The Debt of Tears

by Cao Xueqin

  On the contrary,’ said Jia Zheng. ‘Leave them alone. Evil manifestations thrive on such superstition. Ignore them and they disappear.’

  ‘What’s all this?’ interrupted Grandmother Jia testily. ‘We’re all gathered here to witness a happy event. Why do you have to start talking about manifestations and what-have-you? When there’s good luck then enjoy it while you can. I’ll take care of any bad luck. I forbid you to utter another word of such gloomy nonsense.’

  This silenced Jia Zheng, and he and Jia She effected an awkward departure. Grandmother Jia was unperturbed and determined to enjoy herself.

  ‘Send someone to the kitchen,’ she said. ‘We want wine and some nice things to eat. We’ll have a little party. I should like you, Bao-yu, Huan and Lan, each to write a poem to celebrate the occasion. Miss Lin has been unwell so she can be excused. If she feels up to it she can help you boys polish yours.’

  Turning to Li Wan she continued:

  ‘You and the others come up and have some wine with me.’

  ‘Yes Grannie,’ said Li Wan, then turning to Tan-chun she laughed and said:

  ‘This is all your fault, Tan!’

  ‘What do you mean?’ protested Tan-chun. ‘We’ve been let off the poetry-writing – my fault for what?’

  ‘Aren’t you the founder of the Crab-flower. Club?’ replied Li Wan. ‘I know that crab was an Autumn Crab – but can’t you see? Now the real crab-blossom wants to join in too…’

  Everyone laughed at the idea.

  Food and wine were now served, and they all drank and did their best to humour the old lady with light-hearted conversation. Bao-yu came up to pour himself some wine, and standing there thought up a quatrain which he then wrote out and recited for his grandmother.

  I asked the crab-tree why at blossom-time it failed,

  Yet now profusely bloomed so long before the spring?

  The tree replied: ‘Midwinter marks the birth of light.

  Glad tidings to the Mistress of this House I bring.’

  It was Huan’s turn next. He wrote his out and began to recite:

  Plants should put out buds in spring:

  Our crab tree’s timing’s topsy-turvy.

  Of all the wonders of the world

  Ours is the only winter-flowering tree.

  Then Jia Lan made a careful copy of his poem, in immaculate kai-shu calligraphy, and presented it to his great-grandmother, who asked Li Wan to read it out for her.

  Your mist-congealed beauty blighted in the spring,

  Your frosted petals blush now in the snow.

  Hail Tree of Wisdom! Whose Rebirth

  Adds lustre to our Family Hearth.

  When she reached the end, Grandmother Jia commented:

  ‘I don’t know much about poetry, but I should judge Lan’s good, while I should say that Huan’s was poor. Come on now, everybody come and have something to eat.’

  Bao-yu was affected by her jolly mood. But then he thought to himself:

  ‘Last year when the crab-trees died was the year Skybright died. Now the crab-trees have come back to life. That’s all very well for us; but Skybright can never live again…’

  This thought threw him into a sudden depression; then he remembered what Qiao-jie had recently said, that Xi-feng might be sending him pretty Fivey. Perhaps it was her imminent arrival that the strange blossoming portended? This prospect dispelled his gloom and he became his smiling self once more.

  Grandmother Jia stayed a while longer, then returned to her apartment, leaning on Pearl and escorted by Lady Wang and the others. As she was leaving, Patience came hurrying up, her face wreathed in smiles:

  ‘Mrs Lian heard that you were here viewing the flowers,’ she said ‘and though she couldn’t come herself, she asked me to come and attend to Your Ladyships and to bring this parcel. It contains two rolls of red silk for Master Bao to decorate the trees with, and comes with Mrs Lian’s congratulations on the happy event.’

  Aroma came forward to receive the parcel and presented it to Grandmother Jia, who beamed with delight.

  ‘Trust Fengie to think of the right thing! What a nice idea! So distinguished!’

  Aroma gave Patience a smile.

  ‘Please thank Mrs Lian for Master Bao when you go back, will you?’ she said. ‘The happy event she is referring to is one that will make all of us happy, I’m sure…’

  When Aroma said this, it dawned on Grandmother Jia that Xi-feng was thinking of Bao-yu’s marriage, and her face lit up.

