The Warning Voice (61 page)

‘Skybright!'

‘What is it?' said Aroma, instantly alert again.

Bao-yu said that he wanted some tea, so she got up and poured him out a cup. He sighed as she handed it to him.

‘I'm so used to calling her, I forgot that it was you.'

Aroma laughed.

‘The first night she slept with you, you were calling out in your sleep for me. It took you a while
then
to get used to the change.'

They both lay down again. Again Bao-yu was restless and continued so for the space of about two hours. It must have been four o'clock before he finally got to sleep. Just as he was dropping off, Skybright walked into the room looking exactly as she used to do before she was ill. She came right up to the bed and spoke to him.

‘Enjoy your lives, all of you! Mine is already over.'

Immediately she had said that, she turned round and walked out again. Bao-yu called out after her. His calling awoke Aroma, who assumed that he was once more calling Skybright's
name instead of her own from force of habit. But when she went over to ask him what he wanted, she saw that he was crying.

‘Skybright's dead,' he said.

Aroma laughed.

‘Don't be ridiculous! Whatever would anyone think if they heard you say such a thing?'

Nevertheless Bao-yu insisted that Skybright was dead and waited impatiently for the daylight when he could send someone to find out the circumstances of her death. But daylight brought a little maid knocking at the front corner gate of the Garden with a message from Lady Wang.

‘You must tell Bao-yu to get up immediately and come over to Her Ladyship's as soon as he is washed and dressed. The Master is invited out to a chrysanthemum-viewing, and because he was so pleased with the poem Bao-yu made at the party the other night, he wants to take him and the other young masters with him. Have you got that message? Be as quick as you can, please. And tell him to hurry. The Master is in the main room with Her Ladyship. They are waiting for Bao-yu to come so that they can start their breakfast. Master Huan is there already, so be quick. And someone take the same message to Master Lan, please.'

‘Yes, yes,' said the women, hurriedly buttoning up their clothing, and two of them hurried off to deliver it, one to Green Delights and the other to Sweet-rice Village.

Aroma knew that something unusual must be toward for someone to be knocking so early at the courtyard gate and called to one of the old women to go and find out what it was while she herself got up and put her clothes on. When she heard the message, she sent someone out for washing-water and roused up Bao-yu. She told him to wash himself as quickly as possible while she went to fetch him some clothes. Since it was Jia Zheng he was going out with, she chose his second best, judging his best to be too showy.

As there was now obviously no possibility of following out his original intention, Bao-yu washed and dressed and hurried over to his parents' apartment immediately. When he got there he found Jia Zheng already sipping his wheatmeal tea and
apparently in very good humour. Bao-yu made his morning salutation to his parents after which he in turn was greeted by Jia Huan and Jia Lan. Jia Zheng ordered the three of them to sit down and drink their wheatmeal tea.

‘Bao-yu is not as diligent as you two in his schoolwork,' he told the two younger boys, ‘but he is much better than you at making up poems and couplets. No doubt all three of you will be called upon to contribute poems at this place we are going to. Bao-yu will have to help you out a bit.'

This was music indeed in the ears of Lady Wang, who had never before heard her husband praise Bao-yu in such terms. She waited until Jia Zheng and the boys had gone before getting up to make her morning call on Grandmother Jia; but before she could get away, Parfumée's foster-mother and two of the other foster-mothers came in saying that there was something they wished to speak to her about.

‘Ever since Your Ladyship was good enough to let me take Parfumée home with me,' said Parfumée's foster-mother, ‘she's been refusing to eat and drink and behaving like a crazy girl, and now Nénuphar and Étamine are the same. The three of them have been carrying on something dreadful, threatening to kill themselves and I don't know what. All they want, they say, is to shave their hair off and become nuns. Well, I thought, they're only children; after a day or two they'll get over this. But not a bit of it: two days have gone by already and they're worse than ever. Neither words nor blows have any effect on them. We're all at our wits' end. We've come to ask Your Ladyship if you will either let them have their way and go into a convent or else deal with them as you see fit and hand them over to somebody else, because
we
can do nothing with them.'

‘Nonsense!' said Lady Wang impatiently. ‘It's not for them to decide what is to become of them. The Buddhist vocation is not to be undertaken on a mere childish caprice. Give each of them a flogging and see if they misbehave then!'

It was the custom for nuns from the various temples which the Jia ladies patronized to visit the mansion over the Mid-Autumn festival bringing the first-fruits of their offerings. Euergesia, the prioress of Water-moon Priory, who had come
along with the rest, had been invited to stay on for a few days and happened to be at hand during this interview. This holy old fraud pricked her ears up when she heard of three young persons wanting to become nuns. A few young novices to wait on her and help about the priory were just what she was looking for. She set to work on Lady Wang accordingly.

