Poo Yu is shown the gold amulet of his girl cousin. The girl cousin is
shown Pao Yu's stone.
1 WO DAYS LATER THERE WAS A GREAT BANQUET AND THEATRICAL PER‐
formance given in the Ningkuo palace in honor of the relatives in the
Yungkuo palace. Pao Yu missed his cousin Precious Clasp in the crowd.
He had not seen her for days. He was told that she was not quite well and
was keeping to her room. He so longed to see her again that, early that
afternoon, while the rest of the family was still together, he accom‐
panied the Princess Ancestress back to the Yungkuo palace, and was
able then to steal off to the Pear Garden by unfrequented side paths,
untroubled by tedious attendants and undesired watchers. He first
politely greeted Aunt Hsueh who was sitting over some sewing with her
maids. She embraced him warmly.
"How touchingly thoughtful of you to come over to see your aunt
in this cold weather! But get up here quickly on the warm kang! And
then strengthen yourself with a bowl of hot tea!"
"Is Cousin Hsueh Pan at home?" asked Pao Yu.
"Ah, I have great trouble with this playboy," sighed Aunt Hsueh.
"He is like a horse without a bridle or halter. Not a single day does
he spend at home."
"Is Precious Clasp well again?"
"Yes, thank you, she is. It was very kind of you to send someone
over lately to ask how she was. She is in her room now. You can go in
and visit her. It is warmer there than here. I will follow later on; I want
to clear up my work here first."
Pao Yu accepted her suggestion only too willingly. He slid down
quickly from the kang and rushed off to the room with the red brocade
curtain before the door. Lifting the curtain, he stepped inside. There he
found Precious Clasp sitting on the heated divan, likewise busy with
her needle and thread. Her hair was tied in a loose knot on top of her
head. It was black as lacquer and shone like oil. She wore a honey‐
colored padded coat, a pink waistcoat trimmed with two‐colored gold
and silver squirrel fur, and a short onion‐colored slit tunic. Her lips
needed no rouge, her blue black brows no brush; her face was smooth
as a silver dish, and her eyes were like almonds swimming in water.
The fact that she was so sparing of her words and so prudent in her
speech was interpreted by many as pose and affection. "I am on the
guard against foolishness," she was wont to say, explaining her cautious
way.
"Are you well and cheerful again, sister?" asked Pao Yu.
"I am very much better," she replied, and, smiling, invited him to
sit down beside her on the warmed divan. The maid Oriole came and
poured out tea. There were some conventional inquiries for Grand‐
mother, aunts, and cousins, and at last the conversation became per‐
sonal. Now her eyes were fixed on the five‐colored cord from which
dangled the precious stone.
"I have heard so much about your stone, may I look at it closely
just once?" she asked. As she spoke she came nearer to him. He also
sidled up a little closer to her, took the cord with the stone from his
neck, and laid it in her hand. Precious Clasp looked attentively at the
shining thing in the palm of her hand. It was about the size of a spar‐
row's egg and shone with a subdued pinkish hue like light morning
clouds, and it felt as smooth to the touch as clotted cream. It was con‐
tained in a fine protective net.
On the front of the stone was written in minute script: "Stone of
penetrating spiritual power." Under this were two lines, each consisting
of four symbols:
Never lose me, never forget me!
Glorious life lasting prosperity!
On the back were three lines, each of four engraved characters.
First: I drive away wicked spirits.
Second: I cure you of trouble of mind.
Third: I announce happiness and misfortune.
Precious Clasp hummed twice in a low voice:
Never lose me, never forget me! '
Glorious life lasting prosperity!
Then she looked at the maid. Oriole, who was standing beside her.
"Why do you stand there gaping instead of making haste and pouring
the tea?" she asked.
Oriole answered with a giggle: "The two lines which you have just
repeated are quite familiar to me. They are very much like the lines on
the gold medallion around your neck."
"Is it possible?" interrupted Pao Yu quickly. "You" wear a medallion
with eight similar ideographs? Do let me see it!"
