The Complete Dramatic Works of Tang Xianzu
Page 80
Sister Shangzhen,
As the man in the bamboo yard is full of passion,
Let’s try to have a closer look at him.
MASTER QIXUAN (Smiles):
You have brought your kith and kin with you, Mr. Chunyu.
CHUNYU FEN (Looks back):
Oh, what a pair of pretty ladies!
(Sighs aside)
How do you know that I am not married, Master?
PRINCESS QIONGYING (Makes a bow to Master Qixuan):
I bow to you, Master.
MASTER QIXUAN:
What are you here for, Ant?
PRINCESS QIONGYING:
I’ve come for the hetu-pratyaya of five hundred years.
MASTER QIXUAN (Smiles aside):
Yes, I see. Lay the sheets on the ground, attendant!
ATTENDANT (Gets the seats ready):
(Aloud)
The fifty-three sheets of Buddhist sutras are ready.
MASTER QIXUAN:
Name one of the sutras!
PRINCESS QIONGYING (Aloud):
Saddharma Pundarika Sutra, Avalokitesvara.
MASTER QIXUAN:
“Sixty thousand words in seven scrolls
Contain impenetrable implications.
From his white teeth flow sarira relics;
From his tongue shed bright lights.
In his throat drip sweet dews;
In his mouth utter the enlightening truths.
Even for the towering sins,
A few lines of sutra will soothe.”
(To the tune of Liangzhouxu)
In the temples on earth,
The dharma provides enlightenment
And attracts Buddhist disciples.
From what hetu-pratyaya
Comes the name Avalokitesvara?
According to Buddha, when men call this name
In times of difficulty,
Avalokitesvara will appear in no time.
All the desire of greed, anger and delusion
Will vanish at once.
The converted men and women are blessed.
ALL:
He who has such magnificence
And compassion
Is named Avalokitesvara.
We prostrate ourselves before you
In front of the terrace of lotus flowers.
MONKS, LAYMEN:
Why are you touring the world, Avalokitesvara? Why are you expounding the sutras for all the people? Why are you enlightening the world?
MASTER QIXUAN (To the previous tune):
By the name of the land,
All the people are to be converted
By various personifications.
To preach according to different causations
Is to witness the tormented world.
Various kinds of beings
In times of difficulty
Are to be rescued.
When he shows his generosity everywhere,
Numerous as the river sands,
Miracles are worked out in a moment.
ALL:
He who has such magnificence
And compassion
Is named Avalokitesvara.
We prostrate ourselves before you
In front of the terrace of lotus flowers.
CHUNYU FEN:
What about the Aksayamati Bodhisattva?
MASTER QIXUAN:
Aksayamati said to Buddha, “World-Honoured One, I now offer sacrifice to Avalokitesvara.” Upon these words, he untied the pearl necklace which was worth hundreds of ounces of gold and offered it to Avalokitesvara, saying, “I hope that you will accept this offer.” When Avalokitesvara refused to accept the offer, Buddha said to him, “Just accept the pearl necklace to show mercy on Aksayamati and the congregation.” Avalokitesvara accepted the necklace in accordance with Buddha’s decree, but divided it into two parts: one part for Shakyamuni Buddha and the other part for Opakut Buddha’s pagoda. When you listen to my preaching, please remember that Avalokitesvara is all-powerful and to be worshipped by everyone from the bottom of their hearts.
MONKS AND LAYMEN:
We shall prostrate ourselves before him.
CHUNYU FEN:
Master, as I was a general, I have killed and wined. Am I not to be released from the purgatory?
MASTER QIXUAN:
As is stated in the sutra, in the case of valiant generals, Buddha is to appear at once to release him from the purgatory. What is the difference between the valiant generals and you?
PRINCESS QIONGYING (Asks):
What about women, Master?
MASTER QIXUAN (Smiles):
As is stated in the sutra, in the case of humans and non-humans, Buddha is to appear at once to release them from the purgatory.
PRINCESS QIONGYING (Taken aback, aside to Sister Shangzhen):
This master has great magic power. Instead of saying men and women, he says humans and non-humans. You ask him another question.
SISTER SHANGZHEN (Asks Master Qixuan):
Master, can I become a Buddhist disciple now that I am a Taoist nun?
MASTER QIXUAN:
It is said in the Taoist Classic that Tao exists in the ants.
“A few grains of rice are piled
Into a Mini-Mount Sumeru.”
Why are you excluded?
PRINCESS QIONGYING, SISTER SHANGZHEN (On their knees):
You have a penetrating insight. We have a younger sister by the name of Yaofang. As she is too young to attend the service, she offers a pair of gold phoenix hairpins and a rhino-horn box. Will you kindly accept them?
(Rise to their feet)
(To the previous tune)
The Buddhist master
Has a deep insight,
But has he ever worn a necklace?
When we make an ordinary offer,
We can still hardly escape the samsara.
Now that we offer the pearls,
Can we become men as the Dragon Princess did?
Tiny creatures as we are,
We can make tiny offers.
As we make but a small offer,
Can it be divided into two parts?
ALL:
He who has such magnificence
And compassion
Is named Avalokitesvara.
