by Cao Xueqin
“I wonder what I’ll get,” she said with a smile.
But having drawn a slip out and seen what it was, she threw it down.
“We shouldn’t play this game,” she declared with a blush. “It’s a game for those men outside, a whole lot of silly nonsense.”
The others were wondering what she meant when Xiren picked up the slip for all to see. Under the picture of an apricot-blossom were the words in red “Fairy flower from paradise” and the verse “A red apricot by the sun grows in the clouds.” The directions were: “Whoever draws this will have a noble husband. All must drink to her, then drink another cup together.”
“Is that all?” they laughed. “This is a game for the inner apartments. Apart from a couple of slips with mottoes like these, there’s nothing improper; so what does it matter? Our family already has one Imperial Consort; are you going to be another? Congratulations!”
They all raised their cups, but Tanchun would not drink this toast until compelled to by Xiangyun, Xiangling and Li Wan.
When she protested, “Let’s give up this game and play another,” they would not agree, and Xiangyun held her hand, forcing her to throw the dice. The number nineteen coming up, it was Li Wan’s turn. She shook the container, took out a slip, and smiled when she saw what it was. “Excellent!” she crowed. “Just see what I’ve got. This is fun.”
They saw the picture of an old plum-tree with the motto “Cold beauty in frosty dawn” and the line of verse “Content to stay by the bamboo fence and thatched hut.” The instructions were: “Whoever draws this lot must drink a cup, then the one whose turn comes next must throw the dice.”
“That’s fine,” said Li Wan. “You go on dicing while I just drink one cup without worrying how the rest of you get on.”
She drained her cup and passed the dice to Daiyu, who threw eighteen, making it Xiangyun’s turn. Xiangyun rolled up her sleeves to draw her lot, a picture of crab-apple-blossom with the motto “Deep in a fragrant dream” and the line “So late at night the flower may fall asleep.”
Daiyu teased, “The words ‘late at night’ should be changed to ‘cool on the stone.’“
At that everyone laughed, knowing that she was referring to how Xiangyun had fallen asleep earlier that day on a stone. Giggling, Xiangyun pointed at the mechanical boat. “Hurry up and leave by that boat, and stop talking nonsense!” she retorted.
Amid more laughter they read the instructions, “As she is deep in a fragrant sleep and cannot drink, the two next to her must each drink a cup instead.”
Xiangyun clapped her hands.
“Amida Buddha!” she cried. “This is really a lucky dip!”
It so happened that Daiyu and Baoyu were one either side of her, so they both filled their cups. Baoyu first drank half the cup, as no one was watching, then passed the rest to Fangguan, who drained the cup. As for Daiyu, while chatting with the others she quietly poured her drink into a rinse-bowl. Xiangyun then threw a nine, which made it Sheyue’s turn. On the lot she drew they saw a rose with the motto “Flower of final splendour” and the line “When the rose blooms, spring flowers fade.”
Below was written, “All at the feast should drink three cups each to farewell the spring.”
When Sheyue asked what was written there, Baoyu frowned and hid the slip, saying, “We must all drink.” So they took three sips each to symbolize three cups.
Then Sheyue threw nineteen and it was Xiangling’s turn. She drew a picture of two flowers on one stem with the motto “Double beauty linked with good fortune” and the line “Double flowers bloom on a single stem.” The instructions were: “All must congratulate the one who draws this lot and make her drink three cups, drinking one each themselves.”
Xiangling then threw a six, making it Daiyu’s turn. “I hope I get something good,” she thought while drawing a lot. It showed a hibiscus flower with the motto “Quiet and sad in wind and dew” and the line “Blame not the east wind but yourself.” The instruction was: “Both hibiscus and peony must drink a cup.”
“Fine!” cried the others. “She’s the only one here fit to be compared to a hibiscus.”
Daiyu smiled too as she drank, then threw a twenty which made it Xiren’s turn.
Xiren drew a picture of peach-blossom with the motto “Exotic scene at Wuling” and the line “Another spring returns and the peach blooms red.” The instructions were, “The apricot-blossom, as well as those born in the same year, on the same day and those with the same surname must drink one cup.”
