by Cao Xueqin
‘Most parents look to their children for support in their old age, and even in poor families a man will do his best to earn his mother a bowl of rice. But what has Pan done? Squandered a ready-made fortune, and made your life a misery. I know I shouldn’t say this, but the truth is, he’s the bane of your life, an affliction sent to test you, not a real son to you. You refuse to accept the truth, and wear yourself out like this, weeping at all hours of the day and night. You’ve got quite enough to cope with already, what with Jin-gui and her tantrums. It worries me so, seeing you in this state. I only wish I could be here with you all the time, and help keep the peace. But I can’t. Bao-yu would never let me come back, however half-witted he may be.
‘The other day Sir Zheng sent a message home to say how shocked he was to read the report in the Gazette. He has already sent one of his men to try to intervene on Pan’s behalf. So you see – there are so many people trying to help Pan out of this mess he’s made. And thank goodness I’m at least close by. I think if I were living a long way off and heard that this had happened, I’d simply die worrying about you. Please, Mama, give yourself a moment’s respite. Be thankful that Pan is still alive. Use this opportunity to take stock. Ask one of the older men in the firm to find out what we owe and what we are owed, and see exactly how much we have left.’
‘Dear girl,’ said Aunt Xue tearfully, ‘the past few days I have been so preoccupied with your brother I simply haven’t had time to tell you of our own troubles. Whenever you’ve come to see me it’s either been you trying to cheer me up or me giving you the latest news from the yamen. I haven’t told you the worst. We have been struck off the register of court purveyors. Two of our pawnshops have been sold and we have already spent the money from the sale, while the manager of the other pawnshop has run off with thousands of taels and we’re involved in another court case over that. Your cousin Ke has been out every day trying to collect some of the money owing to us. Our liabilities here will probably amount to several tens of thousands of taels, and we shall have to sell our share of the Nanking joint-stock business and some property as well, in order to meet our obligations. Two days ago I even heard a rumour that the pawnbroking side of the Nanking business has gone bankrupt and been closed down! If that turns out to be true, I really have come to the end of the road!’
Aunt Xue began weeping hysterically. Bao-chai was also in tears by now, but tried to comfort her:
‘There’s no sense in your distressing yourself about the finances, Mama. Let Cousin Ke take care of that. Though I must say it is distressing to see our employees abandon us and turn against us the moment we’re down on our luck. I can understand them wanting to save their own skins; but I know that some of them are actually encouraging outsiders to cheat us out of our money. As for Pan’s friends, it’s a waste of time expecting any help from them. The only thing they’re any good for is parties. The first sign of trouble and they’re off.
‘If you love me, Mama, please listen to my words of advice. At your age it’s time you took more care of yourself and worried about others less. Remember, even if the worst comes to the worst, you’ll manage somehow or other. Forget about the clothes and furniture. Let Jin-gui have them. Not many of the servants or serving-women will want to stay on, so you may as well let most of them go too. I feel sorry for Caltrop. After everything she’s been through, I think you should keep her on with you. If you ever run short of anything, I can always help out, provided we’ve got it at home. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. And Aroma is a decent sort of girl. She knows about our troubles; in fact the slightest mention of your name brings tears to her eyes. He doesn’t know that anything’s the matter, so he hasn’t been particularly worried. If he were to learn the truth, I think the shock might be too much for him.’
‘Dear girl,’ said Aunt Xue, not waiting for her to finish, ‘whatever you do, don’t tell him. He nearly died on account of Miss Lin. He’s a little better now. If he were to have a sudden relapse, it would be such a trial for you! And then if you had to spend all your time nursing him, I should be robbed of my last source of comfort.’
‘I’ve thought of that,’ replied Bao-chai. ‘That’s why I haven’t told him.’
At that very moment Xue Pan’s wife Jin-gui came running into the outer room, screaming:
‘What’s the good of being alive? My man’s done for now anyway. It’s no use pretending! The least we can do is march along to the execution ground and put up a fight! We’ve got nothing to lose!’
With this she began banging her head against the wooden partition, till her hair came undone and fell in disorder about her shoulders. Aunt Xue could only stare at her in speechless rage, while Bao-chai tried to reason with her ‘dear sister-in-law’, her ‘good sister-in-law’, all to no avail.