‘No doubt it is because this is such a blessed household (thanks to all Your Ladyship's good works) that these young people's hearts have been turned towards the faith,' she said. ‘It is true that the Buddha's gate is not to be entered lightly; but it is also written that the Buddha's truth is for all sorts and conditions of men. And not only men, for when the Blessed Lord made his vow, it was to work for the salvation of all sentient beings. These three young people have no parents and are far from the place where they were born. Having had a taste of luxury during their years here with you, yet being born to a lowly fate and trained in a profession that at best is vanity, they cannot but tremble when they think what the future may hold for them. I believe that is why, out of the midst of this sea of suffering, they have turned towards the light and resolved to abjure the world and its vanities and prepare themselves for the life to come. That is a noble decision, Your Ladyship. I don't think you ought to stand in the way of it.'

Lady Wang was a good woman at heart and had only opposed the young actresses' determination to become nuns because she thought it proceeded from mere childish waywardness and feared that when put to the test they would find the vows of celibacy and abstinence too much for them and fall into mortal sin. But what the old nun said sounded plausible; and besides, she was at this moment very much preoccupied with other matters. Lady Xing had sent someone over to say that she wanted Ying-chun to spend a few days with her so that she could be exhibited to the representatives of a family seeking her in marriage, and Lady Wang herself was facing a visit from an official match-maker who was coming to discuss the matrimonial prospects of Tan-chun. She was far too worried by these other matters to be unduly
concerned about the fate of a few entertainers. The answer she gave Euergesia, therefore, was a favourable one.

‘Very well then. Would you be prepared to take them as your disciples?'

‘Now blessings be upon you!' said the old prioress. ‘It would be a holy thing if you would let me, it would indeed. Praise his Holy Name!'

She pressed her palms together and bowed down almost to the ground.

Lady Wang turned to the three foster-mothers:

‘All right, go and ask them. If they are really serious about this, they can kotow to Mother Euergesia in my presence and formally make themselves her disciples.'

The three women went off and presently reappeared, bringing the three girls with them. Lady Wang questioned each of them closely about her decision and when she was satisfied that they were utterly resolved to go through with it, allowed them to make their kotows to the old nun. After that they kotowed to her. Now that she was convinced of their determination and saw that nothing could deflect them from it, she began to feel quite sorry for them and ordered the servants to get out various things to give them. She also gave several presents to the prioress.

Thus Parfumée, Nénuphar and Étamine left the sinful world behind them and went off with Euergesia to embark on a new life at Water-moon Priory.

What followed thereafter will be related in the following chapter.

‘There is a girl in Bao-yu's room called Skybright,' she said. ‘She is already of age; she has been constantly ill during the past year; she gives much more trouble than any of the others; and she is lazy. During her latest spell of sickness, which must have been going on now for the better part of a fortnight, we've had her looked at by the doctor and he says she's got some kind of consumption – a kind that is quite common, apparently, in unmarried girls; so I've sent her back to her own people and told them that we shan't be wanting her here again if she gets better, they can find a husband for her themselves. I also took it upon myself to send away those young actresses. For one thing, like most people trained in that profession, they use the most appalling language: I don't think it's very nice for the other girls to be exposed to it. And for another thing, as we no longer require them to perform for us, which is what they were trained for, I think it is only right that we should let them go. We have far too many maids as it is. If Bao-yu or the girls need any more, we can supply them from the regular staff; they don't need young actresses to wait on them.'

Grandmother Jia nodded.

‘That sounds quite sensible. I had been thinking along those lines myself. About Skybright, though: I always thought she
was an excellent maid: she expressed herself well; she was much the best needlewoman I ever had; I had been thinking of eventually giving her to Bao-yu to keep. I'm sorry to hear she has changed so much for the worse.'

‘I'm sure you were not mistaken in her,' said Lady Wang, smiling. ‘Let's just say that the girl was not destined to be fortunate – hence this perpetual sickness. “For a growing girl there are eighteen hazards” the proverb says. Quite apart from that, I think these very gifted people are apt to play up a bit, as I am sure you, Mother, with all your rich experience must have noticed. Three years ago I, too, was thinking about choosing someone permanent for Bao-yu, and to begin with I, too, thought of Skybright as the likeliest choice. But after watching her very carefully, I came to the conclusion that, although better qualified than the others in so many particulars, she is not really a very dependable person. For all-round dependability I think Aroma is very much her superior. I know they say “a wife for virtue and a concubine for beauty”, but even in choosing a concubine I think the girl with a considerate nature and a sense of responsibility is to be preferred. Aroma may not be as good-looking as Skybright, but in other respects I should rate her qualifications as a chamber-wife very highly. Her behaviour is so mature, and yet at the same time she is such a simple, good-natured girl. During all the years that she has been with Bao-yu she has never once misbehaved herself; in fact, whenever Bao-yu gets into one of his wild or silly moods, she does her best to talk him out of it. I waited two whole years to see if she was really as good as I thought she was, and when, at the end of all that time, I had found no fault in her, I made a private arrangement to have her maid's allowance stopped and two taels paid to her each month out of my own allowance. Aroma herself was the only person I told about this, because I thought she could do with the encouragement. I deliberately kept it from everyone else, partly because if Sir Zheng had got to hear about it he would almost certainly have said that Bao-yu was too young for a chamber-wife and that having one would distract him from his studies, and partly because if Bao-yu himself thought of her as a chamber-wife, he would be less inclined to listen to
her good advice and would become more ungovernable than ever. That is the reason, Mother, why I haven't told
you
about this before.'