“This one is lively and good fun,” cried the rest.
They worked it out that Xiangling, Qingwen and Baochai were the same age as Xiren, while Daiyu’s birthday fell on the same day; but they could not think of anyone with the same name until Fangguan said:
“My family name is Hua. I’ll drink with her.”
As they filled their cups Daiyu remarked to Tanchun, “You’re the apricot-blossom destined to have a noble husband. So drink up quickly and we’ll follow suit.”
“Stop talking nonsense!” retorted Tanchun. “Sister-in-law, give her a slap.”
“She hasn’t got a noble husband and now you want me to beat her,” teased Li Wan. “No, I can’t bring myself to do it.” At that they all laughed.
Xiren was about to throw the dice when they heard someone at the gate. An old woman went to see who was there and found it was a maid sent by Aunt Xue to fetch Daiyu back.
“What time is it?” everyone asked.
“After the second watch,” the maid informed them. “The clock’s just struck eleven.”
Baoyu could not believe it was so late, but when he called for his watch and looked at the time it was ten past eleven.
“I can’t stay up any longer,” said Daiyu getting up. “I have to take medicine too after I go back.”
All agreed that it was time to disperse, so when Xiren and Baoyu tried to keep them Li Wan and Baochai demurred:
“It doesn’t look right being so late. We’ve already made an exception to our rule.”
“In that case,” said Xiren, “let’s each have one final cup.”
Qingwen and the others filled the cups, and after drinking them they called for lanterns. Xiren and the rest, having seen the visitors past Seeping Fragrance Pavilion to the other side of the stream, came back and locked the gate, then continued their game. They also filled several big goblets and selected several dishes for the old maid-servants waiting on them. And now, being slightly tipsy, they played the finger-guessing game and made the losers sing songs. By the time of the fourth watch, the old women in addition to drinking their share had stolen more wine on the sly so that the whole vat was empty. When they learned to their surprise that the wine was finished, they cleared the table, washed and made ready for bed.
Fangguan’s cheeks after drinking were as red as rouge, making her look still more charming. Unable to hold herself steady she leaned on Xiren.
“Dear sister,” she murmured, “my heart’s beating ever so fast!”
“Who gave you permission to drink so much?” Xiren retorted.
Xiaoyan and Sier, who had felt dizzy too, had already gone to bed. Only Qingwen was still trying to rouse them.
“No need to wake them,” Baoyu remonstrated. “Let’s just get some rest anyhow.”
With that, lying back on his pillow of fragrant red petals, he curled up and went to sleep too.
Xiren feared that Fangguan was so drunk that she might be sick, so she quietly helped her over to lie down next to Baoyu, then sank down on the opposite couch herself. They all slept then, oblivious of everything around them.
When Xiren next opened her eyes the day was bright. “So late!” she exclaimed.
Seeing Fangguan still sleeping on the edge of the kang she got up quickly to wake her. But by this time Baoyu had turned over and woken up.
“It is late!” he chuckled, nudging Fangguan to make her get up.
Fangguan sat up, still drowsy, rubbing her eyes.
; “Aren’t you ashamed?” Xiren laughed. “You were so drunk you didn’t care where you flopped down to sleep.”
Fangguan stared round, and when she discovered that she had shared Baoyu’s bed she at once scrambled up.
“How is it that I don’t remember a thing?” she answered laughingly.
“That goes for me too,” rejoined Baoyu. “If I’d known, I’d have blackened your face with ink.”
Some young maids came in now to help them with their toilet.
“I gave you a lot of trouble yesterday,” declared Baoyu. “Tonight I’m going to throw a return party.”
“No, we mustn’t raise another rumpus today,” said Xiren. “If we did, people would complain.”
“Why should we care?” he retorted. “It’s only a couple of times. But we must be good drinkers if we managed to finish that whole vat of wine. Things were just getting lively when we ran out of wine.”