‘Dear Mrs Bao!’ retorted Jin-gui. ‘We all know how well you’ve done for yourself. You and your dear Mr Bao will live happily ever after, I dare say! But I’m all on my own. I’m long past caring about appearances!’
She announced her intention of returning to her mother’s, and made a dash for the street. Luckily there were enough people present to stop her, and eventually they managed to calm her down. Bao-qin, who was at this time still staying with Aunt Xue, in preparation for her own wedding, was so horrified by Jin-gui’s behaviour that she resolved to keep well out of her way from then on.
Whenever Xue Ke was at home, Jin-gui would select one of her more provocative gowns and issue forth, her cheeks heavily powdered and rouged, her eyebrows pencilled, her hair dressed in its most alluring style. She would contrive to walk past his apartment, where she would give an artificial-sounding cough, or ask innocently who was inside. If she encountered him in person, she would at once waylay him and attempt to beguile him with seductive small-talk, simpering, pouting and purring by turns, displaying for his benefit the full range of her feminine charms. When the maids saw what she was up to, they beat a hasty retreat. Jin-gui carried on regardless, intent on executing Moonbeam’s plan for the conquest of Xue Ke. He for his part avoided her if he could, and if he could not, endeavoured to be civil, out of a fear that she might otherwise cause worse trouble for him.
But Jin-gui’s infatuation blinded her to the truth, so that Xue Ke’s courteous manner only fanned the flames of her desire. The one thing she could not help noticing, however, the one detail that marred the illusion, was the way in which the object of her passion entrusted every smallest thing of his to Caltrop. The sorting, mending and washing of his clothes, all were given to her. And if she, Jin-gui, entered the room while the two of them were talking, she noticed how they hurriedly went their separate ways, as if she had intruded on some intimate tête-à-tête. All of this inflamed her jealousy. She could not, however, bring herself to confront Xue Ke directly about it, for fear that any move against Caltrop might set Xue Ke against herself. Instead she decided to bide her time, and continued to accumulate a deep and bitter store of resentment towards her rival.
One day Moonbeam came into her room and tittered:
‘Mrs Pan, have you seen Master Ke?’
Jin-gui: ‘I have not.’
Moonbeam: ‘I told you he was fooling us with all that strait-laced talk of his. When we sent him some wine, he said he didn’t drink; but just now I saw him at Mrs Xue’s, quite tipsy and red in the face. If you don’t believe me, why, go and wait for him in the doorway. He’ll be coming this way. Stop him and ask him. See what he says.’
Jin-gui (annoyed): ‘I’m sure he won’t be coming out just yet. Anyway, he’s such a cold fish. Words are wasted on him.’
Moonbeam: ‘You’re just being silly again, ma’am. Why not give it a try? If he plays, we can play too. If not, we’ll just have to think of another way.’
Perhaps she’s right after all, Jin-gui thought to herself. She posted Moonbeam outside to keep watch for Xue Ke, and went in once more to her dressing-table. She opened her mirror and looked herself up and down. A little more lipstick, a flowery handkerchief, and she was re
ady for the fray. Or almost ready: she still felt there was something missing, but before she could think what it was that she needed to add that final touch, she heard Moonbeam’s voice outside:
‘You seem in high spirits today, Master Ke! Been drinking somewhere, have you?’
This was her cue. Jin-gui raised the portière and stepped out just in time to hear Xue Ke’s reply:
‘Our manager Mr Zhang is celebrating his birthday today, and I was pressed into drinking half a cup. My face is still burning from it.’
Before he had finished, Jin-gui moved into the attack:
‘Other people’s wine has more flavour than ours, I dare say …’
Xue Ke felt the sting of her remark and blushed a deeper shade of red. He took a step towards her and said with a polite smile:
‘Of course not, sister-in-law.’
Now that the conversation was launched, Moonbeam disappeared inside and left them to it. Jin-gui had intended to feign anger with her darling, but there was something so appealingly boyish about the flush on his cheeks and the slightly befuddled innocence in his eyes, that her heart melted and her feigned hostility fled to the distant land of Java. She smiled.
‘You mean, you have to be led to water … ’
‘Precisely. I’m really no drinker.’
