When she had done with her part, she drank a cup of wine. 'I've got another set,' Yuean Yang began, 'the one on the left is a double three.'
'The swallows, pair by pair, chatter on the beams;'
Pao-ch'ai remarked.
'The right piece is a six,' Yuean Yang added.
'The marsh flower is stretched by the breeze e'en to the length of a
green sash,'
Pao-ch'ai returned.
'The centre piece is a three and six, making a nine spot,' Yuean Yang pursued.
'The three hills tower half beyond the azure skies;'
Pao-ch'ai rejoined.
'Lumped together they form: a 'chain-bound solitary boat,'' Yuean Yang resumed.
'Where there are wind and waves, there I feel sad;'
Pao-ch'ai answered.
When she had finished her turn and drained her cup, Yuean Yang went on again. 'On the left,' she said, 'there's a 'heaven.''
'A morning fine and beauteous scenery, but, alas, what a day for me!'
Tai-yue replied.
When this line fell on Pao-chai's ear, she turned her head round and cast a glance at her, but Tai-yue was so nervous lest she should have to pay a forfeit that she did not so much as notice her.
'In the middle there's the 'colour of the embroidered screen, (ten spots, four and six), is beautiful,'' Yuean Yang proceeded.
'Not e'en Hung Niang to the gauze window comes, any message to bring.'
Tai-yue responded.
'There now remains a two and six, eight in all,' Yuean Yang resumed.
'Twice see the jady throne when led in to perform the court ritual,'
Tai-yue replied.
'Together they form 'a basket suitable for putting plucked flowers in,'' Yuean Yang continued.
'The fairy wand smells nice as on it hangs a peony.'
Tai-yue retorted.
At the close of her replies, she took a sip of wine. Yuean Yang then resumed. 'On the left,' she said, 'there's a four and five, making a 'different-combined nine.''
'The peach blossoms bear heavy drops of rain;'
Ying Ch'un remarked.
The company laughed. 'She must be fined!' they exclaimed. 'She has made a mistake in the rhyme. Besides, it isn't right!'
Ying Ch'un smiled and drank a sip. The fact is that both lady Feng and Yuean Yang were so eager to hear the funny things that would be uttered by old goody Liu, that they with one voice purposely ruled that every one answered wrong and fined them. When it came to Madame Wang's turn, Yuean Yang recited something for her. Next followed old goody Liu.
'When we country-people have got nothing to do,' old goody Liu said, 'a few of us too often come together and play this sort of game; but the answers we give are not so high-flown; yet, as I can't get out of it, I'll likewise make a try!'
'It's easy enough to say what there is,' one and all laughed, 'so just you go on and don't mind!'
'On the left,' Yuean Yang smiled, 'there's a double four, i.e. 'man.''
Goody Liu listened intently. After considerable reflection,
'It's a peasant!'
she cried.
One and all in the room blurted out laughing.
'Well-said!' dowager lady Chia observed with a laugh, 'that's the way.'
'All we country-people know,' old goody Liu proceeded, also laughing, 'is just what comes within our own rough-and-ready wits, so young ladies and ladies pray don't poke fun at me!'
'In the centre there's the three and four, green matched with red,' Yuean Yang pursued.
'The large fire burnt the hairy caterpillar;'
old goody Liu ventured.
'This will do very well!', the party laughed, 'go on with what is in your line.'
'On the right,' Yuean Yang smilingly continued, 'there's a one and four, and is really pretty.'
'A turnip and a head of garlic.'
old goody Liu answered.
This reply evoked further laughter from the whole company.
'Altogether, it's a twig of flowers,' Yuean Yang added laughing.
'The flower dropped, and a huge melon formed.'
old goody Liu observed, while gesticulating with both her hands by way of illustration.
The party once more exploded in loud merriment.
But, reader, if you entertain any curiosity to hear what else was said during the banquet, listen to the explanation given in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XLI.
Chia Pao-yue tastes tea in the Lung Ts'ui monastery.
Old goody Liu gets drunk and falls asleep in the I Hung court.
Old goody Liu, so the story goes, exclaimed, while making signs with both hands,
'The flower dropped and a huge melon formed;'
to the intense amusement of all the inmates, who burst into a boisterous fit of laughter. In due course, however, she drank the closing cup. Then she made another effort to evoke merriment. 'To speak the truth to-day,' she smilingly observed, 'my hands and my feet are so rough, and I've had so much wine that I must be careful; or else I might, by a slip of the hand, break the porcelain cups. If you have got any wooden cups, you'd better produce them. It wouldn't matter then if even they were to slip out of my hands and drop on the ground!'
This joke excited some more mirth. But lady Feng, upon hearing this speedily put on a smile. 'Well,' she said, 'if you really want a wooden one, I'll fetch you one at once! But there's just one word I'd like to tell you beforehand. Wooden cups are not like porcelain ones. They go in sets; so you'll have to do the right thing and drink from every cup of the set.'
'I just now simply spoke in jest about those cups in order to induce them to laugh,' old goody Liu at these words, mused within herself, 'but, who would have thought that she actually has some of the kind. I've often been to the large households of village gentry on a visit, and even been to banquets there and seen both gold cups and silver cups; but never have I beheld any wooden ones about! Ah, of course! They must, I expect, be the wooden bowls used by the young children. Their object must be to inveigle me to have a couple of bowlfuls more than is good for me! But I don't mind it. This wine is, verily, like honey, so if I drink a little more, it won't do me any harm.'
Bringing this train of thought to a close, 'Fetch them!' she said aloud. 'We'll talk about them by and bye.'
Lady Feng then directed Feng Erh to go and bring the set of ten cups, made of bamboo roots, from the book- case in the front inner room. Upon hearing her orders, Feng Erh was about to go and execute them, when Yuean Yang smilingly interposed. 'I know those ten cups of yours,' she remarked, 'they're small. What's more, a while back you mentioned wooden ones, and if you have bamboo ones brought now, it won't look well; so we'd better get from our place that set of ten large cups, scooped out of whole blocks of aspen roots, and pour the contents of all ten of them down her throat?'
