The Complete Dramatic Works of Tang Xianzu
Page 91
(Cries within)
CHUNYU FEN:
Tell them not to add grief to Her Ladyship.
The princess is in poor health
After she stays in Nanke for twenty years.
When she follows her children to the capital,
The civilians gaze at her like all the peers.
Scene Thirty-Four
Halting the Way
(Enter the old secretary)
OLD SECRETARY (To the tune of Langtaosha):
Worthless as a stray dog,
I have no hope of promotion.
I only hope to be safe and sound
In my duty to sign and enact
With plenty of extra income.
I am an old secretary in Nanke County. According to its layout of feng-shui, Nanke County abounds in old officials. Don’t you believe my words? His Highness the Royal Son-in-Law has served here for twenty years, so has the Director of Farming Affairs, and so have I as the secretary. I was young and handsome when I came, but I am in grey beard now. By the royal decree, the princess and the magistrate will return to the capital and serve in the court. The princess set out three days ago and His Highness will set out today after he entrusted the county affairs to Tian Zihua, Director of Farming Affairs. To see him off at the Departure Pavilion with a farewell banquet, Director Tian says that His Highness came as the county magistrate and returned as the prime minister. As the highway is not smooth enough, a thirty-li sand-bank is built, with arches on both ends inscribed with the words “New Sand-Bank” at the top. Many civilians have come to watch.
(Enter civilians with a petition)
CIVILIANS (To the previous tune):
The old and young are safe and sound,
Because the officials are clear-handed.
As the virtuous magistrate will return to the court,
The civilians would like to keep him,
But His Majesty is far away and hard to reach.
(Kneel before the old secretary)
We want to air our views, Your Honor.
OLD SECRETARY:
What is it?
CIVILIANS:
With His Highness in service here for twenty years, the people have lived in peace and contentment. Our peace is as vast as the ocean, and our contentment is as warm as the springtime. Once he is summoned to serve in the court, how can we tear away from him?
OLD SECRETARY:
It has nothing to do with me.
CIVILIANS:
The civilians in Nanke have signed the petition for His Highness to stay for another ten years. As the capital town is a long way off, we entreat Your Honor get a dozen horses ready to send the petition to the capital by night and day three hundred li away. Luck might have it that His Highness will return midway and take his office in Nanke. If we go by ourselves, we might be too late.
OLD SECRETARY (Surprised):
So you’d like to retain His Highness. You are afraid that the petition might be too late, so you ask me to get a dozen horses ready to send the petition to the capital by night and day three hundred li away. Luck might have it that His Highness will return midway and take his office in Nanke. Well, don’t ask me for help!
CIVILIANS (Weep):
If you don’t want to help, we’ll entreat Director Tian.
OLD SECRETARY:
Entreat His Highness? Go if you like!
(The civilians rise to their feet)
OLD SECRETARY:
Wait! Listen to me. Director Tian will take office in Nanke. He will be embarrassed if you ask him.
CIVILIANS:
It turns out that Director Tian will be the new magistrate. It’s not convenient for us to ask him.
We’ll go by ourselves,
OLD SECRETARY:
That’s enough for you. Director Tian is coming.
(The civilians make way)
(Enter Tian Zihua)
TIAN ZIHUA (To the tune of Yiluosuo):
After twenty years as a director in the office,
I am now promoted to be the magistrate.
Seeing off His Highness at the Departure Pavilion,
Well,
Thousands of people are on the way.
OLD SECRETARY (Greets Tian Zihua):
Your Excellency, the banquet is ready.
TIAN ZIHUA:
Look at the crowds of people on the way! Are they seeing off His Highness? Nice people! Nice people!
OLD SECRETARY:
Amid music of drums and flutes, here comes His Highness.
(Tian Zihua and the old secretary walk to meet Chunyu Fen)
(Enter Chunyu Fen, followed by attendants)
CHUNYU FEN (To the tune of Lanhuamei):
The procession goes in the morning mist,
With people watching all the time.
(Cries within, “Our lord!”)
Thousands of people on the way,
What are they doing here?
OLD SECRETARY:
They are trying to retain Your Highness.
CHUNYU FEN:
With grateful civilians trying to retain me,
What have I done to be worthy of their respect?
Yes, I see. It’s the people’s kindness.
They are adding a halo over my head.
TIAN ZIHUA (Kneels down to greet Chunyu Fen):
Director of Farming Affairs Tian Zihua greets Your Highness.
CHUNYU FEN:
Rise to your feet, Director Tian. I’ll get off the carriage and greet you.
(Gets down the carriage)
(Greets Tian Zihua)
Director Tian, when is this highway completed? Oh, at the top of the colorful arch are the words “New Sand-bank”.
TIAN ZIHUA:
Yes, the new sand-bank is built for the prime minister.
CHUNYU FEN (Smiles):
I’d like to walk on it with you.
(Walks with Tian Zihua)
(To the previous tune)
I am promoted to the top at the royal grace;
TIAN ZIHUA:
The new sand-bank is built for the prime minister;
CHUNYU FEN:
The dense trees conceal the horse-bells.
