by AnonYMous
Lu Shu handed him another note for two thousand. The priest took it and said, “Please inscribe your names in the album. When all the work is done, we’ll pray for each of you.”
“It’s a mere trifle, not worth recording,” said Lu Shu. “In the words of the popular saying, ‘The money goes into the temple, while the merit reverts to the donor.’” The priest called the acolyte to set out plates and prepare vegetarian noodles, but Lu Shu said, “We have lunch waiting for us on the boat. We’ll come back and impose on you some other time.” He stood up, and the party left the reception hall with him. The priest saw them as far as the Great Hall, which they found more crowded than ever. Two Guanyin processions had arrived from somewhere, each bearing a festooned sedan that now rested in the hall. There were two men there who were stripped to the waist and had nothing on their feet. They wore blue nankeen trousers tied with a pink nankeen sash and had two-foot-long iron spikes stuck in their arms. With an iron flail in their hands, they were skipping wildly about beside a heap of burning-hot incense in the courtyard of the hall. One of them laid his jointed iron flail in the heap of burning incense until it was red-hot, then with his right hand took a sheet of paper money and wiped the red-hot flail with it from one end to the other. All that remained of the paper money was a wisp of blue smoke, but the skin of the man’s hand had suffered no injury whatsoever. The other man leapt barefoot into the heap of burning incense and then out again, with no harm to his feet. Some kind of black magic was evidently involved.
When they saw the two men whooping and yelling as they leapt about, the courtesans began to tremble with fright. “Why are those two skipping around like that?” Paria asked Yuan You.
“They’re known as mapi,6 but they call themselves masters. It’s universally forbidden to stick those spikes into the body that your parents gave you. Those people justify themselves by claiming it’s because their parents are ill, or they themselves are ill, and they’ve taken a vow to do it, but they’re totally ignorant of the Sage’s words: ‘We receive our bodies, our hair, our skin, from our parents, and we dare not do them any harm.’7 People like that are the least filial creatures in the whole world.”
“Do they hurt, those spikes that they stick in their bodies?” asked Paria.
“People say that they use a magic charm and the spikes don’t hurt, but I’ve never had any experience myself. As to whether it hurts or not, you should know the answer to that.”
Paria was about to pinch his mouth, but she felt too embarrassed with all the people present. “You can joke as much as you like,” she said, “but I’ll have something to say to you when we get back.” Just then the two performers came skipping up in front of the sedans in the Great Hall. They waited until the people in the processions had kowtowed before leading the way into the courtyard, skipping as they went. The other people picked up the two sedans and followed the men out of the temple.
The sworn brothers protected the courtesans, some going ahead of them and others behind, as they left the temple and went out of the inner gate. Both sides of the roadway were lined with stalls selling all kinds of playthings. The seven women and five men in the party differed over the merits of the toys, some claiming this one was the most fun, others maintaining that that was the best. If only they could have bought them all! The vendors, seeing how interested their customers were, purposely raised their prices. The members of the party chose different toys, each taking a large number, the total cost of which came to seven and a half silver dollars. Lu Shu paid it and received several hundred cash in change. Then, with everyone clutching his or her toys, they arrived again at the embankments.
The beggars, female as well as male, noticed them returning from worship and called out, “Sir!” “Ma’am!” “Master!” “Miss!” and asked for cash. Lu Shu told Felix to distribute the change among them, but charity proved hard to practice. Felix had no sooner taken out the cash than the beggars swarmed around him. Those who got some money wanted more, creating such an uproar that he couldn’t complete his task. Sweating profusely, he became so unnerved that he tried to break out of the beggars’ circle and in doing so pushed someone over. Despite that, there were still many men, women, and children who trailed him all the way to the dock. He leapt on board the boat, but the beggars tugged at its prow and would not allow it to cast off until they had received a great deal more. The boat then passed under Lotus Flower Bridge and tied up just opposite Cloudy Mountain Pavilion, where they found numbers of men playing Ten Pots.8
The passengers had lunch on the boat, and some of them smoked opium. When the courtesans had washed their hands and faces, everyone went ashore and wandered about enjoying the scenery. As they admired the view from the pavilion, they heard the sound of gongs in the distance; a Guanyin procession was making its way to Lotus Flower Bridge. The mapi ahead of the sedan were burning magic charms and plunging spikes into themselves. This time the courtesans were able to observe the scene from above, and they were not only unafraid, they also enjoyed a better view. They watched as the mapi, with numerous spikes in their flesh, came skipping over the bridge, closely followed by several processions. They heard people saying that they came from Pottery Post, Pond Street, Muddy Ditch, Huang Family Village, One Mile Bridge, and Three Reed Cottage.