We prostrate ourselves before you
In front of the terrace of lotus flowers.
CHUNYU FEN (Aside):
What exotic ladies!
(Turns back)
May I have a look at the gold hairpins and the rhino-horn case, Master?
(Looks at the gold hairpins and the rhino-horn case)
(Turns to look at Princess Qiongying and Sister Shangzhen)
Both the ladies and the offers come beyond the human world.
(To the previous tune)
The gold hairpins
Are a pair of phoenixes in flight;
The case is made of rhino-horn better than gold.
(Aside)
Their smiles are sweet;
Their eyes are coy.
They have brought rhino-horn
And phoenixes
To this sacred place.
(Master Qixuan sneers)
CHUNYU FEN (Turns back):
Worth hundred of ounces of gold,
These tiny objects
Are offered to Shakyamuni.
ALL:
He who has such magnificence
And compassion
Is named Avalokitesvara.
We prostrate ourselves before you
In front of the terrace of lotus flowers.
CHUNYU FEN:
Where are the ladies from, Master?
MASTER QIXUAN (Aside):
As he is stirred by a passion of love, I’ll let the parrot wake him up before the terrace of Avalokitesvara.
SOUND OF PARROT WITHIN:
Turn around, ants! Turn around, ants!
MASTER QIXUAN:
Have you heard something, Mr. Chunyu?
CHUNYU FEN:
“Turn around, lasses! Turn around, lasses!”
MASTER QIXUAN (Smiles):
It’s midday. The preaching is over and I’ll go for meditations.
“Inspect the universe of a billion universes
And nod in the unspeakable path of truth.”
(Exit)
CHUNYU FEN:
Now that the master is gone, I’ll have a chat with the ladies. Can you tell me your names?
(Princes Qiongying and Sister Shangzhen make no reply)
CHUNYU FEN:
Where are you from?
(Princess Qiongying and Sister Shangzhen make no reply)
CHUNYU FEN:
Are you the ladies who watched the dances in the Chanzhi Temple?
PRINCESS QIONGYING, SISTER SHANGZHEN (Smile):
Yes, we are.
CHUNYU FEN:
Alas!
(To the tune of Jiejiegao)
The two pretty ladies
Are amazing,
Fit to sit on the terrace of lotus flowers.
PRINCESS QIONGYING (Smiles):
I have a younger sister who is more amazing.
CHUNYU FEN (Smiles):
Are the phoenix hairpins and the rhino-horn case offered by your sister?
Her simple words
Are difficult to understand.
It’s hard to imagine
That such treasures exist in the human world.
Sister, sister, you offer the phoenix hairpins and the rhino-horn case to the temple.
Why don’t you appear in person
And enter wedlock with me before Avalokitesvara?
SISTER SHANGZHEN:
Oops! How can you call her “sister”!
CHUNYU FEN:
Well, I am asking for a rebuff! Good-bye, ladies!
“While a silent fallen petal smiles,
Who can appreciate my passionate tunes?”
(Exit)
SISTER SHANGZHEN:
It seems that he is the most suitable person to be the royal son-in-law.
(To the previous tune)
He smiled when he met us,
Full of passion of love,
And will be in sorrow when he is home.
With a glib tongue,
A moving shadow
And an assured heart,
He is a perfect match for the princess.
PRINCESS QIONGYING:
I have often seen this gentleman.
SISTER SHANGZHEN:
You see, he lives close to our state. His name is Chunyu Fen.
PRINCESS QIONGYING, SISTER SHANGZHEN:
A neighbour to the giant locust-tree
Sleeps amid the plum-blossom in dreams.
Let’s go back.
(To the tune of Coda)
In the magnificent lecture hall,
We can hardly find a suitable man.
Yaofang, Yaofang,
We’ve found one for you at last.
Rare in the multitude of men,
One man comes into our ken.
Look for men and they flee;
Flee the men and one follows thee.
Scene Nine
The Royal Son-in-Law
(Enter the Ant Queen, followed by maids of honour)
ANT QUEEN (To the tune of Xijiangyin, Part One):
While ants respond when spring is on the way,
The locust-leaves fold by night and unfold by day.
I have a tender daughter by my side,
But I don’t know when she’ll be the bride.
I am Queen to the Ant King. I have asked my niece Princess Qiongying to look for a royal son-in-law when she attends the preaching. She is about to come back. Maids of Honour, stand in wait.
(The maids of honour respond)
(Enter Princess Qiongying)
PRINCESS QIONGYING (To the tune of Xijiangyin, Part Two):
While men ride in black robes,
Women wear tiny shoes and narrow sleeves.
I don’t know what will happen in the next life,
But now I have to obey royal decrees.
(Kowtows to the Ant Queen)
I’ve fulfilled your task and am ready to report to you, Your Majesty.
ANT QUEEN:
Have you found a man in the congregation?
PRINCESS QIONGYING:
I’ve found a handsome young man by the name of Chunyu Fen, a native of Guangling. When Sister Shangzhen and I presented the rhino-horn case and the gold hairpins in the temple, he looked at the offerings with great care and interest. As he showed his passion of love to us, we paid attention to him. If he becomes the royal son-in-law, he will be able to handle the state affairs.