"Nonsense! Do not listen to her chatter!" objected Precious Clasp,
laughing.
But Pao Yu insisted.
"I have shown my amulet, so do me the same favor, dear sister,
please ! " he begged.
Precious Clasp could resist no longer.
"Well, it is true. I also wear an amulet. If it were not for the lucky
inscription I would not drag around the heavy, awkward thing with
me every day."
With these words she loosened the clasp of her chain and showed the
piece of jewelry which had been hidden under the seam of her dress. It
was a massive golden medallion, studded with pearls and jewels. Pao
Yu took it out of her hand and held it eagerly before his eyes. Right
enough, there on the front and the back were eight characters likewise
engraved in minute script. They read:
Never leave me, never reject me!
Precious youth lasting bloom!
Pao Yu read the two lines twice aloud.
"They complement the lines of my stone exactly; together they form
a four‐line stanza!" he cried, joyfully surprised.
"A mangy‐headed bonze once gave her the lines, and advised her to
have them engraved on a gold medallion," Oriole threw in importantly.
"That's enough. Stir yourself and pour out our tea!" said Precious
Clasp, cutting short her chatter.
"Where have you come from?" she said, turning to her visitor and
changing the delicate conversation. But Pao Yu did not hear her ques‐
tion; his attention was fixed on the strange fragrance which emanated
from her. For when viewing the amulet they had drawn close to each
other.
"What perfume have you used, sister?" he wanted to know. "I have
never smelled it before."
"Perfume?" she said slowly. "I am not in the habit of spoiling my
good clothes with perfume." Then, after a moment's reflection, she con‐
tinued quickly: "You're right', it must be the smell of the medicine
which I took this morning."
"What is the name of your medicine?"
"Pills of cold balsam."
"Oh, let me also taste those fragrant pills!" he begged.
"You silly thing!" she burst out, laughing. "How can one swallow
any rnedicine at random!"
They stopped short in their conversation. The voice of a servant
announced from outside:
"Miss Ling is here!"
And immediately Black Jade entered.
"Oh, am I disturbing you?" she asked, smiling, with a hurried glance
at the pair. Pao Yu had risen and politely offered her his place on the
warmed divan.
"And why should you disturb us?" said Precious Clasp casually.
"I just thought . . . naturally, I would not have come if I knew that
he was here."
"I don't see what you mean," replied Precious Clasp coolly.
"I mean that it would be far nicer for you if you did not have all of
us visiting you at the same time, and then have no visitors at all. Better
have him today and me tomorrow. That would give more variety and
better distribution of our visits. You would not feel either too neglected
or too much besieged. Is that so difficult to understand?"
"Is it snowing outside?" asked Pao Yu, to change the conversation,
pointing to Black Jade's red cloak.
"It has been for a long time," the voice of his nurse, Mother Li, who
had accompanied Black Jade, replied from outside.
"Bring me over my raincoat," Pao Yu called out to her.
"Ah, when I come, he must go, of course," remarked Black Jade
pointedly.
"Who said that I wanted to go now? I only wanted my ccat to be
here for later on when we're going," he said, trying to pacify the over‐
sensitive cousin.
Pao Yu and his two cousins passed in to the living room, where Aunt
Hsueh had meantime set a table with all kinds of sweet dishes and
dainties. Pao Yu had recently praised a dish of geesefeet and ducks'
tongues which he had eaten at Princess Chen's for the first time. To
please him Aunt Hsueh had had this dish prepared for him today.
"But it tastes even better with some wine," the spoiled Pao Yu re‐
marked. Aunt Hsueh thereupon sent for the very best wine which she
had in the house.
"No wine, please!" his old nurse, Mother Li, objected.
"Just one goblet!" he begged.
"No!" insisted Mother Li severely. "If your mother or grandmother
were present you could drink a whole jugful for all I would care. But
I am responsible for you now, and I do not want to get into trouble as
I did lately when some fool gave you wine the moment I turned my
back. I had to bear reproaches for days on end over that. You do not
know, Tai tai, what a rascal he is, and what he can do when he has even
one drop of wine," she said, turning to Aunt Hsueh.
