The Columbia Anthology of Yuan Drama

by C. T. Hsia

  [Bodhisattva of Liangzhou]

  Turn to this puppet-show tent,

  Beat the drum, play the flute—the show we invent:

  Regard this only as a brief dream.

  Suddenly I turn back: worn and gone is the hero too old.

  If his kindness is not requited, how can we be united?

  To see duty and not embrace it is to lack valor!47

  CHENG YING: Now that Your Honor has promised, please don’t go back on your word.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  If promises are not kept in good faith, how can they matter?

  CHENG YING: Your Honor, if you can save the Zhao Orphan, your name will be emblazoned in history and remembered forever.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  There is no need to ply me with praise polite.

  For a true man death is almost trite.

  Let alone one like me whose hair has long turned sparse and white.

  CHENG YING: Your Honor, there is one more thing. Once Tu Angu seizes you, will you be able to hold out against all the torture? You may yet confess and implicate me. For me to die with my son is but my duty. But if the Zhao Orphan were to also end up dying, wouldn’t your sacrifice then be in vain?

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: Cheng Ying, what you say is true. For Tu Angu and the Zhao prince consort, (sings:)

  [Third to Last Coda]

  They have sown deep enmity between them.

  Once Tu Angu hears of the whereabouts of the orphan,

  He will send his troops to besiege this village for certain,

  Forming a crucible as airtight as an iron barrel. (Speaks:)

  Then, Tu Angu will seize me, and shout, “You old wretch, don’t you know the order I posted three days ago? Now you of all people should harbor the Zhao Orphan and defy me. Well, well, well, this way, please. (Sings:)

  Say, you old wretch, please step into this earthen cauldron.48

  Don’t you know? When an official notice is taken down, even heaven is shaken.49

  To think that you, a mere old farmer who has left office for a rustic field

  Should dare to provoke wasps or scorpions that venom yield!

  [Penultimate Coda]

  Trussing, splaying, hanging, and beating: he will try every torture.

  His goal would be to wring every clue and detail from me for sure.

  Then, for my withered skin and brittle bones the pain would be too much,

  And I could not help but confess the truth as such.

  I know these are what you, Cheng Ying, fear. (Speaks:)

  Cheng Ying, set your mind at rest. (Sings:)

  My promise is worth a thousand pieces of gold.

  Even if I am dragged up a mountain of knives or impaled on a peak of swords,

  Never would I let early resolve lose hold. (Speaks:)

  Cheng Ying, go in peace. See to it that this orphan grows up to be a man and avenge his parents: the death of this old man is not worth mentioning. (Sings:)

  [Coda]

  Relying on the branch and shoot of the Zhao clan that will last a thousand years,

  The Jin house will be upheld, lording over impregnable terrains and frontiers.50

  His great talent will shine as troops he commands, in his vision

  That brings all the other domains to submission.

  He will then bow to all the court officials and tell them the bitter truth:

  In the Lower Palace calamity began.51

  Woe indeed! Three hundred died by the sword in the Zhao clan,

  Leaving behind only a helpless child that destiny outran.

  At long last today he is to inherit his patrimony,

  With tears streaming down he is to speak of acrimony.

  Why wait for a formal order from the lord?

  Already the treacherous one is seized at his marshal’s headquarters.

  Decapitated and quartered: he is offered as sacrifice to the orphan’s ancestors.

  All his nine relations are put to death; none is spared.

  Only then will you have just requital for the life you gave in order the orphan to save,

  And even I would gladly embrace a final resting place by Yao Li’s roadside grave.52

  CHENG YING: Time is running out. I’ll take the boy back home and send my son over to Peace Village as planned. (Recites:)

  I am willing to secretly give my own child

  In return for the orphan of the Zhao clan.

  To do this I act as one bound by duty,

  But pity indeed Minister Gongsun, who bears the calamity! (Exits.)

  ACT 3

  (TU ANGU enters with SOLDIERS.)

  TU ANGU: So the Zhao Orphan has really disappeared. I have already posted official notices to the effect that unless someone brings me the orphan in three days, I’ll have all the children in the domain of Jin from one to six months old brought here and killed. Guards! Keep watch at the gate. If an informer comes, report to me immediately.

