by C. T. Hsia
The Yuan Editions version of this play begins with Li Dechang introducing his “family of three,” whereas our play starts with Li Yanshi mentioning his “family of five.” Focus on the patrilineal extended family highlights the fratricidal nature of the conflict. The arias largely overlap, but the variants are also interesting. Two arias describing Li Dechang’s plight as he seeks refuge in a temple and an aria in which Zhang confesses his bafflement are excluded from the play here,10 and the Yuan Editions version concludes with Zhang Ding’s final words on justice, while our play defers to the prefect’s authority by letting him pronounce rewards and punishments. Gao Shan becomes a character only in our play. As peddler and maker of Moheluo dolls, Gao Shan combines lowly status with hypothetical higher powers, inasmuch as even Zhang Ding prays to the pseudodivine image he creates. The comic potential of the scene where Zhang Ding interrogates Gao Shan is realized through Gao’s puns, including one implying the Moheluo maker’s role as creator of another reality (a pun playing on the homophones shisu 實塑 [making models in earnest] and shisu 實訴 [telling the truth]).
The Moheluo Doll is mentioned in both The Register of Ghosts and Correct Sounds. It is found in Yuan Editions, Anthology, the Maiwang Studio Collection (a hand-copied manuscript owned by Yu Xiaogu),11 and Libation. This translation is based on the version in Anthology. Significant textual variations are explained in the notes. A translation of this play by J. I. Crump appears, under the title Zhang Ding Cleverly Investigates the Moheluo Doll, in Chinese Theater in the Days of Kublai Khan (1980).
THE MOHELUO DOLL
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Role type
Name, social role
OPENING MALE
LI YANSHI, an old man
MALE LEAD
LI DECHANG, LI YANSHI’s nephew, a merchant
COMIC
LI WENDAO, LI YANSHI’s son, a quack doctor12
FEMALE LEAD
LIU YUNIANG, LI DECHANG’s wife
CHILD
LITTLE BUDDHA, son of LI DECHANG and LIU YUNIANG
EXTRA
GAO SHAN, a peddler
CLOWN
CLERK XIAO
COMIC
MAGISTRATE of an unspecified county in Henan
ZHANG QIAN
Aide of the MAGISTRATE and subsequently of PREFECT WANG
EXTRA
PREFECT WANG (WANYAN)
MALE LEAD
ZHANG DING, a judicial inspector
WEDGE13
(OPENING MALE dressed as LI YANSHI enters leading COMIC, LI WENDAO.)
LI YANSHI (recites:)
When the moon has passed the fifteenth, its light dims;
When a man has reached his middle years, all is done.
Sons and grandsons will have to seek their own fortune:
Be not for sons and grandsons a slaving beast!
I am Li Yanshi. I live here on Vinegar Street, near the Recording Office of Henan Prefecture. I have a family of five, and this one here is my son Li Wendao. I also have a nephew named Li Dechang. His wife is Liu Yuniang. My nephew has a son called Little Buddha. Now trade is taking this nephew to Nanchang, and he told me he would come today and take leave of me. But why hasn’t he shown up yet?
(MALE LEAD dressed as LI DECHANG enters with FEMALE LEAD and CHILD.)
LI DECHANG: I am Li Dechang. This is my wife, Liu Yuniang, and this is my son, Little Buddha. I run a thread shop, and across the way is my uncle Li Yanshi, who has a son named Li Wendao, a doctor. I had an encounter with a fortune-teller here in the market and was told that I would have a hundred-day spell of ill luck, which I could only escape by going one thousand li away. So today I will be, first of all, averting calamity and, second, going to Nanchang to do some buying and selling. Wife, let the three of us go and take our leave of Uncle.
LIU YUNIANG: Let’s go.
LI DECHANG (greets LI YANSHI:) Uncle, I will be going to Nanchang on business and to avert ill luck. Today is an auspicious day, so I have especially come to take leave of you respectfully.
LI YANSHI: My nephew, certainly you may go: be careful on the road!
LI DECHANG (to LI WENDAO:) Brother, watch over our family affairs!