  ‘Aiyo!’ she exclaimed. ‘Of course! It never occurred to me! Fengie may be laid up in bed, but she’s still the cleverest of us all. What a perfect thing to send!’

  As she said this, she was already walking away from Green Delights, followed by her entourage. Patience whispered to Aroma:

  ‘Actually Mrs Lian says this flowering is an ill-omen, and you’re to cut strips of this red silk and hang them on the trees; that will help turn the bad luck into good. And in future you’re to avoid any superstitious chat about it.’

  Aroma nodded and saw Patience out.

  *

  Earlier that day, Bao-yu had been lounging around indoors, casually dressed in a fur-lined gown with slits at the sides. When he caught sight of the flowering crab-trees through the window, he went out to look at them. The more he gazed at the blossom the more lovely and poignant it seemed, the more strangely it seemed to reflect the mysterious vagaries of destiny, the joy and pathos of life. It was the embodiment of his own thoughts and feelings. Then, when he heard that Grandmother Jia was coming over, he hurried in to change into more formal attire, choosing a pale fox-lined robe with cut-away archer’s sleeves and a darker jacket, also fox-lined, to go with it. He emerged again properly dressed to receive his grandmother, and in his hurry quite forgot to put on his Magic Jade.

  When Grandmother Jia left he went in again to change back into his comfortable clothes, and it was then that Aroma detected the absence of the jade and asked him where it was.

  ‘I was in such a rush when I came in to change,’ he replied. ‘I took it off and left it on the kang-table. Then I forgot to put it on again.’

  Aroma looked but it was not on the table. She searched everywhere but could see no sign of it. She began to feel frightened, and broke into a cold sweat.

  ‘Please don’t worry,’ Bao-yu begged her. ‘It must be somewhere in the room. It’s bound to turn up. Ask the others – they might know.’

  It occurred to Aroma that Musk or one of the other maids might have hidden it somewhere as a practical joke and she bore down on them with an expression of playful accusation:

  ‘You mean lot! Can’t you think of a better way of amusing yourselves? Come on, where have you hidden it? Don’t take this too far! If it really did get lost we’d be in real trouble, all of us!’

  But Musk replied with a straight face:

  ‘What on earth do you mean? We’d know better than to play a trick like that. We’re not that silly. You’re the one who should stop and think a minute. Try to remember where you put it, instead of laying the blame on us!’

  Aroma could tell that Musk was in earnest and cried out in alarm:

  ‘Heaven save us then! Oh little ancestor, where can you have put it? You must try to remember!’

  ‘I do,’ replied Bao-yu, ‘I remember quite clearly putting it on the kang-table. Have another look for it.’

  The maids were too scared to tell anyone else, and joined together in a furtive search. This went on for most of the day but there was still no sign of the jade. They emptied every box, and rummaged in every trunk, until there simply was nowhere left to look and they began to wonder if perhaps one of the visitors might have picked it up earlier in the day.

  ‘How would anyone dare do such a thing?’ said Aroma. ‘Everyone knows how important it is, and that Master Bao’s very life hinges on it. Ask about it, but be very discreet. If you find out that one of the maids has taken it and is playing a trick on us, kotow to her and beg for it back.
If it’s a junior maid who’s stolen it, don’t tell a soul, just do whatever is necessary to get it back. Give her whatever you like in exchange. This is very serious. It would be terrible if we lost the jade, worse even than losing Master Bao himself!’

  Musk and Ripple set off on this mission. Aroma hurried out after them with a few final words of instruction:

  ‘On second thoughts, leave the people who were here at lunch-time till last. If it turns out to be someone else, we don’t want to offend them and cause a lot of ill-feeling to no purpose.’

  The two maids split up to make their inquiries, but everywhere they went it was the same story. Nobody knew anything about it. Everybody was equally taken aback by the news. They hurried back to report their lack of success, and stared at one another in despondent silence. Bao-yu himself was now beginning to look rather stunned, and Aroma was so desperate that she could only weep helplessly. What could they do? There was nowhere left to look. They were too scared to tell any of the elder members of the family. The entire establishment at Green Delights was immobilized with fear and resembled a group of wooden statues or clay dolls.

