In the precious tripod kettle, tea is brewed, but green is still the
smoke!
O'er is the game of chess by the still window, but the fingers are yet
cold.
Chia Cheng shook his head. 'Neither does this seem to me good!' he said; and having concluded this remark he was leading the company out, when just as he was about to proceed, he suddenly bethought himself of something.
'The several courts and buildings and the teapoys, sideboards, tables and chairs,' he added, 'may be said to be provided for. But there are still all those curtains, screens and portieres, as well as the furniture, nicknacks and curios; and have they too all been matched to suit the requirements of each place?'
'Of the things that have to be placed about,' Chia Chen explained, a good number have, at an early period, been added, and of course when the time comes everything will be suitably arranged. As for the curtains, screens, and portieres, which have to be hung up, I heard yesterday brother Lien say that they are not as yet complete, that when the works were first taken in hand, the plan of each place was drawn, the measurements accurately calculated and some one despatched to attend to the things, and that he thought that yesterday half of them were bound to come in.
Chia Cheng, upon hearing this explanation, readily remembered that with all these concerns Chia Chen had nothing to do; so that he speedily sent some one to go and call Chia Lien.
Having arrived in a short while, 'How many sorts of things are there in all?' Chia Cheng inquired of him. 'Of these how many kinds have by this time been got ready? and how many more are short?'
At this question, Chia Lien hastily produced, from the flaps of his boot, a paper pocket-book, containing a list, which he kept inside the tops of his boot. After perusing it and reperusing it, he made suitable reply. 'Of the hundred and twenty curtains,' he proceeded, 'of stiff spotted silks, embroidered with dragons in relief, and of the curtains large and small, of every kind of damask silk, eighty were got yesterday, so that there still remain forty of them to come. The two portieres were both received yesterday; and besides these, there are the two hundred red woollen portieres, two hundred portieres of Hsiang Fei bamboo; two hundred door-screens of rattan, with gold streaks, and of red lacquered bamboo; two hundred portieres of black lacquered rattan; two hundred door-screens of variegated thread-netting with clusters of flowers. Of each of these kinds, half have come in, but the whole lot of them will be complete no later than autumn. Antimacassars, table-cloths, flounces for the beds, and cushions for the stools, there are a thousand two hundred of each, but these likewise are ready and at hand.'
As he spoke, they proceeded outwards, but suddenly they perceived a hill extending obliquely in such a way as to intercept the passage; and as they wound round the curve of the hill faintly came to view a line of yellow mud walls, the whole length of which was covered with paddy stalks for the sake of protection, and there were several hundreds of apricot trees in bloom, which presented the appearance of being fire, spurted from the mouth, or russet clouds, rising in the air. Inside this enclosure, stood several thatched cottages. Outside grew, on the other hand, mulberry trees, elms, mallows, and silkworm oaks, whose tender shoots and new twigs, of every hue, were allowed to bend and to intertwine in such a way as to form two rows of green fence. Beyond this fence and below the white mound, was a well, by the side of which stood a well-sweep, windlass and such like articles; the ground further down being divided into parcels, and apportioned into fields, which, with the fine vegetables and cabbages in flower, presented, at the first glance, the aspect of being illimitable.
'This is,' Chia Cheng observed chuckling, 'the place really imbued with a certain amount of the right principle; and laid out, though it has been by human labour, yet when it strikes my eye, it so moves my heart, that it cannot help arousing in me the wish to return to my native place and become a farmer. But let us enter and rest a while.'
As he concluded these words, they were on the point of walking in, when they unexpectedly discerned a stone, outside the trellis gate, by the roadside, which had also been left as a place on which to inscribe a motto.
'Were a tablet,' argued the whole company smilingly, 'put up high in a spot like this, to be filled up by and by, the rustic aspect of a farm would in that case be completely done away with; and it will be better, yea far better to erect this slab on the ground, as it will further make manifest many points of beauty. But unless a motto could be composed of the same excellence as that in Fan Shih-hu's song on farms, it will not be adequate to express its charms!'
'Gentlemen,' observed Chia Cheng, 'please suggest something.'
'A short while back,' replied the whole company, 'your son, venerable brother, remarked that devising a new motto was not equal to quoting an old one, and as sites of this kind have been already exhausted by writers of days of old, wouldn't it be as well that we should straightway call it the 'apricot blossom village?' and this will do splendidly.'
When Chia Cheng heard this remark, he smiled and said, addressing himself to Chia Chen: 'This just reminds me that although this place is perfect in every respect, there's still one thing wanting in the shape of a wine board; and you had better then have one made to-morrow on the very same pattern as those used outside in villages; and it needn't be anything gaudy, but hung above the top of a tree by means of bamboos.'
Chia Chen assented. 'There's no necessity,' he went on to explain, 'to keep any other birds in here, but only to rear a few geese, ducks, fowls and such like; as in that case they will be in perfect keeping with the place.'
'A splendid idea!' Chia Cheng rejoined, along with all the party.
''Apricot blossom village' is really first-rate,' continued Chia Cheng as he again addressed himself to the company; 'but the only thing is that it encroaches on the real designation of the village; and it will be as well to wait (until her highness comes), when we can request her to give it a name.'
'Certainly!' answered the visitors with one voice; 'but now as far as a name goes, for mere form, let us all consider what expressions will be suitable to employ.'
Pao-yue did not however give them time to think; nor did he wait for Chia Cheng's permission, but suggested there and then: 'In old poetical works there's this passage: 'At the top of the red apricot tree hangs the flag of an inn,' and wouldn't it be advisable, on this occasion, to temporarily adopt the four words: 'the sign on the apricot tree is visible'?'
''Is visible' is excellent,' suggested the whole number of them, 'and what's more it secretly accords with the meaning implied by 'apricot blossom village.''
'Were the two words 'apricot blossom' used for the name of the village, they would be too commonplace and unsuitable;' added Pao-yue with a sardonic grin, 'but there's another passage in the works of a poet of the T'ang era: 'By the wooden gate near the water the corn-flower emits its fragrance;' and why not make use of the motto 'corn fragrance village,' which will be excellent?'
When the company heard his proposal, they, with still greater vigour, unanimously combined in crying out 'Capital!' as they clapped their hands.
Chia Cheng, with one shout, interrupted their cries, 'You ignorant child of wrath!' he ejaculated; 'how many old writers can you know, and how many stanzas of ancient poetical works can you remember, that you will have the boldness to show off in the presence of all these experienced gentlemen? (In allowing you to give vent to) all the nonsense you uttered my object was no other than to see whether your brain was clear or muddled; and all for fun's sake, that's all; and lo, you've taken things in real earnest!'
Saying this, he led the company into the interior of the hall with the mallows. The windows were pasted with paper, and the bedsteads made of wood, and all appearance of finery had been expunged, and Chia Cheng's heart was naturally much gratified; but nevertheless, scowling angrily at Pao-yue, 'What do you think of this place?' he asked.
When the party heard this question, they all hastened to stealthily give a nudge to Pao-yue, with the express purpose of inducing him to say it was nice; but Pao-yue gave no ear to what they all urged. 'It's by far below the spot,' he readily replied, 'designated 'a phoenix comes with dignified air.''
'You ignorant stupid thing!' exclaimed Chia Cheng at these words; 'what you simply fancy as exquisite, with that despicable reliance of yours upon luxury and display, are two-storied buildings and painted pillars! But how can you know anything about this aspect so pure and unobtrusive, and this is all because of that failing of not studying your books!'
'Sir,' hastily answered Pao-yue, 'your injunctions are certainly correct; but men of old have often made allusion to 'natural;' and what is, I wonder, the import of these two characters?'