“That’s what made it so good,” said Xiren. “If we’d drunk to our full capacity, it wouldn’t seem such fun looking back. Yesterday we all did fine, and Qingwen actually forgot her scruples. I remember that she even sang a song.”
“Have you forgotten, sister, that even you sang one too?” demanded Sier. “Everyone at the party sang.”
They all blushed then, hiding their faces in their hands, and were giving way to fits of laughter when Pinger came in.
“I’ve come in person,” she announced merrily, “to invite all the people at the party yesterday. Today I’m standing treat. Everybody must come.”
They asked her to take a seat and drink some tea.
“It’s a pity we didn’t have her here last night,” observed Qingwen. “What did you do last night?” she asked.
“We can’t tell you,” Xiren replied. “Things were so lively, it was far more fun than even those times when Their Ladyships gave us parties. We finished up a whole vat of wine; then after drinking we all forgot ourselves and started singing, really let ourselves go! Finally —not till after the fourth watch—we lay down just anywhere to sleep it off.”
“Fine goings-on!” exclaimed Pinger. “You asked me for the wine but didn’t invite me, then tell me this to provoke me.”
“He’s giving a return party today and is sure to invite you,” Qingwen assured her. “Just wait.”
“‘He’? Who is ‘he’?” asked Pinger with a smile.
Qingwen made as if to slap her, protesting laughingly, “Why do you have such sharp ears?”
“I’m too busy to bandy words with you now,” Pinger told her. “I must be off to see to some business. Later on I’ll send to invite you. If anyone fails to turn up, I’ll come and knock down your door.”
Baoyu wanted to urge her to stay, but she was already gone. After he had finished his toilet and was drinking tea he suddenly caught sight of a piece of paper under the inkstone.
“It’s no good,” he scolded, “the way you stuff things carelessly just anywhere you please.”
Xiren and Qingwen hastily asked what was wrong. Baoyu pointed at the paper.
“What’s this under the inkstone? One of you must have forgotten to put your patterns away.”
Qingwen took the paper from under the inkstone and saw it was a greeting card on a sheet of pink stationery. She passed it to Baoyu who read: “Miaoyu, the one outside the threshold, sends respectful greetings on the young master’s birthday.”
At once he sprang to his feet.
“Who brought this in?” he demanded. “Why wasn’t I told?”
The state he was in made Xiren and Qingwen suppose that this was a greeting from someone of consequence.
“Who accepted this card yesterday?” they both asked together.
Sier rushed in to explain, “Miaoyu didn’t come herself but sent an old servant with this, so I put it there. But after all that drinking I forgot it.”
When the other girls heard this they commented, “We thought it was someone who mattered, the way you were carrying on; but this isn’t worth making such a fuss about.”
Baoyu, however, immediately asked for some paper and while spreading it out and grinding ink wondered how to word a reply matching that phrase “outside the threshold.” Brush in hand he thought hard for a long time, but could not hit on anything appropriate. He reflected, “If I consult Baochai, she’s bound to criticize this as eccentric. I’d better ask Daiyu.” So tucking the card up his sleeve he set off to find her and had just passed Seeping Fragrance Pavilion when he saw Xiuyan approaching with swaying steps.
“Where are you going, cousin?” he inquired.
“To have a chat with Miaoyu,” was the answer.
In surprise he remarked, “She’s so aloof and unconventional that she looks down on everybody. If she thinks so highly of you, this shows you’re not vulgar like the rest of us.”
“She may not really think highly of me,” replied Xiuyan with a smile, “but we were next-door neighbours for ten years when she was practising asceticism in Curly Fragrance Nunnery. My family was poor, and we lived for ten years in a house rented from the nunnery; so I often went in to see her when I was free, and she’s the one who taught me all the characters I know. Apart from being friends in poverty, she was half my teacher too. After we had left the nunnery to join our relatives, I heard that because she’d offended certain powerful people by her eccentric ways she had to come here for protection too. So as luck would have it we met again, and our old feeling for each other hadn’t changed—in fact she’s even kinder to me than before.”
