by C. T. Hsia
And tell my wife,
And have her come soon to aid this sick man. … (Exits.)
GAO SHAN: I come out the temple gate and the rain has stopped! Let me go into town to sell Moheluo dolls and deliver this message for Li Dechang. (Exits.)
ACT 2
LI WENDAO (enters:) I am Li Wendao. Today I have nothing better to do, so I will go to the front of my medicine shop and see who may come.
GAO SHAN (enters:) I am Gao Shan. I’ve arrived here in the prefectural city of Henan, but I don’t know where Vinegar Street is. Let me put down my pack and try asking someone. (Greets LI WENDAO:) My good fellow, may I ask where Vinegar Street is?
LI WENDAO: Why do you ask?
GAO SHAN: There is this Li Dechang who came back from a business trip to Nanchang. His profits increased a hundredfold. Right now he has taken till at the temple of the General of Five Paths south of the city, and he sent me to carry a message to his home.
LI WENDAO (aside:) Super! (Out loud:) Old man, this is Lesser Vinegar Street; there is also a Greater Vinegar Street. You aim east but go west, aim south but go north, turn a bend and there before a gate is a large locust tree and a tall house with red-painted doorway, green-painted window, and a mottled bamboo curtain hung from the doorway. Beneath the curtain, a Pekingese dog will be lying there. That is Li Dechang’s home.
GAO SHAN: Thank you, good fellow! (He picks up the pole with his pack and walks.) That fellow told me to aim east but go west, aim south but go north, turn a bend and there before a gate would be a big locust tree and a tall house with red-painted doorway, green-painted window, and a mottled bamboo curtain hanging there with a Pekingese dog lying under it: if the dog has gone away, how will I be able to find the place? (Exits.)
LI WENDAO: Well is it said
If a man has a strong wish,
Heaven will certainly grant it.
Now he has become ill. I won’t let his wife find out, but I’ll take this poison, go outside the city, and kill him with it! Then his wife will be mine, and his money and goods will be mine. Just because of my conscience, heaven is giving me half a bowl of rice to eat!29 (Exits.)
LIU YUNIANG (enters with LITTLE BUDDHA:) I am Liu Yuniang. Ever since my husband, Li Dechang, left for Nanchang on business, I have received no news at all of him. Today I’ll open our shop and see who shows up.
GAO SHAN (enters:) I’ve walked myself to death! That knavish son of a … He said there was also a Greater Vinegar Street: where haven’t I gone! (Puts down his pack.) I’ll take that ass of a rogue … It turns out that there was only this Vinegar Street, and he made me walk all around the city wall while all the time it was right here!
LIU YUNIANG (comes out and sees him:) You old man! Don’t you know anything! What are you doing loitering around the door where people do business?
GAO SHAN: Just look at my luck! First that whoreson fooled me into walking all day, and now this woman is scolding me! Oh Gao Shan, you have only yourself to blame: if from the beginning you had refused to convey a message for Li Dechang, you might have been spared this trouble!
LIU YUNIANG: You old man, where did you see Li Dechang? Please come in and have some tea!
GAO SHAN: But I’ll disrupt your business. …
LIU YUNIANG: Old man, where did you see Li Dechang?
GAO SHAN: I suppose you are Liu Yuniang?
LIU YUNIANG: I am.
GAO SHAN: And I presume this child is Little Buddha?
LIU YUNIANG: Precisely, old man, how do you know?
GAO SHAN: Madam, right now Li Dechang is taken ill in the temple of the General of Five Paths outside the city. He has made profits a hundredfold. Quickly find some beast and bring him back!
LIU YUNIANG: We are so grateful to you! Wait till Li Dechang comes home, and we will make sure to thank you properly.
LITTLE BUDDHA: Mama, I want a Moheluo.
LIU YUNIANG (beats Little Buddha:) Little spendthrift! We don’t even have enough to buy food—where would we get the money?
GAO SHAN: Don’t beat the child! I’ll give him a Moheluo. Keep it carefully; don’t break it. Below there is my name inscribed: “Made by Gao Shan.” When your father comes home and sees this Moheluo, it will count as evidence that I did bring the message! (Exits.)