  One by one the others who had heard the news began to arrive, among them Tan-chun, who immediately gave orders for the Garden gate to be shut and sent an old serving-woman and two maids on another comprehensive search, announcing to everyone present that there would be a substantial reward for the recovery of the jade. They were all keen to establish their own innocence, and this, with the added incentive of winning the reward, now led to a flurry of indiscriminate searching. Every nook and cranny of the Garden was explored, not excluding the lavatories, but to no avail. It was as hopeless as hunting for an embroidery needle, and as evening drew on there was still no trace of the missing jade. Li Wan now sensed the urgency of the situation and said:

  ‘I have a suggestion to make. It’s not the sort of thing I would usually like to suggest but in the present circumstances I feel I must…’

  They all gave her their attention.

  ‘Things are so desperate that I think we have to try anything. Now apart from Bao-yu, all the residents of the Garden are girls. I should like you all to ask your maids to remove their dresses, so that we can search everyone properly. If that produces no results, then we should send them to search the older serving-women and cleaners. Do you all agree?’

  The consensus of opinion was that she was right. With so many people involved, and such confusion, this seemed the only way of establishing anyone’s innocence. Tan-chun was the only one to abstain from making any comment.

  The maids were eager to clear themselves, and Patience was the first to volunteer. One by one they all undid their dresses and filed past, while Li Wan supervised the examination. Tan-chun could contain herself no longer.

  ‘My dear Wan, can’t you see what a futile waste of time this all is? Supposing someone has stolen it; do you really think he or she would be foolish enough to carry it around? Anyway, why should anyone want to steal it? It means a lot to us, but outside this household it’s quite valueless. If you ask me, someone’s doing this out of spite.’

  They all knew immediately whom she was referring to. Jia Huan had been in and out of Green Delights many times that day. No one was prepared to mention his name, however, and she was obliged to be more specific herself:

  ‘It must be Huan. Who else would play such a nasty trick? Send someone secretly over to his room and bring him here. Get him on his own and talk him into producing the jade, then threaten to expose him unless he keeps his mouth shut, and there’s our mystery solved.’

  Amid much nodding of heads, Li Wan turned to Patience and said:

  ‘You’d better go. This will require all your tact.’

  ‘Yes ma’am,’ replied Patience, and hurried off.

  A few minutes later, when she returned with Jia Huan, the others pretended hardly to notice his arrival. One of them made him a pot of tea and placed it on a table in the inner room. Then they all shuffled out and left the scene clear for Patience. She gave him an ingenuous smile.

  ‘Master Bao’s jade has gone missing… I don’t suppose you’ve seen it anywhere have you?’

  Jia Huan’s face instantly flushed to an ugly shade of purple. He glowered at her.

  ‘Just because somebody’s lost something, does that mean that I automatically become the suspect and get called in for interrogation? Have I got a criminal record or something?’

  Patience decided to change tack, and said with a smile:

  ‘Of course no one would dream of suggesting you stole it! They just thought that perhaps you might have hidden it somewhere as a practical joke, and that by asking you if you’d seen it I might be able to get a few clues as to where they should look for it.’

  ‘It’s his jade, isn’t it?’ replied Jia Huan indignantly. ‘He’s the one that wears the thing – ask him, not me! You’re all so keen to please him, that’s your trouble! If something’s found I never get to hear of it! But the moment anything’s lost, it’s me that gets the blame!’

  He got up and stomped out of the room. The maids stepped back to let him through.

  All this only served to exasperate Bao-yu.

  ‘The amount of trouble that wretched thing has caused!’ he said. ‘I’ve no desire for it and I wish you would all forget about it. Now look what we’ve done. Huan will go and tell everybody and we’ll never hear the end of it.’

  ‘Little ancestor, please…’ came tearfully from where Aroma stood in the throng of distraught maids. ‘It’s all very well for you to say “forget about it”! But what you seem to have forgotten is that if their Ladyships get to hear, the likes of us will be torn to shreds and ground to powder!’

  This was followed by prolonged wailing. It soon became clear to them all that things could not be hushed up for much longer. They would have to agree on a story to tell Grandmother Jia and the other ladies.

  ‘That’s easy,’ said Bao-yu. ‘Just tell them I smashed it myself.’

