The Crab-Flower Club

by Cao Xueqin

  ‘What a lovely smell!’ said Tan-chun, when she and Li Wan had finished discussing the theme for the verse-making. ‘You can smell it from here. I’m going outside to have some.’

  She went out to join the three around the brazier. Li Wan followed her.

  ‘Everyone’s ready and waiting,’ said Li Wan. ‘Haven’t you two finished eating yet?’

  ‘I need wine to inspire my verse,’ said Xiang-yun, speaking with a mouth full of venison, ‘and eating roast venison gives me a thirst for wine. So if I didn’t eat this venison, I shouldn’t be able to write any poetry for you.’

  She caught sight of Bao-qin, in the beautiful drake’s head cloak that Caltrop had thought was made of peacock’s feathers, hanging back somewhat from the rest and smiling wistfully.

  ‘Thoppy!’ she called out to her. ‘Come and try thome!’

  ‘Too dirty!’ said Bao-qin.

  ‘Go and try some,’ Bao-chai urged her. ‘It’s very good. The only reason your Cousin Lin isn’t having any is because she’s delicate and can’t digest it. If it weren’t for that, she would love to have some herself.’

  Hearing this, Bao-qin went over and nibbled a bit, and finding it good, began to tuck in with as much gusto as the rest.

  Presently a little maid arrived from Xi-feng summoning Patience to return; but Patience told the girl to go back without her and tell her mistress that she was being detained by Miss Shi. Shortly after the maid’s departure Xi-feng herself arrived, with a rain-cape over her shoulders.

  ‘This looks good,’ she said jovially. ‘You might have told me!’

  With that she joined the other five in their alfresco feast round the brazier.

  ‘You look like a party of down-and-outs,’ said Dai-yu. ‘Oh dear, oh dear! Poor Snowy Rushes Retreat, polluted by Butcher Yun and her reeking carnivores! I weep for you!’

  ‘What do you know about it?’ said Xiang-yun scornfully. ‘ “True wits make elegant whate’er they touch.” Yours is a false purity. Odious purity! Now we may reek and raven; but presently you will see us with the pure spirit of poetry in our breasts and the most delicate, silken phrases on our lips!’

  ‘You’d better see to it that the verses you make are good ones,’ said Bao-chai, laughing, ‘otherwise we shall make you expiate the pollution by plucking the venison from your insides and stuffing you with snowy rushes!’

  They had now made an end of eating, and washed their hands. In putting on her bracelets again, Patience noticed that one of them was missing; but though she and the others looked all around them, they were unable to find it. They were still puzzling over its disappearance when Xi-feng smilingly put an end to the search:

  ‘I know where the bracelet’s gone. You others go in and get on with your poetry.’

  ‘There’s no need to look for it any longer,’ she told Patience. ‘You will have to go home without it; but I promise that within three days from now you shall have it back again.’

  What are your poems to be about this time?’ she asked the cousins. ‘Grandma says that as it’s getting near the end of the year, we shall soon be needing some First Month lantern riddles.’

  ‘Ah yes, of course!’ they said. ‘We’d quite forgotten, We’d better make some good ones up in advance to have ready for the festival.’

  During this exchange they had been trooping into the room in the Retreat which had the under-floor heating. Wine-cups and prepared dishes had been laid there in readiness by the servants. A paper stuck to the wall announced the theme, form and rhyme for the forthcoming poetry contest. Bao-yu and Xiang-yun, who had not yet seen it, quickly went over to look. This is what it said:

  Theme: The Snow

  Form: Linked Pentameters

  Rhyme: Eyes

  No order of composition had been indicated.

  ‘I’m not much good at poetry myself,’ said Li Wan, ‘so I shall merely start you off by giving you the first three lines. After that, whoever is the first to think of a good following line can carry on.’

  ‘I think we ought to have a fixed order,’ said Bao-chai.

  As to whether or not her advice was taken, that will be made clear in the following chapter.

  Chapter 50

  Linked verses in Snowy Rushes Retreat

  And lantern riddles in the Spring In Winter Room

  ‘I THINK we ought to have a fixed order,’ said Bao-chai. ‘Just me write the names down and we can decide what it is to be by lot.’

