CHAPTER VI.

Chia Pao-yü reaps his first experience in licentious love.

Old Goody Liu pays a visit to the Jung Kuo Mansion.

Mrs. Ch'in, to resume our narrative, upon hearing Pao-yü call her in his

dream by her infant name, was at heart very exercised, but she did not

however feel at liberty to make any minute inquiry.

Pao-yü was, at this time, in such a dazed state, as if he had lost

something, and the servants promptly gave him a decoction of lungngan.

After he had taken a few sips, he forthwith rose and tidied his clothes.

Hsi Jen put out her hand to fasten the band of his garment, and as soon

as she did so, and it came in contact with his person, it felt so icy

cold to the touch, covered as it was all over with perspiration, that

she speedily withdrew her hand in utter surprise.

"What's the matter with you?" she exclaimed.

A blush suffused Pao-yü's face, and he took Hsi Jen's hand in a tight

grip. Hsi Jen was a girl with all her wits about her; she was besides a

couple of years older than Pao-yü and had recently come to know

something of the world, so that at the sight of his state, she to a

great extent readily accounted for the reason in her heart. From modest

shame, she unconsciously became purple in the face, and not venturing to

ask another question she continued adjusting his clothes. This task

accomplished, she followed him over to old lady Chia's apartments; and

after a hurry-scurry meal, they came back to this side, and Hsi Jen

availed herself of the absence of the nurses and waiting-maids to hand

Pao-yü another garment to change.

"Please, dear Hsi Jen, don't tell any one," entreated Pao-yü, with

concealed shame.

"What did you dream of?" inquired Hsi Jen, smiling, as she tried to

stifle her blushes, "and whence comes all this perspiration?"

"It's a long story," said Pao-yü, "which only a few words will not

suffice to explain."

He accordingly recounted minutely, for her benefit, the subject of his

dream. When he came to where the Fairy had explained to him the

mysteries of love, Hsi Jen was overpowered with modesty and covered her

face with her hands; and as she bent down, she gave way to a fit of

laughter. Pao-yü had always been fond of Hsi Jen, on account of her

gentleness, pretty looks and graceful and elegant manner, and he

forthwith expounded to her all the mysteries he had been taught by the

Fairy.

Hsi Jen was, of course, well aware that dowager lady Chia had given her

over to Pao-yü, so that her present behaviour was likewise no

transgression. And subsequently she secretly attempted with Pao-yü a

violent flirtation, and lucky enough no one broke in upon them during

their tête-à-tête. From this date, Pao-yü treated Hsi Jen with special

regard, far more than he showed to the other girls, while Hsi Jen

herself was still more demonstrative in her attentions to Pao-yü. But

for a time we will make no further remark about them.

As regards the household of the Jung mansion, the inmates may, on adding

up the total number, not have been found many; yet, counting the high as

well as the low, there were three hundred persons and more. Their

affairs may not have been very numerous, still there were, every day,

ten and twenty matters to settle; in fact, the household resembled, in

every way, ravelled hemp, devoid even of a clue-end, which could be used

as an introduction.

Just as we were considering what matter and what person it would be best

to begin writing of, by a lucky coincidence suddenly from a distance of

a thousand li, a person small and insignificant as a grain of mustard

seed happened, on account of her distant relationship with the Jung

family, to come on this very day to the Jung mansion on a visit. We

shall therefore readily commence by speaking of this family, as it after

all affords an excellent clue for a beginning.

The surname of this mean and humble family was in point of fact Wang.

They were natives of this district. Their ancestor had filled a minor

office in the capital, and had, in years gone by, been acquainted with

lady Feng's grandfather, that is madame Wang's father. Being covetous of

the influence and affluence of the Wang family, he consequently joined

ancestors with them, and was recognised by them as a nephew.

At that time, there were only madame Wang's eldest brother, that is lady

Feng's father, and madame Wang herself, who knew anything of these

distant relations, from the fact of having followed their parents to the

capital. The rest of the family had one and all no idea about them.

This ancestor had, at this date, been dead long ago, leaving only one

son called Wang Ch'eng. As the family estate was in a state of ruin, he

once more moved outside the city walls and settled down in his native

village. Wang Ch'eng also died soon after his father, leaving a son,

known in his infancy as Kou Erh, who married a Miss Liu, by whom he had

a son called by the infant name of Pan Erh, as well as a daughter,

Ch'ing Erh. His family consisted of four, and he earned a living from

farming.

As Kou Erh was always busy with something or other during the day and

his wife, dame Liu, on the other hand, drew the water, pounded the rice

and attended to all the other domestic concerns, the brother and sister,

Ch'ing Erh and Pan Erh, the two of them, had no one to look after them.

