The Debt of Tears

by Cao Xueqin

  As she was speaking, Xi-feng entered the room and greeted first Grandmother Jia, then Lady Wang.

  ‘What did you want to ask me about, Grannie?’ she asked.

  ‘Tell me,’ replied Grandmother Jia, ‘can you recall that nasty attack you had last year?’

  Xi-feng laughed.

  ‘Not very clearly. The main thing I remember about it is that I was possessed. There was someone manipulating me, filling my head with the most bloodthirsty intentions. I had a terrible urge to grab hold of everything in sight and kill it. I was exhausted, but I couldn’t stop.’

  ‘And then?’ asked Grandmother Jia. ‘When you were cured?’

  ‘There was a voice,’ replied Xi-feng, ‘that seemed to speak to me from nowhere. But what it said I honestly can’t remember.’

  ‘That settles it!’ exclaimed the old lady. ‘That’s exactly the sort of thing she got up to! So it was her doing, it must have been! Oh! How could the old woman sink so low - and Bao-yu’s own godmother too! Gracious Lord, to think that if those two holy men had not arrived in time, he might easily have died! And we still have not repaid them…’

  ‘But Grannie,’ asked Xi-feng, ‘what made you think of all this in the first place?’

  ‘Ask your aunt,’ replied Grandmother Jia. ‘I’ve done enough of the talking.’

  Lady Wang took over the story.

  ‘Sir Zheng told us when he was here this morning. Apparently Bao-yu’s godmother, Mother Ma, is an evil old woman and a practising witch. As the result of certain scandalous revelations, she’s been arrested by the secret police and sent to the Central Jail. I should imagine she’s been sentenced to death by now.

  ‘The whole thing started the other day, when a Mr Pan San-bao informed against her. He had been trying to sell a property to a pawnbroker across the street. His price had already risen by several hundred per cent, and when he asked for more the pawnbroker backed out. So, in an attempt to salvage his sale, Mr Pan hired the services of our Mother Ma, whom he knew to be a regular visitor at the pawnshop and intimate with all the womenfolk there. She duly succeeded, by some evil means, in throwing the pawnbroker’s wife into a convulsion. Then, waiting until the attack reached alarming proportions, she had the effrontery to arrive in person, claiming to possess a patent cure for the affliction. And sure enough, after a few burnt offerings of her paper charms, paper money and so forth, the wife recovered and the witch coolly demanded a dozen or so taels of silver for her services in exorcizing her own spell!

  ‘But nothing escapes the watchful eye of the Good Lord Buddha,’ continued Lady Wang. ‘Her detection and downfall were already close at hand. That same day, in her haste to leave the pawnbroker’s premises, she inadvertently dropped a silk bundle. The pawnbroker picked it up, took a look inside, and noticed a number of paper figures and four unusually potent cakes of incense. He became suspicious, and when the old woman returned to recover her bundle he seized her and subjected her to a quick search. He discovered hidden on her person a casket containing two ivory statuettes, a male and a female, both completely naked - you know those pocket-sized figures of the devil they use – and seven red embroidery needles.

  ‘She was taken straight to the secret police, and when questioned revealed her intimate connections with the mistresses and young ladies of several eminent and wealthy families. The case was reported to the highest authorities, and her house was searched. They found quite a few clay figures of those horrible Spectral Furies and several boxes of narcotic incense; also, hanging in a hidden compartment behind the kang, a Seven Star Lamp with all kinds of straw effigies spread below it, some with bands round their heads, others with nails through their chests or padlocks round their necks. She had a whole cupboard full of spare paper figures, and there were account slips all over the floor, listing families dealt with and amounts outstanding, together with records of goodness knows how much money received for “oil and incense”.’

  ‘Our attacks were definitely her doing!’ exclaimed Xi-feng. ‘I remember now. It was after we recovered – when the old witch came to visit Aunt Zhao a couple of times to collect her “contributions” – something horrible seemed to come over her when she saw me; she went pale, and there was a nasty look in her eyes. I wondered what it meant at the time, but I just couldn’t see any reason for her to cause trouble. After what you’ve just said, though, it all makes sense. With my responsibilities I can’t help making enemies, and some of them are bound to try and get their own back somehow or other. But who could bear a grudge against Bao-yu? That must be pure malice.’

