that the reason was to be sought in the incident of the previous day. Madame Wang seeing Pao-yue in a sullen humour jumped at the surmise that it must be due to Chin Ch'uan's affair of the day before; and so ill at ease did she feel that she heeded him less than ever. Lin Tai-yue, detected Pao-yue's apathy, and presumed that he was out of sorts for having given umbrage to Pao-ch'ai, and her manner likewise assumed a listless air. Lady Feng had, in the course of the previous evening, been told by Madame Wang what had taken place between Pao-yue and Chin Ch'uan, and when she came to know that Madame Wang was in an unhappy frame of mind she herself did not venture to chat or laugh, but at once regulated her behaviour to suit Madame Wang's mood. So the lack of animation became more than ever perceptible; for the good cheer of Ying Ch'un and her sisters was also damped by the sight of all of them down in the mouth. The natural consequence therefore was that they all left after a very short stay.
Lin Tai-yue had a natural predilection for retirement. She did not care for social gatherings. Her notions, however, were not entirely devoid of reason. She maintained that people who gathered together must soon part; that when they came together, they were full of rejoicing, but did they not feel lonely when they broke up? That since this sense of loneliness gave rise to chagrin, it was consequently preferable not to have any gatherings. That flowers afforded an apt example. When they opened, they won people's admiration; but when they faded, they added to the feeling of vexation; so that better were it if they did not blossom at all! To this cause therefore must be assigned the fact that when other people were glad, she, on the contrary, felt unhappy.
Pao-yue's disposition was such that he simply yearned for frequent gatherings, and looked forward with sorrow to the breaking up which must too soon come round. As for flowers, he wished them to bloom repeatedly and was haunted with the dread of their dying in a little time. Yet albeit manifold anguish fell to his share when banquets drew to a close and flowers began to fade, he had no alternative but to practice resignation.
On this account was it that, when the company cheerlessly broke up from the present feast, Lin Tai-yue did not mind the separation; and that Pao-yue experienced such melancholy and depression, that, on his return to his apartments, he gave way to deep groans and frequent sighs.
Ch'ing Wen, as it happened, came to the upper quarters to change her costume. In an unguarded moment, she let her fan slip out of her hand and drop on the ground. As it fell, the bones were snapped. 'You stupid thing!' Pao-yue exclaimed, sighing, 'what a dunce! what next will you be up to by and bye? When, in a little time, you get married and have a home of your own, will you, forsooth, still go on in this happy-go-lucky careless sort of way?'
'Master Secundus,' replied Ch'ing Wen with a sardonic smile, 'your temper is of late dreadfully fiery, and time and again it leaks out on your very face! The other day you even beat Hsi Jen and here you are again now finding fault with us! If you feel disposed to kick or strike us, you are at liberty, Sir, to do so at your pleasure; but for a fan to slip on the ground is an everyday occurrence! How many of those crystal jars and cornelian bowls were smashed the other time, I don't remember, and yet you were not seen to fly into a tantrum; and now, for a fan do you distress yourself so? What's the use of it? If you dislike us, well pack us off and select some good girls to serve you, and we will quietly go away. Won't this be better?'
This rejoinder so exasperated Pao-yue that his whole frame trembled violently. 'You needn't be in a hurry!' he then shouted. 'There will be a day of parting by and bye.'
Hsi Jen was on the other side, and from an early period she listened to the conversation between them. Hurriedly crossing over, 'what are you up to again?' she said to Pao-yue, 'why, there's nothing to put your monkey up! I'm perfectly right in my assertion that when I'm away for any length of time, something is sure to happen.'
Ch'ing Wen heard these remarks. 'Sister,' she interposed smiling ironically, 'since you've got the gift of the gab, you should have come at once; you would then have spared your master his fit of anger. It's you who have from bygone days up to the present waited upon master; we've never had anything to do with attending on him; and it's because you've served him so faithfully that he repaid you yesterday with a kick on the stomach. But who knows what punishment mayn't be in store for us, who aren't fit to wait upon him decently!'
