She then went on to say, “Since there is no one else about, we might as well get down to business right here.”
So saying, she proceeded to strip off her clothing, lay down on a broad bench, and let:
Her pair of wild ducks fly to his shoulders.
As the root of his organ half penetrated her,
They felt inseparably attached to each other.
There is a song that puns on the names of drugs to the tune “The Water Nymphs” that testifies to this:
Angelica, pinellia, and arnebia roots enhance
the pleasures of intercourse;
Finding him as tasty as betel nuts, she engages
in incest with her son-in-law.
His dangling member, sunk in her vagina, is as
potent as henbane or castor bean.
As his clove-shaped spike massages the two
sides of her receptacle,
She feels benumbed as though with cannabis,
and swoons completely away.
As her silvery vaginal secretions pour out,
like a gush of liquid mercury,
With the shrill stridulation of a red cicada,
she expresses the excitement,
She feels in her two labia, as rubicund
as mandarin orange peels.8
As always:
Without coincidences there would be no stories.
While the two of them were just in the thick of things, Ch’un-mei unexpectedly came upstairs with a box in hand to get some tea leaves. When she came into view, they were taken by surprise and became so flustered they hardly knew what to do with themselves. Ch’un-mei, not wishing to embarrass them, hastily turned around and started down the stairs. Ch’en Ching-chi was thrown into such consternation that he could hardly get into his underwear, while Chin-lien was putting on her skirt.
The woman then called after Ch’un-mei, saying, “My good sister, come back upstairs. I have something to say to you.”
Ch’un-mei, thereupon, reascended the stairs.
“My good sister,” Chin-lien said to her, “our son-in-law is not an outsider. Let me explain the situation to you. As for the two of us:
Our feelings and thoughts are one,
We can never agree to be separated.
But, whatever you do, you must not reveal this to anyone, but keep it to yourself.”
“Mother,” responded Ch’un-mei, “how can you say such a thing? Having served you for all these years, how could I be unaware of your feelings, or reveal them to anyone else?”
“If you are actually willing to cover up for us,” the woman said, “while our son-in-law is still here, you will have to come over and go to bed with him before I’ll believe you. If you should refuse, it will show that you have no regard for us.”
Ch’un-mei was so embarrassed by this proposal that her face turned alternately red and white, but she felt compelled to agree. Unfastening her beige skirt and loosening her pant strings, she lay down faceup on the bench and let the young scamp have his way with her. Can such things be? Truly:
Both of these two iridescent pearls
are without price;
Yet one lover gets to drill his way
into each of them.
There is a song to the tune “Red Embroidered Slippers” that testifies to this:
Guilefully admitting her intimacy
with her son-in-law,
She lets him engage in intercourse
with his mother-in-law.
The affectation of human feelings
entails devilish deceit.
Feigning to heed the ritual proper
to brothers and sisters,
They secretly engage in the doings
of swallows and orioles.
The two of them can only serve as
blatant examples of this.9
On this occasion, as soon as Ch’en Ching-chi had finished his performance, Ch’un-mei collected the tea leaves and departed. From this time on, P’an Chin-lien and Ch’un-mei forged an alliance with each other and arranged secret assignations with the young scamp on more than one occasion, while keeping Ch’iu-chü in the dark. The woman listened to whatever Ch’un-mei had to say and presented her with some of her favorite articles of clothing and jewelry in order to secure her loyalty.
Ch’en Ching-chi Enjoys One Beauty and Makes Out with Two
On the first day of the sixth month, Chin-lien’s mother, Old Mrs. P’an, died of sickness and old age. When someone came to report this, Wu Yüeh-niang purchased an offertory table, replete with the meat of the three sacrificial animals and paper money for the use of the dead and sent Chin-lien to go outside the city gate with them, riding in a sedan chair, to participate in the obsequies and present the sacrificial offerings.
The day after she returned, which was the third day of the sixth month, Chin-lien got up early and went to Yüeh-niang’s room, where she spent what seemed like half a day telling her about it. After taking her leave, as she skirted the wall of the courtyard in which the large reception hall was located, upon feeling an urgent need to urinate, she hitched up her skirt and squatted down to relieve herself.
It so happens that after the death of Hsi-men Ch’ing there were few visitors any longer, so the ceremonial gate behind the large reception hall was normally kept closed. Ch’en Ching-chi, who resided in the anteroom on the east side of the courtyard, had just gotten up, when he suddenly heard the rustling noise made by someone urinating under the pomegranate tree on the other side of the wall.
Upon peeking surreptitiously out the window and realizing, to his surprise, who it was, he exclaimed, “Who is it that is uncouth enough to relieve herself here? You’d better hitch up your clothes or you’ll get your skirt wet.”
The woman promptly fastened up her skirt, moved over beside the window, and remarked, “So you’re still at home and haven’t even gotten up yet, have you? You’re certainly taking it easy. Is Hsi-men Ta-chieh here too?”
“She’s still in the rear compound,” said Ch’en Ching-chi. “We didn’t get to sleep until the third watch last night. The First Lady dragged us back there to listen to a recitation of the Hung-lo pao-chüan, or The Precious Scroll on the Red Silk Curtain,10 and I had to sit up listening to it so late that I very nearly:
Came down with a crick in the back.