(Hence it was that) Kou Erh brought over his mother-in-law, old goody

Liu, to live with them.

This goody Liu was an old widow, with a good deal of experience. She had

besides no son round her knees, so that she was dependent for her

maintenance on a couple of acres of poor land, with the result that when

her son-in-law received her in his home, she naturally was ever willing

to exert heart and mind to help her daughter and her son-in-law to earn

their living.

This year, the autumn had come to an end, winter had commenced, and the

weather had begun to be quite cold. No provision had been made in the

household for the winter months, and Kou Erh was, inevitably,

exceedingly exercised in his heart. Having had several cups of wine to

dispel his distress, he sat at home and tried to seize upon every trifle

to give vent to his displeasure. His wife had not the courage to force

herself in his way, and hence goody Liu it was who encouraged him, as

she could not bear to see the state of the domestic affairs.

"Don't pull me up for talking too much," she said; "but who of us

country people isn't honest and open-hearted? As the size of the bowl we

hold, so is the quantity of the rice we eat. In your young days, you

were dependent on the support of your old father, so that eating and

drinking became quite a habit with you; that's how, at the present time,

your resources are quite uncertain; when you had money, you looked

ahead, and didn't mind behind; and now that you have no money, you

blindly fly into huffs. A fine fellow and a capital hero you have made!

Living though we now be away from the capital, we are after all at the

feet of the Emperor; this city of Ch'ang Ngan is strewn all over with

money, but the pity is that there's no one able to go and fetch it away;

and it's no use your staying at home and kicking your feet about."

"All you old lady know," rejoined Kou Erh, after he had heard what she

had to say, "is to sit on the couch and talk trash! Is it likely you

would have me go and play the robber?"

"Who tells you to become a robber?" asked goody Liu. "But it would be

well, after all, that we should put our heads together and devise some

means; for otherwise, is the money, pray, able of itself to run into our

house?"

"Had there been a way," observed Kou Erh, smiling sarcastically, "would

I have waited up to this moment? I have besides no revenue collectors as

relatives, or friends in official positions; and what way could we

devise? 'But even had I any, they wouldn't be likely, I fear, to pay any

heed to such as ourselves!"

"That, too, doesn't follow," remarked goody Liu; "the planning of

affairs rests with man, but the accomplishment of them rests with

Heaven. After we have laid our plans, we may, who can say, by relying on

the sustenance of the gods, find some favourable occasion. Leave it to

me, I'll try and devise some lucky chance for you people! In years gone

by, you joined ancestors with the Wang family of Chin Ling, and twenty

years back, they treated you with consideration; but of late, you've

been so high and mighty, and not condescended to go and bow to them,

that an estrangement has arisen. I remember how in years gone by, I and

my daughter paid them a visit. The second daughter of the family was

really so pleasant and knew so well how to treat people with kindness,

and without in fact any high airs! She's at present the wife of Mr.

Chia, the second son of the Jung Kuo mansion; and I hear people say that

now that she's advanced in years, she's still more considerate to the

poor, regardful of the old, and very fond of preparing vegetable food

for the bonzes and performing charitable deeds. The head of the Wang

mansion has, it is true, been raised to some office on the frontier, but

I hope that this lady Secunda will anyhow notice us. How is it then that

you don't find your way as far as there; for she may possibly remember

old times, and some good may, no one can say, come of it? I only wish

that she would display some of her kind-heartedness, and pluck one hair

from her person which would be, yea thicker than our waist."

"What you suggest, mother, is quite correct," interposed Mrs. Liu, Kou

Erh's wife, who stood by and took up the conversation, "but with such

mouth and phiz as yours and mine, how could we present ourselves before

her door? Why I fear that the man at her gate won't also like to go and

announce us! and we'd better not go and have our mouths slapped in

public!"

Kou Erh, who would have thought it, prized highly both affluence and

fame, so that when he heard these remarks, he forthwith began to feel at

heart a little more at ease. When he furthermore heard what his wife had

to say, he at once caught up the word as he smiled.

"Old mother," he rejoined; "since that be your idea, and what's more,

you have in days gone by seen this lady on one occasion, why shouldn't

you, old lady, start to-morrow on a visit to her and first ascertain how

the wind blows!"

"Ai Ya!" exclaimed old Goody, "It may very well be said that the

marquis' door is like the wide ocean! what sort of thing am I? why the

servants of that family wouldn't even recognise me! even were I to go,

it would be on a wild goose chase."