‘I see,' said Grandmother Jia, smiling. ‘Oh well, that's all right then. Even better. Aroma never had much to say for herself, in my recollection. I always thought her rather a dull little stick. However, you obviously know her much better than I do. I'm sure you can't be wrong. I certainly think it very wise of you not to have told Bao-yu himself about this, and I hope all of us here will continue to keep quiet about it. I am sure you are right in thinking that he is the sort of person who, when he is married, will never listen to a wife's or a concubine's advice. He's a strange boy. I don't really understand him. I've certainly never known another one like him. His other kinds of naughtiness I can understand; it's this passion for spending all his time with maids that I find so hard to make out. It used at one time to worry me: I thought it must be because he had reached puberty and was having experiences with them; but after watching him very carefully, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't that at all. It's very, very strange. Perhaps he was a maid himself in some past life. Perhaps he ought to have been a girl.'

Lady Wang and the others laughed. Lady Wang then went on to tell Grandmother Jia how highly Jia Zheng had spoken of Bao-yu that morning and how he had taken Bao-yu and the other two boys with him on an outing. Grandmother Jia was delighted.

Not long after this Ying-chun appeared, dressed in her going-out clothes, to take leave of Grandmother Jia and Lady Wang before going next-door to stay with Lady Xing. Xi-feng called in, too, for her morning duty call and stayed to wait on the old lady while she took her lunch and to joke with her for a while after it was finished. When the old lady had settled herself down for her after-lunch nap, Lady Wang called to Xi-feng to accompany her back to her own apartment. She asked her whether she had started taking the ginseng pills yet. No, not yet, Xi-feng told her, because she was still taking the infusions; but her aunt was not to worry, because she was now feeling completely better. Observing that she certainly
seemed to have got her old cheerfulness back, her aunt was inclined to believe her. She told her about her dismissal of Skybright and the other girls. This led her to another topic.

‘Why did your Cousin Chai go back home without telling anyone? Doesn't
anyone
know? When I was making my inspection yesterday, I decided to take a look at Wan's servants as well. That new nurse she has got for little Lan is quite unsuitable; in fact, I don't like the look of her at all. I said to Wan, “I don't care how you do it, my dear, but you must get rid of that woman at once. Lan is old enough to do without a nurse now in any case. He certainly doesn't need a nurse like that one!” I asked
her
if she knew about Bao-chai. She said yes, Bao-chai had told her that she was going, but it was only for two or three days, until her mother was better, and then she would be moving in again. Well I know for a fact that there is nothing much wrong with your aunt: a bit of a cough and some back-ache, but then she always gets that at this time of year. I am sure there is some other reason for her leaving. Can anyone have offended her? She is such a serious child. I should hate to think of anyone offending her after our two families have been getting on so well together all these years.'

‘Who could possibly have offended her?' said Xi-feng, smiling.

‘I wondered if Bao-yu might have done,' said Lady Wang. ‘He is so careless about what he says, so tactless. When he gets excited he is capable of saying almost anything.'

‘I don't think you have much to worry about on
that
account,' said Xi-feng. ‘Bao-yu may behave foolishly in company, but when he is with our girls, or even the maids, he is always extremely considerate. His greatest anxiety is always how
not
to offend them. He is certainly the last person I should expect to hear any of our girls complain about. I should think Cousin Chai's leaving has much more to do with that search we carried out in the Garden the other night. She would naturally infer from it that the people in the Garden are not trusted; and since she knew we would never search
her
people because of her position here as our guest, she might well conclude that the only way in which she could clear them
of suspicion would be to move outside. I'm sure that's why she went: to avoid suspicion.'

To Lady Wang, too, this seemed the most likely explanation. She studied the floor thoughtfully for some moments; then she had Bao-chai summoned, explained to her what had happened, and assured her that she must not think herself under the least suspicion. She must move back into the Garden at once and continue living there as before.

