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Version A: Daiyu Meeting Xifeng for the First Time She had scarcely finished speaking when someone could be heard
talking and laughing in a very loud voice in the inner courtyard behind them. ‘Oh dear! I’m late,’
said the voice. ‘I’ve missed the arrival of our guest.’ ‘Everyone else around
here seems to go about with bated breath,’ thought Dai-yu. ‘Who can this new
arrival be who is so brash and unmannerly?’ Even as she wondered, a
beautiful young woman entered from the room behind the one they were sitting
in, surrounded by a bevy of serving women and maids. She was dressed quite
differently from the others present, gleaming like some fairy princess with
sparkling jewels and gay embroideries. ... ‘You don’t know her,’
said Grandmother Jia merrily. ‘She’s a holy terror this one. What we used to
call in Nanking a “peppercorn”. You just call her “Peppercorn Feng”. She’ll
know who you mean!’ Dai-yu was at a loss to
know how she was to address this Peppercorn Feng until one of the cousins
whispered that it was ‘Cousin Lian’s wife’, and she remembered having heard
her mother say that her elder uncle, Uncle She, had a son called Jia Lian who
was married to the niece of her Uncle Zheng’s wife, Lady Wang. She had been
brought up from earliest childhood just like a boy, and had acquired in the
schoolroom the somewhat boyish-sounding name of Wang Xi-feng. Dai-yu
accordingly smiled and curtseyed, greeting her by her correct name as she did
so. Xi-feng took Dai-yu by
the hand and for a few moments scrutinized her carefully from top to toe
before conducting her back to her seat beside Grandmother Jia. ‘She’s a beauty,
Grannie dear! If I hadn’t set eyes on her today, I shouldn’t have believed
that such a beautiful creature could exist! And everything about her so
distingue! She doesn’t take after your side of the family, Grannie. She’s
more like a Jia. I don’t blame you for having gone so about her during the
past few days – but poor little thing! What a cruel fate, to have lost Auntie
like that!’ and she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. ‘I’ve only just
recovered,’ laughed Grandmother Jia. ‘Don’t you go trying to start me off
again! Besides, your little cousin is not very strong, and we’ve only just
managed to get her cheered up. So let’s have no more of this!’ In obedience to the
command Xi-feng at once exchanged grief for merriment. ‘Yes, of course. It was
just that seeing my little cousin here put everything else out of my mind. It
made me want to laugh and cry all at the same time. I’m afraid I quite forgot
about you, Grannie dear. I deserve to be spanked, don’t I?’ She grabbed Dai-yu by
the hand. ‘How old are you dear?
Have you begun school yet? You mustn’t feel homesick here. If there’s
anything you want to eat or anything you want to play with, just come and
tell me. And you must tell me if any of the maids or the old nannies are
nasty to you.’ (From |
Version B: Tai-yu Meeting Hsi-feng for the First Time Just then they heard peals of laughter from the back courtyard and a voice
cried: “I’m late in greeting
our guest from afar!” Tai-yu thought with
surprise, “The people here are so respectful and solemn, they all seem to be
holding their breath. Who can this be, so boisterous and pert? “While she was still
wondering, through the back door trooped some matrons and maids surrounding a
young woman. Unlike the girls, she was richly dressed and resplendent as a
fairy. ... Tai-yu rose quickly to
greet her. “You don’t know her
yet.” The Lady Dowager chuckled. “She’s the terror of this house. In the
south they’d call her Hot Pepper. Just call her Fiery Phoenix.” Tai-yu was at a loss
how to address her when her cousins came to her rescue. “This is Cousin
Lien’s wife,” they told her. Though Tai-yu had never
met her, she knew from her mother that Chia Lien, the son of her first uncle
Chia Sheh, had married the niece of Lady Wang, her second uncle’s wife. She
had been educated like a boy and given the school-room name Hsi-feng. Tai-yu
lost no time in greeting her with a smile as “cousin.” Hsi-feng took her hand
and carefully inspected her from head to foot, then led her back to her seat
by the Lady Dowager. “Well,” she cried with
a laugh, “this is the first time I’ve set eyes on such a ravishing beauty.
Her whole air is so distinguished! She doesn’t take after her father,
son-in-law of our Old Ancestress, but looks more like a Chia. No wonder our
Old Ancestress couldn’t put you out of her mind and was for ever talking or
thinking about you. But poor ill-fated little cousin, losing your mother so
young!” With that she dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. “I’ve only just dried
my tears. Do you want to start me off again?” said the old lady playfully.
“Your young cousin’s had a long journey and she’s delicate. We’ve just got
her to stop crying. So don’t reopen that subject.” Hsi-feng switched at
once from grief to merriment. “Of course,” she cried.
“I was so carried away by joy and sorrow at sight of my little cousin, I
forgot our Old Ancestress. I deserve to be caned.” Taking Tai-yu’s land
again, she asked, “How old are you, cousin? Have you started your schooling
yet? What medicine are you taking? You mustn’t be homesick here. If you fancy
anything special to eat or play with, don’t hesitate to tell me. If the maids
or old nurses aren’t good to you, just let me know.” (From Tsao Hsueh-chin and Kao Ngo, A Dream of Red Mansions, tr. by Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang, Peking: Foreign Language Press, 1978) |