"No matter about that," observed Kou Erh; "I'll tell you a good way; you

just take along with you, your grandson, little Pan Erh, and go first

and call upon Chou Jui, who is attached to that household; and when once

you've seen him, there will be some little chance. This Chou Jui, at one

time, was connected with my father in some affair or other, and we were

on excellent terms with him."

"That I too know," replied goody Liu, "but the thing is that you've had

no dealings with him for so long, that who knows how he's disposed

towards us now? this would be hard to say. Besides, you're a man, and

with a mouth and phiz like that of yours, you couldn't, on any account,

go on this errand. My daughter is a young woman, and she too couldn't

very well go and expose herself to public gaze. But by my sacrificing

this old face of mine, and by going and knocking it (against the wall)

there may, after all, be some benefit and all of us might reap profit."

That very same evening, they laid their plans, and the next morning

before the break of day, old goody Liu speedily got up, and having

performed her toilette, she gave a few useful hints to Pan Erh; who,

being a child of five or six years of age, was, when he heard that he

was to be taken into the city, at once so delighted that there was

nothing that he would not agree to.

Without further delay, goody Liu led off Pan Erh, and entered the city,

and reaching the Ning Jung street, she came to the main entrance of the

Jung mansion, where, next to the marble lions, were to be seen a crowd

of chairs and horses. Goody Liu could not however muster the courage to

go by, but having shaken her clothes, and said a few more seasonable

words to Pan Erh, she subsequently squatted in front of the side gate,

whence she could see a number of servants, swelling out their chests,

pushing out their stomachs, gesticulating with their hands and kicking

their feet about, while they were seated at the main entrance chattering

about one thing and another.

Goody Liu felt constrained to edge herself forward. "Gentlemen," she

ventured, "may happiness betide you!"

The whole company of servants scrutinised her for a time. "Where do you

come from?" they at length inquired.

"I've come to look up Mr. Chou, an attendant of my lady's," remarked

goody Liu, as she forced a smile; "which of you, gentlemen, shall I

trouble to do me the favour of asking him to come out?"

The servants, after hearing what she had to say, paid, the whole number

of them, no heed to her; and it was after the lapse of a considerable

time that they suggested: "Go and wait at a distance, at the foot of

that wall; and in a short while, the visitors, who are in their house,

will be coming out."

Among the party of attendants was an old man, who interposed,

"Don't baffle her object," he expostulated; "why make a fool of her?"

and turning to goody Liu: "This Mr. Chou," he said, "is gone south: his

house is at the back row; his wife is anyhow at home; so go round this

way, until you reach the door, at the back street, where, if you will

ask about her, you will be on the right track."

Goody Liu, having expressed her thanks, forthwith went, leading Pan Erh

by the hand, round to the back door, where she saw several pedlars

resting their burdens. There were also those who sold things to eat, and

those who sold playthings and toys; and besides these, twenty or thirty

boys bawled and shouted, making quite a noise.

Goody Liu readily caught hold of one of them. "I'd like to ask you just

a word, my young friend," she observed; "there's a Mrs. Chou here; is

she at home?"

"Which Mrs. Chou?" inquired the boy; "we here have three Mrs. Chous; and

there are also two young married ladies of the name of Chou. What are

the duties of the one you want, I wonder ?"

"She's a waiting-woman of my lady," replied goody Liu.

"It's easy to get at her," added the boy; "just come along with me."

Leading the way for goody Liu into the backyard, they reached the wall

of a court, when he pointed and said, "This is her house.--Mother Chou!"

he went on to shout with alacrity; "there's an old lady who wants to see

you."

Chou Jui's wife was at home, and with all haste she came out to greet

her visitor. "Who is it?" she asked.

Goody Liu advanced up to her. "How are you," she inquired, "Mrs. Chou?"

Mrs. Chou looked at her for some time before she at length smiled and

replied, "Old goody Liu, are you well? How many years is it since we've

seen each other; tell me, for I forget just now; but please come in and

sit."

"You're a lady of rank," answered goody Liu smiling, as she walked

along, "and do forget many things. How could you remember such as

ourselves?"

With these words still in her mouth, they had entered the house,

whereupon Mrs. Chou ordered a hired waiting-maid to pour the tea. While

they were having their tea she remarked, "How Pan Erh has managed to

grow!" and then went on to make inquiries on the subject of various

matters, which had occurred after their separation.

"To-day," she also asked of goody Liu, "were you simply passing by? or

did you come with any express object?"

"I've come, the fact is, with an object!" promptly replied goody Liu;

"(first of all) to see you, my dear sister-in-law; and, in the second

place also, to inquire after my lady's health. If you could introduce me

to see her for a while, it would be better; but if you can't, I must

readily borrow your good offices, my sister-in-law, to convey my

message."