LIU YUNIANG: Who would have thought Li Dechang would be taken ill at the temple of the General of Five Paths? I’ll leave the child with a neighbor, lock the place up, borrow a horse, and go see Li Dechang. (Exits.)
LI DECHANG (enters in a sickly state:) Since I returned from Nanchang, I’ve been ill with a fever and can’t get up. I begged Gao Shan to carry a message for me, asking my wife to come and see me, but why hasn’t she shown up? Li Dechang, this is truly a case of “timing, fate, and luck” conspiring together: indeed these are not empty words! (Sings:)
[Huangzhong mode: Drunk in the Shadows of Flowers]
I stuck to my trade, and profit was great in Nanchang;
I hastened to return, but illness soon had me in its evil grasp!
Longing for home—so close yet it seems as far as heaven;
How anxious this makes me!
Unable to keep down the fawn butting in my chest—
This is indeed hardest to endure.
Just this headache
Is enough to split open my head any moment.
[Happy Orioles Flying High]
Oh, who will come to cure me?
But there is no one: the old temple is so desolate.
And I consider: what if some evil man should come?
My worries can’t help but multiply,
And I can’t help the tears raining down!
Flitting, flitting, my soul departs in fright and my courage sinks,
Pounding, pounding, my flesh trembles, and my body shakes.
[Leaving the Ranks]
Symptoms that send me topsy-turvy,
Make me wonder all the more:
One moment all is dark, and my stomach aches as if an awl were piercing it;
One moment all is hot, and I burn as if a fire were flaming.
One moment all is chill, and I get ever colder, as if ice water were poured on me. (Speaks:)
Oh my wife, where are you? (Sings:)
[Ground-Sweeping Wind]
Anxiously I yearn for wife and son, but no news has come.
Consumed by concern, the itching in my heart is hard to slake! (Speaks:)
I’ll go out the temple gateway and look around. (Sings:)
Slowly, slowly I come out from the temple,
Raise my eyes, and furtively look around.
For you I will walk down the fretted stairs,
Stand under the eaves. …
Suddenly I feel dizzy, fight for breath, and grab at the door.
I thought it was tightly closed,
But it turned out to be not quite bolted.
As I lean against the door,
It opens with a creak;
I wobble and down I crash!
[Fourth Door]
Just as the fierce frost singles out the withered grass,
Alas! So the fall has struck my already ailing body.
One moment in pain, all anxious the next:
I wonder whether the money was too much for my luck.
One moment in pain, all anxious the next:
I will pray to this god.
LI WENDAO (enters hurriedly:) I’ve arrived at this temple. Elder Brother, where are you?
(LI DECHANG greets him.)
LI DECHANG (sings:)
[Ancient Water Sprite]
Oh, oh, oh, suddenly I see him!
Ah, ah, ah, scaring me till my soul seems to melt!
Take, take, take this paper money under cover!
Close, close, close to the clay god I press.
Fast, fast, fast, I’ll hide here myself.30
LI WENDAO: I’ve come to see you, Elder Brother. Receive the salutations of your younger brother!
LI DECHANG (sings:)
He, h
e, he, comes over, striding and standing tall.
I, I, I, go forward and carefully discern his face.
Yes! Yes! Yes! This is the brother from whom I parted, now in fine form.
Please, please, please, do not bow, Li Wendao. (Speaks:)
Brother, since I returned from Nanchang, I’ve been feverish and cannot return home. Where is my wife?
LI WENDAO: She is coming soon. Elder Brother, how long have you had this illness?
LI DECHANG (sings:)
[Song of the Fort]
It could be last night
Or this morning—
When a cold wind and hot dampness first came over me.
LI WENDAO: Let me feel your pulse. (Feels his pulse.) Elder Brother: I know this illness and I have brought the medicine for it. (Mixes medicine and administers it to LI DECHANG.)
LI DECHANG: Just wait, Brother. When my wife comes, I’ll take it.
LI WENDAO: Don’t wait for her. You will get better right away if you take this.