Much impressed by this account Baoyu said with delight, “No wonder your own behaviour and conversation are as unworldly as a wild stork or floating clouds! So this is the reason, I’m stamped just now by something connected with her and was on my way to ask somebody’s advice. Meeting you is a heaven-sent chance. You must tell me what to do.”
Then he showed the card to Xiuyan.
“She hasn’t changed in the least,” observed Xiuyan with a smile. “She was born like this—headstrong and eccentric. I’ve never seen other people use appellations like this in greeting cards. Why, this, as the saying goes, is neither fish, flesh nor fowl! It doesn’t make sense.”
“But you see she’s not one of us,” Baoyu put in. “She’s outside the mundane crowd. She’s only sent me this greeting because she thinks I have some slight discernment. But I’m at a loss as to how to word my reply. I was on my way to ask Cousin Daiyu when luckily I met you.”
Hearing this, Xiuyan looked him up and down for a while.
She then said cheerfully, “As the proverb says, ‘To know someone by repute is not as good as meeting face to face.’ No wonder Miaoyu sent you this greeting card; no wonder she gave you that plum-blossom last year. As even she shows you special consideration, I shall have to explain this to you. She often says that the only good poetry written by the ancients from the times of Han, Jin, the Five Dynasties, Tang and Song, was the two lines:
For a thousand years you may have an iron threshold.
But the end must be a mound of earth.
This is why she calls herself the one outside the threshold. She likes the writings of Zhuang Zi, from which she took that term ‘the odd person.’ If she called herself ‘the odd person’ in her card, you could call yourself ‘the mundane person,’ meaning you’re one of the common herd, and that would please her. Now that she’s called herself the ‘one outside the threshold,’ meaning she’s outside the iron threshold, to fall in with her you Should call yourself the ‘one inside the threshold.’“
Baoyu felt as if Buddha had suddenly shown him the light.
“Aiya!” he exclaimed. “No wonder our family temple is called Iron Threshold Temple. So that’s the origin of the name. Well, cousin, I won’t hold you up any longer. I must go and write a reply.”
Then Xiuyan went on to Green Lattice Nunnery while Baoyu went back to write on a card: “With the deepest respects of Baoyu, the one inside the threshold.” Taking this himself to the nunnery, he slipped it throug
h a crack in the gate, then went back.
He found that Fangguan had finished doing her hair, which was fastened up in a knot, and she was wearing some trinkets. At once he insisted on her dressing in a different style. He urged her to shave off her fringe completely, exposing her bluish scalp, and to part her hair in the middle. He also said that in winter she should wear a sable cap in the shape of a crouching hare and small tiger-head battle boots decorated with multicoloured curling clouds, or leave her trouser ends loose and wear white socks and thick-soled boots. He objected to the name Fangguan as well, saying it would be more original to take a man’s name instead, and proposing the name Xiongnu. Fangguan was delighted.
“In that case,” she said, “when you go out you must take me along, and if anyone asks who I am just tell them I’m a page like Mingyan.”
“Still, people will be able to see who you are,” he chuckled.
“How dense you are, I must say!” she retorted. “We have some families of tribesmen here—just say I’m from one of those. Besides, everyone tells me I look better with my hair plaited. Wouldn’t that be the smart thing to do?”
“Splendid!” approved Baoyu elatedly. “I’ve often seen officials with followers captured from abroad, as such people can stand wind and frost and are excellent horsemen. In that case, I’ll give you a tribal name —Yelu Xiongnu. Those are names used by the tribes who have been a scourge to China since the days of Yao and Shun, and who plagued us so much during the Jin and Tang dynasties.
“We’re lucky to be living now under the rule of an Emperor directly descended from the sage king Shun, an age when virtue, humanity and filial piety as vast as Heaven are manifest, and in a dynasty which will endure as long as the sun and moon. That’s why all the unruly barbarians who made such trouble in previous dynasties now submit to us with folded hands and bowed heads according to Heaven’s will, without our having to resort to arms; and distant tribes have surrendered to our rule. So we should make fun of them to add to the glory of our sovereign.”