Mr. Chou Jui's wife, after listening to these words, at once became to a

great extent aware of the object of her visit. Her husband had, however,

in years gone by in his attempt to purchase some land, obtained

considerably the support of Kou Erh, so that when she, on this occasion,

saw goody Liu in such a dilemma, she could not make up her mind to

refuse her wish. Being in the second place keen upon making a display of

her own respectability, she therefore said smilingly:

"Old goody Liu, pray compose your mind! You've come from far off with a

pure heart and honest purpose, and how can I ever not show you the way

how to see this living Buddha? Properly speaking, when people come and

guests arrive, and verbal messages have to be given, these matters are

not any of my business, as we all here have each one kind of duties to

carry out. My husband has the special charge of the rents of land coming

in, during the two seasons of spring and autumn, and when at leisure, he

takes the young gentlemen out of doors, and then his business is done.

As for myself, I have to accompany my lady and young married ladies on

anything connected with out-of-doors; but as you are a relative of my

lady and have besides treated me as a high person and come to me for

help, I'll, after all, break this custom and deliver your message.

There's only one thing, however, and which you, old lady, don't know. We

here are not what we were five years before. My lady now doesn't much

worry herself about anything; and it's entirely lady Secunda who looks

after the menage. But who do you presume is this lady Secunda? She's the

niece of my lady, and the daughter of my master, the eldest maternal

uncle of by-gone days. Her infant name was Feng Ko."

"Is it really she?" inquired promptly goody Liu, after this explanation.

"Isn't it strange? what I said about her years back has come out quite

correct; but from all you say, shall I to-day be able to see her?"

"That goes without saying," replied Chou Jui's wife; "when any visitors

come now-a-days, it's always lady Feng who does the honours and

entertains them, and it's better to-day that you should see her for a

while, for then you will not have walked all this way to no purpose."

"O mi to fu!" exclaimed old goody Liu; "I leave it entirely to your

convenience, sister-in-law."

"What's that you're saying?" observed Chou Jui's wife. "The proverb

says: 'Our convenience is the convenience of others.' All I have to do

is to just utter one word, and what trouble will that be to me."

Saying this, she bade the young waiting maid go to the side pavilion,

and quietly ascertain whether, in her old ladyship's apartment, table

had been laid.

The young waiting-maid went on this errand, and during this while, the

two of them continued a conversation on certain irrelevant matters.

"This lady Feng," observed goody Liu, "can this year be no older than

twenty, and yet so talented as to manage such a household as this! the

like of her is not easy to find!"

"Hai! my dear old goody," said Chou Jui's wife, after listening to her,

"it's not easy to explain; but this lady Feng, though young in years, is

nevertheless, in the management of affairs, superior to any man. She has

now excelled the others and developed the very features of a beautiful

young woman. To say the least, she has ten thousand eyes in her heart,

and were they willing to wager their mouths, why ten men gifted with

eloquence couldn't even outdo her! But by and bye, when you've seen her,

you'll know all about her! There's only this thing, she can't help being

rather too severe in her treatment of those below her."

While yet she spake, the young waiting-maid returned. "In her venerable

lady's apartment," she reported, "repast has been spread, and already

finished; lady Secunda is in madame Wang's chamber."

As soon as Chou Jui's wife heard this news, she speedily got up and

pressed goody Liu to be off at once. "This is," she urged, "just the

hour for her meal, and as she is free we had better first go and wait

for her; for were we to be even one step too late, a crowd of servants

will come with their reports, and it will then be difficult to speak to

her; and after her siesta, she'll have still less time to herself."

As she passed these remarks, they all descended the couch together.

Goody Liu adjusted their dresses, and, having impressed a few more words

of advice on Pan Erh, they followed Chou Jui's wife through winding

passages to Chia Lien's house. They came in the first instance into the

side pavilion, where Chou Jui's wife placed old goody Liu to wait a

little, while she herself went ahead, past the screen-wall and into the

entrance of the court.

Hearing that lady Feng had not come out, she went in search of an

elderly waiting-maid of lady Feng, P'ing Erh by name, who enjoyed her

confidence, to whom Chou Jui's wife first recounted from beginning to

end the history of old goody Liu.

"She has come to-day," she went on to explain, "from a distance to pay

her obeisance. In days gone by, our lady used often to meet her, so

that, on this occasion, she can't but receive her; and this is why I've

brought her in! I'll wait here for lady Feng to come down, and explain

everything to her; and I trust she'll not call me to task for officious

rudeness."