  (CHENG YING enters.)

  CHENG YING: I am Cheng Ying. I sent my son to Gongsun Chujiu yesterday. Now I am going to denounce him to Tu Angu. Guards! Convey the message for me: there is news of the Zhao Orphan.

  SOLDIER: Wait here while I report it. (Reports to Tu.) Reporting to the marshal: someone here says he has news of the orphan.

  TU ANGU: Where is he?

  SOLDIER: At the gate.

  TU ANGU: Tell him to come here.

  SOLDIER: His Honor asked you to come in.

  (CHENG YING presents himself to TU ANGU.)

  TU ANGU: Say there, fellow, who are you?

  CHENG YING: I am Cheng Ying, a commoner physician.

  TU ANGU: Where is the Zhao Orphan?

  CHENG YING: He is hidden in Gongsun Chujiu’s house in Peace Village.

  TU ANGU: How did you find out?

  CHENG YING: I met Gongsun Chunqiu once before. I went to visit him and, strange to say, there was a baby lying on embroidered bedding in his bedroom. I thought to myself: Gongsun is seventy years old and has never had any children. Where could this child come from? So I asked him: Can this be the Zhao Orphan? I saw him suddenly turning pale, and he could not answer. That is how I know the orphan is with him.

  TU ANGU: Pshaw! You wretch! How can you fool me? Since there has never been any enmity between you and Gongsun Chujiu, why should you inform on him? Could it be that you are involved in this yourself? Make your case well and all is forgiven. Otherwise, if what you say does not tally—guards, sharpen your swords quickly and finish this wretch off first.

  CHENG YING: Marshal, please calm your thunderous rage and restrain for a moment your fearsome majesty: let me explain the whole story. I certainly bear no grudge against Gongsun Chujiu; however, Your Honor has ordered that all the baby boys in the domain should be brought to you and killed. For one thing, I want to save the lives of those children; more selfishly, I am forty-five years old and only recently my son was born—he is not yet a month old. I wouldn’t dare disobey the marshal’s order and would have to give him up. But that means my lineage would end with me. I figured that if the Zhao Orphan could be found, not only would the babies of the whole domain be saved, but my son too would be spared. That’s why I decided to denounce him. (Recites:)

  Please, Your Honor, restrain your fury.

  This is the reason why I became an informant:

  Although the issue is to show Jin people mercy,

  In truth I fear my child to bury.

  TU ANGU (laughing:) Ah, yes. Gongsun Chujiu and Zhao Dun served together at court—that explains it. Guards, have the soldiers in our own division get ready right away. Let us go with Cheng Ying to Peace Village to arrest Gongsun Chujiu.

  (GONGSUN CHUJIU enters.)

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: I am Gongsun Chujiu. Cheng Ying and I made a plan yesterday to save the Zhao Orphan. Today he is supposed to denounce me to Tu Angu, and it’s about time the villain Tu Angu gets here. (Sings:)

  [Double Tunes mode: Song of New Water]

  By the bridge o
ver the small brook, I see the dust of troops rising.

  It must be the persecutor of the just arriving.

  The soldiers spread out in perfect array.

  Their spears and knives shine in full display.

  Today death is staring me in the face,

  Why bother to escape thrashing and beating!

  (TU ANGU enters with CHENG YING leading SOLDIERS.)

  TU ANGU: We are already at Peace Village. Guards, surround the whole village! Cheng Ying, where is Gongsun’s house?

  CHENG YING: This one right here.

  TU ANGU: Bring that old wretch here. (To GONGSUN:) Gongsun Chujiu, do you acknowledge your crime?

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: No, I do not.

  TU ANGU: You old wretch, I know you and Zhao Dun once served at court together. How dare you hide the Zhao Orphan!

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: Honored Marshal, even if I had the courage of a bear or leopard, still how would I dare hide the Zhao Orphan?

  TU ANGU: You won’t confess without beating. Guards, pick a thick rod and beat him hard!

  (SOLDIERS beat GONGSUN.)