LI WENDAO: Elder Brother, come back soon!14
LI DECHANG: Uncle, today I will have to set out on a long journey. (They go out the gate.)
LIU YUNIANG: Husband,15 since you are going off today on business, there is something I would like to say. May I?
LI DECHANG: What do you wish to say?
LIU YUNIANG: Your cousin has been flirting with me.
LI DECHANG (angrily:) Shush! All this time with me at home you said nothing about it. Now that I’m about to leave, you come out with this! Wife, don’t bring it up again; just watch over things at home and be careful. (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Time to Appreciate Flowers]
Because my cousin and you don’t see eye to eye,
I must now exhort you to be patient. …
LIU YUNIANG (sadly:) But you will be gone! What am I to do?
LI DECHANG (sings:)
Put an end to your worries,
Dispel your gloom!
Just take care of this family, inside and out. (Speaks:)
The rest is unimportant. (Sings:)
And you must watch out for the little one.
LIU YUNIANG: These things I know: I just hope you will prove your mettle.
LI DECHANG (sings:)
[Same tune as above]
As a provider, I must strive to prove my mettle,
And so I go to other counties, faraway places, to buy and sell.
LIU YUNIANG: Just return soon. …
LI DECHANG (sings:)
Let not your cheeks be streaked with tears:
I will not be gone more than a year or six months
And will come back once I make some profit. (Exits.)
LI YANSHI: Li Wendao, now that your cousin has gone off on a business trip, you shouldn’t go over there on trifling matters. If I find out about it, don’t think I’ll spare you! (Recites:)
Brother-in-law and sister-in-law should always be above suspicion,16
All the more so since her husband is on his way to the Southland.
If you should go to her house for no good reason,
I’ll pay you straight off with thirteen blows!17 (Exit together.)
ACT 1
LIU YUNIANG (enters:) I am Liu Yuniang. My husband, Li Dechang, has gone off to Nanchang on business. Today I’ve nothing important to do: let me just open up this thread shop and see who comes.
LI WENDAO (enters:) I am Li Wendao. I run a medicine shop, and people all casually call me Doctor Lu’s Rival.18 My cousin Li Dechang has gone off on business leaving behind his wife. I yearn for her with all my heart, but alas! My father has ordered me not to go to her home. But now, going behind my father’s back, I will use the visit as an excuse to try to seduce her. Whether she’s willing or not, I have nothing to lose. … Here I am at her door, let me go in. (He greets LIU YUNIANG.) Sister-in-law, ever since Elder Brother left, I have not come to visit you.
LIU YUNIANG: Your brother is away, what business have you coming here?
LI WENDAO: I just came to see you, have a cup of tea … what’s wrong with that?
LIU YUNIANG: This ne’er-do-well has come with no good intentions! I’ll call his father over—Father!
LI YANSHI (enters:) Who’s calling me?
LIU YUNIANG: It is your child.
LI YANSHI: Child, why are you calling me?
LIU YUNIANG: Your son has come over here to flirt with me. That’s why I am calling for you.
LI YANSHI (sees LI WENDAO:) Why have you come here again!? (Beats him; LI WENDAO exits.) If that ne’er-do-well comes again, just call me. Don’t think I’ll spare him! I’m going to beat that profligate right now! (Exits.)
LIU YUNIANG: How much longer is this going to go on? I’ll close the shop. … Oh Li Dechang, when will you return? This is killing me! (Exits.)
<
br /> LI DECHANG (enters bearing a shoulder pole:) What a rainstorm! (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Touching Up Red Lips]
The seventh month has just begun;
It is early autumn when summer warmth still lingers.
With only an unlined robe like this,
How can I protect myself from this endless, pouring rain!
[River Churning Dragon]
A relentless cloudy gray—
The lonely wilds, an expanse of watery haze!
I only see where rain blurs the peaks
And mists lock the azure void! (Speaks:)
How big is this rainstorm? (Sings:)
The clouds churn deep, as if the Great Eastern Sea is tipping down.
The rain crushes down, as if Lake Dongting is folding over.