  When she had written down their names and torn up the paper, the slips were drawn and she copied them down in the order in which they came out. Li Wan, by coincidence, retained the first place.

  ‘If this is what you are doing,’ said Xi-feng, ‘I may as well contribute a line of my own to start you off with.’

  ‘Yes, yes,’ said the others. ‘Please do!’

  Bao-chai added the name ‘Feng’ to the list, above that of ‘Farmer Sweet-rice’, while Li Wan explained what the subject was and what sort of line it had to be. Xi-feng listened attentively and thought for some moments before speaking.

  ‘You mustn’t laugh if this sounds a bit unpolished,’ she said at last, ‘but at least I think it’s the right length. Mind you, I’ve no idea how it could go on.’

  ‘Never mind how unpolished it is,’ they said. ‘Just tell us what it is; then you can leave, if you want to, and get on with your own work.’

  ‘Well, when it snows, there’s always a north wind,’ said Xi-feng, ‘and last night I could hear the north wind blowing all night long; so I’ve made a line up about that:

  Last night the north wind blew the whole night through.

  There you are – take it or leave it!’

  The others looked at each other in pleased surprise.

  ‘Even if the language of this line is a bit unpolished and you can’t see what’s going to follow it, it’s exactly the kind of line that a skilled poet would begin with. Not only is the line good in itself, but it leaves so many possibilities open to the person who follows. Put that down for our first line then, Sweet-rice, and you can finish the couplet.’

  Before they proceeded any further, however, Xi-feng, Mrs Li and Patience drank two cups of wine with them, after which they left. As soon as they had gone, Li Wan wrote out the line that Xi-feng had given them, adding a line of her own to make it into a couplet and a third line after that to make the beginning of a second couplet. Thereafter, as each of them in turn completed the couplet started by the previous person and then added the first line of another couplet, she continued to write down the lines at their dictation.

  XI-FENG:

  Last night the north wind blew the whole night through –

  LI WAN:

  Today outside my door the snow still flies.

  On mud and dirt its pure white flakes fall down –

  CALTROP:

  And powdered jade the whole earth beautifies.

  Flakes on the dead plants weave a winter dress –

  TAN-CHUN:

  And on dry grasses gemlike crystallize.

  Now will the farmer’s brew a good price fetch –

  LI QI:

  His full barn to a good year testifies.

  The ash-filled gauge shows winter’s solstice near –

  LI WEN:

  And the Wain turns as Yang revivifies.

  Snow robs the cold hills of their emerald hue –

  XIU-YAN:

  And frost the river’s motion petrifies.

  Snow settles thickly on sparse willow boughs –

  XIANG-YUN:

  But on dead plantain-leaves less easy lies.

  Now perfumed coals in precious braziers burn —

  BAO-QIN:

  And heavy furs the girls’ slim shapes disguise.

  Firelight the mirror by the window catches –

  DAI-YU:

  And burning nard the chamber purifies.

  Still sobbing through the night the mournful wind –

  BAO-YU:

  Each sleep
er’s dreams with sadness sanctifies.

  Somewhere a melancholy flute is playing –

  BAO-CHAI:

  Whose sad notes with the wind’s plaint harmonize.

  With groans the Earth Turtle sideways shifts his load –

  At this point Li Wan laid down her brush and rose to her feet.

  ‘I think I’ll just slip out and see about getting some more wine heated. Someone else can take my place.’

  Bao-chai took up the writing-brush and called on Bao-qin to complete the couplet; but before she could do so, Xiang-yun had leapt to her feet with two lines of her own:

  XIANG-YUN:

  As dragons brawl, the cloud-wrack liquefies.

  A lone boat from the lonely shore puts out –

  Nothing daunted, Bao-qin completed that couplet instead:

  BAO-QIN:

  While from the bridge a horseman waves good-byes.

  Now warm clothes to the frontier are dispatched –

  Xiang-yun would yield to no one; and her invention was so much quicker than anyone else’s, that they were content to let her break the order, and watched with amusement as she returned now, exulting, to the attack:

  XIANG-YUN:

  And wives to distant dear ones send supplies.

