kinds of fresh fruits, consisting of caltrops and 'chicken head' fruit, and afterwards uncovering the other, containing a tray with new cakes, made of chestnut powder, and steamed in sugar, scented with the olea, 'All these fresh fruits are newly plucked this year from our own garden,' she observed; 'our Mr. Secundus sends them to Miss Shih to taste. The other day, too, she was quite taken with this cornelian tray so let her keep it for her use. In this silk bag she'll find the work, which she asked me some time ago to do for her. (Tell her) that she mustn't despise it for its coarseness, but make the best of it and turn it to some account. Present respects to her from our part and inquire after her health on behalf of Mr. Pao-yue; that will be all there's to say.'
'Has Mr. Pao, I wonder, anything more for me to tell her?' the nurse Sung added, 'Miss, do go and inquire, so that on my return, he mayn't again say that I forgot.'
'He was just now,' Hsi Jen consequently asked Ch'iu Wen, 'over there in Miss Tertia's rooms, wasn't he?'
'They were all assembled there, deliberating about starting some poetical society or other,' Ch'iu Wen explained, 'and they all wrote verses too. But I fancy he's got no message to give you; so you might as well start.'
After this assurance, nurse Sung forthwith took the things, and quitted the apartment. When she had changed her clothes and arranged her hair, Hsi Jen further enjoined them to go by the back door, where there was a servant-boy, waiting with a curricle. Nurse Sung thereupon set out on her errand. But we will leave her for the present.
In a little time Pao-yue came back. After first cursorily glancing at the begonias for a time, he walked into his rooms, and explained to Hsi Jen all about the poetical society they had managed to establish, Hsi Jen then told him that she had sent the nurse Sung along with some things, to Shih Hsiang-yuen. As soon as Pao-yue heard this, he clapped his hands. 'I forgot all about her!' he cried. 'I knew very well that I had something to attend to; but I couldn't remember what it was! Luckily, you've alluded to her! I was just meaning to ask her to come, for what fun will there be in this poetical society without her?'
'Is this of any serious import?' Hsi Jen reasoned with him. 'It's all, for the mere sake of recreation! She's not however able to go about at her own free will as you people do. Nor can she at home have her own way. When you therefore let her know, it won't again rest with her, however willing she may be to avail herself of your invitation. And if she can't come, she will long and crave to be with you all, so isn't it better that you shouldn't be the means of making her unhappy?'
'Never mind!' responded Pao-yue. 'I'll tell our venerable senior to despatch some one to bring her over.'
But in the middle of their conversation, nurse Sung returned already from her mission, and expressed to him, (Hsiang-yuen's) acknowledgment; and to Hsi Jen her thanks for the trouble. 'She also inquired,' the nurse proceeded, 'what you, master Secundus, were up to, and I told her that you had started some poetical club or other with the young ladies and that you were engaged in writing verses. Miss Shih wondered why it was, if you were writing verses, that you didn't even mention anything to her; and she was extremely distressed about it.'
Pao-yue, at these words, turned himself round and betook himself immediately into his grandmother's apartments, where he did all that lay in his power to urge her to depute servants to go and fetch her.
'It's too late to-day,' dowager lady Chia answered; 'they'll go tomorrow, as soon as it's daylight.'
Pao-yue had no other course but to accede to her wishes. He, however, retraced his steps back to his room with a heavy heart. On the morrow, at early dawn, he paid another visit to old lady Chia and brought pressure to bear on her until she sent some one for her. Soon after midday, Shih Hsiang-yuen arrived. Pao-yue felt at length much relieved in his mind. Upon meeting her, he recounted to her all that had taken place from beginning to end. His purpose was likewise to let her see the poetical composition, but Li Wan and the others remonstrated. 'Don't,' they said, 'allow her to see them! First tell her the rhymes and number of feet; and, as she comes late, she should, as a first step, pay a penalty by conforming to the task we had to do. Should what she writes be good, then she can readily be admitted as a member of the society; but if not good, she should be further punished by being made to stand a treat; after which, we can decide what's to be done.'
'You've forgotten to ask me round,' Hsiang-yuen laughed, 'and I should, after all, fine you people! But produce the metre; for though I don't excel in versifying, I shall exert myself to do the best I can, so as to get rid of every slur. If you will admit me into the club, I shall be even willing to sweep the floors and burn the incense.'
When they all saw how full of fun she was, they felt more than ever delighted with her and they reproached themselves, for having somehow or other managed to forget her on the previous day. But they lost no time in telling her the metre of the verses.
Shih Hsiang-yuen was inwardly in ecstasies. So much so, that she could not wait to beat the tattoo and effect any alterations. But having succeeded, while conversing with her cousins, in devising a stanza in her mind, she promptly inscribed it on the first piece of paper that came to hand. 'I have,' she remarked, with a precursory smile, 'stuck to the metre and written two stanzas. Whether they be good or bad, I cannot say; all I've kept in view was to simply comply with your wishes.'
So speaking, she handed her paper to the company.
'We thought our four stanzas,' they observed, 'had so thoroughly exhausted everything that could be imagined on the subject that another stanza was out of the question, and there you've devised a couple more! How could there be so much to say? These must be mere repetitions of our own sentiments.'
While bandying words, they perused her two stanzas. They found this to be their burden:
No. 1.
The fairies yesterday came down within the city gates,
And like those gems, sown in the grassy field, planted one pot.
How clear it is that the goddess of frost is fond of cold!
It is no question of a pretty girl bent upon death!
Where does the snow, which comes in gloomy weather, issue from?
The drops of rain increase the prints, left from the previous night.
How the flowers rejoice that bards are not weary of song!
But are they ever left to spend in peace a day or night?
No. 2.
The 'heng chih' covered steps lead to the creeper-laden door.
How fit to plant by the corner of walls; how fit for pots?
The flowers so relish purity that they can't find a mate.
Easy in autumn snaps the soul of sorrow-wasted man.
The tears, which from the jade-like candle drip, dry in the wind.
The crystal-like portiere asunder rends Selene's rays.
Their private feelings to the moon goddess they longed to tell,
But gone, alas! is the lustre she shed on the empty court!
Every line filled them with wonder and admiration. What they read, they praised. 'This,' they exclaimed, with one consent, 'is not writing verses on the begonia for no purpose! We must really start a Begonia Society!'
'To-morrow,' Shih Hsiang-yuen proposed, 'first fine me by making me stand a treat, and letting me be the first to convene a meeting; may I?'
'This would be far better!' they all assented. So producing also the verses, composed the previous day, they submitted them to her for criticism.
In the evening, Hsiang-yuen came at the invitation of Pao-ch'ai, to the Heng Wu Yuean to put up with her for the night. By lamplight, Hsiang-yuen consulted with her how she was to play the hostess and fix upon the themes; but, after lending a patient ear to all her proposals for a long time, Pao-ch'ai thought them so unsuitable for the occasion, that turning towards her, she raised objections. 'If you want,' she said, 'to hold a meeting, you have to pay the piper. And albeit it's for mere fun, you have to make every possible provision; for while consulting your own interests, you must guard against giving umbrage to people. In that case every one will afterwards be happy and contented. You count for nothing too in your own home; and the whole lump sum of those few tiaos, you draw each month, are not sufficient for your own wants, and do you now also wish to burden yourself with this useless sort of thing? Why, if your aunt gets wind of it, won't she be more incensed with you than ever! What's more, even though you might fork out all the money you can call your own to bear the outlay of this entertainment with, it won't be anything like enough, and can it possibly be, pray, that you would go home for the express purpose of requisitioning