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  [Stop the Horse to Listen]

  Before I gave up office and bade farewell to the court,

  Zhao Dun and I were once known as friends who would die for each other.53

  But who saw any of this?

  TU ANGU: Cheng Ying has denounced you.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  I wondered who could be such a traitor and charges made.

  So it’s Cheng Ying’s tongue that is the executioner’s blade.

  You’ve slaughtered all three hundred in the entire Zhao clan. Now there is only this child left and you want to kill him too.

  Truly you are like the storm that hastens a devastating eagle,

  Or a biting frost that targets grass with withered roots.

  If you kill the orphan too,

  Who can avenge the wrong suffered by the three hundred dead souls!

  TU ANGU: You old wretch, where are you hiding the orphan? Confess quickly so you can be spared torture.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: What orphan have I hidden? Who has seen him?

  TU ANGU: So you won’t confess. Guards! Take him down and give him a sound thrashing! (SOLDIERS beat GONGSUN.) The old wretch is really stubborn and refuses to confess. How very maddening! Cheng Ying, since it’s you who is informing on him, I want you to wield the rod for me.

  CHENG YING: Marshal, I am but a commoner physician. My wrist is too weak even for measuring medicine, let alone beating a man!

  TU ANGU: Cheng Ying, you won’t beat him. Is it because you fear that he might implicate you?

  CHENG YING: I’ll do it then, Marshal. (Fumbles among the rods.)

  TU ANGU: Cheng Ying, I see you fumble among the rods trying to pick a thin one. You must be afraid that if you hit him hard he will give you away.

  CHENG YING: I’ll use a thick one then.

  TU ANGU: Stop. First you chose a thin one and now a thick one. You think if you can finish him off in two or three strokes, there will then be no witness against you?

  CHENG YING: You didn’t like it when I picked a thin rod. Now you blame me for picking a thick one; I’m really in a quandary.

  TU ANGU: Cheng Ying, you can simply use a medium-sized one. (To GONGSUN:) Gongsun Chujiu, you old wretch, do you realize Cheng Ying is the one who’s beating you?

  CHENG YING (beating GONGSUN:) Now confess!

  (CHENG YING beats GONGSUN three times.)

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: Ah! They’ve been beating me all day, but none of the strokes I suffered hurt as much as these! Who’s beating me?

  TU ANGU: It’s Cheng Ying.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: So it’s you, Cheng Ying! How come you are beating me?

  CHENG YING: Marshal, after a good beating the old fellow should stop talking nonsense now.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  [Wild Geese Alight]

  Who is it gives me such a sound beating with the thick rod?

  The pain is almost killing me, tearing my skin away.

  Cheng Ying, you brute, what enmity is there between us

  That makes you abuse an old man like this?

  CHENG YING: Confess quickly!

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: I will, I will. (Sings:)

  [Victory Song]

  So badly beaten: there is no crevice that would escape permit.

  I can only confess to crimes I did not commit.

  Could it be that he has known all along about the orphan

  And thus purposely frames me?

  (CHENG YING appears to be in a panic.)

  I really cannot endure this anymore.

  But clenching my teeth, I still hold to my core.

  Stealing a glance,

  I see fear has made his legs shaky.

  CHENG YING: Confess quickly! Or else you will be beaten to death!

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: I will, I will, I will. (Sings:)

  [Water Sprite]

  We two conferred to save the child.

  TU ANGU: Just as I thought—you are implicating someone else! You said “we two”: one of the two is you, who’s the other person? Tell me the truth and I’ll spare your life.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: You want me to tell you who the other person is. Yes. Yes, I will. (Sings:)

  Ah! The line was on the tip of my tongue but I swallowed it again.

  TU ANGU: Cheng Ying, you have a hand in this, haven’t you?

  CHENG YING (to GONGSUN:) Old man, don’t you dare frame innocent people!

  GONGSUN CHUJIU: Cheng Ying, why are you so frightened? (Sings:)

  How could I give you away, Cheng Ying?

  I am not the kind that gives a good beginning a sorry ending.

  TU ANGU: You said earlier there were two of you. Why do you say now there is no one else?