  On still untrodden ways masked pitfalls threaten –

  ‘That’s a good line!’ said Bao-chai admiringly as she wrote down what Xiang-yun had recited; and she followed with two lines of her own:

  BAO-CHAI:

  In snowbound woods a bough’s creak terrifies.

  The wind-blown snow around the traveller whirls –

  Dai-yu hurriedly followed:

  DAI-YU: And clouds of powdery snow at each step rise.

  Steamed taros makes a good snow-party fare –

  She nudged Bao-yu to follow; but Bao-yu was so absorbed in watching the contest that seemed to be developing between Xiang-yun on the one hand and Bao-qin, Bao-chai and Dai-yu on the other, that he was failing to think up lines of his own to follow their half-couplets with. He did the best he could, however, in response to Dai-yu’s nudge:

  BAO-YU:

  The guests on ‘scattered salt’ themes improvise.

  Now is the woodman’s axe no longer heard –

  ‘Clear off, you – you’re no good!’ said Xiang-yun, laughing. ‘All you’re doing is getting in other people’s way!’

  Her pausing to say this gave Bao-qin an opportunity of cutting in:

  BAO-QIN:

  Yet still his rod the straw-clad fisher plies.

  Mountains like sleeping elephants appear —

  Xiang-yun hurried back into the fray:

  XIANG-YUN:

  A snake-like path the climber’s skill defies.

  After long cold the trees strange frost-fruits bear –

  This evoked admiring murmurs from Bao-chai and the rest.

  Tan-chun managed to get in a contribution at this point:

  TAN-CHUN:

  Which, bold in beauty, winter’s blasts despise.

  The hushed yard startles to a cold chough’s chatter —

  Xiang-yun was ready at once with two lines to follow, but as she was feeling thirsty, she first stopped to gulp down some tea. In doing so, she lost her turn to Xiu-yan:

  XIU-YAN:

  An old owl wakes the vale with mournful cries.

  The driving flakes make angles disappear –

  Xiang-yun put down her teacup in a hurry, before more ground could be lost:

  XIANG-YUN:

  But dimples on the water’s face incise.

  In the clear morn how radiant gleams the snow! –

  Dai-yu followed:

  DAI-YU:

  How ghostly, as the too short daylight dies!

  Its cold the Chengs’ disciples could withstand –

  Xiang-yun laughed excitedly as she hurried to complete the couplet:

  XIANG-YUN:

  Its promise can a king’s cares exorcise.

  Who’d lie abed all stiff with cold indoors –

  Bao-qin laughed, too, as she followed:

  BAO-QIN:

  When friends invite to red-cheeked exercize?

  Who o’er the land the merfolk’s silk unrolls? –

  Xiang-yun quickly capped this:

  XIANG-YUN:

  Who the white weft from Heaven’s loom unties?

  But before she could begin another couplet, Dai-yu slipped in a line of her own:

  DAI-YU:

  Tall tiled pavilions cold and empty stand –

  Xiang-yun capped it:

  XIANG-YUN:

  Snug thatch more favour finds in poor men’s eyes.

  Bao-qin, concluding that this was now a free-for-all, cut in with the next half-couplet:

  BAO-QIN:

  Ice lumps we thaw and boil to make our tea –

  Xiang-yun, having evidently thought of something amusing, began to giggle:

  XIANG-YUN:

  The fuel being damp, they greatly tantalize.

  Dai-yu began to giggle too:

  DAI-YU:

  The Zen recluse with non-broom sweeps the ground –

  The infection of giggles had now reached Bao-qin:

  BAO-QIN:

  His stringless lute-play still more mystifies.

  Xiang-yun was by now so doubled up with laughter that the others could not make out the words of her next line.

  ‘What?’ they asked her. ‘What was that you said?’

  Xiang-yun had to repeat it:

  XIANG-YUN:

  On the stone tower a stork unwatchful sleeps –

  Dai-yu was laughing so much that she had to clutch painfully at her chest and the words she recited came out in a laughing shout:

  DAI-YU:

  On the warm mat a cat contented sighs.

