by C. T. Hsia
MEIXIANG: My mistress said not to break faith by not showing up for your tryst this evening in the rear garden.
SHAOJUN: Zhang Qian, how shall I go over there?
ZHANG QIAN: Jump over the wall.
(MEIXIANG turns to QIANJIN.)
MEIXIANG: My Lady, he’s going to jump over the wall.
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Coda]
Over there the whitewashed wall is low
And the blooming thicket dense.
Let me tell you, my Liu Chen on the road:
Although no stream with fragrant sesame rice flows out,
The path is straighter than that to Mount Heavenly Terrace.34
Don’t hesitate,
Wait till the Dipper turns and moves
And don’t let my silken stockings get wet with dew as they press on dark moss!
Soon enough we will languidly lean against the Lake Tai rockery,
Closing the corner door gently,
And this rear garden will become the paradisal stream at Wuling.
SHAOJUN: How undeservedly fortunate I am! This happy turn of events is most extraordinary. I’m only waiting for it to turn dark so I can go to our tryst.35 (Recites:)
By happenstance our eyes did meet,
With stirred passion our hearts are held in thrall.
Tonight I go early to our blessed tryst, to complete
What began on horseback and at the garden wall.
ACT 2
(LADY LI enters with OLD FEMALE dressed as NURSE.)
LADY LI: I am the wife of Supervisor Li. He was called away by his superiors and hasn’t returned yet. Today I went to the east apartments to visit my aunt and have just come back. I’m not feeling very well. It’s getting quite late. Meixiang, go into the boudoir and tell my daughter not to go out. Nurse, straighten up in front and back; I’m going to take a rest. (Exits.)
(SHAOJUN enters.)
SHAOJUN: I have returned to the post inn to rest and I am feeling rather restless. How could I put my mind to buying flower seedlings? After all the waiting, nightfall is here at last. I’m going to my tryst with the maiden now. (Exits.)
(QIANJIN enters with MEIXIANG.)
QIANJIN: I went today to the rear garden to view the flowers and saw that young man over the wall. Our eyes met and our hearts tangled. So I sent over a note inviting him to come for a meeting this evening. I have returned to my boudoir. Meixiang, I wonder if my mother has gone to sleep yet.
MEIXIANG: I’ll go and see. (Exits.)
(QIANJIN sleeps. MEIXIANG wakes her up.)
MEIXIANG: My Lady, My Lady.
QIANJIN (awakens and speaks:) I was just in the middle of a sweet dream.
MEIXIANG: What were you dreaming about?
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Nanlü mode: One Sprig of Blossoms]
The demon of sleep entangled me relentlessly,
The sorrow of parting had me in thrall totally,
And my detached spirit fled with my dream.
Oh, when will romance smile on me?
Once I saw the fair and gifted youth,
My lips spoke of him,
And my heart loved him.
Truly in the Marriage Registrar it was thus ordained.
He’s more romantic than Zhang Chang36 who painted his wife’s eyebrows
And more handsome than Pan Yue37 who had fruits thrown to him.
MEIXIANG: He’d better come tonight. The way you keep thinking about him, you’d think he should just materialize in front of you.
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Liangzhou Number Seven]
In idleness, I used to complain
How the times and fortune were against me.
And now added to all that I am heartsick with love
Under the baleful influence of the moon at this time of year. (Speaks:)
Not to mention me—(sings:)
If heaven were to know feelings, it too would be heartsick.38 (Speaks:)
Meixiang, what time is it now?
MEIXIANG: This is the afternoon hour of shen.39
QIANJIN (sings:)
When will the moon emerge from the mountains by the sea?
How is it that the sun has not yet turned from this hour?
MEIXIANG: My Lady, the sun has set and the moon and the stars have come out.
QIANJIN (sings:)
I fear the dew will startle the nesting birds
And the wind will shake the elms in the courtyard.