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  I’ve been beaten so hard that I’m all topsy-turvy.

  TU ANGU: I’ll beat you to death if you still refuse to tell the truth.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  Just beat me until my skin breaks

  And my flesh is whittled away!

  Don’t think that I will breathe a word to implicate anyone else.

  (SOLDIER enters holding a BABY.)

  SOLDIER: Congratulations, Marshal. We found the Zhao Orphan in a cave.

  TU ANGU (laughing:) Bring the little brat over. I’ll personally chop him in three. Old wretch: you said the Zhao Orphan is not here—who is this then?

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  [Paddling on the River]

  Back then you trained the Divine Ao

  To pounce on the loyal ministers.

  Forced to flee to the wilderness, he died there.

  His son fell on a dagger,

  His son’s wife hanged herself with a sash.

  You slaughtered all three hundred in the clan, old and young,

  Sparing none,

  And even then your heart is not satisfied.

  TU ANGU: I cannot but feel angry when I see the orphan.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  [Seven Brothers]

  I see him looking to the left and then the right,

  Shouting in fury.

  Suddenly his hideous face is lit with wrath.

  On his lion-barbarian belt,54 he hitches his brocade warrior’s robe, beneath

  He draws his Dragon Spring sword from its sharkskin sheath.

  TU ANGU (says angrily:) I draw out my sword—and give it one strike—and two—and three! (CHENG YING appears to be in agony.) I’ve cut this little bastard in three. Now the biggest wish of my life is fulfilled.

  GONGSUN CHUJIU (sings:)

  [Plum Blossom Wine]

  Alas, the infant lies in a pool of blood.

  One is crying and wailing,

  The other, cursing and fuming,

  Even I am trembling and shivering.

  What a wicked thing to do!

  How now? Unless there is no justice under heaven!55

/>   Alas! To think from the time the child left his birth mat,

  Till now—ten days have passed.

  Where the sword fell, there was no delay or mercy.

  A birth all in vain—

  The parents toiled for nothing.

  Even more pointless—the idle talk of a son providing for their old age.

  [Conquering the Southland]

  Alas! Isn’t it true that in a rich family, a child is treasured!

  (CHENG YING covers his face in tears.)

  I see Cheng Ying in agony, as if boiling oil were poured on his heart.

  He dares not let his tears fall in front of others,

  And stealthily wipes them off.

  For no reason, he has let his own flesh and blood suffer three strikes of the sword. (Speaks:)

  Tu Angu, you murderer, wait and see! There is a heaven above! Don’t think that you can escape punishment. What does my death matter! (Sings:)

  [Mandarin Ducks Coda]

  At seventy I die, what a ripe old age!

  This child was one,56 how perversely early his death!

  We two lose our lives together in one place,

  In return our fame will ten thousand generations grace.

  You heed my words, Cheng Ying, you who will survive us,

  Don’t forget Zhao Shuo, who died a violent death.

  Indeed, the faster time passes,

  The sooner wrongs will be avenged.

  Have that villain suffer ten thousand cuts, a thousand strikes of the sword.

  Do not let him off easily!

  (Dashing himself against the stone step, he speaks:)

  I’ll smash my head against the steps and die here. (Exits.)

  SOLDIER (reports to TU ANGU:) Gongsun Chujiu has smashed his head against the steps and died.

  TU ANGU (laughing:) Since the old wretch has finished himself off, I’ll consider the case closed. (Laughs and speaks:) Cheng Ying, you deserve many thanks for this. If it were not for you, how could I have killed the Zhao Orphan!

  CHENG YING: Marshal, I harbored no enmity against the Zhao line. It is just that, on one hand, I wanted to save the infants of Jin, and on the other, I myself have a newborn baby less than a month old. If the Zhao Orphan were not found, my child would surely have died.

  TU ANGU: Cheng Ying, you are someone I can trust. Why don’t you become one of the retainers in my household? I’ll take the responsibility of bringing up your child; let him study the art of letters with you and practice military arts with me. I’m almost fifty and still have no son. Why not let me adopt your child as my own? I am already getting on in years—someday I may even let your son inherit my position. What do you say to this?