P'ing Erh, after hearing what she had to say, speedily devised the plan

of asking them to walk in, and to sit there pending (lady Feng's

arrival), when all would be right.

Chou Jui's wife thereupon went out and led them in. When they ascended

the steps of the main apartment, a young waiting-maid raised a red

woollen portière, and as soon as they entered the hall, they smelt a

whiff of perfume as it came wafted into their faces: what the scent was

they could not discriminate; but their persons felt as if they were

among the clouds.

The articles of furniture and ornaments in the whole room were all so

brilliant to the sight, and so vying in splendour that they made the

head to swim and the eyes to blink, and old goody Liu did nothing else

the while than nod her head, smack her lips and invoke Buddha. Forthwith

she was led to the eastern side into the suite of apartments, where was

the bedroom of Chia Lien's eldest daughter. P'ing Erh, who was standing

by the edge of the stove-couch, cast a couple of glances at old goody

Liu, and felt constrained to inquire how she was, and to press her to

have a seat.

Goody Liu, noticing that P'ing Erh was entirely robed in silks, that she

had gold pins fixed in her hair, and silver ornaments in her coiffure,

and that her countenance resembled a flower or the moon (in beauty),

readily imagined her to be lady Feng, and was about to address her as my

lady; but when she heard Mrs. Chou speak to her as Miss P'ing, and P'ing

Erh promptly address Chou Jui's wife as Mrs. Chou, she eventually became

aware that she could be no more than a waiting-maid of a certain

respectability.

She at once pressed old goody Liu and Pan Erh to take a seat on the

stove-couch. P'ing Erh and Chou Jui's wife sat face to face, on the

edges of the couch. The waiting-maids brought the tea. After they had

partaken of it, old goody Liu could hear nothing but a "lo tang, lo

tang" noise, resembling very much the sound of a bolting frame winnowing

flour, and she could not resist looking now to the East, and now to the

West. Suddenly in the great Hall, she espied, suspended on a pillar, a

box at the bottom of which hung something like the weight of a balance,

which incessantly wagged to and fro.

"What can this thing be?" communed goody Liu in her heart, "What can be

its use?" While she was aghast, she unexpectedly heard a sound of "tang"

like the sound of a golden bell or copper cymbal, which gave her quite a

start. In a twinkle of the eyes followed eight or nine consecutive

strokes; and she was bent upon inquiring what it was, when she caught

sight of several waiting-maids enter in a confused crowd. "Our lady has

come down!" they announced.

P'ìng Erh, together with Chou Jui's wife, rose with all haste. "Old

goody Liu," they urged, "do sit down and wait till it's time, when we'll

come and ask you in."

Saying this, they went out to meet lady Feng.

Old goody Liu, with suppressed voice and ear intent, waited in perfect

silence. She heard at a distance the voices of some people laughing,

whereupon about ten or twenty women, with rustling clothes and

petticoats, made their entrance, one by one, into the hall, and thence

into the room on the other quarter. She also detected two or three

women, with red-lacquered boxes in their hands, come over on this part

and remain in waiting.

"Get the repast ready!" she heard some one from the offside say.

The servants gradually dispersed and went out; and there only remained

in attendance a few of them to bring in the courses. For a long time,

not so much as the caw of a crow could be heard, when she unexpectedly

perceived two servants carry in a couch-table, and lay it on this side

of the divan. Upon this table were placed bowls and plates, in proper

order replete, as usual, with fish and meats; but of these only a few

kinds were slightly touched.

As soon as Pan Erh perceived (all these delicacies), he set up such a

noise, and would have some meat to eat, but goody Liu administered to

him such a slap, that he had to keep away.

Suddenly, she saw Mrs. Chou approach, full of smiles, and as she waved

her hand, she called her. Goody Liu understood her meaning, and at once

pulling Pan Erh off the couch, she proceeded to the centre of the Hall;

and after Mrs. Chou had whispered to her again for a while, they came at

length with slow step into the room on this side, where they saw on the

outside of the door, suspended by brass hooks, a deep red flowered soft

portière. Below the window, on the southern side, was a stove-couch, and

on this couch was spread a crimson carpet. Leaning against the wooden

partition wall, on the east side, stood a chain-embroidered back-cushion

and a reclining pillow. There was also spread a large watered satin

sitting cushion with a gold embroidered centre, and on the side stood

cuspidores made of silver.