‘I’m glad to hear it. Better than your cousin, anyway, forever boozing his way into trouble. At least your wife won’t be left to sleep in an empty bed …’
She narrowed her eyes at him suggestively, and her cheeks began to glow. Xue Ke saw serious danger ahead, and decided to make a dash for it while he still could. But he was too slow. Jin-gui was not going to let him slip through her fingers now! In a second she was on him and had him in her clutches.
‘Sister-in-law!’ cried Xue Ke in consternation. ‘This is most undignified!’
He was trembling all over. Jin-gui threw caution to the winds.
‘Come in here with me. There’s something important I have to tell you.’
Things had reached this critical juncture when a voice behind her called:
‘Mrs Pan! It’s Caltrop. She’s coming this way!’
Jin-gui glanced wildly behind her. Moonbeam had lifted the portière to observe the course the interview was taking; and then when she caught sight of Caltrop coming from the other direction, had hastened to warn Jin-gui. Jin-gui in her panic relaxed her grip, and Xue Ke seized his chance of escape. Caltrop herself had noticed nothing and had been walking innocently on her way until Moonbeam called out, when she looked round and to her horror saw Jin-gui dragging Xue Ke into her boudoir. Caltrop immediately turned about and, heart thumping, began walking back in the direction she had come from. Jin-gui stood there a while, and stared in angry dismay after the vanishing form of Xue Ke. Then she gave a snort of exasperation and withdrew to her apartment, smarting with thwarted desire. Caltrop, who had come through the side gate and was making her way to Bao-qin’s when she stumbled upon them, hurried back to her room.
Resentment towards Caltrop now festered within Jin-gui’s bosom, and the poison worked its way into the very marrow of her being.
Later that same day, Bao-chai was in Grandmother Jia’s apartment, and heard Lady Wang speaking of the betrothal Jia Zheng had proposed for Tan-chun.
‘I’m glad the boy’s from a Nanking family,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘But if he came here once before, I can’t understand why Zheng has never mentioned it.’
‘We knew nothing about it either,’ said Lady Wang.
‘I can see advantages in the match,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘The only objection is the dreadful distance involved. I know that Zheng is posted there at present. But supposing he is transferred later on, poor Tan will be so isolated.’
‘With official families, there’s no telling where they may be posted,’ replied Lady Wang. ‘The boy’s father may also be recalled to the capital. Even if he isn‘t, one way or another “the falling leaf returns to the root”, as they say: they’re bound to come home sooner or later. Besides, Zheng’s superior is in favour of the match, and it would be very difficult for him to refuse. I think he has more or less made up his mind already, and has only written to you for your formal approval, Mother.’
‘If you are both in favour of it,’ said Grandmother Jia, ‘then well and good. It grieves me, though, to think how long it may be before Tan is able to come back and visit us. If it is more than a year or two, I fear I may no longer be alive to see her.’
She wept as she spoke.
‘Marriage is something that happens to every girl once she grows up,’ said Lady Wang, ‘and even if the husband’s family is a local one, you can never be sure that the two of them will stay in the district. He may always be posted away from home. That’s one of the hazards of official life. The most important thing is that they should be happy together. Take Ying-chun’s case. Her husband lives nearby. But that has not meant happiness for her. They never seem to stop fighting, and now he won’t even feed her properly, and forbids her to touch any of the things we send. And from what I hear, things are getting worse. He won’t allow her to come and visit us, and when the two of them quarrel, he pointedly reminds her that we owe his family money. Poor child! The future looks very bleak for her. The other day I was worried on her account and sent some of my women to call at the Sun home. Ying-chun was hiding in a side-room and wouldn’t come out to see them. They insisted on going in, and found her freezing to death, poor thing, with nothing on but some threadbare old clothes. And it was a bitterly cold day! She broke down in front of them and begged them not to reveal her miserable plight to us at home. “It’s my fate to suffer like this,” she said. And we’re not to send her any more clothes or food or anything. They never reach her, and her husband will only accuse her of complaining again and give her another beating. So you see, Mother, Ying may be close at hand, but the very closeness only makes her suffering harder for us to bear. Her mother turns a blind eye, and her father has refused to intervene at all. She is worse off than one of our lowest-grade maids!
