These are the verses by T"an Ch"un on the tablet of "All nature vies in splendour":
Of aspect lofty and sublime is raised a park of fame!
Honoured with thy bequest, my shallow lore fills me with shame.
No words could e"er amply exhaust the beauteous skill, For lo! in very truth glory and splendour all things fill!
Thus runs Hsi Ch"un"s stanza on the tablet of the "Conception of literary compositions":
The hillocks and the streams crosswise beyond a thousand li extend!
The towers and terraces "midst the five-coloured clouds lofty ascend!
In the resplendent radiance of both sun and moon the park it lies!
The skill these scenes to raise the skill e"en essays to conceive outvies!
The lines composed by Li Wan on the tablet "grace and elegance,"
consisted of:
The comely streams and hillocks clear, in double folds, embrace; E"en Fairyland, forsooth, transcend they do in elegance and grace!
The "Fragrant Plant" the theme is of the ballad fan, green-made.
Like drooping plum-bloom flap the lapel red and the Hsiang gown.
From prosperous times must have been handed down those pearls and jade.
What bliss! the fairy on the jasper terrace will come down!
When to our prayers she yields, this glorious park to contemplate, No mortal must e"er be allowed these grounds to penetrate.
The ode by Hsueh Pao-ch"ai on the tablet of "Concentrated Splendour and Acc.u.mulated auspiciousness" was:
Raised on the west of the Imperial city, lo! the park stored with fragrant smell, Shrouded by Phoebe"s radiant rays and clouds of good omen, in wondrous glory lies!
The willows tall with joy exult that the parrots their nests have shifted from the dell.
The bamboo groves, when laid, for the phoenix with dignity to come, were meant to rise.
The very eve before the Empress" stroll, elegant texts were ready and affixed.
If even she her parents comes to see, how filial piety supreme must be!
When I behold her beauteous charms and talents supernatural, with awe transfixed, One word, to utter more how can I troth ever presume, when shame overpowers me.
The distich by Lin Tai-yu on the tablet of "Spiritual stream outside the world," ran thus:
Th" imperial visit doth enhance joy and delight.
This fairy land from mortal scenes what diff"rent sight!
The comely grace it borrows of both hill and stream; And to the landscape it doth add a charm supreme.
The fumes of Chin Ku wine everything permeate; The flowers the inmate of the Jade Hall fascinate.
The imperial favour to receive how blessed our lot!
For oft the palace carriage will pa.s.s through this spot.
The Chia consort having concluded the perusal of the verses, and extolled them for a time: "After all," she went on to say with a smile, "those composed by my two cousins, Hsueh Pao-ch"ai and Lin Tai-yu, differ in excellence from those of all the rest; and neither I, stupid as I am, nor my sisters can attain their standard."
Lin Tao-yu had, in point of fact, made up her mind to display, on this evening, her extraordinary abilities to their best advantage, and to put down every one else, but contrary to her expectations the Chia consort had expressed her desire that no more than a single stanza should be written on each tablet, so that unable, after all, to disregard her directions by writing anything in excess, she had no help but to compose a pentameter stanza, in an offhand way, merely with the intent of complying with her wishes.
Pao-yu had by this time not completed his task. He had just finished two stanzas on the Hsiao Hsiang Lodge and the Heng Wu garden, and was just then engaged in composing a verse on the "Happy red Court." In his draft figured a line: "The (leaves) of jade-like green in spring are yet rolled up," which Pao-ch"ai stealthily observed as she turned her eyes from side to side; and availing herself of the very first moment, when none of the company could notice her, she gave him a nudge. "As her highness," she remarked, "doesn"t relish the four characters, representing the red (flowers are) fragrant, and the green (banana leaves) like jade, she changed them, just a while back, for "the joyful red and gladsome green;" and if you deliberately now again employ these two words "jade-like green," won"t it look as if you were bent upon being at variance with her? Besides, very many are the old books, in which the banana leaves form the theme, so you had better think of another line and subst.i.tute it and have done with it!"
When Pao-yu heard the suggestion made by Pao-ch"ai, he speedily replied, as he wiped off the perspiration: "I can"t at all just at present call to mind any pa.s.sage from the contents of some old book."
"Just simply take," proposed Pao-ch"ai smilingly, "the character jade in jade-like green and change it into the character wax, that"s all."
"Does "green wax,"" Pao-yu inquired, "come out from anywhere?"