Lady Feng, when at home, usually wore on her head a front-piece of dark

martin à la Chao Chün, surrounded with tassels of strung pearls. She had

on a robe of peach-red flowered satin, a short pelisse of slate-blue

stiff silk, lined with squirrel, and a jupe of deep red foreign crepe,

lined with ermine. Resplendent with pearl-powder and with cosmetics, she

sat in there, stately and majestic, with a small brass poker in her

hands, with which she was stirring the ashes of the hand-stove. P'ing

Erh stood by the side of the couch, holding a very small lacquered

tea-tray. In this tray was a small tea-cup with a cover. Lady Feng

neither took any tea, nor did she raise her head, but was intent upon

stirring the ashes of the hand-stove.

"How is it you haven't yet asked her to come in?" she slowly inquired;

and as she spake, she turned herself round and was about to ask for some

tea, when she perceived that Mrs. Chou had already introduced the two

persons and that they were standing in front of her.

She forthwith pretended to rise, but did not actually get up, and with a

face radiant with smiles, she ascertained about their health, after

which she went in to chide Chou Jui's wife. "Why didn't you tell me they

had come before?" she said.

Old goody Liu was already by this time prostrated on the ground, and

after making several obeisances, "How are you, my lady?" she inquired.

"Dear Mrs. Chou," lady Feng immediately observed, "do pull her up, and

don't let her prostrate herself! I'm yet young in years and don't know

her much; what's more, I've no idea what's the degree of the

relationship between us, and I daren't speak directly to her."

"This is the old lady about whom I spoke a short while back," speedily

explained Mrs. Chou.

Lady Feng nodded her head assentingly.

By this time old goody Liu had taken a seat on the edge of the

stove-couch. As for Pan Erh, he had gone further, and taken refuge

behind her back; and though she tried, by every means, to coax him to

come forward and make a bow, he would not, for the life of him, consent.

"Relatives though we be," remarked lady Feng, as she smiled, "we haven't

seen much of each other, so that our relations have been quite distant.

But those who know how matters stand will assert that you all despise

us, and won't often come to look us up; while those mean people, who

don't know the truth, will imagine that we have no eyes to look at any

one."

Old goody Liu promptly invoked Buddha. "We are at home in great

straits," she pleaded, "and that's why it wasn't easy for us to manage

to get away and come! Even supposing we had come as far as this, had we

not given your ladyship a slap on the mouth, those gentlemen would also,

in point of fact, have looked down upon us as a mean lot."

"Why, language such as this," exclaimed lady Feng smilingly, "cannot

help making one's heart full of displeasure! We simply rely upon the

reputation of our grandfather to maintain the status of a penniless

official; that's all! Why, in whose household is there anything

substantial? we are merely the denuded skeleton of what we were in days

of old, and no more! As the proverb has it: The Emperor himself has

three families of poverty-stricken relatives; and how much more such as

you and I?"

Having passed these remarks, she inquired of Mrs. Chou, "Have you let

madame know, yes or no?"

"We are now waiting," replied Mrs. Chou, "for my lady's orders."

"Go and have a look," said lady Feng; "but, should there be any one

there, or should she be busy, then don't make any mention; but wait

until she's free, when you can tell her about it and see what she says."

Chou Jui's wife, having expressed her compliance, went off on this

errand. During her absence, lady Feng gave orders to some servants to

take a few fruits and hand them to Pan Erh to eat; and she was inquiring

about one thing and another, when there came a large number of married

women, who had the direction of affairs in the household, to make their

several reports.

P'ing Erh announced their arrival to lady Feng, who said: "I'm now

engaged in entertaining some guests, so let them come back again in the

evening; but should there be anything pressing then bring it in and I'll

settle it at once."

P'ing Erh left the room, but she returned in a short while. "I've asked

them," she observed, "but as there's nothing of any urgency, I told them

to disperse." Lady Feng nodded her head in token of approval, when she

perceived Chou Jui's wife come back. "Our lady," she reported, as she

addressed lady Feng, "says that she has no leisure to-day, that if you,

lady Secunda, will entertain them, it will come to the same thing; that

she's much obliged for their kind attention in going to the trouble of

coming; that if they have come simply on a stroll, then well and good,

but that if they have aught to say, they should tell you, lady Secunda,

which will be tantamount to their telling her."

"I've nothing to say," interposed old goody Liu. "I simply come to see

our elder and our younger lady, which is a duty on my part, a relative

as I am."

"Well, if there's nothing particular that you've got to say, all right,"

Mrs. Chou forthwith added, "but if you do have anything, don't hesitate

telling lady Secunda, and it will be just as if you had told our lady."

As she uttered these words, she winked at goody Liu. Goody Liu

understood what she meant, but before she could give vent to a word, her

face got scarlet, and though she would have liked not to make any

mention of the object of her visit, she felt constrained to suppress her

shame and to speak out.