"All right, do not excite yourself so much, old nurse!" said Aunt
Hsueh, laughing, to calni her. "You shall have a goblet yourself too. In
this weather wine is good for one, to protect one against colds. I shall
take care that he does not drink too much, and I shall be responsible
for him to his grandmother."
Mother Li yielded, and was taken into the servants' room by a maid,
to share a cup of wine with the others.
"But, please, cold wine! I do not care for it warm," Pao Yu was
heard again.
"I can only allow you to have it warmed," objected Aunt Hsueh.
"Cold wine makes one's hand shake when writing."
"At home you have the opportunity every day of increasing your
knowledge, and you do not yet know anything about the nature of
wine?" Precious Clasp added somewhat sarcastically and precociously.
"Wine makes one hot and rises to the head. But one can do away with
this effect if one takes the wine warm. Cold wine, on the. other hand,
runs through the body and spreads its harmful influences through all
the five intestines."
What was said by such a beautiful mouth must of course be right
and sensible, so he had the warm wine served to him.
But it was not a matter of just one goblet. As soon as that strict
watcher, Mother Li, had withdrawn, he could drink to his heart's con‐
tent, encouraged by Aunt Hsueh. At last, towards evening, he was
slightly tipsy and so tired from all the drinking that he would have liked
to accept Aunt Hsueh 's invitation to spend the night in her house. But
Black Jade who did not like his intimacy with the Hsueh family, was
able to prevent it.
"Are you not thinking of going home at last?" she asked him.
His dull eyes blinked at her. "When you go. I will go with you,"
he replied.
Whereupon Black Jade immediately rose and bade farewell. He fol‐
lowed her example politely, and asked for his wraps. When the maid,
Snowgoose, put the broad‐rimmed, reddish‐brown, monkey‐fur winter
hat somewhat awkwardly on his bent head, he pulled it off again and re‐
buked her angrily.
"Let me do it!" said Black Jade hurriedly running over to him. He
willingly submitted. How gently and carefully her delicate fingers
manipulated his coiffure! So skillfully did she fix his hat on his head
that his hair remained unruffled; the inner hatband fitted against his
forehead exactly, and the red velvet tassel the size of a walnut dangled
down to just below the rim.
At home, on account of his tipsiness he was not taken in to the
evening meal but sent straight to bed. The maid, Bright Cloud, was
awaiting him in his room.
"Well, you're a nice one ! " she greeted him, laughing, pointing to the
writing table where the writing implements were still lying just as she
had left them for him in the morning. "You got me to prepare a whole
lot of India ink for you this morning, and you wrote only three charac‐
ters. Then off you went. I waited for you here all day in vain. But now,
set to work quickly and write until the supply of India ink is ex‐
hausted!"
"Where are the three characters you spoke of?" he wanted to know.
"Indeed, you must be tipsy! When you left this morning you told me
to fasten the characters outside on top of the door. I went up on the
ladder myself and did the job for you. My fingers were quite stiff with
cold."
"Ah, I remember now. Give me your hand. I'll warm it in mine!"
He took her by the hand and drew her with him outside the door to
look at the characters on the door. Just then Black Jade came along.
"Dear sister, please say quite honestly which of the three characters,
in your opinion, have I done best?" he asked anxiously.
Black Jade looked up. There, resplendently drawn in three large
characters, stood the proud inscription: Purple Chamber of the Fra‐
grance of Culture.
"I find all three characters simply masterly," she approved, with a
smile. "What about painting a beautiful inscription like that for my
room?"
"Ah, go on. You are just making fun of me. But where is Pearl?"
Bright Cloud curled her lips and pointed to the bed. Pearl had made
herself comfortable there. She lay in her clothes, apparently sound
asleep.
"Very early to go to sleep," he remarked, laughing. Then he re‐
flected for a moment.