TIAN ZIHUA:
The Departure Pavilion is ahead. I’ve prepared a cup of wine,
To make a toast at your short stay by the pavilion.
CHUNYU FEN:
The old and new magistrate will meet in haste.
(Chunyu Fen and Tian Zihua arrive at the pavilion)
(Tian Zihua bows to Chunyu Fen)
CHUNYU FEN:
After I said good-bye to Zhou Bian this morning, I went to your office but did not see you. Let me take this opportunity at the pavilion to thank you, Director Tian!
TIAN ZIHUA:
It’s my pleasure.
(Bows)
CHUNYU FEN:
“You are my right hand for twenty years;
TIAN ZIHUA:
You have showered great favor on me.
CHUNYU FEN:
Please make remedies after I leave;
TIAN ZIHUA:
Please give me a hand in the future.”
OLD SECRETARY (Kowtows to Chunyu Fen):
The old secretary kowtows to Your Highness.
CHUNYU FEN:
Rise to your feet! As a secretary, you have been working hard for twenty years; after I leave,
please keep an eye on him, Director Tian!
(The old secretary kowtows to show his gratitude)
TIAN ZIHUA:
Bring the wine!
(Enter the attendant with wine)
ATTENDANT:
“The bamboos are reflected in the wine;
The flowers speed the carriage.”
Here is the wine.
TIAN ZIHUA (Presents the wine):
(To the tune of Shanhuazi)
With benevolence in Nanke,
You’ll return to the Peaceful Locust.
Twenty years of peaceful life
Are ascribe
d to your merits.
CHUNYU FEN:
I’ve handed over the seal and all the affairs.
With the golden seal intact
And the documents checked,
I feel the woe in the banquet cups.
CHUNYU FEN, TIAN ZIHUA:
Returning to serve in the court,
The Royal Son-in-Law is further promoted.
CHUNYU FEN (To the previous tune):
When the office is transferred to the new magistrate,
Please listen to my advice as a peer!
Don’t say that the office is easy matter;
You should know the hardships of the people.
TIAN ZIHUA:
With your instructions kept in mind
And to be followed in the future,
I shall part with my old friend of twenty years.
CHUNYU FEN, TIAN ZIHUA:
Returning to serve in the court,
The Royal Son-in-Law is further promoted.
CHUNYU FEN:
As the princess has set out for a long time, I cannot be delayed any longer. Good-bye!
(Rises to start on his journey)
(Enter the civilians)
CIVILIANS (To the tune of Dahefo):
We pray with incense basin on our heads
For Heaven to retain our gracious magistrate.
(Kneel and weep)
Your Highness,
Stay a few days for us to send petition to the court!
Are you willing to tear yourself away from us?
CHUNYU FEN:
Oh, dear fellow countrymen! How can I tear myself away from you?
But I cannot defy the royal decree,
Although my stay of twenty years has held my heart here.
CIVILIANS:
When we think of
Your favors in twenty years,
We have always kept them in our hearts.
(Weep, clinging to and lying before the carriage)
Your Highness,
We have to lie before the carriage,
Clinging to it in floods of tears.
CHUNYU FEN:
I must be going. Rise to your feet! Rise to your feet!
(Walks)
CIVILIANS (To the tune of Wunishang):
We stand before the stalwart horses
And hold the embroidered robe.
CHUNYU FEN (Weeps):
My belt may break but our affection will not break;
The tie between us will survive for generations.
Director Tian,
Look after the people for me when I have left!
CIVILIANS (Weep):
As we cannot retain him,
We’ll kneel and pray in his memorial hall at morn and eve.
CHUNYU FEN:
Fellow countrymen, I’m leaving now.
(To the tune of Hongxiuxie)
In gratitude they halt the way,
Halt the way.
I look back in weeping eyes,
In weeping eyes.
Beyond the Departure Pavilion,
On the painted bridge,
The people kneel,
Facing the benevolent countenance.
The virtuous magistrate
Returns in glory.
Fellow countrymen, please go back!
CIVILIANS:
The Nanke people within territory are seeing you off.
CHUNYU FEN:
Thank you very much!
CIVILIANS (To the tune of Coda):
The affection makes the departure difficult.
CHUNYU FEN:
As you have fed me for twenty years,
I wish you cherish favorable weather all the time.
(Exit, followed by attendants)
CIVILIANS (Left on the stage):
Good magistrate, good magistrate! Kowtowing to Magistrate Tian and trying to retain Magistrate Chunyu, we know that His Highness handles affairs better. Let’s sit for a while and send a representative to the capital from each region of the county!
(Allot representatives)
(Heralding the way within)
(Enter the old secretary)
OLD SECRETARY:
“As there are unexpected storms in nature,
So there are unpredictable vicissitudes in life.”
Oh, you are still waiting here?
CIVILIANS:
Your Honor, we’re waiting to see off His Highness further.
OLD SECRETARY:
You know, when His Highness was fifty li from Nanke, report came that the Princess died.
CIVILIANS:
Pardon?
OLD SECRETARY:
The princess has passed away.
CIVILIANS (Weep and cry):
What’s to be done? Good Heavens! Is it true?