It was all I could do to crawl out of bed this morning.”
“You inveterate louse!” Chin-lien responded. “Don’t try to fool me with those lies of yours. Since when did you go back to the master suite to listen to the recitation of a precious scroll while I was away from home yesterday? The maidservants tell me that you went to eat in Meng Yü-lou’s quarters yesterday.”
“Luckily Hsi-men Ta-chieh can bear witness on my behalf,” said Ch’en Ching-chi. “We were both there in the master suite. Since when did I venture into anyone else’s quarters?”
As they bandied words with each other, the young scamp stood on the k’ang, manipulated his organ until it rose up as hard and straight as a stick, and stuck it out through the window.
When the woman saw what he was up to, she laughed heartily and affected to take him to task, saying, “You crazy louse of an incorrigible short-life! By suddenly letting your old fellow out that way, you’ve given me quite a start. You’d better pull it back inside at once, before I’m tempted, for better or for worse, to jab it with a needle and give you the shock of pain that you deserve.”
“Venerable lady,” Ching-chi responded with a laugh, “if you don’t like the looks of it, you might as well stick it into a safe place, which would also be doing me a favor.”
The woman continued to rail at him, saying:
“You’re such a practiced old hand,
aren’t you, you crazy jailbird!”
So saying, she groped out a miniature brass mirror that she carried at her waist, set it on the windowsill, and pretended to look into the mirror in order to redo her makeup, while actually engulfing his organ with her ruby lips
and sucking away at it. She continued to suck at it until the young man felt that:
The tip of his magic rhinoceros horn11
was being anointed;
While his heart melted with a panoply
of lustful feelings.
Truly:
Past mistress of the intimate arts,
she caters to her lover’s whim;
How quick she is, and diligent,
to “play the purple flute.”
It so happens that the woman resorted to this subterfuge so that if anyone caught sight of her, they would think that she was looking into the mirror while redoing her makeup and would not realize what she was really up to.
Her depravity was manifest,
Completely devoid of shame.
Just as she was engaged in sucking away for all she was worth, the sound of someone’s footsteps was heard, and the woman promptly put the mirror away and stepped to one side, while Ch’en Ching-chi withdrew his organ.
It turned out to be the servant Lai-an, who walked over and said, “Manager Fu Ming out front is inviting you to go join him for lunch.”
“Tell him to go ahead and eat,” said Ch’en Ching-chi. “I’ll come as soon as I’ve finished combing my hair.”
As soon as Lai-an had left the scene, the woman whispered to Ch’en Ching-chi, saying, “Don’t go out anywhere tonight, but stay in your quarters and wait till I send Ch’un-mei after you. There’s something I want to say to you.”
Ch’en Ching-chi replied:
“I respectfully accept the invitation.”
When she had finished speaking, the woman returned to her quarters.
When Ch’en Ching-chi had finished his morning ablutions, he went out to the shop to take care of business, as usual. But no more of this.
It was not too long after this that the daylight began to fade. That night:
The moon was dark, the stars barely visible,
and the weather was extremely hot. The woman told Ch’un-mei to heat water so she could bathe in her room and trim her toenails, after which she should prepare her bedding, drive away the mosquitoes, let down the gauze mosquito netting, and light some incense in a little burner.
“Mother,” said Ch’un-mei, “you may not be aware of it, but today marks the beginning of the three ten-day periods of the hot season. Wouldn’t you like to have some impatiens blossoms with which to dye your fingernails? I can go find some for you.”
“Go ahead and look for some then,” the woman said.
“The only place there are any,” said Ch’un-mei, “is in the large courtyard. I’ll go pick a few for you. You should tell Ch’iu-chü to get out the mortar and pestle and pulverize some garlic cloves for the purpose.”12
The woman proceeded to:
Whisper into her ear in a low voice,
as she instructed Ch’un-mei, saying, “You must go by the anteroom where he lives and invite him to come visit me tonight. I have something to say to him.”
When Ch’un-mei departed on her errand, the woman remained in her room where, by the time she had finished bathing her fragrant flesh and trimming her toenails, some time had passed. Ch’un-mei finally showed up with several impatiens blossoms, and Ch’iu-chü was put to work pulverizing them with the garlic cloves until it was nearly midnight. The woman also gave her several goblets of wine to drink and then sent her off to sleep in the kitchen. When the woman had dyed the nails of her ten slender fingers under the lamplight, she told Ch’un-mei to take a wide bench out into the courtyard and supply it with a cool bamboo bed mat along with a pillow and bedding, so she could cool herself off.
By this time, the night watches were nearly over. Behold:
Within red gates there is no sound;
The asterism “Jade Rope” hangs low.13
The stars of the Herd Boy and the Weaving Maid,
Are isolated on the two banks of the milky way.
Suddenly, one becomes aware of:
A whiff of floral fragrance, and
The glow of a few fireflies.
The woman, while:
Wielding a silken fan in her hand,
was:
Lying on her pillow as she waited.