"Where are the curd balls, which I had sent here from the midday
meal? I asked sister‐in‐law Chen to send some over, as I wanted to eat
them in the evening. They were meant for you, as you like them so
much."
"I thought at once they were meant for me and was Idoking forward
to eating them in the evening. But then Mother Li came along and
took them. You had already eaten quite enough, and she would prefer
to give them to her grandchild, she said."
Another maid brought him tea.
"A bowl for Cousin Ling as well," he ordered.
"She has gone long ago," they laughingly told him.
He drank just one mouthful, then stopped.
"But I had maple tea made for me this morning, and I said distinctly
that it was to be infused and drawn off three or four times, for only then
does it taste good. Why do you give me this other tea?"
"I had prepared a pot of maple tea for you," replied the maid, "but
Mother Li drank it."
In a rage Pao Yu flung the full china bowl to the ground, so that it
crashed in fragments and the contents splashed the maid's skirt.
"Mother Li! It's always Mother Li! Who is she, anyway, that every‐
one must submit to her and die of awe before her? She nursed me for
a bit when I was a child, that's all! That does not give her the right to
put on airs here as if she were the Princess Ancestress herself. She
must be chased from the house, then it will be better for all of us." And
he would have gone straight off to his grandmother to complain of her
if the maid Pearl had not intervened. Pearl had only been pretending
to be asleep. She wanted to allure him when he returned and found her
there before him on the bed, so that he would flirt with her and make
love to her. She had not bothered to listen to the preceding discussion
about the three written characters and the curd balls, but the crash of
the smashed teacup made her jump up nimbly to try to calm him. At
the same moment a servant sent by the Princess Ancestress came to ask
the reason 'of the noise.
"It is nothing, really," countered Pearl, before he had time to
speak. "I was pouring out tea and I slipped because there was snow on
my shoes; so the cup fell out of my hand and got broken."
And when the servant had gone she continued, turning to Pao Yu:
"If you want to drive Mother Li away we others shall go too. No doubt
you will find it easy to get better than us."
He remained silent and allowed himself to be undressed and put to
bed. Very soon his tired eyes closed. Pearl did not forget to take the
stone amulet from his neck and put it carefully wrapped in a handker‐
chief under his pillow, so that it would be nicely warm next morning
and not harm him by making his bare neck cold.
Early the next day the nephew Yung from the Ningkuo palace ar‐
rived accompanied by his brother‐in‐law Chin Chung, to present the
latter to the Princess Ancestress. The old lady was just as charmed by
the young boy as were the other ladies of the house. He was kept for
the midday meal and loaded with gifts on leaving. The Princess An‐
cestress gave him a purse and a golden statuette of . the divinity of
letters. She considered him a suitable companion and schoolfellow
for Pao Yu and gladly agreed that he should be accepted into the
family school.
"You live far away from here," she said to him, "and in very hot or
in frosty weather you will find the journey too much. At such times you
can remain here for as long as you like and stay with your uncle Pao
Yu. It is better for two to study here at home than to associate with a
pack of lazy young rascals."
Chin Chung's father was highly pleased with the good reception
which his offspring had been given by his aristocratic relatives and was
very glad that the question of the boy's education had now been solved
without the humiliating necessity of a visit of petition. He saw that his
son would be in the best hands in a school of which the Principal was
the worthy old Chia Tai Ju, a splendid scholar and Confucian. Of course
he could not avoid paying a formal visit to the latter and giving him
the customary gift of money. He did not wish to be too much behind
the better‐placed parents of other boys in this matter. Thus, this little
insignificant governor's secretary had to pinch and scrape and calculate
in every way in order to get together the entrance gift of twenty‐five
silver pieces proper for a person of his station. After the father and son
had paid their respects and presented their gift to the Principal, the
uncle and nephew set out for the school on a lucky day which Pao Yu
had chosen in the calendar. The next chapter will tell of the riotous in‐
cidents which were to take place in the school soon afterwards.