  ‘No no! That’s no good!’ said Patience. ‘Can’t you see? They’ll want to know why you smashed it, and then things will look just as black for Aroma and the others. And besides, what if they want to see the pieces?’

  ‘Well then, say I lost it on a trip to town.’

  There was a moment’s silence as they all pondered this suggestion.

  ‘We might possibly have got away with that,’ said someone at last. ‘But during the past few days you haven’t been to school, and you haven’t been out anywhere either.’

  ‘Yes I have,’ Bao-yu corrected them. ‘A few days ago I went to the Earl of Lin-an’s to watch the plays. You can say I lost it then.’

  ‘No, that won’t do,’ said Tan-chun. ‘If you lost it as long ago as that, they’ll want to know why it hasn’t been reported till now.’

  They were still busy discussing the relative merits of these various fictions when suddenly they heard the voice of Aunt Zhao, cursing and wailing her way towards them.

  ‘If you lose something, why can’t you look for it yourselves, instead of sneaking up and blaming my boy? Well, here he is! Take him! Sacrifice him if you think it will do you any good! Kill him! Hack him to pieces! Do what you like with him!’

  She propelled Jia Huan into the room, crying:

  ‘Thief! Hurry up and confess your crime!’

  This brought loud and angry protestations from Huan. Li Wan was just bracing herself to intervene and make the peace when a maid came rushing in and announced:

  ‘Her Ladyship is here!’

  Aroma and the maids could see that a confrontation was now inevitable. Bao-yu and the girls went out at once to receive Lady Wang. Aunt Zhao’s wrath subsided for a moment and she followed them out. From the startled look on their faces Lady Wang could see that what she had heard must be true.

  ‘Is it really lost?’ she cried.

  No one dared reply. Lady Wang walked in, sat down and called Aroma forward. Aroma fell trembling to her knees. In a choked voice she murmu
red ‘Yes.’

  ‘Well, get up!’ said Lady Wang. ‘We must have a thorough search made. Come on, this helpless attitude will never do.’

  Aroma was sobbing and could not say a word. Bao-yu finally spoke up, fearful that she might blurt out the truth.

  ‘Mother, this has nothing to do with Aroma. I lost it the other day on my way back from seeing the plays at the Earl of Lin-an’s.’

  ‘Then why didn’t you look for it at the time?’

  ‘I didn’t want anyone to know. I just told Tealeaf to look for it everywhere along the street.’

  ‘Nonsense! You know perfectly well that Aroma or one of your other maids would have noticed. That’s their job. They are always with you when you change. Whenever you come in from a party or any kind of excursion, if one of your handkerchiefs is missing, or a little purse, they’re bound to ask you where it’s gone – do you really think that they would allow something as irreplaceable as your jade to disappear, and not say a word?’

  Bao-yu was stumped for an answer. Aunt Zhao, who was gloating over his discomfiture, hastened to put in:

  ‘If you’re so sure you lost it outside, why try to pin the blame on Huan?’

  ‘That’s enough from you!’ said Lady Wang sharply. ‘You keep out of this!’

  Aunt Zhao was reduced to silence. It was left to Li Wan and Tan-chun to give the true story, which brought tears to Lady Wang’s eyes. In her agitation she was for telling Grandmother Jia and going over to Lady Xing’s apartment to question the members of her household who had been to Green Delights earlier in the day.

  The news had meanwhile reached Xi-feng on her sickbed. When she heard that Lady Wang had arrived at Green Delights she felt obliged to put in an appearance and, leaning on Felicity’s arm, made her way towards the Garden. She arrived just as Lady Wang was about to leave.

  ‘Good evening, Aunt.’

  Xi-feng’s voice trembled slightly as she spoke. Bao-yu and the others came up to greet her.

  ‘So you’ve heard the news too!’ said Lady Wang to Xi-feng. ‘Most extraordinary! It vanished just like that, and can’t be found anywhere. Think for a moment: of all the maids, including all of Lady Jia’s and even your own Patience, which would you say showed thieving tendencies, or had a malicious disposition? I intend to tell Lady Jia, and to order a thorough search. Until we find it, Bao-yu’s life hangs in the balance!’