  ‘Or jealousy,’ suggested Grandmother Jia, ‘because she knows I’m not as fond of Huan as I am of Bao-yu. Perhaps that’s why she tried to harm you both.’

  ‘Anyway,’ said Lady Wang, ‘as the old woman is already in prison, we won’t be able to call on her to testify, and without her evidence we will never be able to make Aunt Zhao confess. Besides we simply can’t have the family involved in a scandal of this sort. We must bide our time. She is certain to give herself away sooner or later.’

  ‘You’re quite right,’ Grandmother Jia complimented Lady Wang. ‘In cases like this it is so hard to prove anything without conclusive evidence. We must just be thankful that the all-seeing Lord Buddha and his bodhisattvas have kept our two from harm. There! It’s all over! And please, Feng, don’t ever bring the subject up again. You can both stay and have dinner with me.’ She turned to Faithful and Amber. ‘Tell them we are ready to be served.’

  The old lady’s parting shot did not go unnoticed by Xi-feng, who laughed and said:

  ‘So now I’m the one that set you worrying, am I?’

  Lady Wang laughed at them both. Meanwhile the waiting-women were standing expectantly outside the door, and Xi-feng told the junior maids that she and Lady Wang were staying to dinner and that they could commence service. As she was speaking, Silver came in with a message for Lady Wang from Sir Zheng. He had mislaid something, and would she go over after dinner and help him find it?

  ‘You’d better go now,’ said Grandmother Jia. ‘You never know – it might be something important.’

  ‘Yes, Mother.’

  Leaving Xi-feng to hold the fort, Lady Wang walked over to her own apartment. A brief search soon revealed the missing item.

  ‘Has Ying-chun gone back yet?’ Jia Zheng asked her in the course of conversation. ‘How is she getting on with the Suns?’

  ‘The poor girl could do nothing but cry while she was here,’ replied Lady Wang. ‘She says her husband is an absolute monster.’

  Jia Zheng sighed as she told him Ying-chun’s sad tale.

  ‘I knew they were unsuited,’ he commented. ‘But what could I do? Brother She insisted on going ahead with it. The child will have her share of suffering, I’m afraid.’

  ‘They’ve not been married long, don’t forget,’ replied Lady Wang. ‘We must hope that time will sort things out for them.’

  She suddenly laughed.

  ‘What’s the joke?’ asked Jia Zheng.

  ‘Oh, I just remembered some nonsense of Bao-yu’s. He came here first thing this morning specially to talk to me about Ying-chun.’

  ‘Oh yes? What did he have to say?’

  Lady Wang gave a humorous account of her early morning interview with Bao-yu and of his ‘brilliant plan’, which despite himself Jia Zheng found rather amusing.

  ‘Speaking of Bao-yu,’ he said, in a more serious tone, ‘the boy spends all his time loafing about in the garden – it simply won’t do. With one’s daughters – well, one has one’s disappointments, I realize, but in the long run girls get married and leave the family anyway. With a son, however, it is totally different. If he should fall by the wayside, the whole future of the family could be threatened.

  ‘It so happens that only the other day a friend recommended a tutor, a widely-read scholar, a man of the highest principles, and what is more a southerner like ourselves. But I have come to the conclusion that southerners are altogether too easy-g
oing for the boys up here in the capital, who misbehave themselves abominably and are most of them smart enough to get by without having to do a stroke of work. They’re a bumptious breed to begin with, and if their teacher mollycoddles them and is not prepared to take them down a peg or two, it’s a waste of everyone’s time.

  ‘That is why it has never been a family practice to engage outside tutors, and why we have always had a member of the clan, an older man, with a decent smattering of culture of course, to run the school. Dai-ru, the present preceptor, may be rather a mediocre scholar, but he’s certainly an effective disciplinarian, and sees to it that the work gets done. Bao-yu’s present state of idleness is thoroughly unsatisfactory, and in my opinion the best solution would be for him to resume his studies at the Family School.’