(LI DECHANG swallows it, sings:)
I’ve swallowed it down:
Burning oil seems to be pouring on me,
Fuming, it scorches my Five Organs,
Flaming, it consumes my Three Points.31(Speaks:)
Brother (sings:)
This cannot be medicine for fever or chill?
[Depending on the Gods]
He mixed it with water there,
I dashed it right down,
And suddenly now I have lost my bearing.
He has foully poisoned me and I have fallen.
Smoke arises from the Seven Holes,32
Ice invades the four extremities.
Who could have thought his smiles hid a sword?
I can see that I shall perish in the wilds. (Falls down.)
LI WENDAO: The poison got him. I’ll collect the goods and go home. (Exits.)
LI DECHANG (sings:)
[Higher by the Level]33
This rogue is good at harming others and profiting himself;
He is going against the way of the gods!
The money and goods did not even amount to much;
He could have asked for them openly.
But how could he bear to cut short his elder brother’s life?
His greed is great,
His love for me, slight.
What a shameful contrast to Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya,34 who share their gold!
[Zhelagu]35
With my body in the clutches of this illness,
I cannot run, cannot escape.
With my throat contracted by the poison,
I cannot cry, cannot yell.
May azure heaven secretly make this known!
May the deity soon repay it!
Do good and receive good;
Evil deeds have ill returns.
Heavens! Isn’t this the year when I would court calamity!
[Hanging a Golden Rope]
I thought he was curing my fever and chills:
Who would have thought he was secretly giving me poison?
And now he has taken my life and plotted for money;
Truly I have been keeping a traitor in our midst!
No wonder when he came
He did not bring his own sister-in-law!
This will be told for ten thousand generations,
And would have invited the scorn of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei!36
[Coda]
All my jewels and money—
None of it is left.
Holding the loot tight, he has spirited it away on horseback.
(Lies down below the altar.)
LIU YUNIANG (enters:) I am here already. I have dismounted from this horse and entered this temple: but why don’t I see my husband? Oh, here he is below the altar. His illness is serious! (Helps him up.) Husband, get on the horse and let’s go home! (Exits.)
LIU YUNIANG (enters in an agitated state:) Who would have thought that when my husband got home, fresh blood would gush from all Seven Holes and he would die! I must find my brother-in-law and let him know so we can decide what to do. (Calls LI WENDAO.) Brother-in-law!
LI WENDAO (enters:) This woman is scared and is calling me. Sister-in-law, why are you calling me?
LIU YUNIANG: Your elder brother has come home.
LI WENDAO: Ask him to come out!
LIU YUNIANG: When he got home, he was bleeding from his Seven Holes and he died.
LI WENDAO: So my brother died! This much is obvious: he went off on business, you had a paramour in the house, and when you saw Elder Brother return, you and your lover plotted to murder him with poison.
LIU YUNIANG: But we have been husband and wife since our youth! How could I poison him?
LI WENDAO: My elder brother has died! Do you want an official settlement or a private settlement?
LIU YUNIANG: What is an official settlement and what is a private settlement?
LI WENDAO: For an official settlement, I would lay a plaint before the magistrate, and you would pay for my brother’s death with your life! For a private settlement, just marry me!
LIU YUNIANG: What kind of talk is that! I would rather die than become your wife!
LI WENDAO: All right, let’s go to court.
LIU YUNIANG: I’m quite willing to go to court. Oh Li Dechang, this is killing me!
(LI WENDAO drags her off; exit.)
(COMIC dressed as MAGISTRATE enters with ZHANG QIAN.)
MAGISTRATE (recites:)
I am an official who loves only money.
Plaintiff and defendant: both must pay!
If my superiors should come my cases to review,
They’d beat me in the hall till like a pig I squeal!37
I am the magistrate of Henan prefecture. Today I will hold court early. Zhang Qian, see if there are any who have cases to present, and if so, have them come in.
ZHANG QIAN: Understood!
LI WENDAO (enters with LIU YUNIANG:) Think it over. …
LIU YUNIANG: I only want to go to court with you.
LI WENDAO: All right, let’s go to court. … I have a grievance!
MAGISTRATE: Bring them in!
ZHANG QIAN: Come before His Honor!