Look how the River of Heaven glows aslant on the jasper steps
Without stirring the finest speck of dust.
O Moon, you who were once slender as a bow
And are but half a toad,40
Be not bright as a mirror shining on the wide, wide world,41
Nor as icy cold as your own twelve jade terraces.42
By the auspicious smoke from the incense burner
I bow deeply to the round moon of union.
Give us leave to be,
And we will have no obstacles.43
I bow deeply to you, Moon Goddess, for not being jealous of my beauty;
Perhaps you might just for a moment be locked in the mist and buried in the clouds!
MEIXIANG: This is going to be difficult!
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Sheep-Herding Pass]
Wait until the moonlit curtains rustle slightly
And the door, welcoming the wind, is ajar:44
Just look how the scene is set for the dalliance of wind and moon.45
MEIXIANG: How is the scene set?
QIANJIN: You go and meet him.
MEIXIANG: Are you afraid he won’t come? Fancy sending me to meet him!
QIANJIN (sings:)
Use this wind to send the flowers’ scent,
And let the clouds shroud the moon’s radiance.46
MEIXIANG: Why do you send me to meet him?
QIANJIN (sings:)
You ask me why a maid should go to meet the young handsome one.
I only fear that he will be like Zhao Gao who spoiled his mission.47
MEIXIANG: The way here is as straight as a line. How can he lose his way?
QIANJIN (sings:)
You say the way here is straight as a line;
I say the minister’s residence is as unfathomable as the sea.48
MEIXIANG: You two main players should just do the talking yourselves.
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Scolding the Handsome Lover]
Even if one met by the side of a stream flanked with flowers,
One must still pass through short alleys and traverse long streets.
MEIXIANG: Once he arrives, I’ll fetch you right away.
QIANJIN (sings:)
Quite unlike a house of pleasure with ladies sporting gold hairpins,49
There is indeed much at stake here.
Take hold of your childishness,
Restrain your impatience.
[Grateful for Imperial Grace]
This spacious compound with its many apartments,
Its secluded, unfrequented steps,
Is nothing like halls for zither playing,
Shops for selling wine,50
Or studios for reading books.
MEIXIANG: It’s either too fast or too slow. How do you want me to do it?
QIANJIN (sings:)
Lightly part the emerald bamboos,
Tread gently on the moss;
Don’t startle the crows in the courtyard
Or make the dogs in the neighborhood bark,
Lest their noise arouse the steward.
MEIXIANG: My Lady, when do you think he’ll come?
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Song for Picking Tea Leaves]
Lean upon the whitewashed wall,
Unlock the side door.
Wait until my mother has finished burning the night incense.
The moon is hazy and the sky is dark;
Just as the drum sounded, the bugle sadly called out.
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MEIXIANG: Let me tell you: your mother is already asleep. She certainly won’t be coming. Nurse is up front this evening keeping watch over the storerooms. When it gets later, I’ll light the lamps and then go to meet your lover.
(PEI SHAOJUN enters leading ZHANG QIAN.)
SHAOJUN: Zhang Qian, don’t be so jittery. Wait outside the wall.
(SHAOJUN jumps over the wall and spots MEIXIANG.)
SHAOJUN: Meixiang, I’ve come.
MEIXIANG: I’ll go tell her. My Lady, your lover has come. You two talk together. I’ll keep watch at the door.
SHAOJUN: I’m but a poor scholar, and yet you don’t reject me. Even giving up my life would not suffice to repay my debt to you.
QIANJIN: Young Master, you must not betray our love. (Sings:)
[Coda for the Turning Point]
Pretending to put on the kingfisher ornament,51 I cover my forehead.
I fear tugging my silken skirt and exposing my embroidered shoes.
Hastily I pull the mandarin duck quilt over for cover.
Too lazy to take off the emerald headpiece,
I press close to the painted screen.
It is he who recklessly
Unties my scented silken sash.
(NURSE enters.)