OLD SECRETARY:
Isn’t it true? Director Tian has sent me back to prepare white damask silk, pure satin and sandalwood incense to attend the mourning. Isn’t it true?
CIVILIANS:
In that case, His Highness will not be able to return to our county. As the news is true, let’s offer joss-sticks for the mourning!
The virtuous magistrate leaves over grace
While the princess is dead and gone.
The grateful civilians in the county
Will weep a thousand years long.
Scene Thirty-Five
Mourning over the Death
(Enter the Ant Queen, followed by maids of honor)
ANT QUEEN (To the tune of Raohonglou):
The daughter of the royal blood
Has descendants in Nanke County.
As illness may harm her health
And she has been away for a long time,
I feel sad in the inner palace.
(In the pattern of Qingpingyue)
“The autumn grass overgrows the jade steps,
Covering the paths with green.
I weep tears of sorrow in my palace,
Growing old without notice.
My dainty daughter in Nanke
Withers for her long illness.
I lean against the door and gaze afar,
Holding a small fan in my hand.”
Living in the deep palace, I’ve heard that my daughter is terrified by the battle at the Jade Terrace and is in woe and worries all day long. I am pleased to know that His Majesty has issued the decree for the couple to return to the court. The report came yesterday that my daughter set out a few days earlier in her illness. I am worried about how she is faring on the way.
(Weeps)
(Enter a court lady)
COURT LADY:
“The messenger bird brings news of happiness,
But there is evil news of the daughter.”
Your Majesty the Queen, when I was at the palace gate, I heard from those outside the gate that the princess was seriously ill. I don’t know why His Majesty and the attendants are all crying.
ANT QUEEN (Shocked):
What’s happened?
(Weeps)
(Heralding the way within)
(Enter the Ant King, followed by attendants)
ANT KING (To the tune of Kuxiangsi):
It is too late for me to fetch my daughter;
Why should the Heaven grab away her life?
(Greets the Ant Queen)
My dear wife, Chunyu’s wife has passed away.
ANT QUEEN:
What did you say?
ANT KING:
Yaofang set out a few days earlier from Nanke and died in the Huanghua Guesthouse.
ANT QUEEN (Cries):
Oh my dear daughter!
(Faints, with the maids of honor supporting her)
ANT KING:
Don’t let her death hurt your health!
ANT QUEEN (To the tune of Hongna’ao):
I keep her under my wings with my whole heart;
ANT KING:
Thinking that she has a bright prospect.
ANT QUEEN:
I thought that she had an endearing s
pouse,
ANT KING:
But her illness confined her to bed.
ANT QUEEN:
You smiled when she was giving birth,
ANT KING:
But I choke with sobs for her departure.
ANT QUEEN:
Good Heavens,
In spite of the Maudgalyayana sutra I copied,
Buddha’s power is not felt in face of the ghosts.
ANT KING (To the previous tune):
My dear wife,
I thought there was no worry about her in her palace,
ANT QUEEN:
But the troubles in the Jade Terrace killed her.
ANT KING:
There are premature deaths of daughters,
ANT QUEEN:
But why should my daughter decline like the moon?
ANT KING:
I remember seeing off the couple off with a drink,
ANT QUEEN:
Who knows she died on her homeward way.
ANT KING:
It is predestined in her previous life,
But I loathe mourning before her spirit tablet.
ANT QUEEN:
As His Majesty only has this daughter, the funeral rituals must be elaborate.
ANT KING:
When the funeral hearse arrives, my wife and I will be dressed in mourning and meet her in the suburbs. Her shrine will be set in the Xiuyi Palace, accompanied by half of the royal procession. As to the formalities for entitlement and endowment, the Right Prime Minister and Marquis of Martial Feats will be in full charge.
They might have lived in Nanke for a hundred years,
But the princess passed away at an earlier date.
The state rituals will be duly elaborated,
To be bestowed to her in the netherworld.
Scene Thirty-Six
Returning to the Court
(Enter Duan Gong)
DUAN GONG (To the tune of Raodiyou):
What is the use of multitude?
One man is the pillar of the state.
Alas,
Chunyu Fen and the princess
Cherished twenty years of affection
And established power there,
But all ends in a dream.
“While the bees fall into woe after the Double Ninth,
Unawares, the butterflies circle round the boughs.
People have changed their minds in different times,
As the flowers have not lost their fragrance in one night.”
As far as I know, Chunyu Fen resorted to his relations in staying in Nanke and raising his esteem. For the sake of long-term interest of our state, I sent in a memorial for His Majesty to recall him and give him the position of the Left Prime Minister, so as to curb his power of remote control. Who knows that things are unpredictable! After the princess passed away, the King and the Queen met the hearse in the suburbs, and the whole state was in mourning for three days. The princess was posthumously titled as Princess Righteousness, with all the ceremonies. At His Majesty’s decree, her burial place was discussed. Her burial place could only be selected in Mount Tortoise. I am about to report the choice to His Majesty. I hear that Chunyu Fen will have an audience with His Majesty and will wait here. He may be told to select the place for the burial. Before I finish my words, His Highness has arrived.