After watching the processions, they had the musical instruments brought out—three-string, flute, panpipe, drum, clappers, lute, fiddle—and placed on the table in the pavilion. The band performed two sequences from opera. Phoenix felt inspired and asked them to accompany her while she sang the sequence “At first, under the imperial Tang.”9 Her voice was forceful and resonant, much like a man’s. When she had finished, Fragrance sang the sequence “Just for you, my flowerlike fair.”10 Her voice was soft and gentle, exquisitely beguiling, and it brought the sightseers together to gaze wistfully at her. A Ten Pots player picked up a two of bamboos, and when it didn’t match anything in his hand, discarded the one of characters and the nine of circles and called for a showing, completely misplaying his cards.
After Phoenix and Fragrance had sung their songs, everyone applauded, and then Cassia, Paria, Lucky, Cloud, and Lute each sang a popular song. The boatman brought along plates of refreshments. Wei Bi and Lu Shu gambled and won many sprigs of jasmine flowers and tuberoses, as well as Water Mice, which they sent ahead to the boat.
By now it was afternoon, and the pleasure boats, large and small, were out in swarms. There were many lantern boats, but also some rowboats with their covers removed that sped back and forth propelled by three oars. From the boats came opera as well as popular song; it was truly a case of “music and song filling the ear, gorgeous women in droves.” The small fishing smack with the fresh lotus flower lanterns rowed behind them with its two oars. In the cabin the passengers, who were so tightly jammed together that their bodies ran with sweat, gave an out-of-tune rendering of Xipi and Erhuang songs. A contemporary poet wrote a seven-word regulated poem entitled “A Night Outing on the Lake at Yangzhou on the Eighteenth of the Sixth”:
Male and female they mingle together—
It’s partly for worship, partly delight.
With clouds up above, the hills vivid green,
The moon on the water, ripples of light.
Lanterns shining skyward, the beat of oars;
There’s wine and song in the taverns all night.
They gather on purpose to honor Guanyin;
This Yangzhou is truly a festive sight!
The brothers paid for the tea and tobacco in the pavilion, and everyone boarded the boat again. By the time they had returned to Little Gold Hill and Peach Blossom Temple and enjoyed the sights there, the sun had set and all the pleasure boats had lit up. The lake was filled with lamplight, which reflected on the water like a thousand strips of flaming silk or a myriad sunset rays. Mooring the boat at a lively spot, they set the table for dinner and played guess-fingers. The boys of the band had their supper in the lantern boat and played and sang in the cabin, then circled t
heir boat and hailed the other boats, which also began playing music and competing with them in song. When the lantern boat had hailed a dozen or more boats, it pulled alongside their boat, and the boys who played the male and female leads in the opera came aboard and toasted the passengers, played guess-fingers with them, and also sang two popular songs. Lu Shu rewarded them with four silver dollars, and they withdrew to the lantern boat, which their boatman continued to row back and forth. It was the fourth watch before the pleasure boats began to go back under Rainbow Bridge.
By this time the sworn brothers were worn out with partying, and they told the boatman to head slowly back to the Tianning Gate dock. When they arrived, the chairs of the Qiang Da courtesans were already there waiting for them. The courtesans clung to their lovers and asked to be taken home. The lovers nodded, and everyone collected his or her belongings and handed the toys, jasmine, and tuberoses to a servant to carry. Then they took leave of Lu Shu and Fragrance and got into their chairs and went as far as the Tianning Gate. Outside the guardhouse they saw two foreign-style lanterns belonging to the northern headquarters of the Yangzhou garrison. An officer and a few soldiers from the garrison were there to keep order. On this day the gate was open, and they went through it to Qiang Da’s.
