The young man who had returned Zixin's string of pearls left without revealing his name. Grandma Zhang comes up with a plan that will allow Zixin to find him...
—Act II: The Search for the Gentleman—
Male Role: Fan Jie
Female Role: Zixin
Comic Role: Grandma Zhang
Comic Roles: Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Er'ma
Scene I
(Enter Zixin and Grandma Zhang)
(Aside)
Zixin: "I have been depressed of late, and in no wise have I been at peace."
Zixin: "For I spoke in error 'gainst a hero seeking to do good."
Zixin: "He sought to return my string of pearls, and I did him no thanks nor ask him his name, but instead upbraided him most grievously."
Zixin: "Shamed I am, and do wish to find my benefactor, but amidst this vast harbor, how shall I find him?"
Grandma Zhang: "As I see it, deary, you need not be sorrowful, nor should you be troubled."
Zixin: "Oh, granny, why do you say so?"
Grandma Zhang: "You need only put up a notice, offering Mora up to the one who returns the string of pearls. Will he not then come forth?"
(Ganging, andante calmo)
Zixin: "Thus is it said—"
Zixin: "As wine turns red peoples' faces, so do riches move many places."
(Zixin lowers her head and paces)
Zixin: "I am of a mind to find him with this device, yet I wonder if he should come forthwith."
(Aside)
Grandma Zhang: "Come now, do not hesitate. Let us take action."
Grandma Zhang: "You shall lose little who rely on me."
(Exeunt Zixin and Grandma Zhang)
Scene II
(Enter Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Er'ma)
(Sprechstimme)
Zhang San: "I am Zhang San."
Li Si: "I, Li Si."
Wang Er'ma: "And Wang Er'ma I."
Zhang San: "Hark at that notice! Let me go up, and earn the bounty."
Li Si: "Shall the officer ask, 'think to do good, do you?'"
Wang Er'ma: "Hah! A fool is he who would speak true."
(Aside)
Zhang San: "Ho, brothers. Are you all bound for that lass Zixin's place, her reward to claim?"
Li Si: "Indeed."
Wang Er'ma: "So it is."
Li Si: "Picked up her headdress also, did you?"
Wang Er'ma: "No, I'd have sworn it was her earrings."
Li Si: "Falsehood - t'was the flower upon her head."
Zhang San: "Fools. Perfume it was!"
Wang Er'ma: "Ah, however it may be, sure am I that we all know well the score."
Zhang San: "Ahahah."
Li Si: "Haha!"
(Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Er'ma turn to Zixin)
Zhang San: "Ah, Zixin, have you my bounty ready? For I, Zhang San, have found your lost perfume!"
Li Si: "Stand aside, friend, for I have come to return your headdress. The prize is mine, therefore."
Wang Er'ma: "No, no, no, Wang Er'ma it is who returns your earrings. Mine is the reward."
Zixin: "You... you lot dizzy me."
Zixin: "For we have never met, and if I lost my earrings, scents, or headwear, would I not know it?"
Zhang San: "Why, you must have forgotten it in your hurry at the fish-store. Just give the reward here, do not worry!"
Li Si: "The Mora, then, and be quick about it!"
Wang Er'ma: "Or I shall ruin your stall, and your good name."
Zixin: "Ah... How I have attracted the eye of these worthless scoundrels!"
Zixin: "Granny, see what trouble your plan has wrought!"
Grandma Zhang: "Worry not, lass. I shall devise a way to see them off."
Grandma Zhang: "Hah!"
(Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Er'ma fall to the ground)
Grandma Zhang: "I had this lass put up a false bounty to catch such thieves as you!"
Grandma Zhang: "The items you bring are false — now hand them over."
Grandma Zhang: "Or else..."
Zhang San: "Or else what?"
Grandma Zhang: "Then the headdress made of prize Glaze Lilies, the earrings of fine Noctilucous Jade, and the scents shipped in from a faraway land...
Grandma Zhang: "You shall have to pay for them all! Now then, where is the Mora? Give it here!"
(Grandma Mang pursues Zhang San, Li Si, Wang Er'ma, broom in hand)
Zhang San: "Ow, ow!"
Li Si: "Stop hitting us, please! We don't want your Mora anymore!"
Wang Er'ma: "Now to find that fellow who truly picked her things up to come and own up — sooner rather than late!"
Scene III
(Zhang San brings Fan Jie in)
(Aside)
Zhang San: "Why, I have it now. You must be the thief who took the lady's things. My brothers and I took a beating on your account!"
Fan Jie: "I, Fan Jie, have ever been upright, and such things as stealing are beneath me. Do not think to accuse me falsely."
Zhang San: "Well, aren't you a stubborn one? Dare you go up with me to meet the owner of the lost goods?"
Fan Jie: "I fear you not. Let us go! Indeed, I should like to see who it is who maligns me."
(Zhang San and Fan Jie turn to Zixin)
Zhang San: "Is the proprietor not Zixin? I shall see how you get out of this one!"
Fan Jie: "Ah! So it is you, then!"
(Dongtang, appassionato)
Fan Jie: "This was the lady who was wroth, and no more words came from her mouth."
(Dongtang, allegro)
Fan Jie: "Cease deceiving the young woman, for I am Fan Jie, a dock worker."
Fan Jie: "I have lived frugally and humbly. Whereupon would I steal a lady's makeup?"
Fan Jie: "You met my honesty with accusations, though I returned the item swiftly as I could."
(Aside)
Zixin: "Ah, so this hero is named Fan Jie."
Zixin: "It is my fault, then, that he should have been tangled up in this business."
Zixin: "I shall beg his forgiveness shortly — and should he not accept, twice or thrice more shall not be too few."
(Zixin walks up to apologize to Fan Jie)
Zixin: "O, hero, indeed we had a misunderstanding before, but..."
(Fan Jie turns)
Fan Jie: "Hmph."
(Zixin smiles and steps forward)
Zixin: "...I did have some other motive in doing this."
Zixin: "For you did not leave your name behind when you left, and I wished to repay you but found you not."
Zixin: "So I decided on this device. It is my fault that such trouble came to you."
Zixin: "Please, allow me to apologize."
Fan Jie: "Oh?"
(Dongtang, lento, innig)
Fan Jie: "Though I was at first resentful to be maligned, when I calm down to think, I realize it was but a misunderstanding."
Fan Jie: "Calm must rule me, lest I speak in error."
(Aside)
Fan Jie: "If I may ask you..."
Fan Jie: "You said earlier that the business from before was a misunderstanding."
Fan Jie: "You were of a mind to seek the person who returned your string of pearls, and put out that notice, which by chance snared me wrongly, is that true?"
Zixin: "It is, and again, I apologize."
(Fan Jie catches Zixin)
Fan Jie: "Nay, you need not be so polite. You do me too much honor."
Fan Jie: "I, too, acted rashly, and put you upon the spot. I, too, must apologize."
Zixin: "Oh, no, please..."
(Fan Jie salutes her)
Zhang San: "What!? What are you doing? So is the Mora to be paid or not?"
Grandma Zhang: "Oh, shush you. This is their tale — what business is it of yours?"
Grandma Zhang: "See, all the ladies and gentlemen in the audience are here to see a show by Yun Jin. and they have no time for your nonsense."
Grandma Zhang: "Open your eyes and see, and stand aside there."
(Exeunt, Grandma Zhang dragging Zhang San)
Zixin: "Come to think of it, I sell fish here every day. How is it, then, that I have never seen you?"
Fan Jie: "I pass this way each day to work."
Fan Jie: "Perhaps I was lost amid the throng. But perchance we may meet tomorrow..."
Zixin: "So it is... May we meet then."