NURSE: This late and someone’s talking in the young mistress’s room! I’ll just listen under the window. Ah, just as I thought—there is someone. I’ll expose them.
MEIXIANG: Mistress, blow out the lamp. The nurse is coming.
NURSE: Blow out the lamp! I’ve been listening for some time now. Where are you going?
(SHAOJUN and QIANJIN both kneel.)
QIANJIN: We’ve done it! How can I face my parents? Take pity on me, Nurse. Let the two of us run away, and I’ll not forget you until I die.
NURSE: The unmarried girl let someone claim her body and still she wants to go with him! Whose family does this man belong to?
SHAOJUN: I am a traveling student from another area. Please forgive me!
NURSE: This is not a place for licentious dallying.
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Red Peony]
He is on an imperial mission with orders
To come here and purchase flower seedlings for a fair price.
He isn’t from the Immortal Realm where Fairy Mounts meet Fairy Isles,52
Nor did he climb distant Mount Heavenly Terrace.
More dashing he is than the eyebrow painter Zhang Chang
Galloping on his dark steed through all the streets of Zhangtai.53
NURSE: This is all because that little slave, Meixiang, tempted you by acting as go-between.
QIANJIN (sings:)
You wrongly rebuked her for bearing tender messages as go-between;
For nothing you have shamed her to her face like that.54
NURSE: Who is to blame if not this little slave?
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Bodhisattva Liangzhou]
It was this girl who threw fruit over the wall
And that reckless stranger who shook his whip on horseback.
Let me tell you, my nurse who’s nobody’s fool:
The courier of our spring passion was looks that came and went!
NURSE: Fine, fine, but aren’t you ashamed! Looks that came and went! You sound like real adulterers and thieves! I’ll turn you over to the authorities for a reckoning.
QIANJIN (sings:)
Seeing how this woman is perversely implacable,
I am willing to forfeit my life to repay this lovers’ debt.
But I plan for success, not failure!
Stop being angry for now, I’ll reform later.
How can you have us arrested as adulterers and thieves?
NURSE: What do you see in this poor, insipid student?
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Sheep-Herding Pass]
Dragon kings and tiger princes have taken scholars as sons-in-law,
And fairy maidens, too, have been affianced to talented youths.
How much more so for us mortal born!
Liu Xiang brought down the Western Peak Temple by inscribing a poem,55
And Zhang Sheng heated the great Eastern Sea till it boiled.56
I was about to have a feast at Jasper Pool for my Seventh Night Tryst
When the waters of the Heavenly River pulled us asunder!
Truly this maiden at the edge of the Magpie Bridge57
Cannot give up the one by the Bovine Dipper Star!58
NURSE: Let’s not bring out the family skeleton for all to see. And as for you, rascal, I’m going to drag you to the authorities, and don’t think they’re going to let you go unpunished!
SHAOJUN: Nurse, your took the money I use for buying flower seedlings and had Meixiang send for me here. I’ll go with you to the authorities.
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Third to Last Coda]
You’re not willing to just sweep the whole thing under a brocade coverlet.59
Can’t you see it will be another Battle of Gaixia in front of Nine-Mile Mountain?60
And blood in the boudoir will soak my remains:
I will untie this sash and take this dress knife—61
If you push me to the limit, I will inflict harm on myself,
Turn the facts around and let you bear the blame.
MEIXIANG: You wanted this young scholar’s money and sent me to go fetch him. If the mistress confronted us, that’s what we would say.
NURSE: The lady of the house won’t believe it.
QIANJIN: (sings:)
You’re just dropping the child you picked up by the wayside—what do you care?62
You want to kill me and take the money too!
[Penultimate Coda]
How can I be willing to wait, with a tear-ravaged face,
Planted next to the door, my hands holding my hands?
With all the mountains and rivers in his way, when would he come again?
Why speak of years and years,
When this one night of love is undone?63
What will remain? The monk or his begging bowl?64
For with his erudition and literary talent,65
He will surely make his way up, day by day climbing the thousand steps.