Lu Shu and Fragrance collected their belongings and went ashore with Cloud and Lute. An endless stream of people was passing by. At Tianning Gate there was a kiosk offering free tea. It had a matting roof from which four split-bamboo lanterns hung bearing the words “Make Friends with Tea.” A number of country people, both men and women, were heading to the temple to worship. Others were standing in front of the kiosk drinking tea, while still others, tired out from all their walking, were sitting on the ground eating watermelons, cantaloupes, and dry rations. But Lu Shu was in no mood to look at any of them. Holding hands with Fragrance, he accompanied the courtesans back to the Jinyulou. He was as love struck as ever.
If you are wondering what happened, you must turn to the next chapter.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
In a fit of jealousy Fragrance rages at Sturgeon;
In a fight over a courtesan Wei Bi beats Turtle.
Lu Shu returned to the Jinyulou with the three courtesans and, as love struck as ever, continued to spend his days and nights in revelry. On his first visit to the brothel, he had been attracted by the seductive looks of Maid Zhang, the woman with the unbound feet, and had wanted to start an affair with her. He had often engaged her in suggestive banter, but later, after taking Fragrance’s virginity, he had been prevented from acting on his desire by fear of the latter’s jealousy. Maid Zhang, for her part, was impressed by his youth and good looks as well as his free-spending ways, but when he joked with her, she was too afraid of Fragrance to flirt openly and merely made eyes at him. Secretly, however, she put in countless requests for money and clothing, requests that he always complied with. The pair could be described as intimate friends who could go no further than friendship for fear of being observed.
One day Lu Shu was joking with Fragrance in her room when a new client arrived in Cloud’s room downstairs and began shouting for Fragrance to come down. “I don’t know who the bastard is, yelling like that,” said Fragrance. “Wait a moment while I go down and have a word with him and send him on his way. I’ll be back soon.” Having soothed Lu Shu’s feelings, she went down to receive the newcomer.
Soon afterward Maid Zhang entered with a white copper canister and proceeded to replenish the tobacco in Lu Shu’s water pipe. He was sitting on Fragrance’s bed when she came in and put the pipe to his mouth. There was no one else in the room at the time, and on a sudden impulse he pulled her down beside him. “You know how I feel about you,” he said. “With her downstairs, this is a heaven-sent opportunity for a little kiss. If there’s anything you want from me, it’s yours.” As he tried to plant a kiss on her lips, she jumped up to evade it, but he held her firmly, and the pipe fell to the floor.
“All you’re after is what you call fun,” she said, “but what if she comes in and sees us? How could I ever hold my head up again?”
“She’s only just gone down. It’ll be some time before she comes up again. Come on, do me a favor.” He leaned over her and tugged at her trousers.
Fragrance, however, had tiptoed upstairs and was standing just outside the door. When she heard this exchange, anger welled up inside her, she flung aside the door curtain, charged into the room, rushed up to the bed, and, seizing Lu Shu by the ear, screamed at him, “What a low, vulgar creature you are! If you’d wanted to make out with her, I would never have stood in your way. But you couldn’t do your dirty business anywhere else, could you? Oh no, you had to come in here and muck up my bedclothes!” She shouted for Maid Wang: “Strip off that coverlet and take it away and wash it! I can’t sleep in dirty bedclothes that have been fouled by other people!”
When Maid Zhang saw Fragrance come rushing into the room, she pushed Lu Shu aside and wriggled free, then ran downstairs. Maid Wang came in and picked up the pipe from in front of the bed and put it on the table. Taking a firm grip on Lu Shu, Fragrance began ramming her head furiously into him, raging and sobbing without a moment’s pause. Cloud came in to calm her down, but Fragrance took no notice. Mother Xiao, who had heard the quarreling and rushed upstairs, managed to persuade her to move to Lute’s room opposite, where she continued her sobbing and screaming. Among other unreasonable charges, she cursed Maid Zhang as a slut who had stolen her client.