  All the lines that followed were uttered in rapid succession and to the accompaniment of much laughter.

  BAO-QIN:

  In moonlit caves the silvery water laps –

  XIANG-YUN:

  And red flags flutter against sunset skies.

  DAI-YU:

  Soaked winter plums make the breath fresh and sweet —

  ‘That’s a good line,’ said Bao-chai. She capped it herself:

  BAO-CHAI:

  And melted snow the wine-fumes neutralize.

  BAO-QIN:

  The stiffened aigrette gradually thaws —

  XIANG-YUN:

  The snow-soaked silken girdle slowly dries.

  DAI-YU:

  The wind has dropped, but snow still wetly falls –

  Bao-qin capped this, laughing:

  BAO-QIN:

  And frequent drips the passer-by baptize.

  Xiang-yun had collapsed, weak with laughing, upon Bao-chai’s shoulder. The others had long since given up trying to participate and become mere laughing spectators of the three-cornered contest between Xiang-yun, Dai-yu and Bao-qin. Dai-yu urged Xiang-yun to go on.

  ‘Don’t tell me you’ve run out of inspiration! Surely your famous gift of the gab is still good for a few more lines?’

  Bao-chai prodded Xiang-yun, who was now laughing helplessly upon her lap.

  ‘See if you can exhaust the rhyme, Yun. If you can do that, I shall be really impressed.’

  ‘This isn’t verse-making,’ said Xiang-yun, raising her head from Bao-chai’s lap, ‘it’s more like a duel to the death!’

  ‘Well, whose fault is that?’ they asked her, laughing.

  Tan-chun, having decided that she would be unlikely to make any further contributions herself, had some time before this taken over the task of amanuensis from Bao-chai. She now pointed out that the poem needed finishing off. Li Wan, who had just arrived back, took the paper from her and embarked on a suitable finishing couplet:

  LI WAN:

  Our verses shall this happy day record –

  Her cousin Li Qi completed it:

  LI QI:

  And a wise Emperor loyally eulogize.

  ‘Now that’s enoug
h,’ said Li Wan. ‘We still haven’t exhausted the rhyme, but if we go on any longer, we shall be tying ourselves up in knots trying to use words that aren’t really suitable.’

  They now went over the whole poem from beginning to end and discussed it all in detail. It appeared that Xiang-yun had contributed far more lines than anyone else. The others laughed.

  ‘It’s because of all that venison you ate!’

  ‘If we consider quality rather than quantity,’ said Li Wan, ‘I think all the contributions are of about equal merit. Except Bao-yu’s, of course. He goes to the bottom of the list, as usual.’

  ‘I can’t do Linked Verses, anyway,’ said Bao-yu. ‘You have to make allowances for me.’

  ‘That’s all very well,’ said Li Wan, smiling, ‘but we can’t make allowances for you at every single meeting. One time you’re in trouble because we have fixed rhymes, another time you fail to turn up altogether, and this time you tell us you “can’t do Linked Verses”. I think this time there really has to be a penalty. I noticed just now that the red plum in Green Bower Hermitage is very fine. I’d like to have broken off a branch to put in a vase, but I find Adamantina such a difficult person that I prefer not to have anything to do with her. The first part of your punishment shall be to get us a branch of that red plum and put it in a vase here where all of us can admire it.’

  ‘What a delightful penalty!’ said the others. ‘How civilized!’

  Bao-yu, too, was delighted with the penalty, but just as he was setting off to perform it, Xiang-yun and Dai-yu simultaneously rose to their feet and detained him.

  ‘It’s very, very cold outside. Have a cup of hot wine before you go.’

  Xiang-yun already had the wine-kettle in her hand. Dai-yu found an extra large cup for her to pour the wine in.

  ‘There!’ said Xiang-yun, filling it up to the brim. ‘If you come back empty-handed now, after drinking our wine, we shall double the rest of your penalty when you get back!’

  Bao-yu quickly drank down the proffered cup of freshly heated wine and walked out into the snow. Li Wan wanted to send a servant out after him, but Dai-yu intervened.