, brother. Now Ma and Juan are in power, and you know how vindictive they are. Though intimate with both of them, I dare not appeal on behalf of either of you, especially since the New Year’s banquet when Fragrant Princess was asked to sing. Instead of singing, she pointed at Ma and Juan and denounced them to their faces.
Hou: Alas! I fear she must have been tortured in consequence.
Yang: Luckily I was present. I tried my best to calm their indignation, so she was only cast out into the snow. No doubt she was distressed, but as long as she is in the Inner Court her life will be protected. But your connection with her is too well known, and you had better not remain here.
Hou: Thank you for the warning. [Sings]:
Though my enemies use all their power against me,
I’ll clasp the peach blossom fan to my heart.
[He turns abruptly to leave.]
Yang: Let us bid Brother Lan farewell and leave together.
Hou: Forgive me; I had forgotten to say goodbye.
[Farewells are exchanged. Exit Lan first, closing the door. Hou and Yang walk off together, singing]:
Hou:
Bewildered by this return to the crimson tower,
Yang:
Idly we watched the painter at his task.
Hou:
The beauty and her lover are cast asunder,
Yang:
But peach flowers are as fine this year as last.
[1] Though aware of the facts, Hou evidently requires verbal confirmation from Yang, who conduct has been ambiguous.
[2] See Scene 1, n. 10.
SCENE 29
THE CLUB SUPPRESSED
1645, THIRD MONTH
[Enter Ts’ai Yi-so, the bookseller.]
Ts’ai [sings]:
In my shop, like the famous caves of Yu-shan,
A myriad precious volumes are assembled;
My labours as a collector have won for me
Both learned reputation and hard cash.
A scholar-merchant, I, who only hope
To avoid any book-burning First Emperor of Ch’in!
[Speaks]: Nanking ranks first among cities for the wealth of its books, and most of these are in Three Mountain Street, where I keep the largest bookshop. [Points]: Here are the Thirteen Canons, the twenty-one Dynastic Histories,[1] all the tomes of the nine schools of philosophy, of the three religions and the hundred thinkers, besides collections of eight-legged essays[2] and fashionable modern novels. They cram the shelves and innumerable boxes and rooms. I have travelled north and south to gather this collection, minutely examining old editions to make fine reprints with scholarly annotations. As well as earning a handsome profit by these transactions, I have helped to preserve and circulate the noblest thoughts of mankind. Even the doctors and masters of literature greet me with deference. I have reason to be satisfied with my reputation. [He laughs]: This year the general civil service examination will be held again, and the finest literary talents will receive due honour. The government has endorsed a proposal by the Minister of Ceremonies, Ch’ien Ch’ien-i, advocating a new style of writing to express the spirit of the new reign. Consequently I have invited several leading critics to compile anthologies as models for composition. They will start work today. I’ll hang up my latest advertisement. [He hangs a couplet on each side of the door, which he reads]:
The Peach Blossom Fan Page 23