From downstairs Maid Zhang heard the endless tirade, and her feeling of shame turned to one of rage. She screamed upstairs, “I was just refilling the pipe when Master Lu said a few playful things and pulled me down on the bed, but you keep insisting that we were up to something. Anyway, you needn’t pretend to be so perfect yourself. You were closeted behind the door with that hairdresser. We all knew what was going on; we just didn’t want to give you away. For us servants, our good name means everything. You’ve just ruined mine, and I’ll never be able to find a place anywhere else. Not only that, but my husband’s a wild animal where these things are concerned, and if he hears any gossip about me in Yangzhou, that’ll be the end of me. Now that you’ve shredded my reputation, I just don’t want to go on living anymore. You may be a red-hot courtesan, but even you will have to answer for it with your life!” She banged her head and beat her chest while hunting about for a knife or a pair of scissors.
Her threat so alarmed Mother Xiao and the staff that they tried everything to talk her out of killing herself, but her quarrel with Fragrance only grew more vicious. When Mother Xiao pulled Fragrance into Lute’s room, Lu Shu had tried to sneak downstairs, but Fragrance heard him and came rushing out of the room, grabbed hold of him, and sobbed, “Just where do you think you’re going? You were planning to enjoy yourself and have it off with her, but now that she’s kicking up such a fuss, you want to clear out and leave me to face the abuse. Well, if I’m going to die, we’ll die together.” She pulled him back into the room and continued to revile him.
The steward, Drummer Hua, saw that neither Fragrance nor Maid Zhang would listen to reason and concluded that no one in the house was capable of resolving the dispute. Rushing over to Qiang Da’s, he found the brothers all there, and as soon as he told them what had happened, they set off for the Jinyulou. In Fragrance’s room, Lu Shu sprang up to greet them and invited them to sit down. They noticed that Fragrance’s chignon was undone and her hair askew, that her eyes were swollen with crying and her cheeks stained with tears. She was lying facedown on the bed, sobbing brokenheartedly. Downstairs they could hear Maid Zhang still carrying on. Feigning ignorance of the circumstances, Jia Ming asked Fragrance, “Sister-in-Law, why aren’t you paying any attention to us? I suppose you’re sick of our coming here all the time?”
She twisted over to face them. “Master Jia, I can’t bear to hear you say that sort of thing. We had a spat, he and I, and when you gentlemen came in I was slow to greet you. I hope you’ll forgive me for it.”
> “No one’s blaming you for anything. We couldn’t blame you, anyway, out of regard for Brother Lu. But what were you squabbling about? Tell us, and we’ll decide who’s in the right.”
Neither Fragrance nor Lu Shu would say anything, but the brothers persisted, and in the end Cloud said, “Brother-in-Law and Sister aren’t willing to say it, so let me be the one to tell you. Just now Fragrance left the room, and Master Lu and Maid Zhang were joking about when Fragrance came in again and caught them at it. She started badmouthing the maid, who got upset and wants to kill herself. The quarrel is going on right now. You’ve come at exactly the right time. Sort out the rights and wrongs for them, and spare us all these pointless recriminations.”
“Miss Fragrance, use a little soy sauce, by all means, but there’s no need for any vinegar,”1 said Jia Ming with a smile. “After all, what cat doesn’t like meat? Please leave it at that, for all our sakes.”
As they were talking, Mother Xiao came upstairs and quietly asked the brothers to go down to Cloud’s room. “Gentlemen,” she said, “your friend Master Lu started this off on a sudden impulse. What Miss Fragrance said to her was too much for Maid Zhang, and now she wants to kill herself. I don’t have a very big brain in this poor old head of mine, and I wish you gentlemen would take over the task of mediating.”
The brothers called Maid Zhang into the room and pleaded with her in a friendly fashion, but she refused to back down. When they repeated their arguments, she said, “Gentlemen, she’s ruined my reputation in this job, and I can’t stay here. Tell her to find me a good place. Since she accused me of having an affair with Master Lu, which is an unspeakable lie, get her to pay me something to compensate me for the scandal. Otherwise, I’ll just bide my time, whether this is settled in a court of law or privately.”