As far as the eyes can see, there’s no place to seek the homeward road.
Dark and somber, the clouds blur the fields on every side.
In a vast whiteness, water engulfs the long road. (Speaks:)
The rain is coming down evermore. (Sings:)
[Oily Gourd]
It is just like an ink painting of the Rivers Xiao and Xiang;19
This downpour is soaking me through and through!
How can I bear the crashing, splashing waves swirling into channels!
See how swishing, whooshing water flows along twisting, winding roads,
And soughing, whistling winds sway the quaking, quivering trees!
What can be done in this shuddering, shivering mud—
Let alone the slippery, slithering ooze?
Now I go hobbling, tripping along, falling about limply,
I slip and stumble, barely keeping my body whole!20
[Joy for All Under Heaven]
In all this commotion, the loops for my sandal laces broke:21
Hard it is for me to walk!
There is nothing left to do
But break off my pack rope and tie them anew.
So soaked, I cannot raise my head;
So tired, I cannot move my feet;
So dim-eyed, I cannot see a thing.22 (Speaks:)
There is a temple off in the distance. I’ll go in there to escape the rain. (He puts down his pack.) I’ve put down my pack. This turns out to be a temple of the General of Five Paths.23 It has apparently been in a state of disrepair for many years: how mournful it is! (Sings:)
[Heaven for the Drunken]
A piece of the broken altar props up the temple gate,
Wild weeds have grown all over the temple steps. (Speaks:)
Oh Lord, General of Five Paths, I am Li Dechang, I am returning from a business trip. Please protect me! (Sings:)
Here I will pinch earth for incense, draw a censer on the ground.
My worship done, with hurried reverence I look up:
Thank you, Spirit, for protecting me.
I pray you, My Lord, to point the way with a gold whip.
I wish only to return home soon with no mishap. (Speaks:)
What a drenching rain! My clothes and baggage are completely soaked. I’ll take off my clothes and try to dry them out. (Sings:)
[Helped Home Drunk]
Here I wring these unlined trousers,
And dry my rain-soaked clothes. (Speaks:)
But why is it dripping here? Oh, so this temple has partially collapsed, that’s why it is dripping like this. Let me look at my baggage. (Sings:)
I only fear the oilcloth covering my baggage is leaking somewhere:
I had better inspect it from top to bottom: (Speaks:)
Happily it has not been dampened. But, oh, why is it dripping so hard here? (Sings:)
How strange that two or three wipes will not dry this brow of mine. (Speaks:)
But what is this! You fool! What are you worried about? (Sings:)
You forgot to take off your dripping head scarf! (Speaks:)
Let me take off these clothes and dry them out. (He takes them off.) I’ll just go out of the temple and take a look at the weather. (He goes out.) Oh! How come I am getting feverish? What is to be done? (Sings:)
[One Half]24
It is just as if a fawn were butting inside my breast
Or a ball of fire burning my vital organs. (Speaks:)
Perhaps my impure body has offended the deity? I pray you to point the way with a golden whip and protect me with your merciful hand! (Sings:)
Perchance my rank smell and foul filthiness
Have offended you, My Lord. (Speaks:)
Li Dechang, you are mistaken! Since he is a deity, he is bound to overlook the offenses of us mortal creatures! (Sings:)
I had better reconsider. (Speaks:)
I have figured out this illness: (Sings:)
Probably this was half from the wind, half from the rain. (Speaks:)
If only someone would come and I could send a message to my wife, asking her to come and see me.
(EXTRA dressed as GAO SHAN enters bearing a shoulder pole with goods.)
GAO SHAN: Oh, what pouring rain! Let me go into this temple of the General of Five Paths and get shelter. (He puts down his shoulder pole and goods.) I am Gao Shan, I come from Longmen-zhen and I have a family of two: myself and my wife. Every year when the seventh day of the seventh month comes around, I enter the city to sell a load of Moheluo dolls. As soon as I came out the gate, clouds gathered on all four sides and it was just splashing like a basin or a pitcher being turned over. That wife of mine has made me use two pieces of oiled paper, otherwise everything would have been spoiled! Let me look. … Thank heaven and earth! Not a single one is broken! This drum is the very source of my clothing and food! Now because of the rain the skin has loosened. But when I shake it, it still sounds!