"Properly speaking," she observed, "this being the first time I see you,

my lady, I shouldn't mention what I've to say, but as I come here from

far off to seek your assistance, my old friend, I have no help but to

mention it."

She had barely spoken as much as this, when she heard the youths at the

inner-door cry out: "The young gentleman from the Eastern Mansion has

come."

Lady Feng promptly interrupted her. "Old goody Liu," she remarked, "you

needn't add anything more." She, at the same time, inquired, "Where's

your master, Mr. Jung?" when became audible the sound of footsteps along

the way, and in walked a young man of seventeen or eighteen. His

appearance was handsome, his person slender and graceful. He had on

light furs, a girdle of value, costly clothes and a beautiful cap.

At this stage, goody Liu did not know whether it was best to sit down or

to stand up, neither could she find anywhere to hide herself.

"Pray sit down," urged lady Feng, with a laugh; "this is my nephew!' Old

goody Liu then wriggled herself, now one way, and then another, on to

the edge of the couch, where she took a seat.

"My father," Chia Jung smilingly ventured, "has sent me to ask a favour

of you, aunt. On some previous occasion, our grand aunt gave you, dear

aunt, a stove-couch glass screen, and as to-morrow father has invited

some guests of high standing, he wishes to borrow it to lay it out for a

little show; after which he purposes sending it back again."

"You're late by a day," replied lady Feng. "It was only yesterday that I

gave it to some one."

Chia Jung, upon hearing this, forthwith, with giggles and smiles, made,

near the edge of the couch, a sort of genuflexion. "Aunt," he went on,

"if you don't lend it, father will again say that I don't know how to

speak, and I shall get another sound thrashing. You must have pity upon

your nephew, aunt."

"I've never seen anything like this," observed lady Feng sneeringly;

"the things belonging to the Wang family are all good, but where have

you put all those things of yours? the only good way is that you

shouldn't see anything of ours, for as soon as you catch sight of

anything, you at once entertain a wish to carry it off."

"Pray, aunt," entreated Chia Jung with a smile, "do show me some

compassion."

"Mind your skin!" lady Feng warned him, "if you do chip or spoil it in

the least."

She then bade P'ing Erh take the keys of the door of the upstairs room

and send for several trustworthy persons to carry it away.

Chia Jung was so elated that his eyebrows dilated and his eyes smiled.

"I've brought myself," he added, with vehemence, "some men to take it

away; I won't let them recklessly bump it about."

Saying this, he speedily got up and left the room.

Lady Feng suddenly bethought herself of something, and turning towards

the window, she called out, "Jung Erh, come back." Several servants who

stood outside caught up her words: "Mr. Jung," they cried, "you're

requested to go back;" whereupon Chia Jung turned round and retraced his

steps; and with hands drooping respectfully against his sides, he stood

ready to listen to his aunt's wishes.

Lady Feng was however intent upon gently sipping her tea, and after a

good long while of abstraction, she at last smiled: "Never mind," she

remarked; "you can go. But come after you've had your evening meal, and

I'll then tell you about it. Just now there are visitors here; and

besides, I don't feel in the humour."

Chia Jung thereupon retired with gentle step.

Old goody Liu, by this time, felt more composed in body and heart. "I've

to-day brought your nephew," she then explained, "not for anything else,

but because his father and mother haven't at home so much as anything to

eat; the weather besides is already cold, so that I had no help but to

take your nephew along and come to you, old friend, for assistance!"

As she uttered these words, she again pushed Pan Erh forward. "What did

your father at home tell you to say?" she asked of him; "and what did he

send us over here to do? Was it only to give our minds to eating fruit?"

Lady Feng had long ago understood what she meant to convey, and finding

that she had no idea how to express herself in a decent manner, she

readily interrupted her with a smile. "You needn't mention anything,"

she observed, "I'm well aware of how things stand;" and addressing

herself to Mrs. Chou, she inquired, "Has this old lady had breakfast,

yes or no?"

Old goody Liu hurried to explain. "As soon as it was daylight," she

proceeded, "we started with all speed on our way here, and had we even

so much as time to have any breakfast?"

Lady Feng promptly gave orders to send for something to eat. In a short

while Chou Jui's wife had called for a table of viands for the guests,

which was laid in the room on the eastern side, and then came to take

goody Liu and Pan Erh over to have their repast.

"My dear Mrs. Chou," enjoined lady Feng, "give them all they want, as I

can't attend to them myself;" which said, they hastily passed over into

the room on the eastern side.