Ch’un-mei had left the postern gate closed but unlocked. Truly:
Waiting by moonlight in the western chamber,
Welcoming the breeze, the door is half ajar.
As the flower shadows move outside the wall,
She anticipates the appearance of her lover.14
It so happens that Ch’en Ching-chi had agreed in advance that he would shake the branches of the woody hibiscus tree as a signal of his arrival, so when the woman saw the wavering of the flowery branches, she knew that he had come. When she had signaled her presence in the courtyard with a cough, he pushed open the gate and came in.
The two of them:
Sat down shoulder to shoulder,
and the woman asked, “Who was in your quarters when you left?”
“Hsi-men Ta-chieh has not come out from the rear compound today,” Ch’en Ching-chi replied. “I have already arranged for Yüan-hsiao to keep watch in our quarters and come to get me if anything should happen.”
He then went on to ask, “Has Ch’iu-chü gone to sleep yet?”
“She is already fast asleep,” the woman replied.
When they had finished speaking:
Hugging and embracing each other,
the two of them proceeded to:
Strip their bodies completely naked,15 and
Engage each other on pillow and mat;
Unable to overcome their excitement.
Behold, to the tune “Song of the South”:
In lascivious excitement the two are united.
Embracing each other’s fragrant shoulders,
they rub their cheeks together.
With his hand he fondles her fragrant breasts,
as soft as cotton.
How truly amazing it is!
Lifting up her feet, she takes off
her embroidered slippers,
And snuggles her jade body into her lover’s bosom.
As she sticks out her clove-shaped tongue,16
he opens his mouth.
When the tossing and tumbling mating phoenixes
finish with the clouds and rain,
She enjoins her talented lover,
“Tomorrow, whatever you do, try to
come a little earlier.”17
When they had finished their game of clouds and rain, the woman got out five taels worth of loose silver and gave it to Ch’en Ching-chi, saying, “My mother, Old Mrs. P’an from outside the city gate, has died. A coffin was provided for her by your father-in-law while he was still alive. The First Lady sent me to take part in the third-day encoffining ceremony and burn paper money on her behalf. Tomorrow is the date for her burial ceremony, but the First Lady won’t let me go, on the grounds that while we are still in mourning for Father it is not right for us to appear at public gatherings. I’m giving these five taels of silver to you in the hope that early tomorrow morning you will agree to go outside the city gate and help with the funeral arrangements for my mother, Old Mrs. P’an, reward her coffin bearers, and see that she is properly buried. If you consent to do so, it will be just as though I were doing it myself.”
Ch’en Ching-chi accepted the silver with one hand and said, “That’s no problem. If you assign such a task to me:
Once one has acceded to someone’s request,
It is imperative to see the job through to the end.
I’ll go out the gate as early as possible tomorrow morning, and when my mission is accomplished I’ll come back and report to you.”
When he had finished speaking, fearing that Hsi-men Ta-chieh might come home during his absence, he promptly returned to the antechamber in which they lived. Of the events of that evening there is nothing more to relate.
The next day, he returned from his mission around lunchtime and found that Chin-lien had just gotte
n up and was still in her room combing her hair. Ch’en Ching-chi came inside to report to her and gave her two sprigs of jasmine blossoms that he had plucked on the grounds of the Chao-hua ssu, or Temple of Glorious Transformation, outside the gate for her to wear.
“Has the coffin been duly buried?” the woman asked.
“How could I have failed to see that the venerable lady’s:
Yellow gold is stored in the coffer?”
replied Ch’en Ching-chi. “Before coming home to report to you, I still had two taels and six or seven mace of silver in hand, which I gave to your adopted sister to take care of her daily expenses. She asked me to extend her greetings to you with:
A thousand thanks and ten thousand
expressions of gratitude.”
When the woman learned that her mother had been buried in her grave, she shed a few tears and then instructed Ch’un-mei, saying, “Put the jasmine blossoms in a bowl of water, and bring some tea for our brother-in-law to drink.”
Before long, two boxes of steamed-shortcake pastries and four saucers of appetizers were brought out. When Ch’en Ching-chi had enjoyed these refreshments, he went back out to the front compound. From that time on, the woman and the young scamp:
Became closer by the day.18
One morning, during the seventh month, the woman said to him, “Don’t go out anywhere today, but stay in your quarters, so I can come to you there and we can have some fun together.”
Ch’en Ching-chi assented to this. Unexpectedly, however, he was invited by Ts’ui Pen and a number of his friends to join them in an all-day excursion outside the city walls. When he came home, he was quite drunk, and no sooner did he collapse onto his bed than he fell fast asleep and became oblivious to:
Heaven above and earth below.
At dusk, Chin-lien suddenly appeared in his quarters and saw that he was stretched out asleep on the bed. Forgoing any attempt at a greeting, she tried unsuccessfully to shake him awake and realized that he must have been out drinking somewhere. Who could have anticipated that:
Strange as it may seem,
when the woman groped into his sleeve, she hooked out a gold-plated hairpin in the shape of a lotus petal with two rows of characters engraved on it that said:
The horse with the golden bridle neighs
amidst the fragrant verdure;
The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei Page 12