At these insinuations, Hsi Jen felt both incensed and ashamed. She was about to make some response but Pao-yue had worked himself into such another passion as to get quite yellow in the face, and she was obliged to rein in her temper. Pushing Ch'ing Wen, 'Dear sister,' she cried, 'you had better be off for a stroll! it's really we, who are to blame!'
The very mention of the word 'we' made it certain to Ch'ing Wen that she implied herself and Pao-yue, and thus unawares more fuel was added again to her jealous notions. Giving way to several loud smiles, full of irony: 'I can't make out,' she insinuated, 'who you may mean. But don't make me blush on your account! Even those devilish pranks of yours can't hoodwink me! How and why is it that you've started styling yourself as 'we?' Properly speaking, you haven't as yet so much as attained the designation of 'Miss!' You're simply no better than I am, and how is it then that you presume so high as to call yourself 'we.''
Hsi Jen's face grew purple from shame. 'The fact is,' she reflected, 'that I've said more than I should.'
'As one and all of you are ever bearing her malice,' Pao-yue simultaneously observed, 'I'll actually raise her to-morrow to a higher status!'
Hsi Jen quickly snatched Pao-yue's hand. 'She's a stupid girl,' she said, 'what's the use of arguing with her? What's more, you've so far borne with them and overlooked ever, so many other things more grievous than this; and what are you up to to-day?'
'If I'm really a stupid girl,' repeated Ch'ing Wen, smiling sarcastically, 'am I a fit person for you to hold converse with? Why, I'm purely and simply a slave-girl; that's all.'
'Are you, after all,' cried Hsi Jen, at these words, 'bickering with me, or with Master Secundus? If you bear me a grudge, you'd better then address your remarks to me alone; albeit it isn't right that you should kick up such a hullaballoo in the presence of Mr. Secundus. But if you have a spite against Mr. Secundus, you shouldn't be shouting so boisterously as to make thousands of people know all about it! I came in, a few minutes back, merely for the purpose of setting matters right, and of urging you to make up your quarrels so that we should all be on the safe side; and here I have the unlucky fate of being set upon by you, Miss! Yet you neither seem to be angry with me, nor with Mr. Secundus! But armed
While she spoke, she was hurriedly wending her way out.
'You needn't raise your dander.' Pao-yue remarked to Ch'ing Wen. 'I've guessed the secret of your heart, so I'll go and tell mother that as you've also attained a certain age, she should send you away. Will this please you, yes or no?'
This allusion made Ch'ing Wen unwittingly feel again wounded at heart. She tried to conceal her tears. 'Why should I go away?' she asked. 'If even you be so prejudiced against me as to try and devise means to pack me off, you won't succeed.'
'I never saw such brawling!' Pao-yue exclaimed. 'You're certainly bent upon going! I might as well therefore let mother know so as to bundle you off!'
While addressing her, he rose to his feet and was intent upon trudging off at once. Hsi Jen lost no time in turning round and impeding his progress. 'Where are you off to?' she cried.
'I'm going to tell mother,' answered Pao-yue.
'It's no use whatever!' Hsi Jen smiled, 'you may be in real earnest to go and tell her, but aren't you afraid of putting her to shame? If even she positively means to leave, you can very well wait until you two have got over this bad blood. And when everything is past and gone, it won't be any too late for you to explain, in the course of conversation, the whole case to our lady, your mother. But if you now go in hot haste and tell her, as if the matter were an urgent one, won't you be the means of making our mistress give way to suspicion?'
'My mother,' demurred Pao-yue, 'is sure not to entertain any suspicions, as all I will explain to her is that she insists upon leaving.'
'When did I ever insist upon going?' sobbed Ch'ing Wen. 'You fly into a rage, and then you have recourse to threats to intimidate me. But you're at liberty to go and say anything you like; for as I'll knock my brains out against the wall, I won't get alive out of this door.'
'This is, indeed, strange!' exclaimed Pao-yue. 'If you won't go, what's the good of all this fuss? I can't stand this bawling, so it will be a riddance if you would get out of the way!'
Saying this, he was resolved upon going to report the matter. Hsi Jen found herself powerless to dissuade him. She had in consequence no other resource but to fall on her knees.