  ‘I agree with you entirely,’ said Lady Wang. ‘Since your last posting he has been constantly ill, and what with one thing and another has fallen a long way behind with his studies. I think the routine of going to school would do him good.’

  Jia Zheng nodded, and they continued chatting for a while longer.

  *

  Little time was lost. The very next day, as soon as Bao-yu was up and had finished washing and combing his hair, a deputation of pages arrived and sent in the message: ‘Sir Zheng wishes to see Master Bao.’ Hurriedly tidying his clothes, Bao-yu went straight over to his father’s study. He paid his morning respects and stood to attention.

  ‘Tell me,’ Jia Zheng began, ‘what you have been doing recently in the way of work? A fair amount, were you going to say? A very magnum opus of your worthless doodling, no doubt… I have observed you of late. Your idleness goes from strength to strength. I am also constantly hearing of some new ailment of yours, or shall we rather say ingenious pretext to play truant. I trust I find you fully recovered?

  ‘Another thing: I gather you spend the greater part of your time fooling around with your cousins in the garden, and that even the maidservants are permitted to participate in your infantile antics. Isn’t it time you grew up and acquired a little self-esteem? You must understand that those verses you write are not going to impress anyone. The only thing the examiners are interested in is a well-written composition. And the effort you have expended in that direction has so far been non-existent.

  ‘Now listen carefully to what I have to say. From today, I want you to forget all about your verses and couplets. You are to concentrate exclusively on Octopartite Compositions. I will give you twelve months’ grace. If by the end of that time you are still in your present unregenerate state, you may as well give up altogether, and I for my part shall have to think again about owning a creature like you as my son.’

  He summoned Li Gui.

  ‘Inform Tealeaf that he is to take Bao-yu first thing tomorrow morning to collect the required textbooks, and then bring them here for my inspection. I shall be accompanying him to school myself.’

  Turning to Bao-yu:

  ‘Off with you!’ he trumpeted. ‘I shall expect you early tomorrow morning.’

  Bao-yu returned to Green Delights, where Aroma was anxiously awaiting him. The pleasure with which she received the news of his renewed course of study contrasted strangely with the incredulous horror that had rendered him speechless while in Jia Zheng’s presence, and that now prompted him to send an urgent message through to Grandmother Jia, begging her to intervene. She sent for him at once and said:

  ‘You should give it a try, my darling. You don’t want to anger your father. Don’t worry. Remember I shall always be here if you need me.’

  There was nothing for it but to go back and give the maids their instructions. ‘Wake me at the crack of dawn, as Father will be waiting to take me to school.’ Aroma and Musk took it in turns to stay awake that night.

  In the morning Aroma woke Bao-yu punctually, helped him wash, comb his hair and dress, and sent a junior maid out with instructions for Tealeaf to wait with the books at the inner gate. She had to spur him on a couple of times before finally he left and made his way towards the study. On his way he stopped to inquire if Sir Zheng had arrived yet, and was informed by a page from the study that one of the literary gentlemen had just called, but had been kept waiting outside, as the Master was still in his dressing-room. This calmed Bao-yu’s nerves a little, and he proceeded on to the inner sanctum. As luck would have it, a servant was at that very moment coming out on his way to fetch him, so he went straight in. After another brief homily, Jia Zheng led the way and father and son took a carriage to the school, Tealeaf following with the books.

  A look-out had been posted, and Dai-ru had been alerted and was standing in readiness for the party’s arrival. Before the old man could come forward to greet him, however, Jia Zheng walked into the schoolroom and paid his respects. Dai-ru took him by the hand and inquired politely after Lady Jia. Bao-yu then went up and paid his respects. Jia Zheng remained standing throughout, and insisted on waiting until Dai-ru was seated before sitting down himself.

  ‘I have come here today,’ he began, ‘because I felt the need to entrust my son to you personally, and with a few words of instruction. He is no longer a child, and if he is to shoulder his responsibilities and earn a place in the world, it is high time he applied himself conscientiously to preparing for his exams. At home, unfortunately, he spends all his time idling about in the company of children. His verses, the only field in which he has acquired any competence, are for the most part turgid juvenilia, at their best romantic trifles devoid of substance.’