(MAGISTRATE kneels down before them)
ZHANG QIAN: Sir, they are bringing a case to court. Why do you kneel down before them?
MAGISTRATE: Don’t you know? Those who bring cases to us are the wherewithal of our food and clothing, our father and mother. (ZHANG QIAN orders LIU YUNIANG to kneel down.) What case do you two have?
LI WENDAO: I am a native of this place, with a family of five. This is my sister-in-law. I am Li Wendao. I had an elder brother, Li Dechang, who went off to Nanchang on business. He came back with profits a hundredfold. On the day he came home, my sister-in-law, who had been keeping a lover at home, concocted poison with his help and killed her own husband. May you, sir, have pity on me and seek redress for this grievance!
MAGISTRATE: Let me ask you: has your elder brother died?
LI WENDAO: He has.
MAGISTRATE: If he’s dead, why are you bothering to bring the case?
ZHANG QIAN: Sir, please set this right for him.
MAGISTRATE: How can I set it right? Get the clerk for me.
ZHANG QIAN: Where are you, clerk?
(CLOWN dressed as CLERK enters.)
CLERK (recites:)
The magistrate is pure as water,
The clerk is white as dough.
Mix water and dough into batter:
Result, a lump of messy glue!
Your humble servant is Clerk Xiao. Just as I was sorting out documents in the office, I heard a great commotion. I reckoned it must be that His Honor is unable to put together the case judgment, so let me go and check. (He sees the plaintiff.) This chap! Now where have I seen him before? Oh yes, he is that Doctor Lu’s Rival. Yesterday when I passed by his house, I tried to borrow a stool from his shop, and he wouldn’t even let me have it. And now he too has to come to our yamen! Zhang Qian, take h
im down and beat him!
(ZHANG QIAN takes down LI WENDAO, who holds out three fingers.)
LI WENDAO: Clerk, I’ll give you this.
CLERK: Two of your fingers seem to be paralyzed.
LI WENDAO: Sir, set this thing right for me!
CLERK: I understand, don’t say any more. What’s the case? Who is the plaintiff?
LI WENDAO: I am the plaintiff.
CLERK: If you are the plaintiff, let’s hear your statement.
LI WENDAO: I, Li Wendao, am a native of this place. I had an elder brother, Li Dechang, who went off to Nanchang on business. He came home with profits a hundredfold. My sister-in-law had a lover, and they concocted poison and killed my elder brother with it. Please, sir, redress this grievance for me!
CLERK: Is this true? Put your signature to it. Zhang Qian, bring forward that woman. Woman, why did you poison your husband? Confess the truth!
LIU YUNIANG: Sir, have pity on me! I am Liu Yuniang. My husband was Li Dechang. He returned from a business trip to Nanchang and became ill in the temple of the General of Five Paths outside the city. I got a horse and rode straight to the temple. I spoke to him, but he didn’t answer. By the time we got home, fresh blood gushed from his Seven Holes. Suddenly his breathing stopped and he died. When I called my brother-in-law here to ask him about it, he said I had a lover. Li Dechang and I had been husband and wife since our youth: how could I poison him? Sir, I have no lover!
CLERK: If you don’t beat them, they won’t confess. Zhang Qian, beat her for me!
(ZHANG QIAN beats her.)
You should confess!
LIU YUNIANG: I have no lover.
CLERK: If you don’t beat them, they won’t confess. Zhang Qian, beat her some more!
(ZHANG QIAN beats her some more.)
LIU YUNIANG: Stop, stop, stop! If I don’t confess, how can I bear this beating? Let me just muddle through a confession: it was I who murdered my husband by poisoning him.
MAGISTRATE: Don’t confess! If you confess, you’re dead!
CLERK: Since she has already confessed, bring the cangue and put it on her: throw her in the cell for the condemned!
MAGISTRATE: Zhang Qian, bring the cangue and put it on her.
ZHANG QIAN: The cangue is on her now. Down to the cell for the condemned!
LIU YUNIANG: Heavens! Who will take up my case and avenge this injustice? (Exits.)
MAGISTRATE: Clerk, come here. Just now that man stretched out his fingers; how many taels of silver did he promise you? Tell me the truth.