‘Although Tan is not my own daughter, I’m sure Zheng wants to do the best for her. He has obviously seen the boy and must approve of him or he wouldn’t be in favour of the match. So I hope you’ll agree, and then we can choose a lucky day for her to make the journey and send a proper escort to accompany her to Zheng’s official residence. I am sure Zheng will see to it at his end that everything is done in a fitting manner.’
‘Very well then,’ Grandmother Jia concurred. ‘I’ll go along with Zheng’s idea, and I leave it to you to make the necessary arrangements. Choose a suitable day in the almanac for travelling. There, the matter is settled now.’
‘Yes, Mother.’
Bao-chai heard all this clearly, and although she did not breathe a word of protest, she thought to herself sadly:
‘Tan is one of the very best of us. And now she is being married as well and sent away. One by one our numbers are dwindling.’
Seeing that Lady Wang had risen and was taking her leave, Bao-chai accompanied her out of the room and then returned immediately to her own apartment. She said nothing to Bao-yu of Tan-chun’s engagement, but told Aroma later, when she found her sewing on her own. Aroma too was very unhappy at the news.
Aunt Zhao, on the other hand, was positively delighted.
‘The girl’s shown me nothing but disrespect,’ she thought to herself. ‘No one would ever have guessed that I was her mother! I receive worse treatment at her hands than one of her maids! She’s always trying to better herself, and sides with anyone rather than her own mother or brother. With her in the way, Huan would never have been able to get anywhere. If her father has sent for her, then good riddance! I’ve given up hoping for any respect from her. I hope she’s as miserable as Ying is. I’d be glad to see it happen.’
She hurried over to Tan-chun’s apartment to offer her ‘congratulations’.
‘You certainly are on your way up in the world, my dear!’ she crowed. ‘I’m sure lif
e at your new home will be even more to your liking than it is here. You must be pleased. Now remember, I am your mother, for all the good it’s ever done me. So don’t think of me as all bad. And don’t forget about me altogether when you’re gone.’
Tan-chun refused to respond to this display of spite and kept her head bent silently over her needlework. Aunt Zhao was effectively snubbed and left the room in a state of high dudgeon.
Tan-chun could see the ridiculous side of her mother’s behaviour, but none the less it left her feeling both angry and wounded, and she sat for some time weeping quietly to herself. Eventually she walked out in a weary and dejected frame of mind, thinking she would like to drop in on Bao-yu.
‘Tell me, Tan,’ he said, the moment she entered his apartment, ‘I know that you were with Cousin Lin when she died, and that you heard music in the distance. Do you think there was some unexplained mystery behind it? Do you think Cousin Lin was really a fairy, and that at her death she was merely returning to her heavenly abode?’
Tan-chun smiled.
‘That sounds like another of your fancies. It was a strange night, though, that’s certainly true; and the music was unlike any that I’ve ever heard before. Who knows, you may even be right.’
Bao-yu took this as confirmation of his hypothesis. He also recalled the words of the man he had encountered in his strange dream of a few months before, who had said that Dai-yu was ‘no ordinary mortal and no ordinary shade, but a visitor from some immortal realm’. This mingled in his mind with another vivid memory, that of the Moon Goddess in the play he had seen the previous year. The Goddess and Dai-yu possessed the same ethereal beauty, the same otherworldly charm … After a while, when Tan-chun had gone, he felt a sudden and overwhelming urge to have Nightingale close at hand, and asked Grandmother Jia to send her over to his apartment.
Nightingale was unwilling, on this as on previous occasions, to comply with Bao-yu’s request; but she could hardly disobey an order emanating from Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang. Whenever she was in Bao-yu’s presence, she did nothing but sigh, in a way that seemed to express both grief (for her mistress) and disapproval (of Bao-yu). When they were alone together, and Bao-yu took her by the hand and asked her very tenderly to speak to him about Dai-yu, she always refused to confide in him. Bao-chai observed this attitude of hers, and far from being cross, commended her to others for her loyalty to her mistress. As for Snowgoose, although it was she who had come forward to assist at the wedding, Bao-chai thought her rather a silly sort of girl and asked Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang to marry her off to one of the pages and set them up on their own somewhere. Nannie Wang had been retained to escort Dai-yu’s coffin to the South at a later date, while Dai-yu’s junior maids were transferred to Grandmother Jia’s apartment.