  ‘And he looks such a fine lad,’ interposed Dai-ru. ‘He seems so intelligent. Why this refusal to study, this perverse streak of hedonism? Not that one should entirely neglect poetic composition. But there is surely time enough for that later on in one’s career.’

  ‘Precisely,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘For the present I would humbly suggest a course of reading and exegesis of primary scriptural texts, and plenty of compositions. If he should show the least sign of being a recalcitrant pupil, I earnestly beseech you to take him in hand, and in so doing to save him from a shallow and wasted life.’

  On this note he rose, and with a bow and a few parting remarks took his leave. Dai-ru accompanied him to the door.

  ‘Please convey my respects to Lady Jia.’

  ‘I will,’ said Jia Zheng, and climbed into his carriage.

  When Dai-ru returned to the classroom, Bao-yu was already sitting at a small rosewood desk in the south-west corner of the room, by the window. He had two sets of texts and a meagre-looking volume of model compositions stacked in a pile on his right. Tealeaf was instructed to put his paper, ink, brush and inkstone away in the drawer of the desk.

  ‘I understand you have been ill, Bao-yu,’ said Dai-ru. ‘I hope you are quite recovered?’

  Bao-yu rose to his feet.

  ‘Quite recovered, thank you sir.’

  ‘We must see to it that you apply yourself with zeal from now on. Your father is most insistent that you should do well. Start by revising the texts you have already memorized.

  ‘Your timetable will be as follows:

  Pre-prandium – General Revision

  Post-prandium – Calligraphy

  Meridianum - Exegesis

  And conclude the day’s work by reciting quietly to yourself a few model compositions. That should do for the time being.’

  ‘Yes sir.’

  As Bao-yu sat down again, he glanced around him. Most of the old faces from the Jokey Jin days were gone, and in their place were quite a few new boys. He reflected on their exceptionally boorish appearance, and the face of Qin Zhong came suddenly into his mind. Since the death of his friend there had been no one to keep him company in his studies, no one to share his innermost thoughts. He was overwhelmed with a sense of grief and loneliness, and sat silently staring at his books.

  Not long afterwards Dai-ru came over to say that as this was his first day he could leave early.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ he said, ‘I shall go through a passage with you. On second tho
ughts, to do justice to your natural intelligence, I should like you to expound a passage or two for me. That will give me a clearer idea of the sort of work you have been doing and the standard you have reached.’

  Bao-yu’s heart was already thumping. But to learn how he fared the following day, you must read the next chapter.

  Chapter 82

  An old pedant tries to instil some Moral Philosophy into his incorrigible pupil

  And the ailing Naiad, in a nightmare, confronts the spectres of her fevered mind

  ‘Bravo!’ cried Grandmother Jia as Bao-yu came in from school. ‘So they’ve finally broken in my frisky colt! Come along now, your father will be expecting to see you I’m sure. Then you must find something nice and relaxing to do.’

  ‘Yes, Grannie.’

  Bao-yu reported to the study.

  ‘Back already?’ said Jia Zheng. ‘Well, has the Preceptor given you a scheme of work?’

  Bao-yu rehearsed his timetable: ‘Pre-prandium – General Revision; Post-prandium – Calligraphy; Meridianum – Exegesis and reading of model compositions.’

  ‘H’m…’ Jia Zheng nodded. ‘Fair enough. Off you go now and keep your grandmother company for a little while. Let’s see if you can turn over a new leaf and behave seriously from now on. No more of the old childish nonsense, eh? Go to bed on time, rise early, and attend your classes regularly. Understood?’

  With a string of fluent ‘Yes Sirs’, Bao-yu backed smartly out of the study. He hurried over to see his mother, put in another brief appearance at Grandmother Jia’s – so brief that he hardly had time to turn around – then dashed off once more, impatient to reach the Naiad’s House.

  ‘I’m back!’ he called from outside the doorway. The unexpectedness of his arrival, and the explosion of laughing and clapping that announced it, gave Dai-yu quite a turn. Nightingale drew aside the portière and he walked in and sat himself down.

  ‘Does my memory fail me,’ said Dai-yu, ‘or didn’t I hear something to the effect that you were going to school today? Haven’t you been let off rather early?’