Lady Feng having again called Mrs. Chou, asked her: "When you first

informed madame about them, what did she say?" "Our Lady observed,"

replied Chou Jui's wife, "that they don't really belong to the same

family; that, in former years, their grandfather was an official at the

same place as our old master; that hence it came that they joined

ancestors; that these few years there hasn't been much intercourse

(between their family and ours); that some years back, whenever they

came on a visit, they were never permitted to go empty-handed, and that

as their coming on this occasion to see us is also a kind attention on

their part, they shouldn't be slighted. If they've anything to say,"

(our lady continued), "tell lady Secunda to do the necessary, and that

will be right."

"Isn't it strange!" exclaimed lady Feng, as soon as she had heard the

message; "since we are all one family, how is it I'm not familiar even

with so much as their shadow?"

While she was uttering these words, old goody Liu had had her repast and

come over, dragging Pan Erh; and, licking her lips and smacking her

mouth, she expressed her thanks.

Lady Feng smiled. "Do pray sit down," she said, "and listen to what I'm

going to tell you. What you, old lady, meant a little while back to

convey, I'm already as much as yourself well acquainted with! Relatives,

as we are, we shouldn't in fact have waited until you came to the

threshold of our doors, but ought, as is but right, to have attended to

your needs. But the thing is that, of late, the household affairs are

exceedingly numerous, and our lady, advanced in years as she is,

couldn't at a moment, it may possibly be, bethink herself of you all!

What's more, when I took over charge of the management of the menage, I

myself didn't know of all these family connections! Besides, though to

look at us from outside everything has a grand and splendid aspect,

people aren't aware that large establishments have such great hardships,

which, were we to recount to others, they would hardly like to credit as

true. But since you've now come from a great distance, and this is the

first occasion that you open your mouth to address me, how can I very

well allow you to return to your home with empty hands! By a lucky

coincidence our lady gave, yesterday, to the waiting-maids, twenty taels

to make clothes with, a sum which they haven't as yet touched, and if

you don't despise it as too little, you may take it home as a first

instalment, and employ it for your wants."

When old goody Liu heard the mention made by lady Feng of their

hardships, she imagined that there was no hope; but upon hearing her

again speak of giving her twenty taels, she was exceedingly delighted,

so much so that her eyebrows dilated and her eyes gleamed with smiles.

"We too know," she smilingly remarked, "all about difficulties! but the

proverb says, 'A camel dying of leanness is even bigger by much than a

horse!' No matter what those distresses may be, were you yet to pluck

one single hair from your body, my old friend, it would be stouter than

our own waist."

Chou Jui's wife stood by, and on hearing her make these coarse

utterances, she did all she could to give her a hint by winking, and

make her desist. Lady Feng laughed and paid no heed; but calling P'ing

Erh, she bade her fetch the parcel of money, which had been given to

them the previous day, and to also bring a string of cash; and when

these had been placed before goody Liu's eyes: "This is," said lady

Feng, "silver to the amount of twenty taels, which was for the time

given to these young girls to make winter clothes with; but some other

day, when you've nothing to do, come again on a stroll, in evidence of

the good feeling which should exist between relatives. It's besides

already late, and I don't wish to detain you longer and all for no

purpose; but, on your return home, present my compliments to all those

of yours to whom I should send them."

As she spake, she stood up. Old goody Liu gave utterance to a thousand

and ten thousand expressions of gratitude, and taking the silver and

cash, she followed Chou Jui's wife on her way to the out-houses. "Well,

mother dear," inquired Mrs. Chou, "what did you think of my lady that

you couldn't speak; and that whenever you opened your mouth it was all

'your nephew.' I'll make just one remark, and I don't mind if you do get

angry. Had he even been your kindred nephew, you should in fact have

been somewhat milder in your language; for that gentleman, Mr. Jung, is

her kith and kin nephew, and whence has appeared such another nephew of

hers (as Pan Erh)?"

Old goody Liu smiled. "My dear sister-in-law," she replied, "as I gazed

upon her, were my heart and eyes, pray, full of admiration or not? and

how then could I speak as I should?"

As they were chatting, they reached Chou Jui's house. They had been

sitting for a while, when old goody Liu produced a piece of silver,

which she was purposing to leave behind, to be given to the young

servants in Chou Jui's house to purchase fruit to eat; but how could

Mrs. Chou satiate her eye with such a small piece of silver? She was

determined in her refusal to accept it, so that old goody Liu, after

assuring her of her boundless gratitude, took her departure out of the

back gate she had come in from.

Reader, you do not know what happened after old goody Liu left, but

listen to the explanation which will be given in the next chapter.