Pao-ch"ai gently smacked her lips and nodded her head as she laughed. "I fear," she said, "that if, on an occasion like to-night, you show no more brains than this, by and by when you have to give any answers in the golden hall, to the questions (of the examiner), you will, really, forget (the very first four names) of Chao, Oh"ien, Sun and Li (out of the hundred)! What, have you so much as forgotten the first line of the poem by Han Yu, of the T"ang dynasty, on the Banana leaf:
"Cold is the candle and without a flame, the green wax dry?"
On hearing these words, Pao-yu"s mind suddenly became enlightened. "What a fool I am!" he added with a simper; "I couldn"t for the moment even remember the lines, ready-made though they were and staring at me in my very eyes! Sister, you really can be styled my teacher, little though you may have taught me, and I"ll henceforward address you by no other name than "teacher," and not call you "sister" any more!"
"Don"t you yet hurry to go on," Pao-ch"ai again observed in a gentle tone of voice sneeringly, "but keep on calling me elder sister and younger sister? Who"s your sister? that one over there in a yellow coat is your sister!"
But apprehending, as she bandied these jokes, lest she might be wasting his time, she felt constrained to promptly move away; whereupon Pao-yu continued the ode he had been working at, and brought it to a close, writing in all three stanzas.
Tai-yu had not had so far an opportunity of making a display of her ability, and was feeling at heart in a very dejected mood; but when she perceived that Pao-yu was having intense trouble in conceiving what he had to write, and she found, upon walking up to the side of the table, that he had only one stanza short, that on "the sign on the apricot tree is visible," she consequently bade him copy out clean the first three odes, while she herself composed a stanza, which she noted down on a slip of paper, rumpled up into a ball, and threw just in front of Pao-yu.
As soon as Pao-yu opened it and glanced at it, he realised that it was a hundred times better than his own three stanzas, and transcribing it without loss of time, in a bold writing, he handed up his compositions.
On perusal, the Chia Consort read what follows. By Pao-yu, on: "A phoenix comes with dignified air:"
The bamboos just now don that jadelike grace, Which worthy makes them the pheasant to face; Each culm so tender as if to droop fain, Each one so verdant, in aspect so cool, The curb protects, from the steps wards the pool.
The pervious screens the tripod smell restrain.
The shadow will be strewn, mind do not shake And (Hsieh) from her now long fine dream (awake)!
On "the pure fragrance of the Ligularia and Iris Florentina:"
Hengs and Wus the still park permeate; The los and pis their sweet perfume enhance; And supple charms the third spring flowers ornate; Softly is wafted one streak of fragrance!
A light mist doth becloud the tortuous way!
With moist the clothes bedews, that verdure cold!
The pond who ever sinuous could hold?
Dreams long and subtle, dream the household Hsieh.
On "the happy red and joyful green:"
Stillness pervades the deep pavilion on a lengthy day.
The green and red, together matched, transcendent grace display.
Unfurled do still remain in spring the green and waxlike leaves.
No sleep yet seeks the red-clad maid, though night"s hours be far-spent, But o"er the rails lo, she reclines, dangling her ruddy sleeves; Against the stone she leans shrouded by taintless scent, And stands the quarter facing whence doth blow the eastern wind!
Her lord and master must look up to her with feelings kind.
On "the sign on the apricot tree is visible:"
The apricot tree sign to drink wayfarers doth invite; A farm located on a hill, lo! yonder strikes the sight!
And water caltrops, golden lotus, geese, as well as flows, And mulberry and elm trees which afford rest to swallows.
That wide extent of spring leeks with verdure covers the ground; And o"er ten li the paddy blossom fragrance doth abound.
In days of plenty there"s a lack of dearth and of distress, And what need then is there to plough and weave with such briskness?
When the Chia consort had done with the perusal, excessive joy filled her heart. "He has indeed made progress!" she exclaimed, and went on to point at the verses on "the sign on the apricot tree," as being the crowning piece of the four stanzas. In due course, she with her own hands changed the motto "a cottage in the hills where dolichos is bleached" into "the paddy-scented village;" and bidding also T"an Ch"un to take the several tens of stanzas written then, and to transcribe them separately on ornamented silk paper, she commanded a eunuch to send them to the outer quarters. And when Chia Cheng and the other men perused them, one and all sung their incessant praise, while Chia Cheng, on his part, sent in some complimentary message, with regard to her return home on a visit.
Yuan Ch"un went further and gave orders that luscious wines, a ham and other such presents should be conferred upon Pao-yu, as well as upon Chia Lan. This Chia Lan was as yet at this time a perfect youth without any knowledge of things in general, so that all that he could do was to follow the example of his mother, and imitate his uncle in performing the conventional rites.