Bao-chai smiled courteously but held her ground.

‘I had been meaning to move out some time ago, Aunt, but did not like to mention it to you because I knew you were so much occupied with other matters. It was the coincidence of Mamma's being poorly and her two most reliable maids both going sick at the same time which decided me to move out when I did. Now that you know about my leaving, I should like to ask formally for permission to move out my things.'

Lady Wang and Xi-feng both laughed.

‘You are too unbending,' said Lady Wang. ‘Do, please, move in again. Do not allow a trifle like this to come between us.'

Bao-chai smiled.

‘I assure you, Aunt, you are quite mistaken. It really isn't because of what you think that I am leaving the Garden. It is because Mamma has been in rather low spirits lately and there's no one but me for her to rely on during the night. And besides, Pan is getting married shortly, and there is still a lot of sewing to do and household things to get. Mamma badly needs to have me at hand all the time to help her with the preparations. You know how things are in my family, so you know that I am not making this up. And there is another reason. Ever since I first moved into the Garden, the little south-east corner gate has been left open. This was done specially for our convenience, but of course there is nothing to prevent anyone else using it who wants to take a short cut. No one going through it is ever questioned. Now suppose the wrong person got in by that way and something awful happened. It would make it very awkward for all of us. When I first moved into the Garden it didn't matter much one way or the other if I spent the nights there. We were all very much
younger then and there wasn't so much that needed doing at home. It seemed better for me to be sewing or playing in the Garden with the other girls than moping at home on my own. But now we are older it is rather different. I am sure that the worries you have had during this past year or two have been aggravated by the fact that the Garden is too big to keep all the time under your surveillance. Any reduction in the number of people living there means some reduction in the number of your worries. That is why I am not only determined to move permanently out of the Garden myself, Aunt, but would seriously urge you to make whatever other reduction in numbers may be necessary. You mustn't think that for a great household like yours to retrench would be undignified. Look how modestly
we
live nowadays. It was a very different style we used to live in when I was a little girl.'

It was unusual for Bao-chai to speak at such length. When she had finished, Xi-feng turned with an amused expression to Lady Wang.

‘I think you will have to let her have her way, Aunt. You can't force her to move in if she doesn't want to.'

Lady Wang nodded.

‘I find what you say unanswerable,' she told Bao-chai. ‘You will have to do as you think best.'

While she was speaking, Bao-yu came in to report that he was back.

‘Father is still at the party,' he said. ‘He told us to come back now because he was afraid it might be going on much longer and he didn't want us coming back in the dark.'

‘I hope you didn't disgrace yourself,' said Lady Wang anxiously.

‘Not in the least,' said Bao-yu. ‘Look at all the loot we've brought back!'

The old women from the inner gate who, as he entered, had relieved his pages of the things they had been carrying, now came forward with them for Lady Wang to inspect. There were three fans, three fan-pendants, three boxes of writing-brushes, three boxes of ink-sticks, three rosaries and three jade belt-buckles: one of everything for each of the three boys.

‘The fans and fan-pendants are from Academician Mei,' said Bao-yu, ‘the ink-sticks and brushes are from Vice-President Yang, and the rosaries and buckles are from Under Secretary Li.' He fished out a little sandalwood Buddha-charm from inside his jacket. ‘This is from the Duke of Qing-guo. He only gave one to me.'

Lady Wang questioned him about the other people who had been present and the poems that had been composed. She told someone to take Bao-yu's share of the presents and go with him and the other two boys to see Grandmother Jia. Grandmother Jia was of course delighted, and Bao-yu found himself having to answer all the same questions over again. His anxiety to learn about Skybright made him anxious to get away, and after answering a few of them, he told his grandmother that he had been riding rather fast and was aching all over from his ride.

‘You must go back to your room at once then and change into more comfortable clothes,' she said. ‘You'll feel better when you've had a chance to relax; but don't, whatever you do, lie down.'

Bao-yu left his grandmother's without more ado. Musk and Ripple, with two of the junior maids from Green Delights, were waiting for him outside. Ripple took charge of his share of the presents and she and the other two trotted along after him as he strode into the Garden.

‘Phew! I'm hot,' he said, divesting himself of hat, belt and outer garment as he walked along and handing them to Musk to carry. He was wearing a gown of lined damask underneath, whose viridian green contrasted strikingly with the flashes of blood-red trouser revealed through the side-slits as he walked along. Ripple recognized the trousers as Skybright's handiwork.

‘“Objects remind us”,' she said, quoting from the well-known proverb. Musk nudged her reprovingly and tried to change the subject.

‘Yes,' she said lightly, ‘the red of the trousers goes very well with the dark green of the gown. What with them and his blue-black boots and his greeny-black hair and his snow-white face he makes quite a picture!'