(To the tune of Huangying’er)
I saw him in the Indian yard
And followed him to the temple,
Where he showed signs of passion.
From his outward appearance
And inward talent,
He revealed his innate distinction.
Do you know where he lives, Your Majesty?
ALL:
What coincidence!
Not far from the locust-tree
Lives this young man.
ANT QUEEN (To the previous tune):
As if predestined,
He looked at the hairpins with passion
And stood with prominence in the congregation.
For his talent,
I shall marry my daughter to him
To pay the debt in my previous life.
ALL:
What coincidence!
Not far from the locust-tree
Lives this young man.
ANT QUEEN (To the tune of Coda):
If the King is satisfied,
I will send the Royal Envoys to meet him.
When he falls into a dream,
He will become my son-in-law.
My son-in-law must be a man of passion;
Who can surpass Chunyu in the least?
When I look for my son-in-law,
I find him a neighbour in the east.
Scene Ten
Accepting the Invitation
(Enter Chunyu Fen in a languid manner)
CHUNYU FEN (To the tune of Zhuyunfei):
Clever or foolish,
It all depends on the word “cute”.
Some people are grown up in age,
But lack the mood.
Alas!
I stand alone under the locust-tree,
Which shades off the sun.
The chirping of the cicadas
Bores me to the death.
In a drunken stupor in Yangzhou,
How can I keep the gold phoenix hairpins in mind?
I, Chunyu Fen, do not lag behind the others in talents and capabilities. However, at the age of thirty, I have neither won a name nor married a wife. With nothing but the bare walls in my house, I stand beside this locust-tree, lonely and bored. If it were what human life means, I would rather give up my life. Since I came back from the Dhyana preaching in the Xiaogan Temple, I have felt all the more bored. I can do nothing to cheer me up but get myself drunk all the time. The ancient saying is correct enough that drunkenness gets rid of everything. Well, enough of my mumbling. Now I shall leave Partridge to himself and go rambling in the streets. I’ll try to find a good inn and have a hearty drink. It is true to say,
“As it is useless to weep on the way,
I would drink to death on this very day.”
(Exit)
(Enter Partridge)
PARTRIDGE:
It is funny indeed that my master looks for trouble when trouble does not look for him. Well-versed in martial arts, my master became an assistant general in Huaiyang, but lost his position because he was addicted to drinking. He has been in low spirits ever since. As his wine friends Zhou Bian and Tian Zihua have returned home to Luhe, my master was so lonely that he invited Liu’er and Sha San to chat with him. It so happened that Liu’er and Sha San induced my master to listen to the preaching
in the Xiaogan Temple. Since his return from the preaching, my master has been in a delusion all the time, drinking and sleeping by turns in a depressed mood. When I come back from a nap under a sandal tree beside the stream, I can no longer find him. I am afraid that he will fall asleep intoxicated in the street as if haunted by a ghost. That would be a nuisance for him. I’d like to go out and look for him, but there is no one to keep the door. What shall I do then?
(Looks around)
Well, Liu’er and Sha San are coming.
(Enter Liu’er and Sha San)
LIU’ER, SHA SAN:
“To give wine when I want wine,
You are a friend of mine.
To give tea when I want wine,
You are a foe of mine.”
Is your master in, Partridge?
PARTRIDGE:
I’d ask you to keep the door for me while I look for my master.
LIU’ER, SHA SAN:
No problem. You just go and look for your master.
(Exeunt all)
(Enter Partridge carrying a wine-kettle in one hand and supporting the drunken Chunyu Fen)
PARTRIDGE (To the previous tune):
In whiling away your time,
What’s the use of getting dead drunk?
You drank so much that you’ve lost your voice
And you are so heavy that my shoulders ache.
VOICE WITHIN (In laughter):
What a drunkard!
PARTRIDGE:
Men,
With sober eyes,
You look down upon my master.
He brings half a kettle of wine
For a sip at home.
Nothing is better than getting drunk;
Sleeping is better than getting drunk.
(Enter Liu’er and Sha San)
LIU’ER, SHA SAN:
Alas, what’s happened to him?
PARTRIDGE:
Funny, funny indeed! I looked around and found him falling asleep, intoxicated at an inn by the side of Chanzhi Bridge. When I helped him downstairs, he could hardly tear himself away from this half-kettle of wine. What is he up to? We are home, Master, wake up a bit!
CHUNYU FEN (To the previous tune):
In a delusion all these days,
(Tumbles on the ground)
I feel dizzy and can hardly move a step.
I have Green Maid to support me
But lack Red Lady to sleep with me.
SHA SAN (To Chunyu Fen):
Where are you from, Mr. Chunyu? You are very drunk.
CHUNYU FEN (Fails to recognize Sha San):
Who is it
That asks my whereabouts?
I am often under the influence.
Drunk at the faggot gate,
I stagger in small steps in the breeze,
With my face crimsoning like leaves on trees.
(Vomits)
LIU’ER, SHA SAN:
Alas, you’ve vomited on our trousers. What tasty wine! What tasty wine! Fetch some tea at once, Partridge.