NURSE: Family is family. If the mistress, however outraged she may be initially, changes her mind, I will be giving up this old life of mine in vain. I’ll settle the matter with you now and give you two choices: The first is to send off this student to seek office and then come back to marry you, and if he doesn’t succeed, you may marry someone else. The second is to let the two of you run away tonight. When and if this student gets an official position, then he may return and present himself before his parents-in-law.
QIANJIN: Nurse, the better plan is for us to go away. (Sings:)
[Huangzhong Coda]
When he plucks a cassia branch, all the other scholars will be amazed.66
How could he visit a vermilion gate and find it closed nine times out of ten?
NURSE: If word gets out, it will wreck your future and split up a happy couple all for naught. As the saying goes, “Serving a master for but one year, one remains a slave for a hundred years.” I’m taking a risk in letting you go. Just be sure that you are careful when you’re on the road.
QIANJIN: My mother is getting on in years. How can I bear to leave her?
NURSE: You mother has me here to take care of her. Leave with your mind at ease.
(QIANJIN and SHAOJUN thank her.)
QIANJIN (sings:)
It’s not that I dare to be wanton and wicked,
But he has such charm and such cleverness.
You too can make the happy ending and resolve conflicts;
I, for my part, will be willing to wait and accommodate.67
Equally absent is a girl locked in an empty room
Or married to a man from another region.
You can say that the parents are getting on in years—
But since when does a daughter st
ay with her parents until her hair turns gray?
Daughters are only guests who stay with you for fifteen years!
(QIANJIN exits with SHAOJUN and MEIXIANG.)
NURSE: They’ve left. When the mistress asks, I’ll lie and say I don’t know how she came to leave. I expect that the lady won’t dare to bandy it about. Wait till he comes back later to present himself before his in-laws—it wouldn’t be too late! (Exits.)
ACT 3
MINISTER PEI:68 It has now been seven years since Shaojun came back from his trip to buy flower seedlings in Luoyang. I often have official business, so for the most part have been rarely at home. I take delight in Shaojun for his great aspirations. Every day he does nothing but study in the rear garden.69 Only when he achieves success will he take a wife. Today is Tomb-Sweeping Day, and I was going to go myself to the graves, but because I am fearful of the wind and cold, I am having my wife and Shaojun go to offer sacrifices to the ancestors in my place. (Exits.)
(SHAOJUN enters leading STEWARD.)
SHAOJUN: It’s been seven years since Qianjin and I left Luoyang and came to Chang’an. We have two children: the little boy is called Duanduan and the girl is called Chongyang. Duanduan is six and Chongyang is four. They hide in the rear garden and have never paid their respects to my parents. The steward takes care of everything for them; even the servants in the house don’t know about this. Today is Tomb-Sweeping Day and because my father is afraid of the wind and cold, my mother and I are going outside the city to the family tombs to offer sacrifices. Steward, keep careful watch lest my father come upon them.
STEWARD: Young Master, “serving a master for but one year, one remains a slave for a hundred.” In this household who would dare to mention the word “Li”? If anything goes wrong, I will be like Ling Zhe helping the single-wheeled carriage along when disaster overtook Zhao Dun,70 or like Wang Bodang whose corpse was piled with that of his master Li Mi when their insurrection failed.71 Loyalty has to go all the way. Never mind that the old master will not come, but even if he comes, I will make him turn back with my formidable powers of persuasion. I am a veritable Kuai Tong or Li Zuoche.72 Rest assured, Young Master. You can count on me—not a single drop will leak from this endless bank of water.
SHAOJUN: If there are no slipups, when I return home I’ll reward you well. (Exits.)
(QIANJIN enters leading DUANDUAN and CHONGYANG.)
QIANJIN: It has been some seven years now since I came here following the young master. We have two children. How time flies! (Sings:)