LI DECHANG: Isn’t this someone who has come? A wonderful surprise! (Sings:)
[Flowers in a Golden Cup]25
It is pouring down uncommonly hard,
But suddenly I hear something that unfurls my troubled brow:
Isn’t he somewhere in the darkness slowly rattling his snakeskin drum?
I come out and look around:
Perhaps he is adept and clever
And will quickly hatch a plan to help!
He sells waxen hairpins for adorning the head,
Bone combs for holding down hair.
He has those clay dolls for prayers on Double Seventh,
And a riddle gourd for whiling away the nights.26
(LI DECHANG tugs at GAO SHAN and bows to him.)
LI DECHANG: Old man, I reverently bow down to you.
GAO SHAN: Ah, there’s a ghost!!
LI DECHANG: I am not a ghost. I am a man.
GAO SHAN: You are a man and you pull such tricks? You should have called out to me so I would know you were a man! But you suddenly pulled at me and bowed before me. This is an ancient temple with no one around. Luckily it was I, but if it were anyone else, wouldn’t you have scared him to death? (He grabs a handful of earth.)
LI DECHANG: What are you doing?
GAO SHAN: You frightened me so that my skull is split open!27
LI DECHANG: Old man, I also am a merchant. Come in and sit down a while.
GAO SHAN: All right, I’ll sit with you a while. Why are you tying up your headcloth?
LI DECHANG: Old man, I am escaping the rain in this temple; I took off my clothes too soon and have caught chills and a fever. Where are you going now?
GAO SHAN: I’m going into town on business.
LI DECHANG: Old man, would you carry a message for me?
GAO SHAN: My good fellow, I have made three vows: first, not to act as a go-between for anyone; second, not to be guarantor for anyone; third, not to carry messages for anyone.
LI DECHANG: I live on Vinegar Street in the prefectural city of Henan. My name is Li Dechang, and I have a family of three. My wife is named Liu Yuniang and my son, Little Buddha. I went to Nanchang on business, and now I have made profits a hundredfold. …
GAO SHAN (getting up:) Stop, stop, stop! �
� (He goes out and looks around.) If there is anyone here who wants to escape the rain, come in and we can chat together: anyone here? (He returns to greet LI DECHANG.) What a fellow you are! Who asked you? And yet you came out with such a statement! Supposing there had been someone listening, he could have designs on your property and could have killed you! Your life would have ended in vain! Do you know who I am? Well is it said,
In painting a tiger you can paint the fur but hard it is to paint the bones;
In knowing a man you can know the face, but hard it is to know the heart.
LI DECHANG: How could there be a thief in this place? Old man, I have caught a fever and cannot get up. I only hope you will take a message to my wife and tell her to come see me. If you refuse to take this message, and if something happens to me, it will be you who will have caused me to die.
GAO SHAN: He is asking for a favor but he knew how to get me cornered! Today I will break my vow and carry this message of yours. Where do you live? What sort of shop front is it? Who are your neighbors? Tell me clearly, and take care to nurse your illness.
LI DECHANG (sings:)
[Flowers in the Rear Courtyard]
My home has a new wooden threshold,
And we live in two sets of tallish, tile-roofed rooms.
Right next door is a shop selling cooked food;
Across the way, there is a medicine shop.
But if you should be confused and lost,
Just ask where the thread shop of Li Dechang is,
And anyone there will let you know.
GAO SHAN: I got it: rest assured!
LI DECHANG: Old man, keep this in mind, and you must make this visit. (Sings:)
[Coda]
You must remember this well,
And you should not have any doubts.
It’s not that I wish to pile request upon request,
But alas! I am so ill I can hardly move.
Ask them to borrow a horse or seek a donkey: just do not delay,
Alas! If only I had paper or brush! It can’t be helped—
How can I write the two words “All’s well”?28
Old man, so long as you do not tarry
